ABSTRACT
In the words of Charlotte Brontë, the writing of her sister Emily possessed “a peculiar music-wild, melancholy, and elevating.”1 Not surprisingly, Emily Brontë’s work has been a source of inspiration for many musicians. Her only novel Wuthering Heights has inspired two major operatic realizations, several musical-theatre adaptations, and numerous song settings by composers in the realms of both classical and popular music. This study will compare the operatic settings of Carlisle Floyd and Bernard Herrmann, particularly their interpretation of Emily’s famous heroine Cathy. In addition, I will explore how song settings by John Duke, Kate Bush, Nick Peros, and myself depict the mystical, musical moors of Wuthering Heights, as seen through the eyes of Cathy and her creator, Emily Brontë.
