Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

The lecture recital was given July 18, 1977. The lecture began with the performance of the Three Preludes and a discussion of these final works in relation to the composer's last period of composition which included the Sonata for Piano. After the biographical foundation was laid, the Sonata for Piano was detailed concerning form and compositional techniques. All works were performed from memory. In addition to the lecture recital, three public recitals were performed. The first solo recital, performed on August 11, 1975, consisted of works by Schubert and Liszt-Busoni. The second recital, a chamber recital, performed March 29, 1976, consisted of solo and chamber works of Messiaen. The final solo recital, performed on August 1, 1977, consisted of works by Clementi, Satie, and Rubinstein. All four programs were recorded on magnetic tape and are filed, along with the written version of the lecture recital, as part of the dissertation.

An understanding of the piano transcription is basic to any proper comprehension of nineteenth-century piano music and performance practice. In this study, the transcription for solo piano is examined in relation to several musical milestones in the mid-nineteenth century, including far-reaching technical developments in the piano, the beginning and growth of the public concert, the birth of the solo piano recital, and the influence of virtuosity as a Romantic ideal. In addition, as Liszt was undoubtedly the greatest transcriber of the nineteenth century, several representative transcriptions of Liszt are analyzed and compared to their original models, including Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade and Auf dem Wasser zu singen, Chopin's Moja pieszczotka ("My Joys"), Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and the quartet from the final act of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Franz Liszt, who was the greatest virtuoso pianist in the nineteenth-century, was also a productive composer. But his tremendous technique brought the misunderstanding that his compositions were just flashy and superficial, thus creating an obstacle for appreciating his music. The purpose of this study is to encourage an understanding of the value of Liszt's music, especially his Schubert Lieder transcriptions. The study starts with an introduction, which states the revival of the art of transcription, gives the muscial background of Liszt and describes the instruments that were available to him. Then follows a discussion about his experimentation with the conventional piano techniques and how he applied them to the song transcriptions. Two transcriptions "Hark, Hark, the Lark" and "Der Lindenbaum" are analyzed in detail to show the transcriptive procedure and the relation between the poetry and the musical expression. A conclusion summarizes the study.

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.