| dc.description.abstract | The Rake’s Progress (1951) is a well-known satirical opera in three acts with an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), with a libretto written by Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973) and Chester Kallman (1921-1975). This opera is based on William Hogarth’s (1697-1764) series of eight paintings, A Rake’s Progress (1734), which inspired Stravinsky during his visit to the Art Institute of Chicago on May 2, 1947. Even though many scholars have conducted discussions on the opera itself, there is little scholarship on the influence of Hogarth’s paintings on Stravinsky’s opera. This dissertation considers how Stravinsky, Auden, and Kallman translated Hogarth’s series of satirical paintings into a period opera to which audiences in the mid-twentieth century could relate. As I am a collaborative pianist that works extensively with singers and opera projects, I aim for this document to be helpful as a guide for singers, vocal coaches, or other interested individuals who wish to have a fresh perspective on this opera.
I have divided this dissertation into three parts. In the first part of my disquisition, I investigate Stravinsky’s motivation to write this opera by researching the societal culture, in both early-eighteenth-century London and the mid-twentieth-century United States. In the second part of this paper, I track the collaborators' creative decisions in altering the opera's narrative. I review the libretto of the opera and the iconography of Hogarth’s series of paintings which consists of religious and cultural symbols reflecting Hogarth’s perspective on morality during his time. I also consult modern scholarships in interpreting the narrative and proceed to establish the relationship between the libretto and Hogarth’s paintings. In the third part of this dissertation, I critically analyze selected arias of the opera to investigate how Stravinsky employs neoclassicism in bringing the libretto to life in the music.
Ultimately, this dissertation provides a fresh perspective on Stravinsky’s opera by giving a better understanding of Hogarth’s views on morality and culture in eighteenth-century London through his series of engravings as well as how Stravinsky, Auden, and Kallman translated Hogarth’s intentions for their own purposes in this opera, The Rake’s Progress. | en_US |
