Piano Music Inspired by the Visual Arts from 1870 to 1970 (open access)

Piano Music Inspired by the Visual Arts from 1870 to 1970

The purpose has been to prove that there are connections between the visual arts (including architecture) and music. In the development of the argument it is shown that common themes exist in the arts, such as style, form, balance, line, color, and texture. Examples of piano music are offered from the last 100 years that show, to a greater or lesser extent, the influence of art. In some cases this is simply a matter of titles, whereas in other instances, such as Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, the influence goes deeper. In the final chapter the proposition is presented that the composer himself sometimes acts as a painter, portraying concrete images directly in music. Examples are offered of piano pieces depicting people, animals, places, objects or activities.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Hall, Donna Marie
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Descriptive Analysis of the Preludes (Book 1) of Claude Debussy (open access)

A Descriptive Analysis of the Preludes (Book 1) of Claude Debussy

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twenty-four preludes written by Claude Debussy. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon Debussy and his compositions.
Date: January 1956
Creator: Hudgins, Mary Nan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Television in Education: a Survey of Current Practices and a Consideration of Its Applicability to the Field of Music (open access)

Television in Education: a Survey of Current Practices and a Consideration of Its Applicability to the Field of Music

The use of television as an aid to music education is a relatively new and unexplored field. It is so new, in fact, that to undertake a study of what has been accomplished until the present may seem at first rather premature and unfruitful. It is my belief, however, that if television is to become the prominent factor in education that has been predicted, there is a definite need for a study of what has been done to date toward the development of this new medium. This will provide the background and foundation for further experiment and use. The study shall include, therefore, a brief history of television itself, general educational experiments in television, experiments in televised music education, problems involved in presenting musical television programs, and suggestions for the development of this newest of teaching aids.
Date: May 1950
Creator: Phillips, Hattie Lucile
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of the Oboe from Antiquity to 1750 (open access)

A History of the Oboe from Antiquity to 1750

The purpose of this study is to trace the development of the oboe and its use from the primitive double reed instruments to the oboes of the Baroque Period. Toward the end of this period the oboe became thoroughly established as an important section in the symphony orchestra and has remained so to the present time.
Date: August 1955
Creator: Stephens, Perry O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Music and its Relation to Futurism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism, 1905 to 1950 (open access)

Music and its Relation to Futurism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism, 1905 to 1950

Inasmuch as this investigator can determine, no major study has been done concerning music's relation to the "isms" selected for this discussion. The contemporary interest in the movements themselves has been so widespread that the documentation of them, in scattered accounts, is enormous. It is disappointing that these records provide little or no information about the musical aspects of the movements; the graphic and literary accounts, on the other hand, have been accorded generous treatments. Since futurism, cubism, and surrealism, in their origins, were oriented toward the visual and literary arts, it is not surprising that these two aspects would receive the greatest amount of attention. The meager attention to music and the distortion of its role in the movements, as has largely been the case, has created an artistic imbalance, This writer's efforts have been directed toward an exhaustive search for factors which have, in some way or other, linked music with these movements. Musical futurism has been the easiest to identify, although its underlying theories are not always clear, since the futurists, in explaining their theories, were not always convincing, perhaps even to themselves. This writer's main attempt has been to interpret ideas that were frequently vague and …
Date: January 1969
Creator: Greer, Thomas H. (Thomas Henry), 1916-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Schoenberg's Janus-Work Erwartung: Its Musico-Dramatic Structure and Relationship to the Melodrama and Lied Traditions (open access)

Schoenberg's Janus-Work Erwartung: Its Musico-Dramatic Structure and Relationship to the Melodrama and Lied Traditions

Arnold Schoenberg's atonal monodrama, Erwartune. Op. 17 (1909). has been viewed as an unanalyzable athematic aberration, without any discernible form. Recognizing Erwartune's forward-looking aspect, this dissertation also explores the melodrama and the Lied, a connection with the past which forges a new understanding of its form and structure.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Penney, Diane Holloway
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Chansonnier Biblioteca Casanatense 2856: its History, Purpose, and Music (open access)

The Chansonnier Biblioteca Casanatense 2856: its History, Purpose, and Music

The chansonnier held by the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome, designated Codex 2856 (0. V. 208), is a handsome volume containing 123 polyphonic compositions in the style of the Franco-Flemish School, circa 1450 to 1400. Although no text beyond the incipit is found in the manuscript, the value of the source is enhanced by the names of the composers of 106 of the compositions. Volume one focuses on the manuscript, giving a physical description of the manuscript, recounting the history of the manuscript, and includes discussion of selected composers and a concordance. Volume two contains the music of the chansonnier Biblioteca casanatense 2856.
Date: August 1970
Creator: Wolff, Arthur S.
System: The UNT Digital Library