Degree Level

California-ko Ostatuak: a History of California's Basque Hotels (open access)

California-ko Ostatuak: a History of California's Basque Hotels

The history of California's Basque boardinghouses, or ostatuak, is the subject of this dissertation. To date, scholarly literature on ethnic boardinghouses is minimal and even less has been written on the Basque "hotels" of the American West. As a result, conclusions in this study rely upon interviews, census records, local directories, early maps, and newspapers. The first Basque boardinghouses in the United States appeared in California in the decade following the gold rush and tended to be outposts along travel routes used by Basque miners and sheepmen. As more Basques migrated to the United States, clusters of ostatuak sprang up in communities where Basque colonies had formed, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the late nineteenth century. In the years between 1890 and 1940, the ostatuak reached their zenith as Basques spread throughout the state and took their boardinghouses with them. This study outlines the earliest appearances of the Basque ostatuak, charts their expansion, and describes their present state of demise. The role of the ostatuak within Basque-American culture and a description of how they operated is another important aspect of this dissertation. Information from interviews supports the claim that the ostatua was the most important social institution …
Date: May 1988
Creator: Echeverría, Jerónima, 1946-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Crossing Over: Essays on Ethnic Parties, Electoral Politics, and Ethnic Social Conflict (open access)

Crossing Over: Essays on Ethnic Parties, Electoral Politics, and Ethnic Social Conflict

This dissertation analyzes several topics related to political life in ethnically divided societies. In chapter 2, I study the relationship between ethnic social conflict, such as protests, riots, and armed inter-ethnic violence, and bloc partisan identification. I find that protests have no effect on bloc support for political parties, riots increase bloc partisan identification, and that armed violence reduces this phenomenon. In chapter 3, I analyze the factors that influence the targeting of ethnic groups by ethnic parties in social conflict. I find some empirical evidence that conditions favorable to vote pooling across ethnic lines reduce group targeting by ethnic parties. In chapter 4, I analyze the effects of ethnic demography on ethnic party behavior. Through a qualitative analysis of party behavior in local elections in Macedonia, I find that ethnic parties change their strategies in response to changes in ethnic demography. I find that co-ethnic parties are less likely to challenge each other for power under conditions of split demography. In fact, under conditions of split demography, I find that co-ethnic parties have political incentives to unite behind a single party because intra-group competition jeopardizes the group's hold on power.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Stewart, Brandon
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Crossing the colorline: three decades of the United Packinghouse Workers of America's crusade against racism in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1936-1968 (open access)

Crossing the colorline: three decades of the United Packinghouse Workers of America's crusade against racism in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1936-1968

This study examines the role of southern black union workers in the struggle against racism in the United Packinghouse Workers America's activities in the Trans Mississippi region of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and south Kansas.
Date: August 1978
Creator: Adedeji, Moses
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tubas on the Rise: the Tuba As a Signifier of 21st Century Mexican-American Music Culture in Southern California (open access)

Tubas on the Rise: the Tuba As a Signifier of 21st Century Mexican-American Music Culture in Southern California

Banda is a rural Mexican brass band genre from the state of Sinaloa that became popular among immigrant populations of Los Angeles in the 1990s. In contemporary banda, the tuba has acquired a more prominent role than it held in traditional banda. The tuba has shifted from the traditional background harmonic and rhythmic function to a significant and new placement with the front line melodic instruments. The focus on tubas in modern incarnations of banda has helped it become a staple in acoustic and accordion genres such as sierreña and norteña. In many Mexican-American regional ensembles, the prominence of the tuba and its placement within the group represents a shift in its cultural significance, a stronger connection to the Mexican history and cultural roots, in the Mexican-American music community of southern California. This paper uncovers some of the motives and significance behind these recent changes in the role of the tuba in Mexican-American regional genres as well as the cultural connection that the tuba provides for Mexican-Americans in southern California to traditional Mexican music culture.
Date: August 2015
Creator: Orth, Jesse
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Networking, Workplace, and Entertainment Literacies: the Out-of-school Literate Lives of Newcomer Latina/o Adolescents (open access)

Social Networking, Workplace, and Entertainment Literacies: the Out-of-school Literate Lives of Newcomer Latina/o Adolescents

