This dissertation and accompanying lecture recital explore the unique textural features in the works of Steven Mackey as exhibited in See Ya Thursday (1993).A rigorous formal, harmonic, and motivic analysis will highlight the compositional characteristics of textural structure and aural perspective that exist in the work. Illumination of these compositional elements can help to identify and minimize the technical complexities that exist within this piece for the performer. In addition, this document provides brief biographical information on Steven Mackey and his works, and on See Ya Thursday as it relates to other pieces in the advanced marimba literature. Finally, it is the aim of the author to add a resource to the relatively limited amount of research on Steven Mackey with this analysis of See Ya Thursday.

Since the 1960s, several gifted Korean composers, including perhaps most notably Young Jo Lee (b. 1943), have been internationally acclaimed for their work. In Western countries, however, there has been a scarcity of academic studies examining the artistry of the music of these Korean composers. Nonetheless, as one of today's most recognized composers in Korea, Young Jo Lee has been invited to numerous international concerts, conferences, and festivals where his works have been played and discussed. A salient feature of his compositions is the fusion of Korean traditional music and the elements of Western compositions, such as in, for one distinctive example, his piano composition, Piano Honza Nori. This musical study describes and analyzes how Lee integrates Korean traditional elements with Western musical ideas in Piano Honza Nori. Results of this study will contribute to the limited literature on the analysis of contemporary piano composition that integrates Korean traditional elements.

Hidas composed more than 135 compositions. Of these 135 compositions 67 feature the trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba in a solo setting, a homogenous chamber setting, or a heterogeneous chamber setting. The first section of this project presents the significance of the topic, state of research, and methodology. Chapter one provides a narrative detailing the collaboration of Hidas with Gusztáv Höna and László Szabó, Sr. Chapter two provides a brief description of characteristics found in Hidas' compositions. Appendix A and B provides a survey of the 67 works for brass instruments that Hidas composed. Included in this survey is information pertaining to the title, editor, publisher and date of publication, total measures, duration, ranges, degree of difficulty, clefs, special effects/techniques, instrumentation, dedications, analytical information, general comments, recordings, and rental details.

Despite Bartók's lasting international fame, some of his works remain unjustly lesser-known. One of the pieces that still resides in relative obscurity is his Violin Concerto No.1—a gem of the violin repertoire that must be brought to the broader public's attention. The fact that the concerto was hidden definitely contributed to its little–known status at first. However, the most important cause for the lack of enthusiasm to tackle this terrific work lies in the unorthodox demands it puts on the violinist. The purpose of this paper is to provide musical and technical suggestions based on Bartók's performing style and on his requirements for performer, which will help to create a more persuasive interpretation of the piece. The guide covers the questions of character, articulation, dynamics, and other performance aspects, and also provides practical suggestions, such as fingerings and bowings. It is hoped that this study will help violin performers to gain additional knowledge and insight into this composition and encourage more frequent performances of it.

Korean composer Isang Yun (1917-1995) was one of the few successful Asian avant-garde composers to blend philosophical elements from East Asia with Western techniques such as the twelve-tone method, Hauptton, Hauptklang, and Umspielung. In addition to the integration of Western and Eastern influences, a significant feature of Yun´s compositional language, found throughout his oeuvre, is the application of East Asian philosophical tenets into his works. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a greater understanding of Isang Yun's life and music, more specifically the Quartett für Horn, Trompete, Posaune und Klavier. The dissertation is divided into five chapters. The first chapter of the dissertation presents introductory data, including the purpose and significance of the study. The second chapter provides pertinent biographical facts about Isang Yun and his works, obtained through research of authoritative books, journal articles, and interviews. The third chapter offers references to traditional Korean brass instruments in terms of their historical background, structure, and timbre. In addition, it also focuses on the processes by which Yun incorporated the compositional techniques of Hauptton, Hauptklang, and Umspielung to the work and their relation to Tao philosophy. The fourth chapter consists of an analytical and stylistic study of the Quartett; …

