This thesis presents a study of events in the life of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, a lyric poetess and dramatist during the Romantic period, as motivating forces in her literary career. As might be expected in the case of a true representative of the Romantic period, Avellaneda's passions and personal life are reflected in all of her works. She uses human and divine love as the main themes throughout all of her literary production, especially in her lyric poetry and the four tragedies chosen for this study: Munio Alfonso (1844), El Príncipe de Viana (1844), Saúl (1849), and Baltasar (1858).

This exploratory and descriptive study examines research articles published in ten of the top journals in the broad area of educational technology during the last 20 years: 1) Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D); 2) Instructional Science; 3) Journal of the Learning Sciences; 4) TechTrends; 5) Educational Technology: The Magazine for Managers of Change in Education; 6) Journal of Educational Technology & Society; 7) Computers and Education; 8) British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET); 9) Journal of Educational Computing Research; and 10) Journal of Research on Technology in Education. To discover research trends in the articles published from 1995-2014, abstracts from all contributing articles published in those ten prominent journals were analyzed to extract a latent semantic space of broad research areas, top authors, and top-cited publications. Concepts that have emerged, grown, or diminished in the field were noted in order to identify the most dominant in the last two decades; and the most frequent contributors to each journal as well as those who contributed to more than one of the journals studied were identified.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the compositional techniques in Choses en soi op.45, by Sergey Prokofiev, and to explore the new aesthetic concepts he claimed to include in this composition. Through the examination of the compositional elements and discussion of its salient characteristics.

The purpose of this dissertation is to give instruction regarding the performance of three important piano works by Jürg Baur (1918-2010). Aphorismen, Capriccio, and Heptameron stand out as his most significant piano works both because of their length and because of their pianistic complexity. Since Baur had a successful career as both teacher and composer during his lifetime, his acclaimed works received many honors in Germany. His works can be performed by intermediate to advanced students. Intermediate students can easily offer simpler pieces like Aphorismen in competitions, while pieces like Capriccio and Heptameron better are suited to a more advanced level. Although some of his compositions are difficult to perform compared with other modern German works, Baur's music is more accessible. In the article, "Auf der Spuren der alten Zeit" Baur is quoted to state that Paul Hindemith and Bela Bartok's music influenced his own compositional ideas. However, although Baur is a modern composer, he didn't write in a totally atonal style, but rather attempted to broaden tonality. While Heptameron is atonal, Aphorismen and Capriccio give the impression of tonality, thus they are more accessible to the audience. I was fortunate enough to study Aphorismen with Baur as well as …

The continued publication of articles concerning drama and theatre in scholarly periodicals has resulted in the "loss" of much research due to the lack of retrieval tools. This work is designed to partially fill this lack by cassifying the articles found in fourteen current periodicals using Trussler's taxonomy. This bibliography could also be updated on a regular basis. The issues that are presently not available through the North Texas State University Libraries could be ordered, classified and appended to this work. In short, this thesis is a start toward the opening of the source material held by the campus libraries. But it is only a start. There is still a treasure trove yet to be developed.

As epidemiologic research demonstrates health concerns for hand problems among pianists, scientists are measuring historic piano keyboards and realizing that much of the piano literature was composed for and played on pianos with smaller keys compared to what is used on the modern piano. Having to play this literature on a larger keyboard is especially difficult for small-handed piano students and professionals. Fortunately, smaller keyboards are now available for use with standard pianos - and research shows that this ergonomic adjustment does reduce piano-related hand pain for small-handed musicians. Major universities are now offering this option to students, but only a few music schools possess these keyboards and not many people know about them. There are no known research studies to address people's awareness and attitude toward ergonomically scaled piano keyboards (ESPKs). The purpose of this study was to assess perception and attitude toward ESPKs and help to raise its awareness. To examine pianists' perception, two surveys was composed. First one was conducted on UNT campus in which ESPKs are available for their students, and the second survey was carried out on schools of music in the United States. The results reveal that substantial number of people already know about …

Paul Creston (1906-1985) was one of the most significant American composers from the middle of the twentieth century. Though Creston maintained elements of the nineteenth-century Romantic tradition and was categorized as a “Neo-Romantic” or “20th-century traditionalist,” many of Creston’s compositions contain elements of Baroque music. His Piano Sonata, Opus 9 provides significant examples of Baroque elements, while already foreshadowing his mature style. The purpose of this study is to explore Baroque elements in the compositional language of Paul Creston’s Piano Sonata, Opus 9. All four movements of the Piano Sonata will be examined in regards to its stylistic features associated with Baroque practices. These features mainly consist of rhythm, texture, imitative writing, and repeated phrase structure. Each category of the study will include comparisons of Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas with Creston’s sonata. Through an examination of the Piano Sonata and its Baroque elements, this study hopes to inspire renewed interest in the work among musicians and to help the performer give a more stylistically coherent, and accurate, performance.

