Musical Borrowing
An Annotated Bibliography

Contributions by Keith Clifton

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[+] Halbreich, Harry. Arthur Honegger. Translated by Roger Nichols. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1999.

Despite his highly individualistic style of composition, Honegger frequently borrowed music or musical gestures from several composers, with J.S. Bach chief among them. The book includes commentary regarding Honegger’s use of music by Bach, Campra, Debussy, Fauré, and Roussel.

Works: Honegger: Hommage à Albert Roussel (243), String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor (253), Toccata and Variations for Piano (365-66), Toccata on a Theme of Campra (365-66), Suite after J.S. Bach (383-84), Prelude and Fugue in C Minor (384), La Danse des Morts (434-35), Les Noces d’Amour (479).

Sources: Fauré: Theme and Variations, Op. 73 (239); Albert Roussel: Le festin de l’araignée, Op. 17 (243), Piano Concerto, Op. 36 (243); Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (253); André Campra: Camille (365); Johann Sebastian Bach: English Suites (383-84), Prelude and Fugue for Organ, BWV 545 (384), St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (437).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Keith Clifton

[+] Harwood, Gregory. “Musical and Literary Satire in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges.” The Opera Journal 29, no. 1 (March 1996): 2-16.

Discusses the use of satirical elements in Ravel’s second and final opera. Suggests correspondences between the opera and specific borrowed works, including Massenet’s Manon, Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol, and self-borrowing from La Valse, Valses nobles et sentimentales, and the Sonata for Violin and Cello.

Works: Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges.

Sources: Massenet: Manon (3, 6); Stravinsky: Le Rossignol (3, 6); Ravel: La Valse (3, 11-12), Valses nobles et sentimentales (3, 11), Sonata for Violin and Cello (3, 12).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Keith Clifton

[+] Orenstein, Arbie. “Some Unpublished Music and Letters by Maurice Ravel.” The Music Forum 3 (1973): 291-334.

Provides insight into Ravel’s elusive creative process by discussing his usage of works by other composers as well as self-borrowing. Reveals that the “Habañera” from Rapsodie espagnole is derived from the early piano set Sites auriculaires, and that sections of L’Enfant et les sortilèges are derived from the unfinished opera La Cloche engloutie. Additionally, Ravel used a movement by François Couperin as model for the “Forlane” movement from Le Tombeau de Couperin. The article includes extensive facsimiles of autograph scores.

Works: Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole (296), L’Enfant et les sortilèges (321-22), Le Tombeau de Couperin (328-29).

Sources: Ravel: Sites auriculaires (296-99), La Cloche engloutie (317-22); François Couperin: Concerts royaux (328-29).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Keith Clifton

[+] Perloff, Nancy. Art and the Everyday: Popular Entertainment and the Circle of Erik Satie. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

An extensive study of the infusion of popular elements into fin-de-siècle French music, showing how Satie and Les Six “adopted principles of parody, diversity and simultaneity from the cabaret, circus, fair, and music-hall, thus breaking down traditional divisions separating popular and classical forms of creative expression.” Appraises Satie’s appropriation of elements from Stravinsky’s music. Extensive discussion of musical borrowing in Parade, especially Irving Berlin’s That Mysterious Rag.

Works: Satie: Parade (112-52), Enfantillages pittoresques (169); Poulenc: “Le Dauphin” from Le Bestiaire (169), Mouvements perpétueles (170).

Sources: Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (118, 122), “The Jackdaw” from Three Little Songs: Recollections of My Childhood (169-70); Irving Berlin: That Mysterious Rag (132-43).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Keith Clifton

[+] Pistone, Danièle. “Emmanuel Chabrier, Opera Composer.” The Opera Quarterly 12, no. 3 (Spring 1996): 17-25.

Considers the origin, reception and influences on Chabrier’s numerous operas, works eclipsed today by his keyboard and orchestral works. Extensive information on Chabrier’s obsession with Wagner, including the influence of specific Wagnerian operas on a wide variety of Chabrier compositions.

Works: Chabrier: L’étoile (17-19), Gwendoline (18-20), Pièces posthumes (19), Prélude pastoral (19), Souvenirs de Munich (19).

Sources: Wagner: Lohengrin (19), Der Ring des Nibelungen (19), Tannhäuser (19), Tristan und Isolde (19), Der Fliegende Holländer (20).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Keith Clifton



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