The lecture recital was given on July 25, 1977. Transcriptions and arrangements for clarinet and piano of nineteenth-century Italian opera were popular during the virtuoso wind era and are representative of an important phase in the history of clarinet playing. Arias of Rossini and Verdi and a fantasia based on Rigoletto were performed during the lecture recital. In addition to the lecture recital, three other public recitals were performed, including solo compositions for clarinet and chamber works including clarinet.

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music recital compiled from two years' series of chamber music performances in residence, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The repertoire of these programs was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the capability of the performer to deal with problems arising in works of varying types and of different historical periods. The lecture recital, The Fifth and Sixth Clarinet Concertos by Johann Melchior Molter, begins with perhaps the first performance of the Concerto No. 4 in D Major, Mus. Hs. 337, for clarinet in D with orchestral accompaniment reduced for piano. Bibliographical, historical and technical information is marshaled to justify the solo designation of Badische Landesbibliothek concerto manuscripts 334 and 328 to D clarinet rather than clarino. An investigation into the formal and stylistic aspects shows these two questionable works to be comparable to the composer's other four clarinet concertos. The analysis is followed by a short discussion of the problems involved in the transcription and performance of the works. The lecture concludes with the first performance of the Concerto No. 6 in D Major, Mus. Hs. 328, for clarinet in D with orchestral accompaniment reduced for piano.

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music recital, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The repertoire of these programs was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the capability of the performer to deal with problems arising in works of varying types and of different historical periods. The lecture recital, Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet, begins with biographical information, followed by a discussion of various other works of the composer and of important stylistic traits that are contained therein. After thus setting the Concerto in perspective to other major works, an investigation is made into various aspects of form and style which make the Concerto atypical in some respects to the composer t total body of works. Particular emphasis is given to rhythmic and melodic characteristics of the piece which are related to jazz and Latin-American popular music. The formal and stylistic analysis is followed by a discussion of problems involved in performing the Concerto with a piano reduction of the orchestral part, and the lecture concludes with a survey of interpretative problems posed by the work. At the conclusion of the lecture portion of the presentation, the Concerto was performed.