Gothic Motives in The Confessions of a Justified Sinner by Thomas Wilson
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Abstract
The article is devoted to research of the opera The Confessions of a Justified Sinner by Scottish composer
Thomas Wilson (1927–2001). The connections between the opera and its primary literary source – the gothic novel
of Scottish poet James Hogg – are revealed. The author dwells upon the composer’s aesthetic views, highlighting
the special influence on it of the Expressionist composers, in particular, of Alban Berg. As an important step towards
the formation of Thomas Wilson’s operatic aesthetics, his opera The Charcoal Burner, preceding the Confessions
is highlighted, and a short overview of it is given. In the research materials from the composer’s personal archive
have been used.
The author turns to the sources of the gothic genre, as well as to the particular features of the gothic novel. On the
basis of works of English literary critics, the chief traits of the genre are summarized with the emphasis on those which
have found the brightest reflection in the opera’s dramaturgical and compositional planes. Bringing out the parallels
between the characteristic gothic features of Hogg’s novel and their musical manifestation makes it possible to come
up with the conclusion about the special impact of the literary source on the opera, predetermining its musical image
from the gloomy atmosphere to the intonational features of the protagonists.
Keywords: Thomas Wilson, James Hogg, Scottish opera, gothic novel.
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References
2. Bowen J. Gothic Motifs. URL: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gothic-motifs (10.11.2017).
3. Currie J. The Confessions of a Justified Sinner: A Neglected Masterpiece Revisited. The Music of Thomas Wilson. Glasgow: Musica Scotica, 2004, pp. 17–32.
4. Currie J. The Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Unpublished libretto. Glasgow: Personal archive of Margaret Wilson.
5. Hair G. Introduction. The Music of Thomas Wilson. Glasgow: Musica Scotica, 2004, pp. 1–5.
6. Larner G. Not Quite the Whole Hogg. Arts Guardian. June 15, 1978.
7. Wilson M., Griffith D. Thomas Wilson, Introit: Towards the Light, Glasgow: Queensgate Music, 2011. 340 p.