José Antonio Gómez is an important figure in Mexican music history and his works are considered representative of the beginning of Mexico´s Independent era. Some musicians are familiar with Gómez´s choral output but his organ music is rarely considered. Due to the lack of an edition of Gómez´s Versets for Organ, a practical guide was found needed to aid its performance. This study is based on performance, analysis, and direct work on the only known source for it. The first chapter, Introduction, presents the argument for an edited version of the first part of the manuscript as a performance guide. The second provides biographical information on the composer. The third chapter discusses the background for the original performance of the Versets for Organ. Chapter 4 provides performance considerations for the works. The edition of the manuscript is included in chapter 5.

Ida Gotkovsky, a student of Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger, composed for nearly every instrument, voice, and ensemble. Although Gotkovsky's Concerto for Trombone is a monumental work for the trombone it is rarely performed and recordings are scarce. There is a general lack of scholarly attention to the music of Ida Gotkovsky, however, the technical and aesthetic quality of her music merits further examination. Previous studies of Gotkovsky's music focused on the analysis of individual compositions. However, much more can be learned by examining a work within the context of her general compositional output. Gotkovsky's compositional style includes extensive musical self-borrowing. The goal of this project is to demonstrate melodic and textural similarities and differences within her music to inform performance practice and to establish interest in her music. The context in which Gotkovsky reuses her music is significant and can provide additional musical insight. An informed awareness of her extensive use of self-quotation familiarizes the performer with her compositional language in a variety of musical settings. Such familiarity with her musical style leads to an improved and artistically educated performance.

Doubling is defined as playing two instruments. It is becoming increasingly necessary for low brass musicians to double in the course of their careers. Euphoniumists often learn trombone, and trombonists learn euphonium. The instruments share several surface similarities but also differ in many significant ways. Interviews with six professional doublers highlight strategies for learning, teaching, and performing on both trombone and euphonium. Slide and valve technique, adjustment of intonation, tone quality, air usage, repertoire, and skill maintenance are all addressed. Trombone literature comprises a large part of the euphonium repertoire, due to the fact that most trombone pieces can be performed on euphonium. Euphoniumists should avoid playing pieces that require glissandi or extremely loud dynamics to be effective. Euphonium solos are generally too technical to be practical for trombonists to perform. Grøndahl's Concert pour trombone et piano ou orchestre is a standard piece for both instruments. When performing the piece on either instrument, it is helpful to practice the piece on both trombone and euphonium in order to tap into each instrument's strengths.

The Avatar for trumpet and piano by Dr. Steve Rouse is one of the most challenging compositions in the trumpet repertoire. Due to The Avatar's challenges and increasing popularity, a study is necessary to aid its performance. Each movement is performed on a different instrument: Bb piccolo (with an optional A piccolo part) for Nativity, Bb Flugelhorn for Enigma-Release and Bb trumpet for Rebirth. In addition, the performer must convey one of the work's possible programmatic meanings: (1) The Hindu belief of an Avatar and its life cycle, (2) the life of Christ or (3) the human lifecycle. Chapter 1 gives historical information about the work. Chapters 2-4 discuss each movement of The Avatar programmatically and pedagogically. Facets of each movement are analyzed including differences in programmatic choices, rehearsal techniques and sound concepts. Chapter 5 provides recording suggestions, including choosing a recording engineer, preparing and planning for a recording section, choosing a venue and the benefits of hiring a tonmeister.

