Functions of Quotations in Steven Stucky's Oratorio August 4, 1964 and Their Placements within the Context of a Quotation Continuum: Cultural, Commentary, Remembrance, and Unity Page: IX
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these two storylines and their respective characters with dramatic contrasts in musical material,
orchestration, and tempos to set them apart.'
To begin writing August 4, 1964, Stucky turned to "O Vos Omnes," an a cappella motet
he wrote in 2005. Stucky transforms "O Vos Omnes" into an instrumental movement, "Elegy,"
through orchestration and a few minor additions, placing this large-scale borrowing "midway"
(movement 7) through the twelve movement oratorio "to break up the pacing with an orchestral
movement" says Stucky.vi The descending half-step motive is part of a long historical tradition
of lament, descending half-steps frequently occurring in the form of a ground bass or passacaglia
in many Baroque works to depict topics such as sadness and loss as seen in, for example, the
ending of Henry Purcell's well-known aria "When I am laid in earth" from Dido and Aeneas and
J.S. Bach's "Crucifixus." This half-step motive that characterizes the beginning and end of
"Elegy" pervades the entire oratorio and is found in many different permutations, thus
contributing to motivic unity despite the surface dissimilarity in the music between the two
storylines.vii' This half-step motive (from "O Vos Omnes" initially) could perhaps even be
considered a quotation, a motivic quotation if you will, appearing at several levels of aural
recognizability throughout the oratorio. In chapter 1, I place these motivic quotations along an
imaginary quotation continuum where the most "obvious/literal" quotations are found to the far
left, "elusive" quotations in the middle and "allusive" quotations located to the far right (which I
v The composer paints from a wide and varied musical palette throughout the oratorio, including but not
limited to tertian sonorities with non-functional root movements, hints of functional harmony, quintal harmonies,
whole-tone references reminiscent of Debussy and Alban Berg's Violin Concerto, and melodic moments derived
from the octatonic collection as well.
" Shulman, 30. The differences between the a cappella version of"O Vos Omnes" and "Elegy" are few,
but include an added introduction (not present in "O Vos Omnes"), full orchestration for "Elegy," and a few
insertions (an "insertion" is additional musical material "inserted" into the music without changing the basic form or
structure, such as the immediate repetition of all or part of a phrase).
vii The use of thirds (major and minor) is also prevalent throughout, both harmonically and melodically.ix
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Davenport, Jennifer Tish. Functions of Quotations in Steven Stucky's Oratorio August 4, 1964 and Their Placements within the Context of a Quotation Continuum: Cultural, Commentary, Remembrance, and Unity, thesis, May 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67973/m1/10/: accessed May 14, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .