The Trombone as Sacred Signifier in the Operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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dc.contributor.advisorSposato, Jeffrey S.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberDavis, Andrew
dc.contributor.committeeMemberMarmolejo, Noe
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKauk, Brian
dc.creatorDueppen, Timothy
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-14T06:03:09Z
dc.date.available2016-02-14T06:03:09Z
dc.date.createdDecember 2012
dc.date.issued2012-12
dc.date.updated2016-02-14T06:03:09Z
dc.description.abstractThe trombone was understood during the eighteenth century and earlier in Germany as an instrument with important sacred significance. This association developed because of its appearance in German translations of the Bible by Martin Luther and Catholic theologians and its presence in encyclopedias and treatises of the period. This, along with the trombone’s vast use in church music of the period, helped it to be understood as an instrument of sacred significance by the German musical public. It was this social understanding of the sacerdotal qualities of the trombone that propelled Mozart to use the instrument in his operas Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberflöte to enhance some of the most important sacred elements of each work. The trombone’s use by German composers in opera began with Gluck, who used the instrument mainly to double the voices of the choir and other instruments. Mozart, however, used the trombone in more innovative ways, which included borrowing compositional ideas from German church music (including his own) and incorporating them into his operatic use of the instrument. Mozart used the trombone to enhance certain moments of drama within Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberflöte with specific harmonic treatment of sacerdotal sections of the text, certain dynamic and expression markings, and an emphasis on creating moments of tension and release through the harmonies used. These, along with the trombone’s understood sacred significance, aurally aided the audience in associating the moments the instrument was used in each opera as having spiritual implications in the drama.
dc.description.departmentMusic, Moores School of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10657/1178
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectBach
dc.subjectJoseph I
dc.subjectMozart, Leopold
dc.subjectReutter
dc.subjectShofar
dc.subjectSalpignx
dc.subjectPosaune
dc.subjectTrumpet
dc.subjectMason
dc.subjectTrombone
dc.subjectOpera
dc.subjectMozart
dc.subjectBrass
dc.subjectMusic
dc.subjectEnlightenment
dc.subjectLuther
dc.subjectCatholicism
dc.subjectFreemasonry
dc.subjectSacred music
dc.subjectTreatises
dc.subjectBible
dc.subjectIdomeneo
dc.subjectThe Magic Flute
dc.subjectGiovanni, Don
dc.subjectBeethoven
dc.subjectBrahms
dc.subjectWagner
dc.subjectDoles
dc.subjectHiller
dc.titleThe Trombone as Sacred Signifier in the Operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
thesis.degree.departmentMusic, Moores School of
thesis.degree.disciplineMusic
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Musical Arts

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