In the early 1920s, Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub created a fine arts movement that began in Weimar, Germany, which questioned artistic Expressionism. In 1923, he formed an art exhibition to display new art works of simplicity that were of his anti-Expressionist goal. This exhibition was termed Neue Sachlichkeit, or New Objectivity, and quickly became associated with all fine arts. Music of Neue Sachlichkeit ideals during the 1920s and 1930s began to exhibit anti-Expressionist concepts of form, neoclassicism and limited instrumentation. Paul Hindemith was among the leading figures of Neue Sachlichkeit music. Although Paul Hindemith's Septet (1948) was composed during his later career, it shows many Neue Sachlichkeit traits found previously in the 1920s and 1930s. Characteristics of limited/mixed instrumentation, neoclassic instrumentation and form, and Baroque counterpoint are found in the Septet. These traits can also be head in earlier Neue Sachlichkeit pieces by Hindemith such as Hin und zuruck, op. 45a (1927), Das Marienleben (1922/23, rev. 1948) and Neues vom Tage (1929). Chapter 2 examines the Neue Sachlichkeit movement within the fine arts. Chapter 3 gives a brief biography of Paul Hindemith with a concentration on his influence of Neue Sachlichkeit music of the 1920s and 1930s. This chapter also relates …

Beginning in 1939, the Concours International d'Exécution Musicale de Genève (CIEM; Geneva International Music Competition) is unique among international music competitions in its multidisciplinary approach. To date, fifteen works have been commissioned for clarinet for the years in which the clarinet was involved. The most well-known of these works is the unaccompanied work by Heinrich Sutermeister, Capriccio for Solo Clarinet in A, written in 1946 for the 1947 competition. This work is a staple in the unaccompanied clarinet repertoire. However, the other fourteen works commissioned for the competition are little known and to date no document has been prepared that examines each of these works in the context of the competition and clarinet literature. While perhaps less notable, works were also commissioned for a sight reading portion of the competition for many of the years in which the clarinet was a discipline chosen for the competition, two of which were published. These works are examined as well. This survey provides a critical, analytical, historical, performance-related and biographical review of the published and unpublished works commissioned for the clarinet by CIEM. The composers, competitors and the significance of these works and winners in the clarinet literature and history are included. A …

Through studying the poetry and its context, the lives of the poets and composers, and the musical choices which emerged from these combined influences, students of the "Millennial" generation may experience a deeper connection to art song and its role in defining and reflecting national character. Not yet a part of the traditional canon of American art song, the songs of African-American composers are of particular value in this regard, offering teachers, students, and recitalists less frequently-performed repertoire to explore. Representing a broad spectrum of literary and cultural influences, these songs are just as diverse, multi-faceted, and full of variety as any other body of art song repertoire and richly contribute to the past and present life of the genre. Going beyond the music and the words can only reinforce the study of technique and enrich the studio experience, while at the same time providing a multicultural learning environment which more accurately reflects the America in which these same students will become the singers and voice teachers of tomorrow.

In recent years, the use of the cimbasso has gained popularity in Giuseppe Verdi opera performances throughout the world. In the past, the tuba or the bass trombone was used regularly instead of the cimbasso because less regard was given to what Verdi may have intended. Today, one expects more attention to historical precedent, which is evident in many contemporary Verdi opera performances. However, the tuba continues to be used commonly in performances of Verdi opera productions throughout the United States. The use of the tuba in the U.S. is due to a lack of awareness and a limited availability of the cimbasso. This paper demonstrates the pedagogical and aesthetic differences between the use of the tuba and the modern cimbasso when performing the works of Giuseppe Verdi operas.

Since its premiere in 1878, Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Concerto in G Minor has been underrated and held in low regard by musicologists, critics, performers and audiences alike. Vilém Kurz (1872-1945), a Czech pianist and pedagogue, revised and reworked the piano solo part to incorporate what he considered to be added brilliance and pianistic effectiveness. However, the revised version has not increased the popularity of the work. In recent decades, this concerto has begun to appear more often in the programs and recordings are currently available, utilizing either the original piano part or Kurz's revision or a combination of both. In order to gain a broader analytical perspective and achieve a more authentic interpretation of the piece, a thorough understanding of the relation between Dvořák’s work and Kurz's revisions is indispensable. This study examines these adaptations and compares them with Dvořák’s scoring in order to gain further insight to Kurz's musical intent and pianistic aims. Examples from all movements are evaluated vis-à-vis the original to determine their purpose and musical validity.

