Degree Name
Master of Music (MM)
Semester of Degree Completion
2002
Thesis Director
Peter Hesterman
Abstract
This is the analysis portion of my thesis The Snow Queen, an opera based on an 1845 story by Hans Christian Andersen. This analysis examines the opera from a structural standpoint and focuses on the harmonic language, the functions of melodic and rhythmic motives in the opera, and the relationship between the original story and its adaptation as an opera.
In addition to the structural analysis I include a discussion of literary and philosophical elements connected with the opera and elaborate on the incorporation of material from Norse mythology, contemporary Finnish poetry, and the work of the 19th-century naturalist Richard Jefferies into the opera.
In order to show some of the influences that helped me adapt the story into an opera, and to show the relationship of this opera to other contemporary operas, I compare elements and ideas in The Snow Queen to elements and ideas in selected operas by Stravinsky, Puccini, Britten, and Berg.
In the appendices I have included the libretto, descriptions of characters in the opera, and a set of guidelines for set design, action, and dance.
Recommended Citation
Fine, Elaine, "The Snow Queen: An Opera in Three Acts Based on a Story by Hans Christian Andersen" (2002). Masters Theses. 1421.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/1421
