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and every day, and has long provided inspiration to the music we hear.
from different genres that have been inspired by the sea and other
things relating to sea life. It will also strive to discuss how some
techniques.
Symphonic Compositions
A Sea Symphony
symphony around the sea. This is why this symphony is also referred
to as the Sea Symphony. The first sketches for this work were made in
1903, and it was gradually worked on over the next seven years.1
this time.2 Vaughan Williams took this into account in his composition
of his symphony by adding a large chorus and two soli (baritone and
1
David Manning, Vaughan Williams on Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2008), 335.
2
Byron Adams, Vaughan Williams Essays (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing
Company, 2003), 92.
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or dramatic.3 The orchestra has an equal share with the chorus and
There are two main musical themes throughout the symphony. The
for the chorus are sung. The other theme centers around the melodic
phrase sung by the chorus: “and on its limitless heaving breast, the
on whose ‘limitless heaving breast’ the reckless soul sails forth for
reflecting the sea. He also wrote a one-act opera, Riders to the Sea,
La Mer
work entitled La Mer (French for “the sea”) in the summer of 1903
while staying with his in-laws in the country.8 Debussy had long been
infatuated with the sea.9 To Debussy, the sea was the mightiest and
3
Manning, VW on Music, 335.
4
Ibid, 335.
5
Ibid, 336.
6
Ibid, 335.
7
Adams, VW Essays, 55.
8
Simon Trezise, Debussy: La Mer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1994), ix.
9
Trezise, La Mer, 1.
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the sea, the outline of a horizon, the wind in the leaves, the
Debussy composed much of it away from the sea. In any case, Debussy
needless to say that the sea plays such an integral element in much of
his works.15
10
Simon Trezise, The Cambridge Companion to Debussy (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994), 108.
11
Trezise, La Mer, 2.
12
Ibid, 2.
13
Ibid, 1.
14
Ibid, 12.
15
Ibid, 12.
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is depicted above. You can see the violas and cellos playing
Operatic Compositions
The Flying Dutchman. The maritime subject was appropriate for Wagner.
Wagner, with his family, fled in 1839 from Riga, Latvia to London and
16
Trezise, La Mer, 77.
17
Michael Steen, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman: A Short Guide to a Great
Opera (Dublin: Original Writing Ltd., 2014), 2.
18
Steen, The Flying Dutchman, 2.
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major inspiration for his full poem Der fliegende Holländer, The
Flying Dutchman which was completed in May 1841 with the score
who has tried for seven years to end his life, but has failed. He is
condemned to the sea until the Day of Judgement, unless he can find a
wife. Senta falls in love with the Dutchman. However, Senta has a
until the Dutchman starts to leave for the sea, at which point Senta
rushes to the cliff top, pledges herself to the Dutchman and leaps
completed the score on December 28, 1879, only a day before the dress
19
Steen, The Flying Dutchman, 2.
20
Ibid, 3.
21
Ibid, 3.
22
Ibid, 5-6.
23
Alan James, The Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers: Gilbert &
Sullivan, (London: Omnibus Press, 1989), 77.
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rehearsal and two days before its opening.24 To make matters worse,
the time crunch was exacerbated by Sullivan leaving his original score
from memory.25 The first performance still took place in England at the
be quite frantic. The overture was not ready, there were no proper
costumes (only those from the previous opera), and the entire cast
performance, the following day, was much less frantic and received
grand successes.27
While not directly alluding the sea, the plot does involve
pirates. The opera is centered around a young man, Frederic, who had
and Ruth with bad news – since his birthday is February 29th, Leap Day,
debauchery, and the pirates go to seek revenge. Ruth saves the day by
revealing to the pirates that they are really just noblemen who have
gone astray. Frederic and the pirates are freed and can finally marry
24
James, Gilbert & Sullivan, 77.
25
Ibid, 77.
26
Ibid, 77.
27
Ibid, 77.
28
Ibid, 197.
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also composed a short, one-act opera around the sea entitled Riders to
libretto from J.M. Synge’s play of the same title.29 In this opera, the
story.31
indeterminate, likened to the ebbs and flows of the sea.32 The opening
of the entire opera begins with the orchestra depicting the sea in all
swells) and the rolling bass line (the tremolo in lower string
29
D. Hugh Ottaway, “Riders to the Sea,” The Musical Times 93, no. 1314
(1952), 358.
30
Ottaway, “Riders to the Sea,” 358.
31
Adams, VW Essays, 56.
32
Ottaway, “Riders to the Sea,” 359.
33
Adams, VW Essays, 61.
34
Ibid, 61.
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Vocal/Choral Compositions
Sea Pictures
Sir Edward Elgar composed a song cycle for soprano and orchestra
in 1899 entitled Sea Pictures. The cycle begins with ‘Sea Slumber
35
Adams, VW Essays, 61.
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undulating motion in the lower voices, like many other composers use,
morning.’39
the sea.
Conclusion
the sea has long been a source of inspiration. From Wagner’s The
(1932), the classical music world is filled with allusions to the sea.
the waves. The bass line has ominous sounds to demonstrate how brutal
36
Robert Anderson, Elgar (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 289.
37
Anderson, Elgar, 289.
38
Ibid, 290.
39
Ibid, 290.
40
Ibid, 290.
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the sea can be. The upper voices have fluttering moments that
demonstrate the chaotic nature of the sea. All in all, the voicings
tends to paint a wonderful picture of the sea. Operas and vocal works
genre.
Some may say that the sea is entrancing, and for some composers
that is the case. Debussy was one of these composers who was
entranced. The sheer beauty of the sea cannot be denied, and it has
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
James, Alan. The Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers: Gilbert &
Sullivan. London: Omnibus Press, 1989.
Ottaway, D. Hugh. “Riders to the Sea” The Musical Times 93, no. 1314
(1952): 358-360.
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