Throughout centuries of great classical music, many viola compositions have been crafted from a wealth of literature for instruments of similar range. Clarinet, violin, and cello concerti and ensemble literature often adapt into challenging literature for the viola. In November 2009, Oxford Music Publishing gave me permission to transcribe and perform the Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale by Rebecca Clarke in New York's famed Carnegie Hall - Weill Recital Hall. This dissertation explains the process by which I transcribed the Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale from an original Bb-clarinet/viola duo, to a new arrangement for two violas (approved by Oxford Music Press arrangement license #7007940), and discusses challenges faced throughout the transcription process.

Polystylism in Alfred Schnittke's music has been considered by scholars as a central aspect of his music. Although there are many published analyses of his choral music, symphonies, concerti and violin sonatas, there is no known published research for Schnittke's first cello sonata. Alfred Schnittke grew up in a culturally diverse environment influenced by many different composers and compositional styles under the restrictions of a communist Russian government. These aspects influenced the development of Schnittke's polystylism, characteristically represented by his Cello Sonata (1978). The detailed musical analysis of this sonata in this study serves the purpose to reveal Schnittke's polystylistic tendencies and his use of cyclic elements. These polystylistic elements in the sonata illustrate how Schnittke de-familiarizes listeners from rules commonly accepted as unavoidable and re-familiarizes listeners with the expressive qualities of tonal, twelve-tone and atonal music. Although Schnittke introduces polystylistic materials in de-familiarized contexts in this sonata, this study finds that Schnittke particularly re-familiarizes the audience's musical and stylistic perception through the reappearance of sections, textures and motifs. Abrupt polystylistic conflicts contrast with the repetition of previous materials, thereby forming a combination of traditional styles with features of discontinuity in 20th century music.

The keyboard works of the English virginalist Peter Philips have been little studied in comparison with his more famous contemporaries, William Byrd, John Bull and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. While Philips left comparatively fewer keyboard works than these composers, his music contains very unique attributes. This study compiles the latest research of Philips' life as well as an analysis of representative works showing many of the individual and uncommon features to be found in Philips' works for keyboard. Pieces from all genres of Philips' keyboard output are represented and discussed, including Pavanes and Galliards, Fantasias and Intabulations of madrigals. Musical examples of each of these works are provided. A description of the instruments needed for the performance of the music and an illustration of the rare type of keyboard instrument required in the Pavana and Galliarda Dolorosa is included. A discussion of Philips' style, particularly regarding ornamentation, is included with a comparison to the works of his contemporaries.

Samuel Barber's Capricorn Concerto for flute, oboe and trumpet with strings is an important though seldom performed work. The concerto is teeming with performance choices that are indicative of both historical and contemporary influences. At present, there are limited resources available to performers regarding Capricorn. The first section of this study presents an historical and contextual examination of Capricorn both in terms of Barber's own compositional output and that of his influences and contemporaries. The second section includes a performance analysis of the work, while the third section includes an analysis of existing recordings. Implications for the performer are outlined in last section. The guide provides performers with pertinent background, analytical and performance information in order to facilitate informed, high-level performance.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) were three of the most important avant-garde Russian composers of the twentieth century. Even though their music shares a number of important traits, their work also reflects very individualized and distinct compositional styles. This study illustrates the similarities in their approach and the contrasting elements present in three selected pieces: Stravinsky´s Suite Italienne for Violin and Piano (1933), Shostakovich’s Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 134 (1968), and Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style for Violin and Piano (Harpsichord) (1972). The study disseminates Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Schnittke’s musical influences in these works, focusing particularly in the use of baroque elements by tracing a number of important aspects from their backgrounds. In addition, a chronological outline of compositions containing baroque elements is provided. Finally, this research examines stylistic traits of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the three selected compositions: Suite Italienne, Violin Sonata, Op. 134, and Suite in the Old Style.

