The purpose of this study is to analyze sets of variations on Paganini's theme by three twentieth-century composers: Ferruccio Busoni, Ignaz Friedman, and Robert Muczynski, in order to examine, identify, and trace different variation techniques and their applications. Chapter 1 presents the purpose and scope of this study. Chapter 2 provides background information on the musical form "theme and variations" and the theme of Paganini's Twenty-fourth Caprice, Op. 1. Chapter 2 also deals with the question of which elements have made this theme so popular. Chapters 3,4, and 5 examine each of the three sets of variations in detail using the following format: theme, structure of each variation, harmony and key, rhythm and meter, tempo and dynamics, motivic development, grouping of variations, and technical problems. Chapter 6 summarizes the findings from this study and attempts to compare those elements among the three variations. Special attention is given to the application of the motivic cells, which are drawn from the original Paganini theme, in the development of succeeding variations. This study shows how these motivic cells contribute to the construction of new motives and melodies in each variation. Additionally, this study attempts to examine each composer's efforts in expanding variation procedure …

Gunther Schuller is credited with coining the term Third Stream, meaning compositions where twentieth-century art music forms exist simultaneously with jazz. Furthermore, Schuller specifically states in the liner notes to the debut recording of Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik "The work is not a Third Stream piece." Yet the concerto alludes to jazz through a multitude of slide glissandi and plunger mute effects, Solotone mute passages, specific references to the jazz trombone styles of Tommy Dorsey and Lawrence Brown, musical quoting or indirect reference, and the use of a walking bass line in Movement V, Finale. What makes one piece Third Stream and another simply a modern composition with jazz implications? Is Third Stream primarily a compositional designation or a performance practice stipulation? How does a celebrated trombone soloist inspire and collaborate with a distinguished composer in the creation of a major work? The somewhat conspicuous title, Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik, seems to point towards Mozart's famous string serenade Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. What connection to Mozart, if any, does Schuller's title suggest? All of these questions are elucidated in this study through careful investigation and research of Gunther Schuller's Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik. New interviews with John Swallow and Gunther Schuller are included.

The objective of the dissertation is to examine Young-Jo Lee's (b. 1943) musical language as exhibited in his piano composition, Variations on the theme of Baugogae. Subjects of discussion include Lee's use of direct and indirect musical borrowings from past European composers and traditional Korean folk idioms. Also included are a biographical sketch of the composer and historical overview of modern Korean composers. This dissertation investigates Lee's effort to synthesize traditional Korean music and Western music in one art form and ultimately, to create his own musical language.

Throughout the recorded history of vocal development certain characteristics can be traced to nationalistic roots. This work explores the four major schools of singing: English, French, German and Italian and includes a brief history of the pedagogical development and ideas of these schools' development. In addition, specific techniques and their similarities and differences, between each school is explored. Through the use of students as a control group, various characteristics within the four schools are implemented in coaching. The results are noted. The major theme of this work is to outline the major schools of vocal pedagogy and to contrast and compare specific techniques found in each school. Furthermore, regarding the individual student, the positive and negative effects of teaching in a dedicated fashion to one school versus the implementation of proven methods, of various schools, even though they cross nationalistic boundaries, has been the major thrust of this investigation

The transcription is an addition to the repertoire for brass ensemble and bass trombone. Consideration is given to the nineteenth-century orchestration treatises of Berlioz and Strauss as well as the twentieth-century texts of Erik Leidzén, Walter Piston, and Samuel Adler. The transcription process is shaped by the principles of these writers. The score is contained in the appendix.

