Musical Borrowing
An Annotated Bibliography

Contributions by Jean Pang

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[+] Auh, Mijai Youn. "Piano Variations by Brahms, Liszt and Friedman on a Theme by Paganini." D.M. diss., Indiana University, 1980.

An introduction to Paganini's place in history and his contributions includes background information on the 24th Caprice of Op. 1, an analysis of its theme, and a list of works (p. 28) based on this theme. Auh provides introductions and analyses of Liszt's sixth Grande etude, Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35, and Friedman's Studies on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 46b, and compares the elements of retention and variability of the original theme, variation technique, grouping for performance, and technical musical difficulties. Almost all of the variations assume the basic structure and given harmony of Paganini's theme; thus the variation techniques used are mainly of harmony, rhythm, and character.

Works: Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35; Ferrucio Busoni: An die Jugend (7); Ignaz Friedman: Studies on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 46b; Franz Liszt: Etudes d'execution transcendente d'après Paganini (7), Grosse Paganini-Etuden; Robert Schumann: Studies after Caprices of Paganini, Op. 3 (7), 6 Concert Etudes after Caprices of Paganini, Op. 10 (7).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Boyd, Malcolm. "Dies Irae: Some Recent Manifestations." Music and Letters 49 (October 1968): 347-56.

Amplification of Gregory 1953. Quotation of the Dies Irae has been overdone, but some modern works have enriched the symbolism grown around the ancient plainchant melody. Russia especially has most closely associated this melody with the death of a revolutionary hero. Khatchaturian, in his Second Symphony, uses it in the general expresion of mourning of the war 1914-1918. Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 lacks a program to explain the chant's presence. In Respighi's Impressioni Brasiliane, the chant portrays the physical characteristics and deadly qualities of snakes. Dallapiccola's Canti di Prigionia uses the chant structurally in an outcry against tyranny and oppression. Pierres and Stevenson use it for similar effect. Some borderline cases are Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead and Mahler's Second Symphony. A list (pp. 355-56) of some secular references to the Dies Irae is provided.

Works: Bantock: Macbeth (355); Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (347, 348, 355); Dallapiccola: Canti di Prigionia (351, 352, 355); Peter Maxwell Davies: St. Michael (355); Khatchaturian: Symphony No. 2 (348, 350, 355); Kraft: Fantasia Dies Irae for Organ (355); Liszt: Totentanz (351, 355); Mahler: Das klagende Lied (355), Symphony No. 2 (354, 355); Medtner: Piano Quintet (356); Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 6 (348-350, 356); Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death, #3 (356); Pierres: A Litany for the Day of Human Rights (352, 356); Pizetti: Requiem (348); Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead (353, 354, 356), The Bells (353, 356), Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (354, 356), Symphonic Dances (354, 356); Respighi: Impressioni brasiliane (351, 356); Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (356); Schelling: Victory Ball (356); Sorabji: Variation upon Dies Irae (356), Sequentia cyclica (356); Stevenson: Passacaglia on DSCH (352, 356); Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet (356); Tchaikovsky: In Dark Hell (356), Suite No. 3 (356); Vaughan-Williams: Five Tudor Portraits (356); Bergman film: The Seventh Seal (356); Fernandel film: The Sheep has Five Legs (356).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Gregory, Robin. "Dies Irae." Music and Letters 34 (April 1953): 113-19.

Background information on the Dies Irae sequence notes no records of the melody's origins and attributes the text to Thomas of Celano. Composers have used the chant in two ways: (1) as an integral part of their settings of the Requiem Mass in its proper context; (2) in secular works, often in a debased form to help create the appropriate diabolical or supernatural atmosphere. Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique was the first in a Romantic trend of using this theme associated with death and the last judgment in its most terrible aspects. The character of the melody's significance has changed significantly from its original connotation. Composers of the Romantic era used the melody for its associations with terror and dread, while ignoring the message of hope that is also explicit in the words. Some manifestations of the Dies Irae melody served as models for other composers to follow. One example is Liszt's Dante Symphony, which influenced Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death and Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. In the twentieth century, the tradition was kept alive by Sergei Rachmaninaov, who used the Dies Irae to represent evil spirits in the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.