Bohuslav Martinů's "Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra" is one of the most frequently played pieces in the oboe repertoire. For this reason, it is often played with the piano reduction instead of the orchestra in oboe recitals. However, the existing piano reductions include many errors and discrepancies from the orchestral score, misrepresent the orchestration, sometimes fail to make the oboe entries clear, and tend to be unplayable for pianists. Moreover, the scores were published after the composer's death without him supervising the final editing. I have prepared a new, playable piano reduction to represent the orchestration more faithfully and help pianists work with their soloists more easily. Based on the work of Martin Katz, a prominent collaborative-pianist, I establish four principles for creating a new piano reduction. After scrutiny of the deficiencies of existing piano reductions, I suggest solutions for making the passages in question practical and bringing out the leading voices clearly so that the soloist can join in as easily as playing with an orchestra. To aid in reflecting the orchestral texture that Martinů created, I include abbreviated instrument names in many passages to help pianists to understand how to create balance. I have changed some passages …

Alberto Nepomuceno was one of the leading figures in developing Brazilian art music at the turn of the twentieth century. He became widely known for his Brazilian art songs and kept promoting Brazilian music and the use of Portuguese as an "art language" throughout his life. Nepomuceno has widely been seen as a nationalist composer, yet some of his works adopt a more European style. In this study, I argue that Nepomuceno incorporates European musical languages in his Piano Sonata in F Minor, Op. 9. I display the rich interaction of Brazilian national identity and European influence within Nepomuceno's musical life. I also provide a thorough formal analysis of this piano sonata to argue that in some of his music he adopted a distinctively European musical language, including baroque and classical elements. In addition to analyzing the sonata-form and rondo-form elements, this dissertation discusses the use of several important topics in the work, including the Siciliano rhythm, contrapuntal writing, pedal points with organ effects, and impact of Brahms on Nepomuceno's piano writing. Moreover, I analyze how Nepomuceno assimilated European musical styles as the basis for his own compositions, as well as the innovations with which he augmented those styles. An …

It is the teacher's responsibility to guide students in building an effective and injury-free piano technique. Improper technique, poor training and bad posture at the instrument all may cause problems such as lack of muscle control, weakness, or tension in the hands. Many teachers are interested in finding information about specific exercises dealing with finger strengthening, stretching, and warm-up strategies, as well as guidelines for safe practicing. It is therefore important for both teachers and students to understand how to build a technique from the earliest years of instruction. Carl Tausig (1841-1871) and Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) both contributed to the development of piano technique by writing books that include a significant number of exercises and excerpts. Their books incorporate detailed instructions on how to play each exercise effectively and without fatigue. Subsequently, Heinrich Ehrlich (1822-1899) collected and systematically arranged Tausig's notes, complementing them with detailed information on how to play Tausig's exercises without causing injury. This dissertation compares and contrasts the exercises found in Alfred Cortot's book, Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique, and Carl Tausig's book, Daily Studies for the Pianoforte. The latter is based on the practical guidebook, How to Practise on the Piano: Reflections and Suggestions, written by …

This thesis examines the themes in the work of Argentine novelist Gustavo Adolfo Martínez Zuviría, who wrote under the pseudonym of Hugo West.

Austrofundulus limnaeus is a species of annual killifish which inhabits ephemeral ponds in South America. The species is able to survive seasonally desiccating ponds due to their ability to produce robust embryos. The embryos of this species are capable of entering a developmental arrest, termed diapause II, which precedes the onset of drought. While in this arrested state embryos exhibit the greatest tolerance to anoxia of any characterized vertebrate at 25ºC. Furthermore, when raised at 30ºC, embryos escape the entrance to diapause II and go on to develop directly. Currently, little is known about the molecular mechanisms which induce and maintain this developmentally arrested state. In this study I have developed methods to analyze changes in histone modifications in the context of diapause II. Histone modifications were chosen due to their extreme conservation and well characterized role as modulators of gene expression in other systems. Results utilizing adapted immunobased assays show significant changes in the global amount of H3S10P, H3K27me and H3K4me, as the embryos progress from early embryogenesis through the exit of diapause. Additionally, it is revealed that there exists a degree of phenotypic plasticity with regards to the entrance into diapause II which is modulated by the environment …

