In spite of an increasing interest in the analysis of Renaissance music by contemporary theorists, few analyses of lute music exist. It is hoped that this thesis will serve to open a new area of analysis to scholars of Renaissance music. Chapter I deals with the background information necessary for the analysis, including Dowland's biography, lute history, technique, and notation, and the practice of modality on the lute. An overview of Dowland's music, especially the solo lute music, ends the chapter. Chapter II traces the form and development of the fantasia and surveys Dowland's seven fantasias. In Chapters III-V, the works are divided according to mode and analyzed in terms of counterpoint, dissonance, motivic development and modality. Chapter VI provides concluding remarks.

Sinfonia is a two movement work for chamber string orchestra and percussion consisting of at least five violins I, five violins II, five violas, five cellos, three string basses, and three percussionists playing timpani, two suspended cymbals, one small crash cymbal, 2 triangles, tambourine, woodblock, five temple blocks, snare, two tom-toms, 2 glockenspiels, xylophone, and chimes. The first movement is approximately nine minutes long, the second lasts five and one third minutes making a total of approximately fourteen minutes and twenty seconds.

Domenico Gabrielli's seven trumpet sonatas are among seventeenth-century trumpet repertoire predominant in the instrumental tradition of the basilica San Petronio, which flourished roughly from the election of Maurizio Cazzati as maestro di cappella in 1657 until the dissolution of the orchestra of the church in 1695. Fostered by numerous occasions for performance, the Bolognese trumpet works tend to exhibit a uniform musical style imposed by musical academies. After a discussion of the probable cause of the termination of the instrumental tradition and of the role of musical academies, this paper will be primarily concerned with formal aspects of fast movements of Gabrielli's sonatas. Despite the fact that the predominant organizing principle of the fast movements appears to be textural, a step toward ritornello form is taken in some of the movements, in which tutti and solo sections are independently developed. In particular, the recurrence of identical material in tutti confirming different keys, the thematic relation between tutti and solo, and the symmetrical and balanced tonal plan are unmistakable seeds of full ritornello form. The text is followed by critical notes and transcriptions of the seven sonatas.

Nocturnal op. 70 is one of the most important large-scale works written for guitar in the twentieth century. Brief biographical data and some background information on Nocturnal show how it exemplifies Britten's compositional approach. The focus of the analysis is on three structural aspects: the rhythmic, the intervallic, and the aspect of underlying pitch patterns. The rhythmic analysis discusses the distortion of rhythmic patterns by the use of compression, expansion, elisions, syncopation, and rhythmic dissonance. The pitch set analysis discusses the intervallic character of the work, identifying and correlating set types as they form networks of relationship. The reductive analysis discusses the underlying connections of focal pitches in the linear material of Nocturnal. The conclusion then correlates the results of the preceding analyses, discussing the large-scale unfolding of the form in Nocturnal.

This work is a setting of two poems by E.E. Cummings for chamber orchestra and mezzo-soprano soloist. The approximate durations of the first and second movements are respectively seven and one half, and six minutes. The music was inspired by the poetry and attempts to highlight the cyclic syntax which hallmarks Cummings' style. The first poem ("pity this busy monster, manunkind,") presents a sarcastic analysis of the progress of society. The compositional techniques used in the first movement involve elements of ostinato and fragmented motivic development to punctuate the penetrating message of the poem. The second movement ("these children singing in stone a") offers a marked contrast in texture and is a peaceful resolution to the agitated frustration of the first poem. Chromaticism is an essential element in defining the melodic and harmonic style. The vocal writing is largely declamatory and presents the vocalist with challenges of tessitura, intervallic complexity and extended technique.

This study develops a method for analyzing jazz piano music, primarily focusing on the era 1935-1950. The method is based on axiomatic concepts of jazz harmony, such as the circle of fifths and root position harmonies. 7-10 motion between root and chordal seventh seems to be the driving force in jazz motion. The concept of tritone substitution leads to the idea of a harmonic level, i.e., a harmony's distance from the tonic. With this method in hand, various works of music are analyzed, illustrating that all harmonic motion can be labelled into one of three categories. The ultimate goal of this analytic method is to illustrate the fundamental harmonic line which serves as the harmonic framework from which the jazz composer builds.

This study focuses on temporal aspects of the music of Krzysztof Penderecki and deals with these on the level of textural activity. The analyses are based on a referential idea called a "discrete sound event," defined as an occurrence of a sound or collection of sounds which, as a unit, is distinct from the surrounding texture. These sound events are then used to appraise textural activity from layer fluctuation and composite density. The pieces selected for applying these techniques are the Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, from 1960, the Fluorescences, from 1961, and the 1965 Capriccio for oboe and strings.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide translation of documents on lu from two primary sources for a study of the theory of ,lu, with the main focus on the interpretation and the signification attached to each of the twelve lu-pitch names. To establish the background information of the lu-10 system, an explanation of its acoustical properties is first presented. Based on the most important and widely used tonal system in ancient China -- the san-fen-sun-i system, the illustration is provided for the process of tone generation. Methods proposed by the main theorists who engaged in the discussion of the system of lu are presented. The introduction of the concept of yin and yang in reference to the twelve lu and the signification of the lu-lu system in relation to the human and natural world will also be discussed. The main body of this study is devoted to the translation of written references on the meaning of the twelve lu. The first part is the translation of the selected passages from The Anthology of the Historical Document of Ancient Chinese Music. edited by Tsai-Ping Liang; the second part is the translation of a modern exegesis from an article written …

Three Ideas is a collection of three one-act (musical) plays intended to be performed either as a series or as separate pieces. In order for them to be performable in either of those ways, they need some sort of unifying fabric running throughout the collection, yet they must remain individually strong enough to stand alone outside the context of the series and still seem complete. The concepts Tonal and Nagual, Bell's Theorem, and Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind were chosen because of their theatrical possibilities as well as their philosophical implications. All three of the concepts deal with an unknown, or at least unseen, force that has a strong influence (possibly control) over our actions and the actions of objects around us. This force could possibly radiate from within ourselves, or it could be completely outside us.

The Concert for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, a three-movement work, is approximately seventeen and one-half minutes in duration. Adhering to the three movement concerto form, the work reflects the influence of several styles of twentieth-century orchestral music. In the first movement, two principal motives, significant throughout the work, are developed in a series of metered and non-metered events. The second movement consists of a set of guitar cadenzas framed by increasingly complex material in the orchestra. The third movement explores an application of the two principal motives in a rondo setting.

Alan Berg's two musical settings of Theodor Storm's poem"Schliesse mir die Augen beide" have received little in the way of scholarly analytical attention. The three major chapters of this thesis deal with the two settings on three different levels. Chapter II surveys the political and cultural milieu in which Berg functioned as a young composer of Lieder in the years 1900-1910. Chapter III examines the special quality of lyricism which is often attributed to Berg and his works. Chapter IV provides more definitive and complete musical analyses of the two settings than have heretofore been available. The question of what role songwriting played in the development of Berg's compositional process is addressed in the conclusion.

The poetry of Sumer, inscribed in cuneiform script on clay tablets dating from 2000 B.C., is considered humanity's earliest written literature. Hymns To Inanna is a three-movement, mixed media work based on adapted English translations from ancient Sumerian text. The text is sung by SATB choir and musically illustrated by harp, flutes, percussion, and computer-generated sound (on tape). My musical setting displays these hymns not as a reflection of antiquity but as a timeless expression of spiritual thought. Certain elements of the composition evoke associations with early culture and music. These components, however, are transformed or merged with musical characteristics of other eras, idioms, and forms thus representing a conceptual and stylistic "bridge" between past, present, and future.