Text/music relations in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of travel: an interpretive guide

Abstract

Preparation of art song for performance requires intensive collaborative effort by both the singer and the pianist. This preparation should include a thorough study of the text as well as the music. The relationship between the composer’s music and the poet’s words is the key to discovering the interpretive intentions of the composer, as well as making informed musical decisions regarding the performance of the work. Songs of Travel for baritone and piano, composed in 1904 by Ralph Vaughan Williams on poems of Robert Louis Stevenson, is an example of song cycle, a set of art songs that are connected musically, textually, or both. The songs were intended by the composer to be performed as a unit. The texts were chosen by the composer from a larger collection of poems of the same title, and were arranged in a particular order that suggests a chronology of events in the life of the protagonist. This particular song cycle employs recurring musical ideas while maintaining the independence of each piece. The story is told by a narrator, represented by the baritone, who has abandoned civilized society in favor of a life of wandering. His development as a person, and the effect the events of each song has upon his personal journey, are reflected through the use of returning musical themes, specific harmonic devices, and other compositional tools with which Vaughan Williams suggests dramatic direction. This research paper focuses on an analysis of text/music relations in each of the nine Songs of Travel. Specific musical ideas have been highlighted, possible connections between these figures and the poetry have been explored, and a dramatic progression of the story has been extrapolated. The end of each chapter presents interpretive suggestions for performance based upon those findings