Works: Berlioz: Requiem (135), Symphonie Fantastique (135-36); Alfred Bruneau: Requiem (135); Liszt: Totentanz (136, 137); Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death (136); Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (137); Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini (137), In Dark Hell (137), Suite in G Major (137); Rachmaninoff: Tone Poem, Op. 29 (138), Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (138), Symphony No. 3 (138), Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (138); Vaughan Williams: Tudor Portraits (138).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang, Randy Goldberg

[+] Hinrichsen, Max. "Compositions Based on the Motive B-A-C-H." In Hinrichsen's Musical Yearbook: Vol. 7, ed. Max Hinrichsen, 379-81. London: Hinrichsen Edition, 1952.

A list of twenty-nine works using B-A-C-H, the majority of which are by German composers.

Works: Joseph Ahrens: Triptichon; Johann Albrechtsberger: Organ Fugue in G Minor; J. C. Bach: Organ Fugue in G Minor; J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue on the name BACH, Art of Fugue; Otto Barblan: Chaconne, Op. 10, Passacaglia, Variations, and Triple Fugue, Op. 24; Ludwig van Beethoven: 2 sketches for an Overture and Canon, 10th Symphony; Heinrich Bellerman: Organ Prelude and Fugue, Op. 8; Johannes Brahms: Cadenza to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major; Alfred Herbert Brewer: Meditation; Ferruccio Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica; Alfredo Casella: Due Ricercari sul nome di Bach; Cyril S. Christopher: Soliloquy on B-A-C-H and the Chorale "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein; Hanns Eisler: Piano Trio on the 12-tone Scale; Wolfgang Fortner: Fantasia; Vincent d'Indy: "Beuron," No. 11 from Tableaux de Voyage, Op. 33; Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Passacaglia and Fugue, Op. 150, Basso Ostinato, Op. 58, repeated in one of his two Op. 142, Sempre Semplice; Johann Ludwig Krebs: Organ Fugue in B-flat Major; Franz Liszt: Prelude and Fugue for Organ, Fantasia and Fugue for Piano; Felix Mendelssohn: 6 Fugues; Wilhelm Middelschulte: Canonical Fantasia; Riccardo Nielsen: Ricercare, Chorale and Toccata; Ernst Pepping: Three Fugues; Walter Piston: Chromatic Fantasy; Max Reger: Organ Fantasia and Fugue, Op. 46; Josef Rheinberger: Organ Fughetta, Op. 123a No. 3; Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Six Variations, Op. 1; Robert Schumann: 6 Fugues, Op. 60; Georg Andreas Sorge: 3 Fugues.

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Hong, Barbara Blanchard. "Gade Models for Grieg's Symphony and Piano Sonata." In Dansk Aarbog for Musikforskning 15 (1984): 27-38.

Niels Gade was a great influence on Grieg's style and compositions as seen in the formal structures, choice of keys, number of movements, tempos, and related themes of the latter's works. Gade's works show the influence of Scotch and Danish folksongs, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Wagner. Grieg experienced difficulties with sonata form movements and hence relied on models; Gerald Abraham's comparison of the Schumann and Grieg piano concertos illustrates this point. Gade and Grieg's first symphonies, both in C Minor, and each composer's only piano sonata, both in E Minor, are compared. Musical examples and a brief history of the Grieg Symphony are provided.

Works: Gade: Balders drom (28), Ossian Overture (28), Piano Sonata (1840) (28, 33), Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 5 (28), Siegfried og Brunhilde (operatic fragment, 1847) (28); Edward Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor (32), Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op. 28 (32), Symphony No. 1 in C Minor (29).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Krenek, Ernst. "Parvula Corona Musicalis." Bach 2 (October 1971): 18-31.

