Twi major areas concerning the problems of practice are discussed. One is that poor practice often relegates itself to mindless repetition. The second problem is that the student often has a vague definition of piano technique. All technique should be a means of expression, not just an isolated physical exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to understand the nature of practice and to develop a suggested practice routine which incorporates both technical and musical aspects. Two recommendations, strategies toward effective practice and an ideal practice sessions, serve as a practice outline and reference for both piano teacher and student. An appendix presents a collection of the thoughts and viewpoints on practicing from forty-four internationally acclaimed pianists.

Ignorance of the basic principles of music reading was one of the primary obstacles to the improvement of congregational singing in nineteenth-century America. Six separate numeral notation systems arose to provide a simple way for the common man to learn the basic principles of music. Hartley Day developed his own numeral notation system and published six tune-books that enjoyed modest success in the New England area. This thesis examines Day's numeral notation system as it appeared in the Boston Numeral Harmony (1845), and the One-Line Psalmist (1849). It also studies Day's periodical, The Musical Visitor, in which he continually attacked Lowell Mason, possibly leading to Mason's dismissal as Superintendent of Music of Boston's public schools.

Designs is an algorithmic composition for small orchestra. The main compositional process used involves the realization and implementation of various musical algorithms discussed in the book Composition with Pitch-Classes by theorist/composer Robert Morris.

Specialized training in English diction for singers became increasingly prevalent in the twentieth century. Along with this growth, a small but significant literature on the subject developed. There are divergent practices recommended for American singers, displayed by nine authors in ten books published between 1900 and 1971. A comparative study yields pedagogies of vowel and consonant production. Issues of sounds in context, including proper linkage and stress, adjustments from speech to song, and practices dictated by musical style, are paramount. The literature demonstrates an increased use of International Phonetic Alphabet symbols as a pedagogical tool. The areas of kinesiology and acoustical research are suggested for further study.

Autographs 1928: Four Songs for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble is a composition of approximately 16 minutes' duration and is scored for mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn in F, viola, violoncello, one keyboardist (piano and celesta), and two percussionists (marimba, xylophone, chimes, timpani, bass drum, temple blocks, triangle, and slapstick). The work consists of four songs and four readings with texts from Walls's maternal grandmother's autograph book. The composition opens with a reading and alternates between readings and songs. The music is intended to reflect the playful, tender and humorous nature of the lyrics.

Concertino for Flute, Timpani, and String Orchestra is a three movement piece that blends Western European forms with Korean idioms. The following essay addresses pitch materials, melodic structure, rhythm, form, instrumentation, vertical structures, and developmental procedures used in the work.

This study begins with a discussion of step theory. Included in this discussion is the basis of chord succession, the idea of fundamental representation, and the uses of reinterpretation technique. These concepts are then used to demonstrate the continuity and logic of the harmonic language found in Strauss's Macbeth.

The intent of A capella Eletronnica is to explore the possibility of the human voice as the most versatile of musical instruments. The voice, capable of melodic, harmonic, percussive and rhythmic effects, is also employed for spoken text and conversational elements as musical sources. My aim was to enlarge this array of vocal techniques with the use of electronic processing and amplification.

Although Schoenberg viewed his twelve-tone method as an extension of the Germanic musical evolution from Bach to Brahms, one group of writers in America identified twelve-tone antecedents with Medieval and Renaissance polyphony. Such a correlation of Schoenberg's practice with this textural orientation of the past was part of a larger movement (what I term "neopolyphony") recognizing twentieth-century musical developments as the genesis of a polyphonic epoch reviving both the technical and aesthetic concerns of the former era. With Schoenberg's practice applied to this analogical context, other writers (Hill, Krenek, Perle) advanced certain modal theories based in various degrees on the internal organization and functional role of the Church modes.

Expanding on the concept of Richard Wagner's Gesamptkunstwerk, The War Poems was written to combine various elements for an intermedia composition, including music, five slide projectors, lighting, and costume. Text used in the piece was taken from the writings of the English World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon.

The Wanderer is an orchestra piece 18'42" in duration. The purpose of this project is to provide the composer an opportunity to express through music his experience with God, rebellion, and returning as the wanderering son did in the Bible's parable.

Between 1952 and 1957, Igor Stravinsky surprised the world of music by gradually incorporating serialism into his style of composition. Although Stravinsky still used the neo-classical trait of making strong references to the music of earlier periods, musical analyses of this transitional period have focused on serial aspects to the exclusion of anachronistic elements. Evidence of Stravinsky's possible use of musical structures adapted from earlier times is found in his consistent use of musical figures that are closely related to the cadences of the late Medieval and Renaissance eras. By fully addressing these neo-classical traits in future analyses, music theorists will gain an additional perspective, which is helpful in understanding the music of Stravinsky's transitional period.

