A Layered Framework for Intertextuality: Ophelia in Shostakovich’s "Seven Romances"

Presenter(s)

Elliott Sisterman

Abstract or Description

This project introduces a layered approach for analyzing intertextuality within the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, addressing a notable gap in scholarship. While intertextuality has been rooted within literary theory, its application to music remains limited, mainly focusing on quotations or stylistic borrowings. The proposed method examines intertextuality across five layers—texture, pitch, text, quotations, and meter—each comprised of analytical domains and guided by targeted questions. This framework can be applied to the first movement of Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok, revealing how Ophelia’s character acquires depth beyond Shakespeare’s original portrayal. Pitch and metric tensions between soprano and cello intertwine with tonal ambiguity and metric dissonance to underscore Shostakovich’s intertextual practice. This approach offers a multidimensional framework to understand the complex interplay between music and literary references in twentieth-century music.

Mentor

Dr. Miriam Webber