Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Musical Examples
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Introduction: Paradox of an Establishment Composer
- PART I Howells the Stylist
- PART II Howells the Vocal Composer
- PART III Howells the Instrumental Composer
- PART IV Howells the Modern
- PART V Howells in Mourning
- 13 In modo elegiaco: Howells and the Sarabande
- 14 On Hermeneutics in Howells: Some Th oughts on Interpreting His Cello Concerto
- 15 Musical Cenotaph: Howells's Hymnus paradisi and Sites of Mourning
- Appendix: Catalogue of the Works of Herbert Howells
- Bibliography
- Index of Works
- General Index
13 - In modo elegiaco: Howells and the Sarabande
from PART V - Howells in Mourning
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2013
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Musical Examples
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Introduction: Paradox of an Establishment Composer
- PART I Howells the Stylist
- PART II Howells the Vocal Composer
- PART III Howells the Instrumental Composer
- PART IV Howells the Modern
- PART V Howells in Mourning
- 13 In modo elegiaco: Howells and the Sarabande
- 14 On Hermeneutics in Howells: Some Th oughts on Interpreting His Cello Concerto
- 15 Musical Cenotaph: Howells's Hymnus paradisi and Sites of Mourning
- Appendix: Catalogue of the Works of Herbert Howells
- Bibliography
- Index of Works
- General Index
Summary
There is a characteristic rhythm that occurs persistently throughout Howells's works. In slow, triple metre, it emanates from his apparent obsession with the sarabande and appears to be associated with elegiac thoughts, both personal and religious. It almost always appears in conjunction with intense, chromatic harmony. What are the origins and characteristics of this manner and mood? Why does Howells keep returning to the sarabande as a vehicle for expression, especially when in melancholy spirits? What is the relationship between instrumental and sung sarabande? And what other, subliminal effects does this modus operandi have on his music? These are the questions I shall attempt to answer in this chapter.
While some early works contain the seeds of Howells's fixation, from 1940 he wrote a steady flow of stylised dances in sarabande form, spanning more than thirty years:
(a) ‘Saraband (for the Morning of Easter)’ (HH 226ii – 1940)
(b) ‘Saraband (in modo elegiaco)’ (HH 226v – 1945)
(c) ‘Dart's Saraband’ (HH 237iv – 1956)
(d) ‘Malcolm's Vision’ (Quasi alla sarabanda) (HH 237xvi – 1956)
(e) ‘Eia mater’ (Espressivo: alla sarabanda), from Stabat mater (HH 309 – 1959–61)
(f) ‘Ile's Interlude’ (Poco lento, quasi come Sarabanda, molto serioso), from Three Figures (1960 – HH 297ii)
(g) II (Quasi adagio: serioso ma teneramente), from Sonatina (HH 333 – 1971)
(h) Sarabande, from Partita (HH 334 – 1971)
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Music of Herbert Howells , pp. 240 - 273Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013