Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Conversations with the Past: Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" as a Neo-Renaissance Opera

Kroger, Alexander

Abstract Details

2019, M.M., University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Music History.
This thesis examines Act I of Hans Pfitzner’s (1869-1949) seminal opera Palestrina (1916) and the ways in which the composer references and revives Renaissance style in this work. This project outlines the concept of a “neo-Renaissance” style by placing Pfitzner’s opera in the context of early twentieth-century Germany. Pfitzner’s musical training, particularly at the Hoch Conservatory, underscores the development of his anti-modernist polemics that continually appeared throughout his music. Contextualizing Pfitzner and Palestrina within the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich affords a better understanding of how his personal politics and anti-Semitic tendencies factored into his compositional style. Finally, this thesis examines reception of Palestrina, both during and after Pfitzner’s lifetime. Comparing reviews of the opera at two points in the twentieth century—the 1920s and 1990s—will help to demonstrate when Pfitzner enjoyed his greatest levels of popularity, and why this remained limited even at its height.
Stephen Meyer, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Jonathan Kregor, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Stephanie Schlagel, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
63 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kroger, A. (2019). Conversations with the Past: Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" as a Neo-Renaissance Opera [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554119570952662

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kroger, Alexander. Conversations with the Past: Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" as a Neo-Renaissance Opera. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554119570952662.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kroger, Alexander. "Conversations with the Past: Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" as a Neo-Renaissance Opera." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554119570952662

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)