A testimony and dedication precedes the facsimiles of Krenek's Parvula Corona Musicales (1950), notes to each movement, and the derived twelve-tone rows with which he worked. The work was prompted by the idea of creating a musical symbol of a wreath to be placed at the monument of Bach, the master. The work also derives twelve-tone series from Bach's Art of the Fugue, three of Beethoven's last quartets, and Wagner's Tristan.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Meyer, John A. "Beethoven and Bartók--A Structural Parallel." The Music Review 31 (November 1970): 315-21.

Bartók owed and admitted a direct allegiance to Beethoven, especially in the area of progressive form as a technique of composition. The second movement of Beethoven's G Major Piano Concerto is a model for the second movements of Bartók's Second and Third Piano Concertos in two main ways: (1) the principle of opposition between two rivals rather than integration of two partners is seen in sections of dialogue alternating between solo instrument and orchestra accentuated by differences in texture, thematic material, and the treatment of thematic material; and (2) piano and orchestra seem to follow completely logical development independent of each other, but the separate thematic complexes have the same basic roots. Mention is made of the relation between the third movement of Beethoven's Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, and Bartók's Third Piano Concerto, suggested to be a last tribute to his three great masters: Beethoven in forms and methods of construction, Debussy in the impressionism of the night music, and Bach in the polyphonic episodes of the finale.

Works: Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3; Franck: Symphonic Variations (320), Quintet in F Minor for Piano and Strings (320).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Quereau, Quentin W. "Aspects of Palestrina's Parody Procedure." Journal of Musicology 1 (April 1982): 198-216.

A detailed discussion of Palestrina's choice of borrowed materials (the pre-compositional procedure), using his Missa Salvum me fac as an example, notes the fundamental fact of his borrowing of motives from only one model point of imitation in the model at a time, and six other factors. A detailed discussion of Palestrina's use of those materials (the compositional procedures), using his Missa Nigra sum as an example, notes the differences between model and Mass in density of texture and integration of non-motivic counterpoint. The most common and essential type of polyphonic borrowing in Palestrina's arsenal of parody procedures is his borrowing and transformation of contrapuntal relationships between motive entries.

Works: Palestrina: Missa Salvum me fac (200-10); Missa Nigra sum (211-16).

Index Classifications: 1500s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Reese, Gustave, and Theodore Karp. "Monophony in a Group of Renaissance Chansonniers." Journal of the American Musicological Society 5 (Spring 1952): 4-15.

An attempt to broach the controversy over the monophony of the vocal music contained in MSS f.fr. 9346 (Le Manuscrit de Bayeux) and f.fr. 12744 in the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale considers (1) the related theories of Gerold and Bukofzer that the collections do not contain monophonic chansons but are made up of parts extracted from polyphonic compositions and (2) similar research on MS 4379 and the Tournai Chansonnier. The authors provide a list of the forty-eight polyphonic sources consulted in tracking down the melodies and a chart that lists the differences for all compositions examined. The melodies of Bayeux and 12744 are not mere voice-parts extracted from polyphonic compositions; those that appear elsewhere in polyphonic settings are the pre-existent bases of these works rather than transcriptions arranged from them.

Works: Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS f.fr. 9346 (Le Manuscrit de Bayeux); Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS f.fr. 12744; Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS n.a.fr. 4379 (4, 5, 7); Tournai Chansonnier (5, 7).

Index Classifications: 1400s, 1500s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Roberts, John H. "Handel's Borrowings from Telemann: An Inventory." In Göttinger Händel-Beiträge 1, ed. Hans Joachim Marx, 147-71. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1984.

Roberts provides a list of 128 items containing borrowings from three collections of works of Telemann, Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, the Musique de Table, and the Sonates sans basse, as well as borrowings from other sources contained in the same items. After briefly describing the three Telemann sources, Roberts divides Handel's Telemann borrowings into three types: use of incipit with fresh ideas or development; use of single internal passage; and compound borrowings from one model. He then offers guidelines for analysis according to these types.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron, Jean Pang

[+] Rubin, David. "Transformations of the Dies Irae in Rachmaninov's Second Symphony." The Music Review 23 (May 1962): 132-36.

