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Abstract
This dissertation examines approximately two hundred musical dialogues composed in seventeenth-century England to determine their importance in the development of dramatic music. The definition of dialogue as a genre in which two or more characters alternate different texts for at least some of the time distinguishes it from duet. Dialogue, therefore, has the potential for being a dramatic musical form. By means of strict musical and textual analysis, the study shows that some, if not all, dialogues display the characteristics of musical drama.
Chapter 1 discusses the terms "dialogue" and "drama" and investigates the traits of the tuneful and declamatory styles employed by English composers of the seventeenth century. Chapter 2 examines subject matter and structure of the texts to dialogues. A history of the musical dialogue is organized in the following manner: 1600-1630 (Chapter 3), 1630-1645 (Chapter 4), 1645-1660 (Chapter 5), 1660-1700 (Chapter 6), and Henry Purcell (Chapter 7). Each of these historical chapters discusses the following: (1) the context of dialogues within the composers's lives and careers, (2) the function of dialogues as separate works or within large-scale productions, (3) the printed and manuscript sources for dialogues, (4) the musical structures, with an emphasis on the standard dialogue-chorus format and its variants, (5) further rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic elements of tuneful and declamatory vocal styles, (6) word-painting and word-intensification techniques found in dialogues, and (7) two representative works of the period which, when fully analyzed, illustrate the dramatic traits of the genre.
Chapter 8 compares the dialogue genre to important dialogue scenes in large-scale dramatic works of the same period, including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. The conclusions prove that for too long the dialogue has been neglected in discussions of English vocal music and that the genre is a strong manifestation of the developing operatic traditions of the age.
