The intent of this dissertation is to provide a reference guide for any prospective performer of Alec Wilder's four works for marimba: Suite for Solo Guitar (1976), Suite for Trumpet and Marimba (1977), Suite for Flute and Marimba (1977), and Sextet for Marimba and Wind Quintet (1977). The first part of the dissertation provides background information pertaining to Wilder himself, the works for marimba, and theoretical aspects of Wilder's music. The second part addresses specific performance problems contained in the music. The dissertation culminates with the presentation of a performance edition of the marimba part of the previously unedited Sextet. This dissertation will facilitate and enhance future performances of these works. It is hoped that this document will serve to help perpetuate and sustain interest in these important compositions.

A Different Drummer is a chamber opera adaptation of Donald Davis's story "A Different Drummer" from his collection Listening for the Crack of Dawn, published by August House. The opera lasts about seventy minutes, and calls for a cast of three and an orchestra of sixteen players. It contains a prologue, epilogue and four scenes in a single act. The score is prefaced by a paper describing the musical strategies employed in setting the story as an opera. Three chapters describe the adaptation from short story to opera, the essential musical elements, and details of the application of the musical elements in each scene of the opera. The libretto is presented in the fourth chapter.

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.

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 intent of this dissertation is to investigate Michael Tippett's eclectic approach to the sonata form in the twentieth century as demonstrated in his Sonata No. 1. Topics of discussion include historical background of English music, particularly the English piano sonata, at the turn of the century (chapter 1), biographical information and a general overview of Tippett's music (chapter 2), a brief examination of Tippett's Sonata Nos. 2, 3, and 4 (chapter 3) and a formal analysis of Sonata No. 1 as well as Tippett's approach to contrapuntal techniques, rhythm, harmony and tonality (chapter 4). In addition to the lecture recital given on February 1, 1999, three others were given: the first recital, on April 3, 1995, contained works by Beethoven, J.S. Bach/Busoni, and Bartok: the second recital, on February 5, 1996, included works by Schumann, Mozart, and Ginastera: and the third recital, on January 2, 1998, featured works by Barber and Chopin.

The opera is scored for chamber orchestra consisting of one oboe, two Bb clarinets, two horns in F, one trumpet in C, one tenor trombone, two percussionists (playing snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, wood block, triangle, suspended cymbal, crash cymbal, agogo bells, cow bell, brake drum, metal whistle, whip, large gong, Glockenspiel, chimes, timpani in F (low) and C), eight or more violins in two parts, six or more violas in two parts, and eight or more cellos in two parts. The characters are Alejandro Jiminez, a dramatic tenor; the Manager of Burger Palace, a baritone; the Suits 1/Fast Food Workers, a choir (SATB) and the Suits 2/Customers, a second choir (SATB), each ideally consisting of eight vocalists for a total of sixteen; the Daydream Figures, which are mimed parts; the Man with Gun, which is a spoken part. The opera, in one act consisting of six scenes and an interlude, is based on a libretto by the composer. There is only one scene change: from an essentially empty stage to a fast food restaurant in Scene 4. The length of the work is approximately sixty to sixty-five minutes.

This study addresses on facet of Joseph Turrin's compositional oeuvre: his published works for solo trumpet. Complete histories if all six trumpet compositions are chronicles. A discussion of formal organization and significant style features including harmonic language, melodic style and rhythmic features is included. A detailed performance analysis follows. The degree of difficulty of each work is assessed through an investigation of tessitura, range, melodic contour, endurance factors, fingerings, and technical features of the accompaniment. Analysis of tempi and dynamics, articulation and phrasing, and timbral considerations provides additional points of focus to the study. Finally, the importance of Turrin's works for trumpet and his impact on trumpet literature is assessed. Idiomatic aspects of composition that make Turrin's music attractive to performers are investigated and discussed.

A little-known chamber work by Benjamin Britten is the dramatic cantata Phaedra, op.93, for mezzo-soprano and small orchestra. Among his chamber works, the solo cantata was a musical form used only once by Britten, thus making Phaedra unique among Britten's oeuvre. Britten chose a genre that flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the cantata - as a vehicle for the story of Phaedra. He employs clear allusions to Baroque music in Phaedra by the use of harpsichord and continuo in the recitatives, ornamentation, and word painting. The text for Britten's setting of Phaedra is a translation of Jean Racine's Phedre by the American poet Robert Lowell. From Lowell's complete play, Britten extracted Phaedra's key speeches that deal with her three confessions of incestuous love for her stepson, Hippolytus. These monologues are set in a series of recitatives and arias that make up the entirety of this chamber cantata. In order to gain complete understanding of Phaedra, this document will begin with an investigation into the historical background of Racine's Phedre and the conventions of French tragedy from which it arose. Lowell's translation method will then be explored in comparison to Racine's play. In turn, Britten's extractions from Lowell's translation …

For the purposes of expressive intent, Carter developed compositional strategies that possess qualities congruent with the musical language in his Second Quartet (1959). He employed strategies including tempo modulation, triple groupings, and large-scale ratios to assemble the musical discourse and to guide the listener's perception of large-scale continuity. I label these devices collectively as "preferential strategies" because it is Carter who selects certain pre-compositional ideas that organize musical material and demarcate structural locations. Tempo modulations that organize dual meters and triple groupings that interact in transitional and transformational ways demonstrate his concern with controlling the overall time continuity through local level organization. Large-scale ratio relations between nine interlocking sections of this four movement work illustrate how Carter employs a local strategy that projects a large-scale structure. Recognizing that Carter's ultimate compositional goal prioritizes temporal processes, these proposed preferred strategies articulate a convergence of musical elements.

A stylistic analysis of John Stevens' second brass quintet, Fabrics, which discusses the composer's use of orchestration, harmonic language, rhythmic activity, melodic and formal considerations, and performance practice issues. Collaboration between composer and performer is investigated, particularly through Stevens' status as member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the ensemble for which Fabrics was composed. Biographical information about Stevens and the Wisconsin Brass Quintet is provided, with appendices providing information regarding Stevens' activities as composer and performer and the activities of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet. Stevens was extensively interviewed as source material for this dissertation.

The six-movement work is scored for two violins, a viola, and a violoncello. A new approach toward the decision making of the compositional process is revealed which structures the parameters of the composition along an arbitrary frame of reference. This reference is selected prior to composition and influences every aspect of the work. The reference chosen is an existing musical work used in quotation and for stylistic modeling, paraphrase, and variation. Consonance, dissonance, and thematic development are defined in terms of this source.