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger was a successful German composer, conductor, and teacher in the first half of the nineteenth century. At the height of his career, he was Hofkapellmeister of theater and opera in Dresden, a position he held until his death. He was a composer of more than 200 works in a multitude of different genres. Today he is mainly known as a composer of opera, a small portion of his total output as a composer. He wrote approximately eighty piano solos, eighty collections of songs or duets, nine masses, and many smaller sacred choral works, as well as 27 piano trios, seven piano quartets, and three piano quintets. In addition to these many works, he wrote five works for the clarinet: Concertino, op. 63, Duo Brillant for clarinet and piano, op. 130, Fantasie, op. 146, Second Fantasie, op. 180, and Adagio und Rondo alla polacca, op. 214. This document provides a biographical sketch of Reissiger, including his personal life, his life as a conductor, and his life as a composer. It also provides a look at the artistic life of his day: his fellow composers and the music they were writing for clarinet, outstanding clarinetists and the different instruments …

The essay begins with the overview of Russian-Soviet piano music from the second half of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century. Then, biographical information about Sergei Slonimsky and an overview of his major compositions is provided. The majority of the paper focuses on Slonimsky's Sonata for Piano (1963). A brief discussion of the Sonata's compositional history is followed by the formal analysis of the overall structure of the work. Slonimsky's original principle of organization of the music is emphasized: the system of constant interrelation of the main thematic material combined with elements of the sonata-allegro form. In the analysis of the harmonic language of the piece, the composer's extensive use of Russian folk elements such as diatonic melodies, sigh motives, parallel triads, and simultaneous use of the lower third with the major triad is pointed out. The rest of the paper focuses on issues of interpretation and performance. Special notice is given to the problem of incorporating a percussive type of playing with the elements of folk cantilena singing. The paper concludes with the history of Sonata's performances and a discussion of current recordings.

Michael Daugherty has created his niche in the music world by composing works inspired by icons of American popular culture. Red Cape Tango is the final movement of his Metropolis Symphony, a work inspired by the life and times of the comic book character Superman. This movement in particular deals with the death of the superhero through the use of musical elements, most notably the Latin Sequence of the Mass for the Dead, Dies irae. Daugherty's ingenuity in blending profoundly dark subjects with humor is particularly evident in this work. Death is personified as a temptress and lures Superman through the power of a seductive tango. This study concentrates on Daugherty's compositional style and its impact in musical circles. A transcription for wind orchestra was created by another composer/conductor precisely because of the need to bring such an important work to another medium, thus making it accessible to a wider audience. In addition, this study looks at the changes in instrumentation necessary to create a second, equally formidable version of the work.

The Pulitzer Prize in Music has been associated with excellence in American composition since 1943, when it first honored William Schuman for his Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song. In the years that followed, this award has recognized America's most eminent composers, placing many of their works in the standard orchestral, chamber and solo repertoire. Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Walter Piston and Elliott Carter are but a few of the composers who have been honored by this most prestigious award. Several of these Pulitzer Prize-winning composers have made significant contributions to the solo and chamber music repertories of the bassoon, an instrument that had a limited repertoire until the beginning of the twentieth century. The purpose of this project is to draw attention to the fact that America's most honored composers have enlarged and enriched the repertoire of the solo bassoon and bassoon quartet. The works that will be discussed in this document include: Quartettino for Four Bassoons (1939) - William Schuman, Three Inventions for Solo Bassoon (1962) - George Perle, Canzonetta (1962) - John Harbison, Metamorphoses for Bassoon Solo (1991) - Leslie Bassett and “How like pellucid statues, Daddy. Or like a . . . an engine” (1994) …

The primary purpose of this study is to address performance issues in the Polish Fantasy, Op. 19, by examining characteristics of Polish folk dances and how they are incorporated in this unique work by Paderewski. The study includes a comprehensive history of the fantasy in order to understand how Paderewski used various codified generic aspects of the solo piano fantasy, as well as those of the one-movement concerto introduced by nineteenth-century composers such as Weber and Liszt. Given that the Polish Fantasy, Op. 19, as well as most of Paderewski's compositions, have been performed more frequently in the last twenty years, an analysis of the combination of the three characteristic aspects of the Polish Fantasy, Op.19 - Polish folk music, the generic rhetoric of a fantasy and the one-movement concerto - would aid scholars and performers alike in better understanding the composition's engagement with various traditions and how best to make decisions about those traditions when approaching the work in a concert setting. Chapter 1 provides biographical and factographical information about Paderewski as a composer, pianist, and statesman. Chapter 2 examines characteristics of Polish folk music with regard to melody, rhythm and tempo. Musical examples of the Polish folk songs …

The abstract includes a detailed analysis of the quartet as well as idiomatic aspects of the music. In addition, a background of composer/performer relationships is outlined.

