Publication Date
11-2023
Document Type
Bibliography
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Lamont School of Music, Musicology and Ethnomusicology
Keywords
Choral music, Jake Runestad, Choral composition, Eric Whitacre
Abstract
Choral music has undergone a number of changes through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, thanks in part to technological advances that offered composers a wealth of music traditions from which to draw inspiration. This led to what some have called the “neoimpressionist” style of choral composition: a new approach that combines historical traditions such as impressionism and early polyphony with forward-thinking sonorities and harmonic progressions, as well as a strict focus on text. In defining this style, musicologists often turned to the works of Eric Whitacre, who is well-known for his text-driven pieces laden with clustered harmonies. In the nearly two decades since this type of scholarship began, a new generation of composers has entered the fray, and Jake Runestad is one of the best. Little academic analysis exists of his works, though he has exhibited similar tendencies to Whitacre in his compositional process. In this paper, I will use analysis of Whitacre’s works as a model to create a working definition of the Runestad style in relation to historical choral traditions.
Copyright Date
11-15-2023
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights Holder
Nora Cullinan
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
6 pgs
File Size
91.2 KB
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Recommended Citation
Cullinan, Nora, "What Defines a Runestad Work? The Evolution of Choral Music in the Twenty-First Century" (2023). Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship. 166.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/musicology_student/166