Studies indicate that Latina/o immigrant youth engage in a wide range of sophisticated literacy practices outside of school that are often transnational, crossing various linguistic, cultural, and social spaces. Technology has further afforded immigrant youth the opportunity to develop transnational capabilities which are rare in the mainstream population, yet needed in the 21st century of global connectedness. However, Latino immigrant youth drop out of school at disproportional rates, suggesting that their literacy practices are not recognized or valued by the educational system. Using a New Literacy Studies perspective that recognizes multiple literacies that are meaningful within their sociocultural traditions, this collective case study investigated the range, form, and purpose of the out-of-school literacies of four Latina/o adolescent English Learners who are new arrivals. The qualitative methodology employed constructivist interviews, digital and actual artifacts, and observations. Findings demonstrated that the most prevalent out-of-school literacies the participants practice take place on the social networking site of Facebook, in their workplaces, and through the entertainment media sources of music and television. A cross-case analysis suggests that the literacy practices in these spaces have unique and purposeful roles for the individuals that allow them to connect to their home countries and maintain their Latina/o …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Stewart, Mary Amanda
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A multi-state political process analysis of the anti-testing movement. (open access)

A multi-state political process analysis of the anti-testing movement.

I applied McAdam's political process model for social movement analysis to examine the level of collective resistance to high stakes testing in California, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Texas from 1985 to 2005. Data on protest occurrences in those states were gathered from online news reports, anti-testing organization websites, and electronic interviews from individuals associated with the anti-testing movement. Variables used in the analysis included each state's key educational accountability legislation, political affiliations of state political leaders, state political leaders' support of accountability issues, student ethnicity profiles, poverty indicators, dropout rates, and collective bargaining laws. I examined the relationship between those variables and protest development in terms of the political process model's three components: framing processes, mobilizing structures, and political opportunity. I concluded California and Massachusetts, with their strong networks of anti-testing organizations, showed more instances of protest than any other state. Slightly fewer protests occurred in New York. Texas showed few instances of anti-testing protests and there were no reports of protests in South Carolina. There was evidence of framing efforts from both proponents and opponents of high-stakes testing, with proponents' framing efforts tending to be more covert. I found that anti-testing protests were primarily initiated by middle-class …
Date: December 2006
Creator: DeMerle, Carol
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Lexicographer's Daughter: A Memoir (open access)

The Lexicographer's Daughter: A Memoir

This creative nonfiction dissertation is a memoir of the author's search for the somewhat mysterious hidden past of her father, the lexicographer Charles J. Lovell, who died in 1960, when the author was nine. Her father's early death left the author with many unanswered questions about his past and his family and so she undertakes a search to answer, if possible, some of those questions. Her search takes her to Portland, Maine; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Pasadena, California, where she tries to discover the facts and uncover the forces that shaped her father's life. Along the way, she realizes how profoundly his death affected and shaped her own life, contributing to the theme of loss that pervades the memoir. In addition, she begins to realize how much her mother, Dixie Hefley Lovell, whose significance she previously overlooked, shaped her life. Ultimately, she comes to understand and accept that some of her questions are unanswerable.
Date: May 2011
Creator: Lovell, Bonnie Alice
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Semantics of the Motives and Linear Voice Leading in the First and Second Movements of Korngold's Violin Concerto, Op. 35 (open access)

The Semantics of the Motives and Linear Voice Leading in the First and Second Movements of Korngold's Violin Concerto, Op. 35

This dissertation aims to examine the motivic voice leading of the first two movements of Korngold's Violin Concerto, Op. 35 to illuminate the interwoven motives within the underlying structures of the movements. The analysis principally concentrates on two main motives: the motivic tritone and rising-third motives. Moreover, the analysis of Korngold's motivic writing further investigates the semantics that are evoked by the technical aspects. With his exceptional ability to interconnect music to narratives both in operas and films, Korngold never ceased to express the recurring themes of love and revival also in his instrumental music. It is noteworthy that he borrowed only the "love themes" from his film scores for the first two movements of the violin concerto. The violin concerto was the first work written after Korngold returned to absolute music after a decade of composing for films to ensure his and his family's survival during the war. After the Anschluss, during his exile in California as a Jewish refugee, Korngold's love for his homeland Austria, his philanthropic concern for humanity, and longing for peace became his primary focus; these concerns are reflected in his Violin Concerto through his use of specific motives. By researching the historical and biographical …
Date: May 2019
Creator: Hong, Dayeon
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Consciousness in Wind Band Music of the Early 21st Century, Represented through a Study of Three Wind Band Works: Symphony No. 2-Migration by Adam Schoenberg, Silver Lining-Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble by Frank Ticheli, and Of Our New Day Begun by Omar Thomas (open access)

