Douglas Justin Haase Graduate Recital

This graduate project provides extensive program notes for a graduate-level vocal recital provided by this author in 2022, which examines the different archetypes of love, as theorized by John Alan Lee's 1977 book The Colors of Love. The solo vocal works presented herein by Gaetano Donizetti, Gabriel Fauré, Erich W. Korngold, Benjamin Britten, Stephen Sondheim, and Barry Manilow provide a variety of male perspectives varying in age, nationality, and musical time period. Each selection of repertoire is examined to determine the appropriate love typologies used, based on the historical context of each composer, the compositional background, theoretical composition or musical devices, and perceived characteristics of each singer-character. Selections by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) and Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) provide variance of nationality, Donizetti being Italian and Fauré French, and male perspective from the 19th century. Erich Korngold (1897-1957) also provides national variance by being Austrian-born and eventually composing for Hollywood films. His set of songs also provides another variance in that they were composed in his pubescent years, unlike Donizetti and Fauré's pieces which come from their more mature years. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), and Barry Manilow (1943-present) all lived homosexual lifestyles, which brings a different and invaluable perspective of musical writing from a creative stance where the composers have little to no sexual interest in the opposite sex. Britten, unlike Sondheim and Manilow, was an English composer and his work examined here emerged in his later years, a time when he focused on the close of his life and not the early years of a budding romance. Sondheim and Manilow help in bridging the gap not only in the years between Britten's composition and today but also in the classical genre of music with commercial music for contemporary audiences. All songs in performance can be greatly enriched by understanding the context for which songs are written, the historical background of the composers, and the compositional techniques used when writing the piece. Love songs require an additional layer. The conclusion herein presents a spectrum of love typologies and combinations to study and understand the different love typologies so artists can incorporate these ideologies into performance, which can enrich the interpretation of the music.