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Research in the area of piano performance supports the concept of pianists engaging in problem-free piano methods. Existing pedagogical methods examine piano performance from a localised perspective, specialising in instruction of the detailed movements of the fingers, hands and arms. The present research aims to look at piano performance through a holistic lens. This is done by means of three theoretical and practical axes of somatic education: The Pilates Method, Yoga and the Alexander Technique. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether the three methods of somatic education can be conducive to piano performance. Secondary purposes are to determine whether the nature of educational delivery applied is appropriate in the exposure of pianists to somatic education, the stage of piano education at which pianists’ exposure to somatic education is most beneficial and the components of piano performance that can be enhanced from somatic education. Bibliographic review of relative literature reveals that, although there is amplitude of information on the application of some somatic methods to piano performance, there does not exist a comprehensive and structured educational system which incorporates principles of somatic education in piano performance. Ten workshops in Somatics for Pianists© were conducted in music conservatoires of Northern Greece in the span of three years. As a result, 385 valid questionnaires were produced by participating pianists of all levels, aged 15 and above, and with varying capacities as pianists (soloists, students, teachers etc). The questionnaires focused on issues of piano playing, methods of somatic education, workshop delivery and implementation of somatic education to piano performance. Six email interviews were conducted in order to triangulate results relating to the effectiveness of somatic education on piano performance and the related practical applications. These interviews were given by pianists/piano teachers who are also qualified instructors in one of the three somatic methods examined in this thesis.

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This submission is in two parts: recordings I have made of the selected repertoire, much of which I have performed throughout Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe and a written thesis. I have gathered works spanning the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries. The originality of this study lies not only in the high level performances and deeply considered interpretations of a representative cross-section of repertoire which uses extended techniques but also by virtue of the fact that the four newly commissioned works have facilitated an investigation of the collaborative process with particular regard to the incorporation of these techniques. I have examined my practice and performance of extended techniques in a cross-referential way, focusing on these works, and paying particular attention to the demands of performing on different instruments. My performances have served to further promote this expanded use of the piano. As the performer, the rigour of my research methods has been rooted in maintaining objectivity. The research has been action-based with a particular emphasis on my approach as a reflective practitioner.' In this thesis I contextualise extended techniques in the piano repertoire, demonstrate my findings and discuss how best to practise and perform these sounds. I also discuss and demonstrate how playing with extended techniques in ensembles adds another range of demands to the pianist. In addition I examine the collaborative process and how bringing my already developed skills to the collaborations has yielded positive results in these commissioned works which are significant additions to the repertoire. I Leading researchers exam ining the value of action research which is action-based in its delivery and outputs include John Rink, currently Professor of Musical Performance Studies and a Fellow ofSt. John's College Cambridge and Director of the AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice, based at the University of Cambridge. In conclusion, I seek to promote a greater understanding of the incorporation of extended techniques in piano repertoire. By drawing from my performances of this repertoire, the significance of this study is enhanced by placing the performer's voice at the centre of the equation in the quest to get the best and the most from the piano.

This thesis proposes an "erotics" of music performance based on a close analysis of the relation between the female body, the piano and the body of the spectator. This practice-led research consists of a written thesis and five original performance works using choreography, installation, film and photography. As a pianist specializing in contemporary repertoire I have a particular interest in the overlap between gesture-based choreography and music performance. Through "embodied improvisation", I explore physical expression in virtuosic repertoire using the analogy of sexual metaphor. Presenting the tactile relation between the female body and the piano as a concupiscent exchange of energies and desires, I propose a feminisation of the piano and the pianist's body based on the writings of Richard Leppert (1995 [1993]) and Susan McClary (2002 [1991]). Using choreographic theory I suggest "full" and "empty" body approaches to conceiving physical expression in music performance and how such approaches reflect on notions of gender ambiguity, abjection and the gaze (Butler: 2008 [1990]), (C'l a i d : 2006), (Kristeva: 1982 [1980]) and (Mulvey: 2006 [1975]). The thesis concludes music performance as a seductive and transgressive act, supported by emerging theoretical findings and realised through original interdisciplinary practice-led research (Bataille: 2006 [1957]) and (Baudrillard 1990 [1979]).

This study looks into the Chinese martial art taijiquan, exploring its potential for application on the playing of the modem grand piano. Taiji philosophy perceives its techniques and approaches as widely applicable and indeed piano playing is itself reliant on movement, stance, posture, force and relaxation, just as is taijiqiian. The research was carried out through personal participation, practice and application. library work analysis, interview, observation and ethnography, leading to a lecture-recital to demonstrate the results in practice as well as the present dissertation, which reflects on those results in more detail.