In 2001, composer Jon Magnussen met the unusual challenge of unifying his new score for Psalm, an already-existing dance work from 1967, with the original artistic conceit of the choreographer, José Limón, who died in 1972. Limón was inspired directly by his reading of André Schwartz-Bart’s Holocaust novel, The Last of the Just, and had initially desired to use Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms as the score for the dance. Faced with cost-preclusive licensing fees for the Stravinksy, Limón engaged Eugene Lester to compose a score for Psalm. The Lester score, now lost, served the work for only a brief time, when the piece fell out of the repertory. When approached to create a new score for the extant dance work, Magnussen chose to draw his own influence from three works: the dance itself, Schwartz-Bart’s novel, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. In addition, Limón Company Artistic Director Carla Maxwell served as Magnussen’s collaborator in reworking Psalm to resemble the work she believed Limón had desired all along. Magnussen’s influence from Stravinsky and Schwartz-Bart are revealed in the choices of text, the scored forces, and melodic ideas generated by the composer by mapping the names of significant Holocaust sites onto scalar patterns. …

Jean Balissat’s Kaleidoscope for trumpet and percussion is an important yet widely unknown piece within the trumpet repertoire. A comprehensive performance guide is necessary in order to overcome the musical and technical demands that this piece presents to the trumpeter. The first section of this document provides historical and contextual information about Jean Balissat, his compositional style, and relevant information regarding Kaleidoscope. The second section of this document includes a performance guide to the work. The third and final section provides the trumpet player with a pedagogical guide to performing this work. This guide includes background, contextual, and pedagogical information necessary for an informed and high-level performance.

Duet literature remains largely untapped as a pedagogical tool in the undergraduate voice studio. This dissertation examines the ways in which eight duets for female voices, although not written primarily for pedagogical use, may be used to teach four main areas of voice technique: intonation, vocal agility, legato singing, and dramatic skills. Duets are chosen primarily from the standard repertoire and are in English, German, French, Italian and Latin. The compositional styles range from the Baroque period through the 20th century. Genres include art song, oratorio, and opera. Each chapter focuses on one of the four vocal skills listed above, and includes examinations of two duets whose vocal writing (rhythm, tessitura, intervals, tempi, and text) make them appropriate candidates for pedagogical use in the improvement of that specific skill. Both male and female teachers of singing may utilize this project as a practical resource and model in how to use other duets, including those for other voice types, for similar purposes in their teaching studio. This project also demonstrates how the experience of singing duets helps students develop ensemble singing as they listen and respond to each other. Finally, this project offers voice teachers an additional pedagogical tool to help …

A study was undertaken to identify the effect of head flexion/extension on singing voice quality. The amplitude of the fundamental frequency (F0), and the singing power ratio (SPR), an indirect measure of singer’s formant activity, were measured. F0 and SPR scores at four experimental head positions were compared with the subjects’ scores at their habitual positions. Three vowels and three pitch levels were tested. F0 amplitudes and low frequency partials in general were greater with more extended head positions, while SPR increased with neck flexion. No effect of pitch or vowel was found. Gains in SPR appear to be the result of damping low frequency partials rather than amplifying those in the singer’s formant region. Raising the amplitude of F0 is an important resonance tool for female voices in the high range, and may be of benefit to other voice types in resonance, loudness, and laryngeal function.

Micro-Images for Solo Flute, Genera for Flute/Alto Flute/Bass Flute and Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, and Poème exotique for Flute and Piano by American composer Daniel Kessner (b. 1946) utilize a hybrid compositional approach in which microtones are incorporated with more traditional chromatic writing. Through representative musical examples from each piece, this document highlights the timbral, dynamic and pacing complexities associated with the microtonal fingerings and prompts flutists to forgo idiosyncratic tendencies in favor of contextually based choices. In order to help guide musicians toward effective performances of these three pieces and similar works, a new tone color spectrum and description of relative dynamics are provided along with a discussion of the relationships between tone colors, relative dynamics and temporal pacing. Appendices include transcripts of email interviews with composer Daniel Kessner and Carla Rees, British contemporary flutist, as well as an updated list of Kessner’s flute works.