Social Consciousness in Wind Band Music of the Early 21st Century, Represented through a Study of Three Wind Band Works: Symphony No. 2-Migration by Adam Schoenberg, Silver Lining-Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble by Frank Ticheli, and Of Our New Day Begun by Omar Thomas

The wind band provides an outlet for composers to use their platform to reach performers, enlighten audiences, and heal communities. This document is an analysis of three composers' approach to incorporate social consciousness in their wind band music. Adam Schoenberg, Omar Thomas, and Frank Ticheli work with specific social justice issues to respond to specific events, allowing them to reach and empower performers and audiences, to heal, thrive and build past these events. The chapters contain each composer's biographical information, then provide detailed information of the three works; background and cursory information, the composer's use and understanding of the social justice issue and an extensive analysis of each work. The composers use compositional design techniques to convey their intent to share a specific message. This document provides insight through each composer's techniques and thought processes, providing a better understanding of the works. The knowledge gained will help conductors and performers understand social consciousness in wind band music.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Eaddy, Jack A., Jr.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Standing in the Gap: Subposts, Minor Posts, and Picket Stations and the Pacification of the Texas Frontier, 1866-1886 (open access)

Standing in the Gap: Subposts, Minor Posts, and Picket Stations and the Pacification of the Texas Frontier, 1866-1886

This dissertation describes the various military outposts on the Texas frontier between 1866 and 1886. It is arranged geographically, with each chapter covering a major fort or geographical area and the smaller posts associated with it. Official military records and government reports serve as the primary sources of data. In 1866 when the United States Army returned to the defense of Texas after four years of civil war, the state's frontier lay open to depredations from several Indian tribes and from lawless elements in Mexico. The army responded to those attacks by establishing several lines of major forts to protect the various danger areas of the frontier. To extend its control and protection to remote, vulnerable, or strategically important points within its jurisdiction, each major fort established outposts. Two main categories of outposts existed in Texas, subposts and picket stations. Subposts served as permanent scouting camps or guarded strategic points or lines of communication. Picket stations protected outlying locations, such as stage stations, that were particularly vulnerable to attack. Because Indians raiding in Texas usually operated in fairly small groups, garrisons at outposts were similarly small. Company-sized detachments generally garrisoned subposts, and picket stations seldom held more than a dozen …
Date: May 1995
Creator: Uglow, Loyd M. (Loyd Michael)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Computer Recognition of Pitch for Musical Applications (open access)

Computer Recognition of Pitch for Musical Applications

None
Date: August 1983
Creator: Clendinning, Jane Piper
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conquering the Natural Frontier: French Expansion to the Rhine River During the War of the First Coalition, 1792-1797 (open access)

Conquering the Natural Frontier: French Expansion to the Rhine River During the War of the First Coalition, 1792-1797

After conquering Belgium and the Rhineland in 1794, the French Army of the Sambre and Meuse faced severe logistical, disciplinary, and morale problems that signaled the erosion of its capabilities. The army’s degeneration resulted from a revolution in French foreign policy designed to conquer the natural frontiers, a policy often falsely portrayed as a diplomatic tradition of the French monarchy. In fact, the natural frontiers policy – expansion to the Rhine, the Pyrenees, and the Alps – emerged only after the start of the War of the First Coalition in 1792. Moreover, the pursuit of natural frontiers caused more controversy than previously understood. No less a figure than Lazare Carnot – the Organizer of Victory – viewed French expansion to the Rhine as impractical and likely to perpetuate war. While the war of conquest provided the French state with the resources to survive, it entailed numerous unforeseen consequences. Most notably, the Revolutionary armies became isolated from the nation and displayed more loyalty to their commanders than to the civilian authorities. In 1797, the Sambre and Meuse Army became a political tool of General Lazare Hoche, who sought control over the Rhineland by supporting the creation of a Cisrhenan Republic. Ultimately, …
Date: December 2015
Creator: Hayworth, Jordan R.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Orchestral Etudes: Repertoire-Specific Exercises for Double Bass (open access)

