Puccini's Women

This book explores the postmodernist aspects of
Puccini s operas and focuses on his female
protagonists Mimì, Musetta, Tosca, Butterfly,
Turandot and Liù. Combining a Schenkerian analysis
with dualism, I present their complementary dialogue
in my analysis. Mimì focuses on the subdominant to
present her futile attempts to escape from death. The
subdominant in Musetta displays her attractiveness.
Tosca concentrates on the submediant that presents
the boundary of her world. Floria Tosca can do no
harm to anyone. Yet, the diva will act out through
the device of deceptive motion killing Scarpia.
Butterfly is both an insider and outsider in her
life. The Japanese Ying and Yang system portrays that
she can never abandon her inherent Japanese identity.
Turandot explores Western tonality as it is
interwoven with the Chinese pentatonic system and
demonstrates how Turnadot is possessed by Lo-u-Ling.
Liù s sacrifice is prefigured through
pseudo-pentatonic writing. The book concludes with an
examination of Puccini's overall harmonic evolution,
showing how weakened hierarchic relationships in the
music of these six female characters allows exotic
borrowings to be subsumed in a tonal framework.

Autorentext

Ph. D in Music Theory from Florida StateUniversity. She has taught Piano at Columbia Univ., tutoredmusic theory at City College, CUNY and taught Music Theory atFSU. Dr. Cheng has presented her research at several conferencesincluding MTSE and WCCMTA. Matthew Shaftel,Ph. D from Yale, is on the faculty of Music atFlorida State University.

Klappentext

This book explores the postmodernist aspects ofPuccini's operas and focuses on his femaleprotagonists-Mimì, Musetta, Tosca, Butterfly,Turandot and Liù. Combining a Schenkerian analysiswith dualism, I present their complementary dialoguein my analysis. Mimì focuses on the subdominant topresent her futile attempts to escape from death. Thesubdominant in Musetta displays her attractiveness.Tosca concentrates on the submediant that presentsthe boundary of her world. Floria Tosca can do noharm to anyone. Yet, the diva will act out throughthe device of deceptive motion killing Scarpia.Butterfly is both an insider and outsider in herlife. The Japanese Ying and Yang system portrays thatshe can never abandon her inherent Japanese identity.Turandot explores Western tonality as it isinterwoven with the Chinese pentatonic system anddemonstrates how Turnadot is possessed by Lo-u-Ling.Liù's sacrifice is prefigured throughpseudo-pentatonic writing. The book concludes with anexamination of Puccini's overall harmonic evolution,showing how weakened hierarchic relationships in themusic of these six female characters allows exoticborrowings to be subsumed in a tonal framework.