Aaron Copland was born of Russian-Jewish parents on November 14, 1900. Harris Kaplan, his father, had acquired the American equivalent of his name when an immigration official at the British port of entry wrote it on his papers, and from then on the family name was "Copland." Sarah Mittenthal and Harris Copland met at a family social gathering in New York and were married in 1885. They lived in the upper stories of his department store in Brooklyn which remained the family home until 1924 and was where Aaron, the youngest of five, was born.

The purpose of this paper is to give a historical and stylistic analysis of the Sonata, Op.31, No.2 in D minor of Beethoven. The historical background of Beethoven, the time period the sonata was written, and the influence that the piano of the time had on the sonata is first discussed. The author then discusses the general aspects of Beethoven's style followed by a detailed analysis of the sonata.

Le modèle formel de la variation sur thème, qui est célèbre surtout à cause de son emploi en tant que principe de composition musical – notamment pour les développements que y ont apporté des artistes comme Bach, Beethoven ou Schönberg -, toutefois n’épuise pas ses potentialités expressives exclusivement dans le cadre de cet art.Dans le roman, notamment, l’adoption du principe de composition nommé variation sur thème, qui implique la présentation du même thème (ou motif) par de perspectives différentes (que peuvent correspondre au point de vue des diverses personnages ou à la distance temporelle différente prise en rapport à la narration du même événement), semble se présenter comme un expédient idéalement fonctionnel à l’obtention de l’objectif cognitif le principal de cet art, qui concerne le dévoilement de la substantielle relativité de toutes les vérités apparentes. Alors que de romanciers tel que Milan Kundera ou Danilo Kiš, dans leurs œuvres, semblent avoir interprété le modèle des variations comme un principe fonctionnel à la réalisation d’une structure organique et unitaire, parfaitement concentrée autour du thème, dans d’autres romans contemporains, par exemple dans Si une nuit d’hiver un voyageur (1979) de Italo Calvino o dans Les variations Goldberg (1981) di Nancy Huston, les variations assument une disposition de type sériel.Dans ces derniers cas, la forme de la variation sur thème est utilisée, plutôt que comme un modèle de composition, comme un principe de désagrégation de la matière romanesque. / Theme and variation, a formal technique that is popular mainly through its applications within music, in particular thanks to contributions by artists such as Bach, Beethoven or Schönberg, nevertheless has expressive potentials that go beyond the boundaries of this art. In particular, it is in the novel that the use of variation as a composing principle, implying the presentation of a single central theme or motif by different perspectives (that may correspond to the point of view of different characters, or to different amounts of time elapsed from the actual happening of an event to its narration), seems to lend itself as the ideal device to achieve the main cognitive objective of this art, that is the unveiling of the substantial relativity of all things.While novelists such has Milan Kundera or Danilo Kiš seem to have developed, in their work, the theme and variation technique as a principle that is functional to an organic and uniform form of composition, ideally focused on a single theme, in other novels, such as If on a winter's night a traveler (1979) by Italo Calvino or Variations Goldberg (1981) by Nancy Huston, the variations are disposed so as to acquire a serial connotation. In those latter cases, the theme and variation technique is used as a functional principle for the disaggregation of the matter of the novel, rather than as a composition technique.

This dissertation aims to explore the functions and meanings of four frequently used dynamic accent markings (fp, rf, sf and sfp) in Beethoven’s early chamber music with the fortepiano, with the consideration of acoustic qualities and playing capabilities of instruments intended for the studied works. The sources of reference here include the three Op.1 piano trios, two Op.5 cello sonatas, and three Op.12 violin sonatas, using a modern critical edition in conjunction with the first editions published during Beethoven's lifetime. The study consists of two parts. The first part surveys historical aspects including: 1) the development of relevant instruments, namely the bow and the fortepiano, and 2) existing accentuation conventions, especially those found in selected works of Haydn and Mozart, and appropriate treatises from Beethoven's time. The second part of the study entails the examination of consistency and frequency of dynamic accent markings in general, and that of individual accent markings using specific musical examples. The process of this investigation shows that these signs have distinct meanings, and consequently, require different treatments for their respective executions in performance. It also implies that the acoustic qualities of the ensembles with instruments from Beethoven's time are the most important factor contributing to variations found in his use of the accent markings among the different genres. Such acoustic qualities include the quieter volume and faster decay of the fortepiano, as well as the larger sonority from the cello especially in the lower register, when compared with instruments made for today's concert halls. These insights not only illuminate the possible ways to realize each marking, but also clarify accent markings which could seem inconsistent to modern performers, in terms of acoustic balance, especially in combinations that include the cello.