Orchestral Etudes: Repertoire-Specific Exercises for Double Bass

In this project, frequently required double bass orchestral audition excerpts as well as their individual technical difficulties are identified. A survey of professional double bass players and teachers currently and formerly employed by major orchestras, universities, and conservatories have participated to validate the importance of four of the most frequently required orchestral excerpts: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mvt. 4, and Symphony No. 5, Mvt. 3; Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben; and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, Mvt. 1. The survey respondents identified the primary and secondary technical concerns of each of the four excerpts. I have created technical studies, or etudes, that specifically address these difficulties and help fill a literary gap within the existing pedagogical resources for the double bass.
Date: August 2011
Creator: Unzicker, Jack Andrew
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
American Blitzkrieg: Courtney Hodges and the Advance Toward Aachen (August 1 - September 12, 1944) (open access)

American Blitzkrieg: Courtney Hodges and the Advance Toward Aachen (August 1 - September 12, 1944)

This is an analysis of combat operations of US First Army under the command of Courtney Hodges, between August 1 and September 12, 1944, with an emphasis upon 1st, 4th, 9th, and 30th Divisions. However, other formations are necessarily discussed in order to maintain context. Indeed, many historians have failed to emphasize the complex interdependent nature of these efforts, and the traditional narrative has been distorted by inadequate situational awareness. This study argues that the army's operations were exceedingly difficult, resulting in approximately 40,000 casualties over a six week period. Although historians claim that the Germans were essentially defeated by the end of July, and that the Allied advance was subsequently halted by logistical difficulties, the official combat records clarify that logistical shortages were a tertiary factor, as the enemy remained capable of strong resistance. Consequently, defensive efforts were the primary factor hindering the advance, in conjunction with deteriorating weather conditions, rugged terrain, and surprisingly severe traffic congestion. Although this was mobile warfare, military theorists have overestimated the effectiveness of mechanization and underestimated the potential for antitank defenses. Ultimately, this study asserts that First Army was the primary American combat formation, and historians have exaggerated the importance of George Patton's …
Date: December 2012
Creator: Rinkleff, Adam J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evoking the Mystery: A Pedagogical Method to Enable an Advanced Violinist to Master George Crumb’s Four Nocturnes (Night Music II) (open access)

Evoking the Mystery: A Pedagogical Method to Enable an Advanced Violinist to Master George Crumb’s Four Nocturnes (Night Music II)

For more than three centuries, violin pedagogical practices have been extensively developed towards music covering the common practice period. However, a problem arises when a violin student performing avant-garde music needs to find realistic solutions to problems that are not addressed in the standard repertoire. This critical essay offers a pedagogical approach to a work that fits well within this paradigm: Four Nocturnes (Night Music II), George Crumb’s only published work for violin and piano duo. The multi-dimensional aspect of this avant-garde work requires an equally multi-faceted approach to overcoming the inherent technical hurdles. Through practical illustrations and concise explanations, musical examples indicate how the score may be re-notated and simplified to create a preliminary step towards advancing to the original notation. Borrowing from the methodology of Otakar Ševčík and other leading twentieth-century violin pedagogues, the author shows how students can modify their approach to fit contextually in the realm of avant-garde music. Students who approach the work with this methodology will find it helpful in eliminating many of the potential pitfalls that they are likely to encounter.
Date: May 2015
Creator: Homer, Scott Daniel
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Britten’s Op 47, Five Flower Songs: Breaking Trends in Analysis (open access)

Britten’s Op 47, Five Flower Songs: Breaking Trends in Analysis

Benjamin Britten’s life and music have been the subject of study from early in his musical career. Current trends in psychological analysis of Britten’s music tend to focus on common themes, such as homosexuality, pacifism, the sense of the outsider, and the loss of innocence. Similarly, theoretical analyses tend either to provide general categorizations of the technical elements in Britten’s music or to apply a singular preconceived concept as a tool for understanding his compositions. These approaches have yielded significant information but leave aspects of Britten’s personality and music unilluminated. Britten’s Op. 47, Five Flower Songs, are a collection of five part songs for a cappella chorus that are often included within the canon of 20th century choral literature. This paper examines a new perspective on Britten’s music by examining the relationship between Britten’s friendships and their influence on his compositions. Through the examination of these relationships information is revealed that allows for a new method of analysis that is particularly relevant to the Five Flower Songs. The opus was dedicated to two botanists for the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary. Contained within specific movements are extra-musical references to scientific characteristics of the flowers that are the subjects of …
Date: August 2013
Creator: Jackson, Christopher Michael
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tennyson's Lyricism: The Aesthetic of Sorrow (open access)

