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The music of Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667) poses challenges for the performer when selecting an appropriate tuning system. Froberger lived at a time when meantone temperaments were commonly used on keyboard instruments, but many scholars today consider it appropriate to play his music in temperaments that appeared later, because certain notes found in his works do not fit the traditional meantone framework. In meantone temperaments, only 12 notes are available per octave because some enharmonic notes and intervals are so far from pure that they are unusable. Composers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries understood the limitations of prevalent temperaments but some chose to expand those limits either by using notes that lie beyond the normal disposition of meantone, or by making use of the ‘harsh’-sounding intervals. This study examines the music of Froberger and investigates how best to tune the harpsichord for selected works. The works chosen for the purpose of this study contain notes beyond the 12 that are typically available in meantone temperament. The study suggests effective ways to tune the harpsichord in order to give convincing performances. The dissertation is divided into three chapters. It contains information on historical temperaments; instruments from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries particularly those with divided keys and the music written for them; instruments that may have been known to Froberger; internal evidence in Froberger's works that might identify features of the instruments he had in mind; and case studies of Froberger's music discussing intervals and notes in context, and suggestions on tuning and interpretation. This study will be of assistance to performers exploring the music of Froberger, by highlighting issues to consider when choosing a particular way to tune the harpsichord, and how this may affect interpretation and performance.

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This thesis is a study of the "rubato" style adopted by Czech pianists in the interpretation of Western classical art works, and of the cultural factors which influence this approach. Using the Czech interpretation of Chopin's works as a basis for discussion, problems involved in the study of national performance traditions are investigated, conclusions are made as to whether or not a distinct Czech approach to "rubato" can be identified, and the factors which have contributed to the formation of such a unified style are discussed. Findings are based on the study of the relevant Czech literature, on material gathered from interviews with Czech pianists and on the comparative analyses made of Czech and non-Czech recordings. Arguments are supported by graphical representations of tendencies and audio extracts (in CD audio format) taken from actual performances. Through the comparison of performing and compositional styles, music education systems and piano training methods in Czechoslovakia, it is proposed that all these sectors of the Czech musical world are linked through similar aims and through a dependence on similar ideologies such as the aesthetic of Naturalism. The types of rubato used and their positioning within the Chopin interpretations of the Czech pianists are also found to be governed by the same ideologies - in particular by the demands of Naturalism. In addition, it is suggested that the Czech" rubato" style displays characteristics which can be related to certain rhythmic features of Czech and Slovak folk musics and of the Czech spoken language. All these influences combine to create a Czech approach towards agogic change and tempo fluctuation which emphasises simplicity, retains momentum and highlights overall formal structure, whilst maintaining expressivity and remaining acutely sensitive to the organic nature of melody and to the changing characteristics of rhythmic accentuation implicit in Chopin's scores.

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This thesis accompanies the five electroacoustic pieces of the portfolio and aims to discuss compositional strategies. The pieces were designed with the intention of exploring ways of creating relationships between musical materials of differing natures. Structuring methods are outlined using examples from two acousmatic and three mixed works (for solo instrument and electroacoustic sounds). Analyses from a macro- and micro-perspective aid in describing the principal elements of musical discourse and the personal methods of achieving musical coherence. Three stages of the compositional process are defined and discussed, forming a framework within which the computer sound transformations and instrumental sources are described. The first stage consists of the generation of material and the qualifying of the sounds as the basis for initial musical relationships. Then the structuring of the musical discourse is discussed, highlighting links at macro and microstructural levels. Finally, issues of performance are discussed. Feedback from the performer and the design of a common synchronisation method for the three pieces drives the structural design of the works. Musical material and the visual information during performance are investigated, and consideration is given to their implications throughout the compositional process.

This thesis concerns space as an essential element of expression and communication in electroacoustic music. It shows that musical space is a complex term which refers to many different aspects of composition, performance and perception of electroacoustic music. It is argued that space is a compound musical element which can be integrated into the compositional structure to a degree where space becomes the primary canier of meaning in the work, and that the creation and interpretation of this meaning is a result of learned cultural aspects of interpersonal communication in terms of personal space and territoriality. Furthermore, the close relationship between electroacoustic music composition and technology is acknowledged, and the influence of available technology on aesthetic choices and decision making with regard to spatial composition and performance is taken into consideration. The structure for the investigation is based on a model of musical space comprising three basic levels: 1) spatial properties of individual sounds in terms of intrinsic space, extrinsic space and spectral space, 2) the spatial arrangement of individual sounds and events into a composed space which is played in, and becomes affected by, the listening space, and 3) the perceived space, which constitutes the listening experience of the combination of composed space and listening space. A framework for describing and analysing spatial elements in electroacoustic composition is proposed. The discussion and findings are largely based on my experience as a listener, composer and performer of electroacoustic music, and in addition finds support in research on auditory perception, particularly Jens Blauert's work on spatial hearing and Albert Bregman's auditory scene theory, as well as Denis Smalley's spectromorphological theory, James Tenney's writings on perception-based music listening and analysis, and Edward T. Hall's investigations into space as an element of non-verbal communication.

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The teaching of Carl Czemy was influential in the first half of the nineteenth century. His Complete Theoretical and Practical Piano Forte School and its supplement, The Art ofPlaying the Ancient and Modern Piano Forte Works, are especially relevant to the performance of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Much of the information in this monumental treatise reveals how Beethoven would have performed his sonatas. His pedalling techniques, for example, are similar to those described in Czerny's treatise. Although The Art was published in 1846, some of the ideas in tl-ds book date back to Czemy's Haslinger II edition of the late 1820s, thereby showing a. certain consistency over a period of about twenty years. Most of Czemy's teaching on the performance of Beethoven's piano sonatas, hs recorded in his piano treatise, stem from Beethoven's own practice. However, he sometimes altered Beethoven's directions because he considered his solution to be better (such as the fingering. in the trio of Op. 2/l/iii), or because they did not conform to contemporary performing styles, or simply because they did not suit the more resonant pianos of his day.