In the world of chamber music, programmatic suites are more rarely composed and consequently more rarely presented in recital than other musical forms. Perhaps partially for this reason, George Enescu's Impressions d'enfance for violin and piano, his last chamber piece written in the tumultuous year of 1940, has been overlooked for a long time; even the composer himself did not make a recording of this seldom performed piece. This dissertation examines Impressions d'enface in order to explore the relationship between the underlying Romanian folk rhythmic and melodic patterns, to provide an analysis, as well as to serve as a performance guide to assist performers in surmounting the technical challenges and thus create a more effective ensemble. I hope this dissertation will encourage more duos to experiencing the joy of George Enescu's richly fulfilling Impressions d'enfance for themselves.

This dissertation provides an interpretive guide to Variationen und Fuge über ein Thema von Händel, Op. 24, written in 1861 by Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), in orchestral terms, using as basis the orchestral transcription by Edmund Rubbra (1901–1986), published as his Op. 47 in 1938. Not only does Brahms' Variationen present players with considerable pianistic difficulties, its intense harmonic and polyphonic structures make the music sound symphonic. The English composer Edmund Rubbra, a great Brahms enthusiast, transcribed the work for orchestra. The transcription in effect represents Rubbra's interpretation of the piano work as well as his respect for it. When both orchestra and piano versions of a composition exist, pianists may obtain essential musical ideas from studying the orchestral version, just as it is advisable for conductors to study the piano versions of symphonic works, not only those arranged by the composer. Brahms himself was not only a composer but also a pianist and conductor. It is possible that he imagined orchestral sound when composing large-scale piano works such as his Variationen. New experiments in interpretation can offer a refreshing perspective. This study focuses on elements from Rubbra's orchestral version of Variationen that can inform pianists' interpretation.

Much socialist realism art from Soviet-era Russia has been misunderstood by scholars. It has been considered "synthetic art," which ordinary citizens were forced to admire under the Soviet regime. It also has been interpreted as peasant kitsch art because of its seemingly unacademic and unchallenging theoretical language utilized in order to meet the expectations of Soviet communism. This ideology conditioned artists to make art accessible and nationalistic to serve the perceived needs of the Russian proletariat. Nikolai Rakov (1908-1990), a Soviet-era composer, is also all too often received as a second-class socialist realistic composer. There are, however, other approaches to understanding art created in Soviet Union. Within music scholarship, alternative perspectives on Soviet art remain largely unexplored. It is in that spirit that I turn to Rakov, whose works carry his artistic idea of irresistible beauty, elegance, irony and charm. They evoke colorful images and feelings that draw the audience into Rakov's own compositional world despite his reputation of technical simplicity and uninventive language at a glance. In this dissertation, I therefore turn my attention to the aesthetic side of Rakov's music in order to reevaluate his works. In order to achieve this, I develop and utilize a hermeneutical approach grounded in Claude Lévi-Strauss's The Savage Mind to examine and gauge Rakov's musical aesthetics. I closely evaluate two characteristics of Rakov's music through Lévi-Strauss' ideology of bricolage: 1) miniature structure and 2) contingent chords. This dissertation examines three of Rakov's piano works: Variations in B minor, Concert Etudes, and Four Preludes.

A Poem Carved in Stone, a work for piano solo by Washington DC-based Chinese composer Wu Yiming was composed in Spring 2020 and is dedicated to the author of this dissertation. The piece is inspired by the poetry of Han Shan, a recluse who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). His poetry is in Chan (Zen) tradition. Wu depicts the imagery and philosophy in Han Shan's poetry through highly complex rhythms, extreme sound effects and pitches, tone clusters, and extended piano techniques. This dissertation provides practical instructions for achieving these effects and executing the unconventional techniques found in this piece, which include playing inside of the piano, various standing and sitting positions, and coordination and balance. A guide to interpret this piece is from both the composer's and the performer's perspective. Observations are drawn directly from communications and coaching received from the composer. This study briefly explores the historical and cultural context of Han Shan's poetry and discusses how Wu's use of modern western compositional devices reflects the Zen philosophy. An interview with the composer is included along with an overview of both his compositions and those of composers who influenced him. It is hoped that this dissertation will encourage pianists who are not experienced with non-traditional techniques to explore new music from living composers.

