The songs of Healey Willan : a stylistic overview

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dc.contributor.authorGreenhouse, Jeremyen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-13T22:56:23Z
dc.date.available2024-08-13T22:56:23Z
dc.date.copyright1993en_US
dc.date.issued1993
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Music
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThe composition of solo-song was a life-long pursuit for Healey Willan. It was the first genre in which he reached maturity as a composer and it was a form that remained dear to him. Willan's stylistic heritage as a song-writer was in the songs of the late Victorian composers in England. His initial work in this genre was based on the models of Parry, Stanford, Elgar, and Somervell. Willan's exposure in London to the latest symphonic masterpieces of the German masters, as well as his study of the music of Brahms with London pianist Evlyn Howard Jones, left a mark of increased chromaticism on his style. It also eliminated any remaining traces of the popular English drawing-room style. William's motivic use of the triplet and of the sixth scale degree became a hallmark of his style and remained so throughout his career. Willan's move to Canada in 1913 was brought about primarily by financial necessity, and he ever quite switched his allegiance from the mother country to his new home. His style of song composition also remained as it was in England and there is nothing uniquely Canadian about the many excellent songs that Willan wrote in this country. In Toronto, his attentions were monopolized by his work as an educator at the Conservatory, an organist and choirmaster at St. Mary Magdalene, and as a composer. In the latter role, he focused on symphonic and choral compositions, turning only occasionally to solo-song, although the songs he did write are of a very high quality. The Canadian songs fall into more distinct categories (dramatic, narrative, and sentimental) and in the dramatic category, Willan wrote some of his finest and most progressive songs. The six love songs from 1941 form a beautiful collection of songs which represent not only a return to a more conservative style but also a synthesis of previous styles.en
dc.format.extent165 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/17964
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleThe songs of Healey Willan : a stylistic overviewen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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