Tennyson's Lyricism: The Aesthetic of Sorrow

The primary purpose of this study is to show that anticipations of the "art for art's sake" theory can be found in Tennyson's poetry which is in line with the tenets of aestheticism and symbolism, and to show that Tennyson's lyricism is a "Palace of Art" in which his tragic emotions-- sadness, sorrow, despair, and melancholic sensibility--were built into beauty.
Date: May 1993
Creator: Kang, Sang Deok
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Benjamin Britten's Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65: A Practical Guide for Performance (open access)

Benjamin Britten's Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65: A Practical Guide for Performance

Benjamin Britten is a renowned and prolific English composer, well known for his operas and vocal works. He did, however, also compose five works especially for the cello as a solo instrument of which the Sonata in C for Cello and Piano Op. 65 was the first. He was inspired by one of his musical contemporaries, the remarkable Soviet cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Rostropovich was famous for his amazing artistry which propelled him to become one of the most prominent cellists in the world during his time. Thus Britten, who had previously only composed for cello as part of ensembles, created this sonata specifically thinking of Rostropovich and his outstanding skill as a cellist. The premiere of the sonata took place in July 1961 at the Aldeburgh Festival and it was a great success. However, despite Britten's reputation as an outstanding composer and the significance of the sonata, this sonata has been performed infrequently. Britten utilized many challenging techniques and adapted them innovatively in the composition, and perhaps performers may be reluctant to choose this work due to the complexity and challenge inherent in the composition itself. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a practical guide for students and …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Lee, Jeong-A
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Symbolic Representation of Latinos: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Television

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The media are powerful agents of socialization in modern society influencing values, beliefs, and attitudes of the culture that produces them. Both the quantity and quality of Latino images in the media may reflect and reinforce the place of Latinos in United States society. This study examines how Latinos are portrayed in television entertainment programming by addressing two major research questions: 1) What is the extent of Latino recognition on prime-time television? and 2) What is the extent of respect accorded Latinos on prime-time television? A one-week sample of prime-time television programming airing on three networks yielded 47 programs and 807 characters for analysis. Using content analysis methodology, recognition is identified by examining the frequency and proportional representation of Latino television portrayals and respect is measured by examining the types and significance of these roles. The results indicate an overall lack of diversity on prime-time television with only 11 of the 47 programs analyzed reaching 50% or more of the maximum possible diversity in their racial and ethnic portrayals. Specifically, Latinos represent only 3% of primetime television characters, less than one-fourth of their proportion of the nation's population. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, and Asians, Latinos are the group least …
Date: August 2001
Creator: McKenzie-Elliott, Tracey M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Variations for Piano, Op. 27 of Anton Webern and the Quaderno musicale di Annalibera of Luigi Dallapiccola: A Lecture Recital, Together with Four Recitals of Selected Works of J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, F. Schubert, R. Schumann, J. Brahms, F. Chopin, A. Schoenberg, and M. Ravel (open access)

The Variations for Piano, Op. 27 of Anton Webern and the Quaderno musicale di Annalibera of Luigi Dallapiccola: A Lecture Recital, Together with Four Recitals of Selected Works of J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, F. Schubert, R. Schumann, J. Brahms, F. Chopin, A. Schoenberg, and M. Ravel

The lecture recital was given on November 20, 1972. The discussion of Webern's Variations and Dallapiccola's Quaderno Musicale consisted of a analysis of the two works followed by a comparison of stylistic and performance aspects. The two works were then performed. In addition to the lecture recital four other public recitals were given. Two of these consisted entirely of solo literature for the piano. The third recital was a vocal chamber music recital and the fourth consisted of a piano concerto performed with an orchestra.
Date: May 1973
Creator: Bell, Digby
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Desertion and Defection in Roman Republican Warfare (open access)

