A Poetic Synthesis and Theoretical Analysis of Thomas Ades' Five Eliot Landscapes

Abstract

In the short span of his career, Thomas Ades has made significant contributions to classical music. Despite his extraordinary compositional output, awards and international recognition, very little serious study exists about Ades' work. This document is intended to fill a deficiency within the existing body of critical research, as well as to aid future performers and Ades scholars in the understanding of Five Eliot Landscapes, Opus 1. In addition to presenting a theoretical analysis of Five Eliot Landscapes, this document discusses how Ades utilizes T.S. Eliot's poetic cycle Landscapes as a springboard for a series of compositional etudes, in which he develops and explores five main concepts and techniques. Specifically, Ades uses interval cycles, Nancarrow tempo canons, musical homages to Olivier Messiaen and Gyorgy Kurtag, musical quotations and the creation of a distinct compositional signature scale. The development and permutation of these concepts have helped to establish the foundation of Ades' compositional style. To complement the theoretical analysis, this document presents a poetic synthesis of the written literature on Eliot's Landscapes and addresses musical correlations to the text. A biographical description of Ades' compositional output as well as a general overview of Eliot's Landscapes is also presented.