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Scholars in the last fifteen years have engaged with Schubert's late instrumental music with greater sympathy and rigour than earlier generations. Of the different genres to have benefited from this engagement, the sonatas for piano have received most attention, particularly the trilogy from the composer's last year, 1828. By comparison the response to the three sonatas of 1825 has been less committed: outside general stylistic studies and biographies, discussion is often limited to a single sonata and rarely stretches beyond a movement. From this perspective of relative neglect, and building on a personal familiarity with the sonatas from performance, the thesis offers a detailed analytical scrutiny. Each work is addressed in separate chapters with interpretative criteria derived from older reception. The criteria, in turn, is deconstructed with analysis that groups a wide range of musical components into patterns of opposition. For each sonata the analytical reading is from left-to-right: for D850 and D845, from the beginning of the first movement through to the end of the fourth for D840, from passages where there is a build-up through to a retreat from an expressive peak. From tracing an interpretative trajectory, hierarchical shifts between opposition are revealed and significance is drawn from how the sonata or passage ends. Although topics, gestures, and narrative contexts are identified in the main analytical discussions, a more specific hermeneutic reading is reserved for the concluding commentaries to each sonata. The final chapter addresses in detail, and in the context of Schubert reception, issues of tension, resolution and gesture raised in earlier discussion. To conclude, Robert Hatten's theoretical discourse on gesture will offer principles applicable to the expressive opposition and interpretative trajectories identified in the thesis. Drawing upon some of the recent reception of other Schubert works will help the 1825 sonatas to emerge from their relative isolation.

This dissertation will examine the development of Czech piano music through the key figures of Smetana, Dvorak, Foerster, Fibich, Novak, Suk, and Janacek between 1840 and 1912. This period begins with the early piano polkas of Smetana and ends with the last major solo piano work of Janacek in 1912. The chronological framework of the dissertation is important in defining its purpose: the early nineteenth century was a key period in Czech society, and one characterised by aesthetic debates Central to this was the Narodni Obrozeni (National Revival), and the social and cultural framework is essential for a full understanding of the output of the composers in question. At the start of the National Revival, music became invested with an ideological burden which meant that composers were responsible for creating a specifically Czech form of expression. One of the key dualities explored within this dissertation is that of European influence vs the absorption of Czech and Slavonic folk music in the musical languages of the individual composers, so the issue of national vs international is of primary importance here. The ideological backgound of the National Revival meant that opera was afforded more attention, and other genres were marginalised as a result of this focus. This introduces a second duality, namely that of piano music vs opera Previous literature examining, this period of Czech music has focused upon opera and neglected piano music. That which does exist is in Czech, and these writers have concentrated upon detailed analyses of individual works, meaning that a more macroscopic approach linking and connecting the key Czech composers of the period has not existed. This dissertation aims to combine this Czech literature with modern scholarship on surrounding, figures and musical movements in order to give a fuller and more multifaceted account of the period in question, and the role of the piano within it.

This research identifies primarily the characteristics of modern Russian pianism. In the process of exploring performance practice, this study throws light on the inter-locking relationship between pedagogy and performance. Further, it will take the opportunity to expand on the ‘Russian Piano School’ ideology and to examine how this ideology has affected the interpretation of Russian pianists. This thesis uses written documentary sources, observations, interviews as well as sound recordings to form its conclusions. Chapter one takes the opportunity to examine the current scholarship and aims to demonstrate the relative depth of this thesis. The second chapter focuses on the contemporary idea of the ‘Russian Piano School’ and sets the scope of the discussion for this research. The term Russian School or Tradition – occurs throughout the last century and has been widely used in association with a particular style of performance. This chapter, however, disputes the implication of the term and its connection with performance style, and provides another perspective to current scholarship. Chapter three embarks on further investigation of Russian piano pedagogy at present, and expands the subject-matter with reference to three distinctive principles of the Russian School of playing: the idea of a long melodic line, a cantabile singing tone and a solid technical foundation. This section reveals some particularly striking observations. It should be of interest to note that globalisation has already made a significate impact on the Russian pedagogical approach. The fourth, fifth and sixth chapters present the three characteristics of Russian pianism separately. Chapter four places the spotlight on the technical foundation. In contrast to other schools, Russian pianists pay heavy attention to technique at an early age. This chapter aims to deconstruct their current curriculum for technical exams, and analyses a number of études and technical excises. It should be of interest to note that this section considers the tutor books used throughout the student period, leading to the solid technical foundation with which generations of Russian pianists seem to have been equipped. Chapter five looks closely at the long melodic line in the performance of Russian pianists and explores the effectiveness of long lines in Romantic music. It does, however, suggest this particular feature has been ‘embedded’ into their playing unconsciously, which has influenced some of their performance decisions. The sixth chapter, as its title suggests, focuses on the cantabile sound quality in Russian performances – another noticeable feature of the Russian musical aesthetics. The ways in which Russian pianists construct their tonal layers at different levels can be studied in depth and can be examined from a number of different angles. It proves helpful to use Tchaikovsky’s B flat minor Piano Concerto, Op. 23, and Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major KV 332, as case studies to furnish examples. Finally, a concluding chapter draws together the strands of the preceding discussion. In sum, the thesis reconsiders the modern ‘Russian Piano School’ in relation to the globalisation of teaching and practice, and concludes with suggestions for further study.