Demonic imagination: a study of keyboard arrangements based on Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable from the 1830s to the 1880s

Abstract

This thesis examines solo piano arrangements of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable from the 1830s to the 1880s. This grand opéra, as the most notable operatic success of the mid 19th century, prompted more than 100 composers to transcribe the themes from it throughout the rest of the century. Among these works, 56 arrangements were made for solo piano. In addition to the renowned virtuosi Franz Liszt, Sigismund Thalberg, Carl Czerny, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and Theodor Döhler, other arrangements for solo piano were written by composers who are lesser known today, including Ludwig Schuncke, Ferdinand Beyer, Félix Fourdrain, Sydney Smith, Joseph Ascher, and George Bull. However, this repertoire has barely been touched by the existing research on opera based works, with one notable exception being the brief examination of Liszt’s Réminiscences de Robert le diable given by Charles Suttoni (1973) and Kenneth Hamilton (1989).

The lack of awareness of the piano arrangements based on Robert le diable, in this context, results in an incomplete portrayal of 19th century Parisian musical life and a lack of understanding about the compositional characteristics of these lesser known composers. Thus, this thesis accounts for the lacuna surrounding the 19th century piano literature by reconsidering the harsh judgments that have been levelled against this repertoire. Moreover, it illuminates those lesser known virtuosi, including Ascher, Ludwig and Godefroid, instead of concentrating solely on better known virtuosi such as Liszt and Thalberg. Methodologically, I first collect the keyboard arrangements based on Robert le diable from the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the international online database IMSLP. Following this, in addition to adopting a two fold analytical approach in which each composer’s choice and treatment of thematic material is interrogated, I rethink this repertoire in terms of its translative, creative, and narrative dimensions. This is achieved by comparing the repertoire with translation theories, setting them in the compositional context of the keyboard fantaisie of the mid 19th century, and justifying their dramatic connotations by borrowing narrative elements from literary texts and the arguments surrounding narrativity in music given by Jean Jacques Nattiez, Michael Klein, and Douglas Seaton. In doing so, this thesis demonstrates how different composers reconceived Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable, bringing out diverse perceptions through the single medium of the piano.

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ORCID for David Owen Norris: orcid.org/0000-0001-6047-3529

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