Dominick Argento’s I Hate and I Love: A Comprehensive Analysis for Conductors

Abstract

Dominick Argento was an American contemporary composer who achieved great fame as a composer of vocal music, especially lyric opera. The theatrical devices in his works make his compositions distinctive, and Argento's use of symbolic motivic cells is one of the main characteristics that drives the narrative structure in his works. Dominick Argento's I Hate and I Love is an intricate choral work in which Argento masterfully blends twelve-tone techniques with traditional harmonic language to convey the complex emotional interplay between love and hate as expressed in the poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus. In this document, I explore Argento's compositional methods, focusing on his use of symbolic motivic cells, harmonic structures, and dramatic elements that align with the text. By analyzing these techniques, I reveal how Argento's music serves not only as a reflection of Catullus's emotional turmoil but also as an omniscient commentary that adds layers of meaning beyond the explicit text. This research contributes to the broader academic discourse on Argento's choral works, providing deeper insights into his innovative approach to choral composition and his unique integration of serialism with sonorism.