Balakirev's two early piano and orchestra works, Grande Fantaisie on Russian Folk Songs and Concerto Op. 1 in F# Minor, were composed in the middle of the nineteenth century when in Russia there were no particularly important works for piano and orchestra. Balakirev was still a teenager when he wrote these two pieces and unfortunately both remained unfinished. However the beauty and remarkable compositional achievement of these works should be highly recognized. There are six chapters in this essay. The general background, purpose and the state of research are discussed in the first chapter. The second chapter presents Balakirev's biographical information and the overview of his works for piano and orchestra is stated in Chapter III. Individual works, Grande Fantaisie and Concerto in F# Minor are discussed in the chapters IV and V, which including discussing compositional background, analysis and diagram of structural schemes. The last chapter concludes with Balakirev's contribution to Russian music and the development of the Russian concerto coming into its own. It deals particularly with Balakirev's approach to folk songs, which gives the concerto a unique Russian aesthetic, in addition to his ability to write in the European tradition.

The aspiration of this dissertation is to bring forth the significance of Shostakovich's Piano Sonata Op.12. This sonata is a hybrid of the German musical tradition, Russian Modernism, and Liszt's thematic transformation technique. It demonstrates Shostakovich's highly intellectual compositional skills influenced by the education that he received at St. Petersburg Conservatory as well as the exposure to modern music in the 1920s. This dissertation discusses composition techniques, such as the harmonic piers adapted from Alexander Scriabin, neighboring-tone technique, which involves the application of semitone cell throughout the piece, as well as the technique of thematic transformation borrowed from Liszt. These all come together by Shostakovich's design in the most controversial sonata form. The Piano Sonata Op.12 also sheds light on Shostakovich's early compositional style and proves its contribution to the evolution of sonata genre in the twentieth-century.

This lecture recital seeks to prove that Sergei Taneyev's only piano concerto is a valuable addition to the piano concerto repertoire for historical and theoretical examination. Taneyev's biographical background proves he was one of the major figures in Russian musical life during the late nineteenth century. For one who had such an important role in music history, it is an unfortunate that his music has not been popular. Through letters to contemporary composers and friends, Taneyev's master teacher Tchaikovsky revealed why his music and piano concerto were not as popular as they should have been. This lecture recital examines Taneyev's compositional style and illustrates his influence in the works of his famous student Sergei Rachmaninoff through examples from Taneyev's Piano Concerto in E-flat Major and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Taneyev's Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 have both similarities and differences that resulted from the composers' close relationship. Letters between the teacher and student enlighten readers to the compositional process of the two piano concertos and demonstrates the value of Taneyev's Piano Concerto. A detailed theoretical analysis is included in this dissertation. The principal themes and motifs are presented with a detailed analysis of the structure of …

In 2005, composer Susan Botti won the coveted Prix de Rome in musical composition and spent eleven months in residency at the American Academy in Rome. That same year, the University of Michigan Wind Symphony, under the direction of Michael Haithcock, premiered her exciting new work Cosmosis at the College Band Directors National Association Conference in New York City. The bi-annual conference is a venue for the premiere of new works for wind ensembles and bands, and the 2005 conference saw the world premiere of nine works for winds and percussion, many of which were performed in the legendary Carnegie Hall. What made the debut performance of Cosmosis exciting and notable was the composer's own appearance as soprano soloist, and the inclusion of a chorus of women augmenting the ensemble of winds and percussion. Such a combination of elements is unique, and created a fresh and powerful sonority. Botti's inventive approach to composition has expanded the repertoire for both women's chorus and wind ensemble with this distinctive work. This study is intended to serve as a guide to the study and performance of Cosmosis. The information provides a detailed examination of the work from its conception to its premiere performance. …

