This paper investigates Ronald Stevenson's unique treatment of large-scaled structure in his Passacaglia on D S C H. This piece's unusual eighty-minute length, use of traditional forms and unusual piano techniques, musical references to other cultures and a massive triple-fugue over a ground bass will be examined as they relate to its overall form. The elements of rhythm, melody/mode, harmony, counterpoint, piano techniques, and tonality are also used as means of highlighting many unifying elements of the piece which contribute to its overall cohesiveness. Tributes to other composers, among them Dimitry Shostakovich to whom the piece is dedicated, are discussed in addition to many references to world cultures and events which support Stevenson's views on what he terms world music. Rarely is a piece written that encompasses such a wide range of musical elements that possess the ability to engage an audience for an uninterrupted length of eighty-minutes. As of yet, an in-depth scholarly investigation of Stevenson's treatment of formal unity in this landmark piano work has not been done. This analysis reveals Stevenson's approach to composing in such a large form, as well as illustrating his mastery of variation, counterpoint and unending ingenuity for innovative piano techniques. The composer's …

The purpose of this study was to determine differences between the same subjects' music preferences at the elementary and high school levels, and the relationship between these findings and the following variables: peer preferences, musical training, excerpt familiarity, grade, gender, and race.

The trumpet was one of the wind instruments Hindemith used frequently in his chamber music, and he employed it prominently in five works from 1925 to 1954. These works are the Sonate fur Trompete (1939), the Konzert fur Trompete in B und Fagott mit Streichorchester (1954), Drei Stucke (19251 the Septett fur Blasinstrumente (1949), and "Morgenmusik," from the collection Plöner Musiktag (1932). This study examines and compares Hindemith's writing for the trumpet in these selected works, noting features in his use of the instrument which determine the applicability of the works to the Gebrauchsmusik concept.

This study focuses on the central role which fugue d'ecole, as defined and taught by the post-revolutionary Conservatoire de Paris, played in re-establishing standards of excellence in organ composition and aiding the development of the French Symphonic Organ School. An examination of counterpoint and fugue treatises by Cherubini, Dubois, and Gedalge reveals the emergence of a specific school fugue form, intended for academic purposes only, as a means to instilling discipline and honing the technical skills required in all forms of musical composition.

This study examines the relationship between sonnet form and musical form in Benjamin Britten's sonnet cycles with a view toward identifying the musico-poetic form how the musical form interprets the poetry. Several issues come to the fore: 1) articulation of the large-scale divisions of the poetic form in the music; 2) potential of the musical setting to make connections between lines of the text ; 3) potential of the musical setting to follow or imitate the thought processes of the poem; and 4) placement of the departure and return.

A body of works titled 'capriccio' have existed for over four hundred years. Most of these works are characterized by a composers abandonment of expected stylistic norms. Guided only by the fanciful whim of the composer, a capriccio exhibits extreme contrasts in the various parameters of a musical composition including melody, harmony, counterpoint, mood and texture. The composition embedded in these compositional parameters as its point of departure and development.