The opening notes of the medieval Dies irae, dies illa has been used frequently by composers to allude, seriously or jocularly, to death. Rachmaninoff was especially fascinated with the Dies Irae, especially its first seven notes, and employed the chant most consistently and most strikingly. Rachmaninoff achieves a subtle architecture in his Second Symphony largely through the cyclic use of the Dies Irae, which undergoes a variety of transformations in construction and mood. Musical examples are provided to illustrate Rubin's outline of the transformations.

Works: Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (132); Khatchaturian: Symphony No. 2 (132); Liszt: Totentanz (132); Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (132); Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 6 (132); Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead (132), Piano Concerto No. 4 (132), Piano Sonata No. 1 (132), Piano Sonata No. 2 (133), Symphonic Dance No. 1 (133), Symphony No. 1 (132), Symphony No. 2 (133), Symphony No. 3 (133); Respighi: Brasilian Impressions (132); Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (132); Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 3 (132).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Schwager, Myron. "Some Observations on Beethoven as an Arranger." The Musical Quarterly 60 (January 1974): 80-93.

The rise of musical publishing and the lack of copyright laws in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century strongly encouraged the practice of arranging. Beethoven was an active arranger of his own works, especially those of his early period. He would make unsolicited offers of his adaptations to publishers but would also assume the right to refuse a request for one if so desired. His personal reluctance to arrange works of others did not deter him from seeking the help of others in arranging his own works when time or interest was wanting, but he demanded control over the arranger and the manner of arranging. The criteria for acceptance or rejection of the arrangement were based on the abilities of the arranger. His most satisfactory relationship with a freelance arranger was that with Czerny.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Vermeulen, Ernst. "Compositions by Louis Andriessen and Peter Schat Incorporating Quotations." Translated by Ian F. Finlay. Sonorum Speculum, no. 35 (Summer 1968): 1-12. In English and German.

A brief survey of the history of borrowing starts from borrowing as an everyday method of composing in the sixteenth century to transcriptions and arrangement of the sixteenth century up to Ives and Stravinsky. Both Ives and Stravinsky are the key composers for the output of Louis Andriessen, the latter for some time, the former for a relatively short time. A discussion of Andriessen's Anachrony I to the memory of Ives and Contra Tempus notes the simultaneous use of different musical languages, orchestral clichés, and hidden quotations and notes Stravinsky's influence in the borrowings from different periods. Despite quotations, Andriessen's works are original, for he orders and processes all the materials in a creative way. A brief discussion of Peter Schat's On Escalation notes the uses of specific quotations, stylistic quotations, and counterfeit stylistic quotations.

Works: Andriessen: Anachrony I (7), Contra Tempus (9); Hindemith: Der Schwanendreher (5); Ives: Concord Sonata (4); Ravel: Bolero (8); Rossini: Le Comte Ory (4), Andremo a Parigi (4); Schat: On Escalation (11).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Wanninger, Forrest Irving. "Dies Irae: Its Use in Non-Liturgical Music from the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century." Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1962.

The Dies Irae, a rhymed sequence, was probably written by Thomas of Celano in the thirteenth century. Accepted as part of the Requiem Mass early in the fourteenth century, it was significant in early polyphonic settings of the Requiem. The words continued to be important in later Requiem settings, but the melody found its way into secular music from the beginning of the nineteenth century and with universal appeal, attained a character far removed from its original place in the church service. Background information on each composer and discussions of his usage of the Dies Irae are provided for the following works:

Works: Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Liszt: Totentanz; Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre; Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death; Rachmaninoff: [??]; Honegger: La Danse des Morts, Chausson: Printemps triste; Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel; Respighi: Impressioni brasiliane; Vaughan Williams: Tudor Portraits, Schelling: A Victory Ball; Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 6; Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 3; Mahler: Symphony No. 2.

