Thesis Chapters by Benjamin P Skoronski
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Fred Fox School of Music in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Music in the Graduate College of the University of Arizona, 2021
A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Ro... more A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Rous has until now only gained the occasional cursory mention in an index or appendix. In particular, previous scholarship has all but completely overlooked the contributions of Rous as a figure linked to the music appreciation movement, evidenced mainly through her career-defining lecture-recital “What Next in Music?” This program focused on modernist European piano repertoire and was the centerpiece of Rous’ New York debut at Aeolian Hall in January of 1924. Inaugurated in 1916 when Rous was a faculty member at the Peabody Institute, “What Next in Music?” first garnered national attention at Rous’ presentation at the 1919 Biennial Convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs in Peterborough, NH, a success that earned her national renown and years of nationwide touring. From that point onwards, Rous’ lecture recital elicited responses and reviews from many of the most prominent musical minds in America during the first two decades of the twentieth century, including Harvey Gaul, George Pullen Jackson, and W. J. Henderson.
This study traces for the first time the history, reception, and development of “What Next in Music?” from these early manifestations through to Rous’ 1924 New York debut at Aeolian Hall and to the lecture’s retirement in 1927. These years demonstrate the manifestations of a lecture recital that brought the analytical yet approachable presentation of modernism to a wide populist audience. Rous emerges as a case study in the unlikely intersection of modernism and the music appreciation movement, thus adding to our understanding of an intersection later witnessed more prominently in the work of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Furthermore, this study unearths for the first time the career of a hitherto neglected figure of twentieth-century modernism and American musical life.
Conference Presentations by Benjamin P Skoronski
International Musicological Society, 2022
Scholarship’s understanding of the American reception of Arnold Schoenberg is grounded in the bel... more Scholarship’s understanding of the American reception of Arnold Schoenberg is grounded in the belief that American audiences read about his compositions long before they ever heard them in the United States. Several performances have been cited as Schoenberg’s American premiere, the earliest being the 1913 song recitals by Reinald Werrenrath. Schoenberg’s early music, however, had been heard in the United States well in advance of this recital series, as well as the European reviews that supposedly served as his introduction to the American press. This paper examines for the first time the November 9, 1911, New York premiere of Schoenberg’s “Waldsonne” from Vier Lieder, op. 2, sung by Alma Gluck as part of her yearly song recital at Carnegie Hall. This performance not only currently stands as the first performance of Schoenberg’s music in the United States, but it is also intimately related to Gustav Mahler’s death in January of the same year. Gluck first became aware of the young Austrian composer through Mahler, and her programming of Schoenberg’s song served as an epitaph to the late conductor. Mahler’s death functions as a means of uniting Gluck and Schoenberg through grief, a bond rendered stronger by their shared Jewish heritage. This study forces us to reevaluate our understanding of the early American reception of Schoenberg, as well as the chronology of the transatlantic premieres of his compositions. Furthermore, in uncovering the history behind this premiere, this paper engages with broader questions of Jewish identity, transatlantic reception, and the expression of mourning.
Society for American Music , 2022
A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Ro... more A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Rous has until now only gained the occasional cursory mention in an index or appendix. In particular, previous scholarship has overlooked the contributions of Rous as a figure linked to the music appreciation movement, evidenced mainly through her career-defining lecture recital “What Next in Music?” Heralded as a trailblazing undertaking by the likes of Harvey Gaul and W. J. Henderson, “What Next in Music?” served as the centerpiece of Rous’ national debut in July of 1919 as well as her New York debut in January of 1924. This program focused on modernist piano repertoire, ranging from the atonality of Schoenberg to music such as ragtime and blues. Paradoxically, Rous sought to present such music through the normatively white and traditionalist lens of the music appreciation movement, blending such diverse ideologies as the avant-garde, populism, and occultism. This article traces for the first time the history, content, and reception of “What Next in Music?” as well as its intended goal of bringing the analytical yet approachable presentation of modernism to a wide populist audience. Rous emerges as a case study in the unlikely middlebrow intersection of modernism and the music appreciation movement, adding to our understanding of an intersection later witnessed more prominently in the work of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Furthermore, this study unearths for the first time the career of a hitherto neglected figure of twentieth-century modernism and American musical life.
Rocky Mountain Music Scholars Conference, 2021
A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Ro... more A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Rous has until now only garnered cursory attention. In particular, previous scholarship has all but completely overlooked the contributions of Marion Rous as a figure linked to the music appreciation movement, evidenced mainly through her career-defining lecture-recital “What Next in Music?” This program focused on modernist European piano repertoire and was the centerpiece of Rous’ New York debut at Aeolian Hall in January of 1924. But this was far from the first time that she had presented this lecture recital; it first took place in 1916 when Rous was a professor at the Peabody Conservatory.
