Duo Chopinesque by Michael Hennagin and Chameleon Music by Dan Welcher represent two of the most significant percussion ensemble compositions written in the last twenty years. Both works are written for the mostly mallet type of percussion ensemble wherein the keyboard instruments predominate. However, the most unique aspect of these two pieces is their use of musical quotation. Duo Chopinesque borrows Chopin's Prelude in E minor in its entirety, while Chameleon Music borrows portions from four Mozart Sonatas. This paper places each work within the history of the percussion ensemble, and in the larger history of musical quotation in the twentieth century. In addition, the compositional characteristics of both works are examined with particular emphasis on each composer's use of borrowed material from the music of Mozart and Chopin. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between quoted material and newly composed rhythmic motives.

The purpose of this study is to analyze four late solo piano works of Franz Liszt that all bear the name "Mephisto" in their titles, in order to examine, identify and trace the development in the use of harmonic and melodic idioms that produced non-tonal or "omnitonic" effects, on the one hand, and to emphasize the need to duly accord Liszt a recognition of historical position as the nineteenth century's most influential avant garde composer whose attitude and approach had helped to shape much of the ideal of the atonal composition of this century, on the other. Chapter One presents the issues and the purpose of this study; Chapter Two investigates the principal forces that shaped Liszt's mature compositional style; Chapter Three identifies and discusses the requisites for tonal and atonal compositions; Chapter Four analyzes the four "Mephisto" dances: Waltz no.1 (1860); Polka (1883); Waltz no.3 (1883); and Bagatelle (1885). Chapter Five summarizes the findings from this study and attempts to identify in these late works of Liszt a pattern of conscientious, continuous, purposeful and progressive use of devices toward creating musical effect that would defy the established tonal requisites and undermine the tonal orientation in the composition. This study …

Nikolai Medtner's works evidence an intense interest in symmetrical designs. This concern is manifest at all levels, from the large scale proportions of his numerous ingenious sonata forms to the symmetrically constructed themes and motives. Medtner's works include several instances of palindromic themes and periods. Some palindromic contours are achieved through immediate inversion, creating expansive, symmetrical waves. One of Medtner's thumbprints, symmetrical contrary voice-leading, consists of two or more voices which systematically expand or contract in exact mirror fashion. The contrary movement is usually stepwise, and may be either chromatic or diatonic. Occasionally even larger intervals, such as thirds and fourths, are subjected to this favourite mirroring technique. Such symmetrical expansion and contraction often controls the harmonic progression of several consecutive bars. One of the most striking aspects of Medtner's music is his sophisticated harmonic language. He was fascinated with symmetrical harmonic designs, such as the tritone, the French sixth chord, and the octatonic scale, and made endless and increasingly intricate explorations into these stuctures and the ways in which these apparently nontonal, non-hierarchical forms could be coordinated with the fundamental hierarchy of asymmetrical tonal forms, including triads, major and minor scales, and tonic-dominant relations. Medtner's late work, the Grozovaya …

Although David Maslanka is not a percussionist, his writing for marimba shows a solid appreciation of the idiomatic possibilities developed by recent innovations for the instrument. The marimba is included in at least eighteen of his major compositions, and in most of those it is featured prominently. Both Arcadia II: Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble and Concerto for Marimba and Band display the techniques and influences that have become characteristic of his compositional style. However, they express radically different approaches to composition due primarily to Maslanka's growth as a composer. Maslanka's traditional musical training, the clear influence of diverse composers, and his sensitivity to extra-musical influences such as geographic location have resulted in a very distinct musical style. His exemplary attention to detail and sound timbres give his works an individualized stamp. The evolution of motivic gestures is the most distinctive characteristic of Maslanka's compositional process. Maslanka freely incorporates forms and structural principles of the baroque and classical periods, but these principles are not applied in a strict sense. These factors combine to produce two works that are both unique and significant in the literature for marimba. They exhibit a sensitivity to sound timbres while maintaining a mature approach …

Reconstructions is a nine-movement composition for solo soprano, chorus, and wind ensemble using texts from several of Emily Dickinson's poems. The soloist represents the main character in this dramatic work, and the narrative structure portrays abstract moments in this character's life. While the narrative structure of the reconstructed fragments is important to the form of the composition, other elements are also significant. Pitch structures generated from set theoretical systems, in addition to cyclic and palindromic structures are utilized throughout. Timbre also delineates the form, as various combinations of instruments and chorus create an evolving environment in which the soloist resides.

In mid-eighteenth-century France, a type of ensemble music was introduced for harpsichord and another instrument(s) in which the harpsichord part is completely written out, instead of a bass line with figures to be realized. Composers of this genre used the word "accompanied" in the tides or in the prefaces of their collections to describe the genre. This study examines the earliest examples of this genre, the works of seven composers, published in the 1740's, (Mondonville, Rameau, Boismoitier, Clement, Dupuits, Guillemain, and Luc Marchand), and compares the various styles of the written out parts, both harpsichord and additional instrument, to determine the nature of the word, "accompaniment."

This dissertation focuses on the first Parable of Vincent Ludwig Persichetti, written for alto flute in 1965. Persichetti spent from 1965 to 1986 (almost the last twenty years of his life) composing twenty-four additional Parables for various solo instruments, instrumental combinations, and even one in the form of an opera.

