Abstract

L'Imagination de Lenore is a song cycle in six movements based on the play LenORE, written by my good friend Carolyn Fado as part of her Senior Independent Study at The College of Wooster in Ohio. Her play, in turn, is based on the works of Charles Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe. LenORE is a play of dualities - ”English and French, film and theatre, past and present, reality and imagination ”that are mixed together and confused as the play progresses. The title character, Lenore, gradually becomes the slave of her own imagination, which is personified by the male character Jean Transsen. LenORE also criticizes misogyny in literature, suggesting that Baudelaire and Poe "kill" their young female characters in order to create the highest form of beauty. Fado's play ends ambiguously, leaving the spectator to decide whether or not Lenore survives the oppression of her own imagination. I have tried to capture the essential elements of Fado's play in my song cycle. The six movements are based on crucial moments of the play and outline Lenore's dangerous passage into her imagination. I have included translations for the French texts where cognates may not be readily available. The italicized quotations that follow the title of each movement are taken directly from Fado's script and are meant to help develop the story of the play. They should be read aloud by the indicated vocalist -the soprano is Lenore, and the baritone is Jean Transsen - before the performance of each movement.

Advisor

Gallagher, Jack

Department

Music

Disciplines

Composition

Keywords

music score, charles baudelaire, edgar allan poe

Publication Date

2013

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Music

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2013 Cara Haxo