The purpose of this dissertation is to present a comparative analysis of the sarabandes from the six cello suites. Six individual analyses each address the following elements: harmonic reduction, the relationship between the large-scale harmonic and metrical structures, the melodic elaboration of the harmonic-metrical structure, and the type and prevalence of sarabande rhythm. A summary at the end of each analysis provides a cumulative comparison of the results. Knowledge gained from this exercise will provide insight into Bach's conception of the genre by identifying both those features that stylistically unify the sarabandes as well as those that make each unique. In addition, the author will demonstrate the relationship between analysis and interpretation, using the sixth sarabande as an example. This interpretive process will also take into account the idiomatic nature of the guitar.

For more than 20 years, Christian Lindberg has been internationally recognized as the premiere trombone soloist of our time. Few, however, are familiar with his compositions. For over ten years, he has composed many solo and ensemble works for trombone. Many prominent musical organizations in the world have performed Lindberg's music, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the University of North Texas Wind Ensemble. Today, Christian Lindberg has commission requests up to 2010. Christian Lindberg completed Mandrake in the Corner, a three movement concerto for trombone, in 1999. The purpose of this dissertation is to present an analysis of the first movement of Mandrake in the Corner to provide the first in depth study of Lindberg's compositional style. This analysis borrows freely from the method of Jan LaRue, which focuses on sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and growth of musical structure on the small, middle, and large levels. The focus of this study centers on the aspects of melody, harmony, and rhythm to explain how the piece works despite the lack of a second theme or change of key in the first movement.

Robert Eugene Ward's impressive body of work encompasses almost every genre of music. He has composed symphonies, operas, large orchestral pieces, chamber works, solo instrumental pieces, extended choral works, short choral pieces, ceremonial works, a ballet, theatre pieces, and even jazz and swing band pieces. Ward's name is recognized in most musical circles but usually only for his opera The Crucible, a work for which he earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1962. In fact, a survey of all the dissertations, articles, interviews, and books written about Robert Ward shows that the vast majority of these studies focus on his most famous opera. His choral works, though they comprise some of Ward's most expressive work, have received little attention. Ward's works show a deliberate use of symbols and allusions. While this use is far from an innovative concept in composition, Ward distinguishes himself with a consistent and purposeful application of these devices establishing an unmistakable interweaving of text, composition, and context. This study examines several of Ward's short choral compositions as they relate to the composer's use of symbols and allusions. Comparisons are made to Ward's use of these devices in his operatic works as a means of determining the consistency …

The Octuor pour instruments a vents (or Octet), written in 1922-1923 by Igor Stravinsky, is a piece in three movements for a curious assortment of instruments: two trumpets, two trombones, flute, clarinet and two bassoons. It is one of four influential chamber works for winds by Stravinsky to include trumpet. Of these pieces, the Octet contains the fewest number of players but is no less complex and important in Stravinsky's oeuvre. The Octet helped mark the beginning of the neoclassical period in twentieth-century music. Chapter 2 examines the life and musical background of the composer. It also reveals the history surrounding the origin of the Octet and its role in neoclassicism. Chapter 3 discusses the role of the Octet in the wind ensemble and orchestral repertoire, and includes a representative performance history, including the premiere. Chapter 4 provides analytical insights into the construction and format of the piece. Chapter 5 provides suggestions regarding style in Stravinsky's music, including interviews with important figures in the trumpet world. Chapter 6 concludes the guide with specific suggestions regarding preparation and performance of the Octet.