Ce mémoire se propose d’aborder le concept adornien de matériau musical selon deux de ses moments essentiels : l’intégration et la désintégration. Dans un premier temps, il s’agira d’analyser la critique de l’Aufklärung, selon laquelle la rationalité éclairée, par la domination progressive de la nature, se transforme en son contraire, le mythe. Cette analyse servira de base théorique pour la compréhension du concept de matériau. Dans un deuxième temps, il conviendra d’examiner la tendance progressiste—exemplifiée dans la sonate classique de Beethoven—vers l’intégration du matériau musical, comprise comme un moment dans le processus plus large de rationalisation sociale identifié par Max Weber. Dans un troisième temps, il conviendra d’examiner la tendance régressive—exemplifiée dans les œuvres du Beethoven tardif, de Mahler et de Berg—vers la désintégration du matériau musical, une tendance qui reflète les aspects noirs de l’Aufklärung, à savoir la fragmentation sociale et la réification. Enfin, nous évaluerons quelques commentaires critiques soulevant des doutes quant à la validité d’un concept de matériau musical basé sur une philosophie de l’histoire qui, malgré ses distances, ne s’échappe pas de ses origines hégéliennes. / This thesis will examine integration and disintegration in Adorno’s concept of musical material. Chapter one will analyze the dialectic of the Enlightenment, according to which rationality, through the progressive domination of nature, turns into its opposite, myth. This analysis will serve as the theoretical basis for understanding Adorno’s concept of material. Chapter two will examine the progressive tendency—exemplified in Beethoven’s classical sonata—towards the integration of musical material, understood as a moment in the larger process of social rationalization identified by Max Weber. Chapter three will examine the regressive tendency—exemplified in the works of late Beethoven, Mahler and Berg—toward the disintegration of musical material, a tendency correlative with Enlightenment’s dark side, with social fragmentation and reification. The thesis will conclude by discussing a few criticisms which cast doubt on the validity of understanding musical material on the basis of a philosophy of history which, despite its distances, remains bound to its Hegelian origins.

Heinrich Koch completed his treatise in 1793, a pioneering work regarding the musical phrase as well as a sonata form description (lacking that term). Composition of Opus 18 began in 1798, a momentous project for several reasons in Beethoven's early career. Here, the theories expressed in Koch's Versuch are taken as an analytic springboard into a thorough analysis of the first movement of the quartet published no. 3, which was the first composed; additionally, nos. 1 and 6 are explored to a lesser degree. This study in phrase-analysis demonstrates significance in the fundamental ideas of Koch as applied to a masterwork of the turn of the 19th century.

In this article I would like to attract attention to the personality of Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer. As a brilliant virtuoso violinist, known in Russia since 1817, conductor of the French theatre in St. Petersburg since 1835, inspector of all Emperor theatres since 1841 and conductor of the Philharmonic and Concert societies, Ludwig Maurer was an advocate of the classic inheritance.

This thesis presents a brief history of the sonata form until the time of Beethoven. It also discusses Beethoven's use of the sonata form, and how it applies to his op. 111 piano sonata.

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, accounts of Beethoven’s religious attitudes have consistently sought to separate the composer from the Catholic religion in which he was born. It is often assumed that, as a child of the Enlightenment, Beethoven cannot have felt a strong affinity for Catholic beliefs, preferring instead an idiosyncratic and unorthodox approach to religion that was suspicious of dogma and tradition. This has led, in turn, to the scholarly marginalization of his religious music, with the Missa Solemnis being the notable exception. On the one hand, Beethoven’s religious works other than the Missa have been frequently dismissed as inauthentic “occasional works” written purely for commercial reasons. On the other hand, the Missa itself, though regarded as a “true” Beethoven work, has been largely interpreted as a de-Catholicized vehicle for the expression of the composer’s untraditional religious outlook. This dissertation challenges long-accepted views of Beethoven and his religious music by demonstrating that they were more heavily influenced by Catholic theological ideas than is usually thought. I focus especially on the connection between the composer and the Bavarian Catholic theologian Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832), the most important contemporary religious figure for understanding Beethoven’s religious attitudes. In addition, given its monumental scale and its prominence in Beethoven scholarship, I devote special attention to the Missa Solemnis, which the composer was working on at the time of his first documented contact with Sailer and his writings. However, I also investigate other evidence linking Beethoven with the Catholicism of his time: religious references in documentary sources such as Beethoven’s letters, his Tagebuch, and the Heiligenstadt Testament; religious books by theologians other than Sailer in Beethoven’s library; and the musical content of the religious works Beethoven wrote before the Missa, especially the Gellert-Lieder, Christus am Ölberge, and the Mass in C. My study shows that much previous scholarship has misinterpreted or overlooked the significance of such evidence, owing to an inadequate understanding of the complex nature of German Catholicism during Beethoven’s era. I draw on revisionist historical research showing that the Enlightenment was not, as is often believed, fundamentally opposed to traditional religious belief. Beethoven’s religious environment was, for instance, defined by a historical phenomenon that has been called the German Catholic Enlightenment, which, broadly speaking, attempted to reconcile Catholic belief with some of the liberal, progressive ideals normally associated with the Enlightenment in general. The composer appears to have been interested in several specific religious themes emblematic of this Catholic Enlightenment. At the same time, he seems also to have been attracted by some other ideas associated with the Catholic Restoration, a movement that emerged at least partly in opposition to the Catholic Enlightenment. This mixed allegiance was similar to that which characterized Sailer’s theology, and likely accounts for why he found Sailer such an appealing figure around the time he was composing the Missa Solemnis. A more complete and historically coherent understanding of Beethoven’s religious context suggests that the composer was more of a Catholic than he has so often been made out to be, albeit one who was attracted to varieties of Catholicism that have become obscured by the mists of history.

Diss.--Hambourg, 1999. / Notes bibliogr.