Music And Vocal Analysis Of Roger Quilter’s Art Songs

Roger Quilter(1877-1953)was a major British composer who worked mainly in the field of art song in the 20th century,composing more than a hundred art songs in his lifetime.Unlike other composers of his time who tried to depart from the trend of writing in primitive harmonies and tonalities,his music is usually short and delicate,with a strong romantic and elegant English style.Quilter also has a knack for drawing from the best poetry and drama of literary scholars and playwrights,which adds to the literary appeal of his art songs.This paper selects three of Quilter’s art songs based on Shakespeare’s plays written in the years after the First World War(1914-1918),Under the Greenwood Tree,It was a Lover and his Lass and Hey,ho,the Wind and the Rain as representative and analytical.The paper also incorporates a certain amount of knowledge of literature and linguistics,combining the analysis with the common features of these three art songs by the same dedicatee.The intention is to analyse the musical and lyrical language of the three art songs in detail,based on a knowledge of the composer and his creative nodes,the drama and poetry from which they are taken.It is also intended to serve the purpose of the author’s experience and insights gained in daily practice and concerts.The analysis of the English language,timbre emotion and vocal technique of the three art songs in this paper is targeted to make a positive and useful exploration for better singing of Quilter’s art song works.