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Woodard, Susan Jeanne. "The Dies Irae as used by Sergei Rachmaninoff: Some Sources, Antecedents, and Applications." D.M.A. diss., Ohio State University, 1984.

Rachmaninoff's frequent usage of the liturgical chant Dies Irae can be categorized as single appearances, textual devices, and transformations. Rachmaninoff was influenced by Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Liszt's Totentanz, and Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, works containing the Dies Irae which he had performed as pianist and conductor. The origins and early development of the chant and settings of the text alone are also traced, noting the important transition of its context from sacred to secular and its literary history. The following works are discussed in detail:

Works: Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead, The Bells, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Piano Sonatas No. 1, Piano Sonatas No. 2, Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 3, and several short piano pieces.

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Yasser, Joseph. "Dies Irae: The Famous Medieval Chant." Musical Courier (6 October 1927): 6, 39.

One main reason for the Dies Irae sequence's acquired fame as a leitmotif of death is its "catchy" and easily recognizable melody. Brief discussions of works using the chant note the setting and models. The polyphonic treatment illustrated by Asola and Pitoni's Requiems is traced in Liszt's Totentanz. The dance-like rhythmic treatment in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique is applied by Saint-Saëns in his Danse Macabre. Tchaikovsky, the first Russian composer to use the Dies Irae, uses a contrapuntal device, applied before in Totentanz and later in Rachmaninoff's Toteninsel. Other works mentioned are Glazunov's Moyen Age, Miaskovsky's Sixth Symphony, Schelling's Impressions from an Artist's Life, Loeffler's Ode for One Who Fell in Battle, and Simond's unpublished Elaboration for organ.

Works: Asola: Requiem (6); Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (6); Glazunov: Moyen Age, Op. 79 (6); Liszt: Totentanz (6); Loeffler: Ode for One Who Fell in Battle (39); Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 6 (6); Pitoni: Requiem (6); Rachmaninoff: Toteninsel (6); Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (6); Schelling: Impressions from an Artist's Life (39); Simonds: Elaboration of Dies Irae for Organ (unpublished) (39); Tchaikovsky Modern Greek Song, Op. 16, No. 6 (In Dark Hell).

Index Classifications: 1500s, 1700s, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang

[+] Young, Percy M. "Works Based in the Theme BACH." Appendix 2 in The Bachs: 1500-1850. London: J. M. Dent &Sons Ltd., 1970.

An appendix of 21 works based on B-A-C-H.

Works: Albrechtsberger: Fugue for Organ; J. C. Bach: Fugue für das Pianoforte oder die Orgel komponiert von Christian Bach uber die Buchstaben seines Namens; J. S. Bach: Contrapunctus XI and XIX from Die Kunst der Fuge; Fantasy and Fugue (formerly attributed to J. S. Bach [??]); Berblan: Chaconne on Bach, Op. 10; Beethoven: Sketches for an Overture on BACH; Bellermann: Prelude and Fugue on BACH for Organ, Op. 8; Bräutigam: Johann Sebastian Bach; Casella: Two Ricercari on the Name BACH, Op. 46; Eisler: Prelude and Fugue on BACH (study on a twelve-tone row), Op. 46; D'Indy: "Beuron," No. 11 from Tableaux de voyage, Op. 33; Karg-Elert: "Basso Ostinato" from Madrigale, 10 schlichte Weisen, Passacaglia and Fugue on BACH, Op. 150; Krebs: Fugue on BACH for Organ; Liszt: Phantasy and Fugue on BACH for Organ; Pepping: Three Fugues on BACH for Piano; Reger: Phantasy and Fugue for Organ on BACH, Op. 46; Rimsky-Korsakov: Fugue, Op. 17, No. 6; Schumann: Six Fugues on the Name BACH for Organ or Piano with Pedal; Sorge: Three Fugues; Wellesz: Partita in honorem J.S. Bach 1965.

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Jean Pang



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