This thesis examines the historical significance of the vocal methods employed from the middle of the seventeenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth century in what became known as the bel canto era. It provides further exploration into the pedagogical procedures of the bel canto technique through a study of the premier instructors and singers from this period. The resurgence of interest in this tradition is addressed along with its impact on current vocal pedagogy. The vital role that vocal agility played as one of its most distinguishing traits is the primary factor under investigation. A discussion of the bel canto teaching styles in relation to their approach to agility is a major point of inquiry. By maintaining a link between present artists and pedagogues and the old Italian school, it helps the singer understand the historical implications of vocal agility as an integral part of healthy vocal development.

This thesis is a study of four compositions written by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, older sister of Felix Mendelssohn. Her music is compared with four pieces composed by Felix. This study shows that Fanny was a gifted and creative composer, even surpassing Felix and predating Brahms with her compositional ideas and progressive uses of harmony. Despite her excellent education and recognition among those who knew her well, she did not publicize her talent in any way because of pressure from her father, Abraham, and Felix to stay within the prescribed societal confines of wife and mother.

The thesis speculates on the possible influence of Mozart's Requiem on Cherubini's Requiem in D Minor, concluding that Cherubini's setting of the Sequence ("Dies irae") was indeed influenced by Mozart's setting of this liturgical text both on the micro and macro levels.

The first movement of the Piano Quintet, Op. 16 of Ludwig van Beethoven works out three significant motivic "topics": a chromatically filled-in second, appearing first as 5 - #5 - 6 (Bb - B - C in Eb major); the emphasis om the submediant, both as vi in Eb major and as the tonal region of C minor; and the melodic interval of the sixth, which, when inverted to become a descending third, determines the structure of tonal regions at crucial points in the movement. These three motivic topics are introduced in the opening measures of the piece and are subsequently unfolded throughout the movement; the focus of the thesis will be to trace the unfolding of these three topics.

Jean Millet's L Art de bien chanter (1666), describes the air de cour and its ornamentation as it existed in France during the first half of the seventeenth century. This work, translated for the first time into English and transcribed into modern notation, and B6nigne de Bacilly's Remarques curieuses sur l'art de bien chanter (1668) are the only detailed treatises explaining vocal ornamentation during this period. To clarify his ornamentation method, Millet introduces terms referring to placement of agrements, though few performers used them. Millet expresses the old style, popular under Louis XIII, and the provincial view. Bacilly's treatise deals with the air de cour under Louis XIV, which had a more Italian flavor. He gives aesthetic principles aiding the performer in placing and selecting ornaments. Though Millet and Bacilly describe the same practice, striking differences exist between the two air de cour styles.

A work concerning the history of the Paris Conservatoire and music education in France. Follows the development of the horn and its correlation with the French school of horn playing. Includes biographic information on the horn professors of the Conservatoire through 1997, as well as a comprehensive list of the morceaux de concours for horn, 1795-1996.

George Philipp Telemann is often thought of an experimenter with many nationalistic styles during the course of his career. His Corellian Sonatas demonstrate this facet of his work in their employment of Corelli's manner, and the cultivation of the Italian style. Telemann's Corellian sonatas are stylistically close to those of Corelli, and they do not appear to vary widely from the church and chamber sonatas of Corelli; Telemann fused the two sonata types in that dance elements are found in the church sonatas and the abstract elements of the church sonatas are inserted into the chamber sonatas. In addition to the amalgamation of internal elements, Telemann also experimented with the external features, such as the alternation of tempo and the four movement stereotype.

This thesis uniquely explains the mechanical improvements which have occurred to the flute over the last 147 years. Theobald Boehm revolutionized the flute by changing many of its components culminating with the 1847 model flute. Since that time other improvements have been made which enhance the flute's capabilities in terms of pitch, tone, timbre, and simplification offingeringpassages. Among those improvements which are discussed in the following pages are the Dorus G-sharp key, the gizmo key, the Cooper scale, and The Brogger Mekanik as well as the makers behind the various improvements including Vincent Dorus, George Barrere, and Albert Cooper.

This thesis contributes analyses of two works by Mexican composers: Rayo nocturnal (1989) by Victor Rasgado (b. 1959), and the Cuarteto da do (1988) by Juan Trigos (b. 1965). Although composed according to structuralist principles, a postmodern interpretation is offered. The analytical method applied is based on Allen Forte's set theory, including rhythmic and timbral dimensions that are integral to the conceptions of these works. A survey of modernism and postmodernism in twentieth-century Mexico serves to place these works in their cultural context.

The story of Parsifal is presented in two manners: through action and through narrative. Using the formalist theories of Vladimir Propp, the overall narrative is articulated in three narrative episodes. This thesis interprets the structure of narrative episodes in Parsifal on the basis of expectation. Propp's theory of functions provides labels for an interpretive analysis. Levi-Strauss' reconstruction of Propp's functions into paired structures identifies key points in the drama as moments of "functional" saturation. This "functional" saturation coincides with Wagner's practice of Leitmotivic saturation. The semiotic theories of Charles Sanders Peirce, specifically his notion of sign, clarify the dense accumulation of meanings accrued by the Leitmotifs. Finally, Parsifal, as a "quest" for the unobtainable object, fits into the matrix of desire as formulated in the theories of Jacques Lacan.