In an appendix section, three notable arias have been transcribed for two clarinets, voice, and piano. A further evaluation of Classical period opera orchestration will aid modern performers and musicologists in their understanding of what clarinets and clarinetists were able and expected to do.

Whereas conditions have existed for many centuries which served to exclude or marginalize female participation in music, many women have written compositions of musical worth sufficient to justify their contemporary performance. Although most women composers wrote works more fitting for the "salon" than for the concert hall at the turn of the century, Boulanger and Mahler are representative of the few women composers whose complex approach to art song fell within the mainstream of the genre. Many of their accompaniments attain a level of technical difficulty not previously found in women composers' writing. They offer an interesting comparison between nationalities and styles in that they both favored Symbolist texts. However, each represents a different side of the coin in her musical interpretation of Symbolism: Boulanger, Impressionism, and Mahler, Expressionism. In addition, even though their styles involve opposite musical expressions, they both show a strong influence of Wagner in their writing. This study includes background on turn-of-the-century music and musicians encompassing the role of art song among women composers. Symbolism is addressed as it applies to the poets selected by the composers, followed by information regarding the specific musical representation of Symbolist texts in the composers' art songs. The chapter of …

Now all but forgotten, the songs of Sidney Homer (1864-1953) were at one time well-regarded and often performed. Married to the great American contralto Louise Homer, he was in a unique position to have his songs performed by the great artists of the time. Unlike the cloying "parlor songs" of many of his contemporaries, his works consistently demonstrate a respect for both the great poets as well as the European art-song tradition. One of the most cosmopolitan of the American composers of his day, his involvement with Louise's career brought him into contact with many of the great composers and performers of the day including Massenet, Puccini, Humperdinck, Mahler, Toscanini and Caruso. When viewed in their entirety, his songs reveal not only a tremendous variety, but also the maturation of his compositional style.

These four sonatas of William Flackton (1709-1798) are probably the earliest collection of sonata literature written for the viola. They exist with a few other string sonatas from the Baroque period in England. It is essential to establish their place in English baroque music and to develop a performance milieu or stylistic preference that leads up to and lasts through the time span of Flackton's sonatas. The final tool to establish an interpretive plan will be to present a general analysis of the four sonatas with special emphasis on the D major sonata (opus 2, no. 4).

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The evolution of twentieth century American music involves much more than the continuation of European tradition. The music of black Americans before and after the turn of the century had a profound impact on the musical sensibility of American culture in general. Additionally, the fledgling popular music publishing industry had a dramatic effect on the course of "classical" tradition. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the music of George Gershwin. Gershwin's importance in the history of American art music is undisputed. Why his music sounds the way it does is less understood. This paper considers the popular and folk genres that most influenced the young caiposer, and traces specific stylistic elements through their various popular and folk incarnations of the previous thirty years into Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue of 1924.

The discussion dealt with stylistic influences, compositional techniques, and performance considerations of chamber music involving clarinet composed by Bohuslav Martinu and included a performance of three of his works: Quartet. for clarinet, horn, cello, and side drum, Madrigals for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, two bassoons, and piano. The selections performed and discussed in the lecture show compositional growth of the composer through the three periods of his life in which he composed chamber music which included winds. These three time periods are 1923-40 during his residency in Paris, 1941-56 during his residency in the United States, and 1957 until his death in 1959 when he returned permanently to Europe.

Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the leading composers in the contemporary music world. Her compositional interests have been stimulated by the exploration of and improvisation with rare folk and ritual instruments, and by a deep-rooted belief in the mystical properties of music. Gubaidulina is the author of orchestral and choral works, compositions for solo instruments, chamber music, as well as electronics music. Gubaidulina's Piano Sonata sums up the composer's thinking within her piano music, and at the same time projects the development of her spiritual vision within other genres that are to come. The analytical approach in this paper is based on the correlation between each of the elements of the musical material (form, rhythm, sound, etc.) and its contextual meaning in terms of musical dramaturgy. Set-theory is applied to the analysis of motivic components of the work. The traditional form is just the basis for the original intonational structure within a modern musical idiom. Varieties of rhythmic patterns, as well as an unconventional sound production, make this work breath with an impetuous power. The examination of the Sonata's musical language and content should give some insight not only into Guabaidulina's piano music, but also into a consequent development of …

The purpose of this dissertation is to prepare and present a critical edition of Carl Nielsen's Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, a major work in the woodwind quintet repertoire. Written for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet in 1922, it is also considered a pivotal composition in Nielsen's artistic output. This treatise offers a brief biography of Carl Nielsen, documents the history and significance of the Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, and presents a critical edition that will enable more accurate performances of this important composition.

An interpretive analysis of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Concerto for Bass Tuba which compares tempi, interpretation of the melodic line, ornamentation, dynamics, pitches, rhythms. phrasing and articulations as utilized by four prominent tuba performers. Performers selected to share their interpretations include Arnold Jacobs, Donald Little, Richard Nahatzki and Harvey Phillips. Little, Nahatzki and Phillips provided a copy of their solo parts with their personal markings. Jacobs gave permission to transcribe his interpretation from the recording he made with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Performers' biological information is included along with musical reviews of Concerto for Bass Tuba.