Abstract
Samuel Barber is a remarkable American composer, whose text-setting techniques are as diverse as the texts he selects for his songs. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss eight of Barber’s American art songs for solo voice with piano accompaniment, the lyrics of which all come from the writings of James Joyce. These songs include “Of that so sweet imprisonment”, “Strings in the earth and air”, “In the dark pinewood”, “Rain has fallen”, “Sleep now”, “I hear an army”, “Nuvoletta”, and “Solitary hotel”. The discussion includes four main parts. First, the development of American art songs is briefly described. Second, the backgrounds of composer and the poet are introduced, and the relationship between them is discussed. Next, a summary of Chamber Music, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake by James Joyce is presented. Finally, this study explores the character and ambiance of the eight songs by using literary and musical analysis, as well as discussion of the complex relationships between text and music. I believe this study can offer readers a reference for interpreting and performing the eight art songs.
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