The shortage of bilingual counselors is one barrier to young Latina/o children receiving mental health services. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a developmentally responsive intervention based on the premise that play is children's natural means of communication across cultures. This randomized controlled study examined the effects of CCPT with young Spanish-speaking Latina/o children exhibiting clinical levels of school behavior problems. Participants were 57 pre-K to kindergarten Latina/o children (72% male; mean age = 4.0) randomly assigned to three treatment groups: CCPT with Spanish-speaking, bilingual counselors; CCPT with English-speaking, monolingual counselors; or active control (bilingual mentoring). Monolingual counselors participated in cultural competency training and supervision with bilingual counselors and supervisors. According to independent observers and teachers blinded to children's group assignment, both the bilingual CCPT group and the monolingual CCPT group demonstrated moderate treatment effects over bilingual mentoring, yet between-group differences were not statistically significant. Analysis of within-group change over time indicated that children in both CCPT interventions demonstrated statistically significant improvement, while the mentoring group did not. The percentage of children in each treatment group who improved from clinical to normal behavioral functioning suggests the clinical significance of the findings: 80% bilingual CCPT, 70% monolingual CCPT, 15% bilingual mentoring. Overall, …

The etudes of Chopin are masterworks of the piano literature and are designed to go beyond mere technical exercises; moreover, each etude represents not only a technical study but also has a distinct musical character. Alarmingly, the current trend seems to be to assign the Chopin etudes at an increasingly young age to students who are not yet equipped either technically or musically to handle them. As Chopin’s pupil, Carl Mikuli, commented in the preface to his Chopin edition, the etudes were meant for “more advanced students.” If Chopin had intended his etudes for students at an intermediate level, he would have assigned them to most of his students; however, only a limited number of students had his permission to work on their master’s etudes. As a teacher, I have always felt the need to devise a systematic teaching plan to guide students to handle the challenges of these pieces both physically and musically. This study examines the repertoire which might help prepare a student to learn the etudes without overstraining his/her muscular and mental ability. Rooted in Chopin’s teaching and his recommendation of the pieces to learn before tackling the etudes themselves, this pedagogical study guide intends to help …

Unsuk Chin (b.1961), a Korean-born woman composer, was a student of Gyorgy Sandor Ligeti (1923-2006). Chin's work reflects the influence of Ligeti but also undeniably has its own style. This study investigates the six piano etudes so far published from 12 Piano Etudes (1995-2003) by Unsuk Chin and compares them with Ligeti's piano etudes to highlight the influence of the teacher on the student and to aid pianists in facing the unique technical challenges posed by both sets of etudes. The practice guide provided in this study for each specific technical difficulty requires a degree of patience from a student which, if followed, will enhance the performance.

The underrepresentation of Mexican art song has left classical singers with few Spanish-language repertoire options. Currently, the music of Spain dominates this scene and Mexican art song has yet to earn a place in academic curricula and concert halls. Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948) retains an important position in Mexican music. However, Ponce's vocal repertoire—consisting of over 150 songs—remained dormant for many decades after his death due to its misclassification by music aristocrats in Mexico that greatly affected their diffusion. Consequently, few copies were published during Ponce's life, making them difficult to find. The need in the singing community for repertoire of this kind has raised many questions not only about its existence and availability, but also about its origins and relationship to the established Art Song canon. To promote the diffusion of this underrepresented repertoire, a style analysis of Ponce's Romantic Mexican Art Song is offered through the lens of his writings about Mexican Song. The analysis includes vital information about the origins, form, style, and subjects of these songs. Tangible examples of these traits are provided from Ponce's Doce Canciones Mexicanas along with historically-informed suggestions for singers and translations of the text with IPA transcriptions.

Manuel Machado is known as one of the most innovative Spanish modernist poets of the twentieth century. Despite his recognition as a literary figure in Spain, the mimetic descriptions in Machado's poetics are interpreted as mere innovations in Spanish poetry. Those mimetic descriptions are examples of ekphrasis in Spanish literature. Ekphrasis is both a literary and representational art. The mimetic dimension in Machado's poetry is ignored or misinterpreted by the critics of his poetics. This study written in Spanish investigates the use of ekphrasis in terms of Machado's poetic style. An analysis of Manuel Machado's ekphrastic poems will determine: ekphrastic poetry is a representational art; how visual and acoustic aspects of Machado's poems create enargeia; and the manifestation of ekphrasis in Spanish verse. In using Machado's poems, this project will contribute to future explorations of ekphrasis in Spanish literature.

This study examines the Piano Concerto in C sharp, Op.17 (1923), by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), in light of developing variation, techniques that transform motivic ideas and create musical continuity in this work. The troublesome reception history of Korngold’s piano concerto derives from its complex musical features, which have created difficulties in understanding and evaluating this piece. Consequently, critics and scholars often label the highly sophisticated yet tonal musical language in this piece a residue of Romanticism from the nineteenth century. In this document, in contrast, examination of motivic development and connections in Korngold’s piano concerto reveals thematic and structural coherence in light of Korngold’s idea of modernity. This study provides a historical and technical survey of developing variation and discusses Korngold’s implementation of these techniques in his early compositions and the piano concerto. By doing so, this study recognizes the progressive aspect in Korngold’s music.

