During Aaron Copland's long and productive life, he has written many compositions of distinction; among his piano compositions are the Passacaglia, Piano Variations, and Four Piano Blues. These three piano works were composed during a span of over twenty years and reflect many different influences in the composer's musical life. The Passacaglia, an early work, was written under the direction of Copland's teacher, Nadia Boulanger. It was strongly influenced by her and the French neoclassic school. The influence of jazz is most prominent in the Four Piano Blues, whereas the Piano Variations were influenced by Arnold Schoenberg and other composers of the twelve-tone school. This study contains an examination of each of three piano pieces mentioned, with emphasis upon aspects of thematic development, harmony, rhythm, and sonority; then a comparison between the pieces is made.

Franz Liszt, who was the greatest virtuoso pianist in the nineteenth-century, was also a productive composer. But his tremendous technique brought the misunderstanding that his compositions were just flashy and superficial, thus creating an obstacle for appreciating his music. The purpose of this study is to encourage an understanding of the value of Liszt's music, especially his Schubert Lieder transcriptions. The study starts with an introduction, which states the revival of the art of transcription, gives the muscial background of Liszt and describes the instruments that were available to him. Then follows a discussion about his experimentation with the conventional piano techniques and how he applied them to the song transcriptions. Two transcriptions "Hark, Hark, the Lark" and "Der Lindenbaum" are analyzed in detail to show the transcriptive procedure and the relation between the poetry and the musical expression. A conclusion summarizes the study.