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 …

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.

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.

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. …

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 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.

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.

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 …