The impact of training on virtual team effectiveness was assessed in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. A 12-page survey was developed exploring all aspects of virtual teams. 180 surveys were distributed, 52 were returned representing 43 companies. Training led to higher effectiveness in planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, and conflict resolution, but not in communication and responding to customer requirements. Training may not solve all the problems that virtual teams will encounter; however, training will make the challenges easier to handle.

Walt Whitman's poetry continues to inspire composers of choral music, and the growing collection of musical settings necessitates development of a standard evaluative tool. Critical evaluation of the musical settings of Whitman's work is difficult because the extensive body of verse is complex and of uneven quality, and lack of common text among compositions makes comparison problematical. The diversity of musical styles involved further complicates the issue. Previous studies have focused on either ideology or style, but none have united the two critical approaches, thus restricting potential for deeper understanding of the music. This study proposes an approach to critical evaluation of Whitman settings that applies hermeneutics, or a blend of analysis and criticism, to the process. The hermeneutic approach includes an examination of the interrelationship between musical form and style and the composer's ideology, which is revealed through his/her treatment of Whitman's poetry and analyzed in light of cultural influences. Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961) has composed a large scale choral/orchestral setting of Whitman texts in his Symphony No. 2, opus 67 (1999). The selection, placement, and treatment of poetry in Symphony No. 2 provide a window into the composer's mind and his place in the current musical climate. Liebermann's …

Canvas was commissioned by the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Consortium in fall 1999 for the CBDNA Biennium National Conference to be held at the University of North Texas in February 2001. This substantial and profound three-movement work is Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker's first work for wind ensemble and is a milestone in wind composition at the turn of the millennium. This analysis considers Walker's sophisticated use of octatonic collections and their subsets. Walker uses the three transpositions of the octatonic scale as a harmonic framework for the work. Within this framework, specific subsets of the collection are used in traditional harmonic ways. A hierarchy of pitch sets is created, lending a "tonic" function characteristic to prevalent and specifically placed sonorities. Onto this "canvas" of octatonic harmonies, Walker "paints" specific motivic gestures. These motivic gesture monopolize specific intervallic relationships that are initially presented in the beginning of the work. Certain motivic techniques are then employed in the ongoing development of the motivic content. These motivic techniques include melodic suspension, interval alternation, double stroke articulation, irregularly recurring patterns, chordal punctuations, interrupted sequences, and dramatic uses of silence. Formally, Walker uses short "cells" of similar motivic and harmonic content …

This thesis surveys a variety of songs and arias for high soprano which feature the nightingale; examines the musical elements that symbolize, refer to, or imitate the nightingale; and compares these musical elements with transcriptions of the nightingale's song. The first chapter reviews the symbolic development of the nightingale and its role in poetry and literature. The interior chapters address a selection of musical compositions that feature the nightingale and its song. The final chapter establishes a relationship between the sound of the actual sound of the nightingale and the musical gestures created by composers to imitate the nightingale.

The recordings of the legendary pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski are a valuable documentation of his piano performance style. Knowledge of late-Romantic performance practices gleaned from Paderewski's recordings suggest ways of approaching the performance of his Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 21. This Sonata, composed in 1903 near the end of his compositional career, is a work of the highest caliber, deserving a permanent place in the concert pianist's repertoire. The purpose of this paper is to provide performance suggestions based on Paderewski's performance style which will produce a performance closer to the spirit of the times in which it was written. This study provides an overview of the project in Chapter 1, and a background of Paderewski's life as pianist, composer, and statesman in Chapter 2. A time-line chart of his complete works is included for reference. Chapter 3 analyzes Sonata, Op. 21 in regards to form, sound, melody, harmony, and rhythm. Following the analysis, the Sonata is compared compositionally to sonatas that appear alongside Sonata, Op. 21 on Paderewski's programs, including those by Chopin, Beethoven, and Liszt. Graphs summarize the form and dynamic density of the Sonata, and examples illustrate Paderewski's craft at thematic transformation. Chapter 4 examines Paderewski's …