This study traces for the first time the development of “What Next in Music?” from this early manifestation through Rous’ career-defining presentation at the 1919 Biennial Convention of the National
Federation of Music Clubs in Peterborough, NH, a success that earned Rous national renown and years of nationwide touring. These four years demonstrate the early manifestations of a lecture recital that brought
the analytical yet approachable presentation of modernism to a wide populist audience. Rous emerges as a case study in the unlikely intersection of modernism and the music appreciation movement, thus adding to our understanding of an intersection later witnessed more prominently in the work of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Furthermore, in doing so this study unearths for the first time the career of a hitherto neglected figure of twentieth century modernism and American musical life.
American Musicological Society Southern Chapter , 2021
There is no substantial body of research studying the tripartite fugal organization outlined by J... more There is no substantial body of research studying the tripartite fugal organization outlined by Johann Josef Fux in his Gradus ad Parnassum of 1725. Previous scholarship has questioned the applicability of this model to fugues outside of the Gradus itself. Indeed, many scholars have made the specific point of arguing that this tripartite organization is inapplicable to the works of J. S. Bach, das wohltemperierte Clavier in particular. In this paper I demonstrate how individual fugues from das wohltemperierte Clavier do indeed follow this form, and analyze Fugue no. 11 in F Major, BWV 856 (1722) as a case study. Tracing the development of the Fuxian model back to Gallus Dressler’s Praecepta musicae poeticae of 1563, I
demonstrate how Bach’s BWV 856 brings this form to fruition three years before the publication of Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum of 1725, BWV 856 containing all of the necessary structural elements of exposition, counterexposition, and stretto outlined in the Gradus. This chronology forces us to reevaluate our understanding of Fux’s generally dismissed
theory of fugue; it liberates the Fuxian model from the realm of the theoretical hypothetical, the so-called “textbook fugue” of the fugue d’ecole, and contextualizes it within contemporary artistic practice. This analysis exhibits how rather than outlining an extinct tradition, Gradus ad
Parnassum was rather observing a compositional practice that was still evolving and manifesting itself even in the fugues of J. S. Bach.
Book Reviews by Benjamin P Skoronski
Twentieth Century Music, 2025
In a 1936 essay titled ‘Opera and the Negro Problem,’ W. E. B. Du Bois argued—perhaps counterintu... more In a 1936 essay titled ‘Opera and the Negro Problem,’ W. E. B. Du Bois argued—perhaps counterintuitively—that the elite artform of opera enjoyed a ‘vital connection’ to the everyday struggles of African Americans. He maintained that opera speaks to ‘Negro farm tenants in Arkansas’ and ‘Black college graduates searching New York for a job’ alike by virtue of its dramatization of human life. Opera also appears in Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, wherein the titular protagonist from ‘Of the Coming of John’ undergoes a transformative experience in a New York opera house whilst encountering the beauty and sophistication of Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin. Opera offered John a glimpse of a life ‘without the cringing and sickening servility, without the cruel hurt that hardened his heart and soul,’ a life which promised to raise him ‘out of the dirt and dust of that low life that held him prisoned and befouled.’ In the reality of the opera house, John is eventually expelled from his seat to accommodate a white man; in the unreality of the opera production, by contrast, the possibilities for Black life are limitless.
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Thesis Chapters by Benjamin P Skoronski
This study traces for the first time the history, reception, and development of “What Next in Music?” from these early manifestations through to Rous’ 1924 New York debut at Aeolian Hall and to the lecture’s retirement in 1927. These years demonstrate the manifestations of a lecture recital that brought the analytical yet approachable presentation of modernism to a wide populist audience. Rous emerges as a case study in the unlikely intersection of modernism and the music appreciation movement, thus adding to our understanding of an intersection later witnessed more prominently in the work of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Furthermore, this study unearths for the first time the career of a hitherto neglected figure of twentieth-century modernism and American musical life.
Conference Presentations by Benjamin P Skoronski
This study traces for the first time the development of “What Next in Music?” from this early manifestation through Rous’ career-defining presentation at the 1919 Biennial Convention of the National
Federation of Music Clubs in Peterborough, NH, a success that earned Rous national renown and years of nationwide touring. These four years demonstrate the early manifestations of a lecture recital that brought
the analytical yet approachable presentation of modernism to a wide populist audience. Rous emerges as a case study in the unlikely intersection of modernism and the music appreciation movement, thus adding to our understanding of an intersection later witnessed more prominently in the work of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Furthermore, in doing so this study unearths for the first time the career of a hitherto neglected figure of twentieth century modernism and American musical life.
demonstrate how Bach’s BWV 856 brings this form to fruition three years before the publication of Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum of 1725, BWV 856 containing all of the necessary structural elements of exposition, counterexposition, and stretto outlined in the Gradus. This chronology forces us to reevaluate our understanding of Fux’s generally dismissed
theory of fugue; it liberates the Fuxian model from the realm of the theoretical hypothetical, the so-called “textbook fugue” of the fugue d’ecole, and contextualizes it within contemporary artistic practice. This analysis exhibits how rather than outlining an extinct tradition, Gradus ad
Parnassum was rather observing a compositional practice that was still evolving and manifesting itself even in the fugues of J. S. Bach.
Book Reviews by Benjamin P Skoronski