Desertion and Defection in Roman Republican Warfare

Despite their many successes, Roman leaders continually struggled with indiscipline in their own ranks as they battled Rome's opponents. Desertion and defection were steps that soldiers often undertook to avoid their obligated service. Previous scholarship has largely overlooked this aspect of Roman warfare. This dissertation analyzes why Roman soldiers began turning to desertion and defection throughout the Republican period. Such cases were generally rare in early Rome, but the expanding responsibilities and hardships of warfare in the Middle Republic caused them to rise, as did the sizeable growth of the Roman community. The civil wars of the Late Republic saw especially high cases of such acts, as generals incentivized defections in their opponents ranks. Roman desertion was not unique, but a common occurrence in ancient warfare. This dissertation also addresses how Romans capitalized on desertion and defection in warfare. The Second Punic War offers an example of how Rome achieved victory by encouraging defection in its enemy's alliances. Romans also relied heavily on defectors as a source of intelligence and as a tool in siege warfare. The moral forces of commitment, discipline, dissatisfaction, and desertion were often as important as the tactics and technologies of the participants in Rome's wars.
Date: August 2022
Creator: Stampher, Matthew Joseph
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Misrecognized and Misplaced: Race Performed in African American Literature, 1900-2015 (open access)

Misrecognized and Misplaced: Race Performed in African American Literature, 1900-2015

In my dissertation, I explore the ways in which racial identity is made complex through various onlookers' misrecognition of race. This issue is particularly important considering the current state of race relations in the United States, as my project offers a literary perspective and account of the way black authors have discussed racial identity formation from the turn of the century through the start of the twenty-first century. I highlight many variations of misrecognition and racial performance as a response to America's obsession with race.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Taylor Juko, Tana
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Linear Analysis of Piano Sonata (1926) Sz.80 by Béla Bartók: The Genesis and Development of the Composition (open access)

A Linear Analysis of Piano Sonata (1926) Sz.80 by Béla Bartók: The Genesis and Development of the Composition

Béla Bartók's Piano Sonata Sz.80 is known for its integration of modernist language with traditional elements. However, due to Bartók's radical style of writing, it remains challenging to precisely define the piece's motives, voice-leading, and structure, even though pianists who perform it may intuitively comprehend them. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the Piano Sonata's motivic and tonal structure, genesis and development. First, this study demonstrates Bartók's use of linear motives and progressions to elucidate the Piano Sonata's large-scale structure and demonstrate its internal coherence. Second, by comparing the published score with the facsimile of the Budapest Manuscript, it is possible to shed light on the significance of the changes that Bartók made, facilitating a better understanding of his intentions. Lastly, this study suggests interpretive decisions based on the analysis and manuscripts, thus providing performers with a more thorough understanding of the piece.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Lee, Jihye
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dickens in the Context of Victorian Culture: an Interpretation of Three of Dickens's Novels from the Viewpoint of Darwinian Nature (open access)

Dickens in the Context of Victorian Culture: an Interpretation of Three of Dickens's Novels from the Viewpoint of Darwinian Nature

The worlds of Dickens's novels and of Darwin's science reveal striking similarity in spite of their involvement in different areas. The similarity comes from the fact that they shared the ethos of Victorian society: laissez-faire capitalism. In The Origin of Species, which was published on 1859, Charles Darwin theorizes that nature has evolved through the rules of natural selection, survival of the fittest, and the struggle for existence. Although his conclusion comes from the scientific evidence that was acquired from his five-year voyage, it is clear that Dawinian nature is reflected in cruel Victorian capitalism. Three novels of Charles Dickens which were published around 1859, Bleak House, Hard Times, and Our Mutual Friend, share Darwinian aspects in their fictional worlds. In Bleak House, the central image, the Court of Chancery as the background of the novel, resembles Darwinian nature which is anti-Platonic in essence. The characters in Hard Times are divided into two groups: the winners and the losers in the arena of survival. The winners survive in Coketown, and the losers disappear from the city. The rules controlling the fates of Coketown people are the same as the rules of Darwinian nature. Our Mutual Friend can be interpreted as …
Date: August 1996
Creator: Moon, Sangwha
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library