There is a paucity of research regarding language use among bilingual clients, particularly with Latino children. In order to provide culturally sensitive counseling for bilingual, Spanish-speaking, Latino children it is important to understand their experience of language use. The purpose of this study was to investigate how second generation, bilingual, Mexican American, 5th grade students experience language use in the two languages with which they communicate. I employed a phenomenological method to data collection and analysis and conducted semi-structured individual and group interviews with three boys and five girls (N = 8). Analysis of the individual and group interviews yielded four main structures: (a) dominant language determined perception of developing dual selves, (b) speaking two languages useful in language brokering and upward mobility, (c) dominant language determined experience of language use, and (d) language use and aspects of the complementarity principle. Findings from this study suggest that bilingual Latino children experience language brokering for their parents as difficult, speaking two languages as useful regarding upward mobility, and that their dominant language influences various aspects of their daily experiences such as with whom and where they use each language. Limitations to this research include insufficient time building rapport with participants and …

Multicultural (MC) counseling and social justice (SJ) are foundational parts of counselors' professional identity, and they are fostered through a developmental process that counselor educators facilitate. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between counselor educators' ethnic/racial identity development (ERI), their social justice orientation (SJO) and their multicultural teaching competence (MCTC). MCTC was examined using the constructs of knowledge and sensitivity. Data was collected from a nationally distributed online survey. Data were analyzed using four hierarchical regression models in order to control for socially desirable responding. Results indicated that ERI was a significant predictor of MCTC-Knowledge (p < .001) and that SJO was a significant predictor of MCTC-Sensitivity (p < .001). Socially desirable responding was not significantly related to MCTC. Results suggest the importance of attending to ERI and SJO as separate processes in training future counselor educators.

The objective of this dissertation is to review the discrepancies between the first edition, Stradal’s edition and Marzocchi’s edition of Reubke’s piano sonata, providing assistance for performers by clarifying inconsistencies between the three editions. Information in reference to major aspects such as fingerings, pedaling, phrasing, tempo markings is presented. Examples of discrepancies found throughout the first movement are discussed in Chapter 3. Detailed assessment of these discrepancies, accompanied by the author’s comments are listed in the comprehensive comparison table in Appendix A. Additionally, directions are given in cases of presumptive errors, and discrepancies are addressed with possible variant solutions. In conclusion, the relative merit of the three editions is assessed in Chapter 4.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the first movements of Sergei Bortkiewicz's two piano sonatas and compare them with works by other composers that may have served as compositional models. More specifically, the intention is to examine the role of the subdominant key in the recapitulation and trace possible inspirations and influences from the Classical and Romantic styles, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The dissertation employs Schenkerian analysis to elucidate the structure of Bortkiewicz's movements. In addition, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 545, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, and the first movement of Schubert's "Trout" Quintet in A, D. 667, are examined in order to illuminate the similarities and differences between the use of the subdominant recapitulation by these composers and Bortkiewicz.

This dissertation is divided into six chapters. The first chapter explains the purpose and significance of the study. The second chapter presents an analysis about Wanderer Fantasy, D.760 composed by Schubert, employing Schenker analysis to elucidate important motives. Chapter 3 provides an analysis of Schubert-Liszt, Wanderer Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, S. 366 and shows how Liszt transcribed the original to emphasize certain motives, and further, describes the development of the piano history. Chapter 4 delves into an analysis of Schubert-Liszt, Wanderer Fantasy for Two Pianos, S. 653a transcribed by Franz Liszt and further explains the historic development of piano, in particular Érard's grand piano. Chapter 5 explains the analysis of Schubert-Liszt, Wanderer Fantasy for Piano Solo, S.565a and expands upon Érard's grand piano. Finally, Chapter 6 leads to this paper's summary and conclusion.

David Burge (b. 1930) composed the work Go-Hyang (1994) inspired by his impressions of Korea. the purpose of this study is to provide a performance guide particularly for the benefit of non- Korean pianists. Each of the six pieces of Go-Hyang contains Korean musical and/or cultural references. This document details these aspects, obviously stated or implied through the work. Investigation into distinct characteristics and Korean elements of each of the six movements will involve sources from multiple fields. Interviews with both the composer and the pianist Young-Hae Han for whom the work was written answer many questions about performance issues. Once the Korean reference is examined, it will be related to performance consideration of each movement, in order. the result of this examination will provide the performer not only with beneficial information to facilitate the performance but also with some cultural background to enrich the interpretation of the work.