The Sound of the Prairie Land (Caoyuan Zhige) for viola and piano by the Chinese composer Qingwu Guan (b. 1938) has become one of the most popular works in the growing Chinese repertoire for viola. It also exists in another version for viola and viola ensemble, arranged by the Chinese violist Wing Ho, who also expanded the viola part with the composer's approval. The pentatonic work was highly influenced by the landscape and music of Inner Mongolia, a province of China next to the Mongolian border, and incorporates the music of an ode by the Inner Mongolian composer Alatengaole (1942–2011) called Sincere Wishes for a Long Life to Chairman Mao. Guan remains a strong supporter of Mao, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. The work makes use of some performance techniques of the Inner Mongolian two-stringed fiddle called morin khuur, which has a similar tone to the viola: three kinds of slides, grace notes, imitations of a horse's neigh, and the representation of horses galloping across the prairie. The background of the work, understanding of the musical structure, and information about morin khuur techniques presented in this dissertation should aid performers in interpreting the work more authentically.

‘Richte mich, Gott' exemplifies Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's pluralistic compositional approach through an interlaced organization of tonal and non-tonal pitch content. The development of ideas in the text of Psalm 43 and the concluding doxology is depicted across both layers of pitch organization and governed by specific structural pitch collections: (0145) and (0257). Moreover, the organic transformation of these structural pitch collections' intervallic content emerges as a fundamental means of progression throughout the work, in turn influencing the intervallic content of surrounding tonal material. This process of transformation and its relationship to the text is revealed through tonal and pitch-class analysis; a flexible approach to segmentation; and an exploration of two-way and three-way symmetry, and the disruption thereof, in pitch space and pitch-class space. An understanding of the interrelationship between pitch material from the tonal and non-tonal layers of pitch organization can aid singers, conductors, and analysts in the efficacy of their study, preparation, and performance of the psalm. The accompanying appendix of targeted choral warm-ups in this document offers choirs a practical method for studying, internalizing, and performing the non-tonal pitch content in the work.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the first movements of Sergei Bortkiewicz's two piano sonatas and compare them with works by other composers that may have served as compositional models. More specifically, the intention is to examine the role of the subdominant key in the recapitulation and trace possible inspirations and influences from the Classical and Romantic styles, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The dissertation employs Schenkerian analysis to elucidate the structure of Bortkiewicz's movements. In addition, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 545, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, and the first movement of Schubert's "Trout" Quintet in A, D. 667, are examined in order to illuminate the similarities and differences between the use of the subdominant recapitulation by these composers and Bortkiewicz.

Like numerous other Baroque pieces, the Ciaccona attributed to Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745) was transformed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The German violinist and composer Ferdinand David (1810-1873) was the first to edit and publish the piece. The composition became popular after being included in the second volume of his Die Hohe Schule des Violinspiels [The Advanced Method of Violin Playing] (c.1867). Since then, Vitali Ciaccona became an essential work in the violin repertoire and is often heard in concert halls. However, what many audiences hear in concerts is essentially an arrangement of the Ciaccona. Acknowledging the "double life" of the piece as both Baroque and Romantic, this dissertation examines the advantages and disadvantages of playing the Ciaccona attributed to Vitali on both the Baroque and modern violins.

Jack Heggie's 2011 song cycle Pieces of 9/11: Memories from Houston is a collection of six songs with texts by Gene Scheer. Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, it was premiered on September 11, 2011 at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX. Based on interviews with people from Houston by Gene Scheer, this cycle tells stories and experiences by those affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington DC, and those aboard United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Scheer's acclaimed storytelling in each song is beautifully set to varying styles of music composed by Heggie, with the familiar theme from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 woven throughout the cycle. This document is an in-depth look at the cycle to be used by vocal coaches and singers in their preparation and performance. The first introductory chapter is followed by a chapter detailing the song cycle from concept to fruition. The third chapter concentrates on the uses of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007. The fourth chapter discusses the six individual songs first by discussing the background of each text, then an analysis of the music, and concluding with the relevance to 9/11. Chapter 5 includes performance notes, gathered from interviews with Heggie, Scheer, and one of the girl sopranos, Ashley Traughber. Appendices include a timeline of events on 9/11, the three interviews, a chronology of Jake Heggie's vocal works to date, and the author's personal 9/11 story as I was just a few blocks away from the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Florence Price (1887–1953) was one of the most important African American woman composers of the early twentieth century. Price's music is known for combining techniques of Western art music with elements of the African American musical heritage. Although Price composed many works for piano, from large virtuoso pieces to characteristic miniatures, this study will address only her Piano Sonata in E minor. The purpose of this study is to analyze this sonata and discuss her compositional techniques and musical style as a combination of African American elements and Classical European procedures, combined and coordinated yet remaining in tension. Traditional European harmony, tonality, and form are successfully combined with African American characteristics: pentatonic scale, spirituals, syncopations, repetition, and dance rhythms. Indeed, Price's work is a considerable achievement, and she is one of the important African American women composers who should be better recognized today.