This dissertation uses Béla Bartók's 1943 Concerto for Orchestra as a focal point for investigating conceptual models of music based on early twentieth-century notions of organicism. In particular, this project brings together two traditions--one structural, one narrative--in an attempt to integrate motivic allusion and programmatic discourse, and places this piece within a metadiscourse of musical 'Fate' stories that continually point back to Beethoven. Based largely on the work of George Lakoff, chapter 1 is an overview of modern category theories that rejects objectivism and establishes a philosophical view of meaning that is shaped by our conceptual models. Chapter 2 is a comparison of the writings of Schoenberg and Bartók that invoke organicist values of musical development and variation. Stemming from Bartók's claim that Schoenberg's Op. 11 showed composers the "new ways and means" of modern composition, this chapter speculates on potential influences and involves a reinvestigation of Schoenberg's Op. 11, No. 1. Chapter 3 examines the difference between strict hierarchical models of music and metonymic reductions. Following a critique of Fred Lerdahl's recent attempts to apply his Chomskian prolongational model to post-tonal and atonal music, this chapter traces the integration of motivic parallelism and key architecture in tonal music as a primary organizing feature of musical form, foreshadowing their use by Bartók as replacements for the structural functions of harmony. Chapter 4 investigates the relationship of musical motives and post-Beethovenian narratives of fate/overcoming and fate/death in music by Bizet, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Richard Strauss, providing a context for Bartók's motivic and programmatic allusion to--and transformation of--that very tradition. Chapter 5 draws the material from the previous chapters together in a structural-programmatic reading of the Concerto for Orchestra that situates it as a transformation of the evolving traditions that inform it. / text

The first chapter outlines the history of percussion instruments used by Béla Bartók, The second chapter deals with the use of percussion by various composers from Bach's time up to the period of Bartók. Chapter three outlines how Bartók uses percussion instruments.

The study of Bela Bartok's Four Dirges for piano (1909- 1910) is significant in that this period of 1908 to 1910 was particularly experimental and formative for Bartók, especially in tonal aspects of his compositional style. Furthermore, very little research and analysis has been done on these smaller works. This thesis contributes an analytical study of this early style and also shows its influence on larger mature works in subsequent years. A complete analysis on each dirge contains graphs of tonal structures and patterns constructed by Bartok within each composition. The concluding chapter summarizes overall characteristics of the dirges.

Bela Bartok's art is a perfect microcosm of the art of the twentieth century. It is interwoven with the musical conceptions and techniques of the great Western European masters, without in any way obscuring the individuality, the national consciousness, and the personal style and originality of the composer's own musical language -- a language rooted in the glorious tradition of his people. In the six volumes of the Mikrokosmos, or "little world," Bartok has presented a series of progressively difficult pieces designed -- if not intentionally, at least effectively -- to introduce to the piano student a technical approach to piano playing in the modern idiom. Admittedly, the etude does not cover every pianistic technical problem. It clearly shows that Bartok fully appreciates the worth of the great wealth of piano literature, and does not prescribe his method as a "cure-all" for the technical problems of piano playing.

The lecture recital was given January 31, 1971. A discussion of Bartok's Out of Doors, a suite consisting of five movements entitled "With Drums and Pipes," "Barcarolla," "Musettes," "The Night's Music," and "The Chase" included biographical material, general analysis of Bartok's musical style, and specific analysis of the suite itself. The suite was then performed by memory. In addition to the lecture recital three other public recitals were performed. Two of these consisted entirely of solo literature for the piano, and the other was a vocal chamber music recital. The first solo recital was on June 7, 1970, and included works of Alfredo Casella, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and Bartok. Part of the preparation included the writing of program notes of a historical and analytical nature.The other solo program, on July 5, 1971, consisted entirely of twentieth-century works by George Rochberg, Sergei Prokofieff, and Maurice Ravel. The chamber music recital was performed with a visiting soprano, Jane Paul, on February 28, 1971. Emphasis was given to German Lieder by Schumann, Joseph Marx, and Alban Berg, but Spanish songs of the Renaissance, by Juan del Encina and Fuenllana, as well as a modern English song cycle by Peter Warlock were also programmed.

by Wong Siu-to, Victoria. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79).

This dissertation presents evidence that Béla Bartók created his masterwork, the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937), in a very complex period of his life. Since it was a mature piece, Bartók utilized typically "Bartókian" compositional techniques and styles. His ethnomusicological studies were also influential factors in the creation of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. We can be witness to how different the first draft was to the published version; the minor and major changes are revealed in the draft study of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion 's first movement. These changes allow today's musicians to reconstruct the compositional process. The first movement introduces some interesting uses of sonata form, to be explored in more detail in the analysis. Starting with linear analysis, the basic motives and rhythmic patterns are discussed and supported with Bartók's own explanations. The conclusion of this study has important ramifications for performance: it eases up the pressure on the performers, since problematic passages are analyzed and explained - preparing the players' mentally for the performance. This is music which is hard to play and difficult to analyze. The analysis, combining the results of both theoretical and musicological studies, is intended to help both analysts and performers understand the genesis of the piece and, for performers, to execute the music in the best possible manner.

This is a study of Bartók's compositional process as it relates to the Improvisations, Op. 20. The study, which focuses on the analysis of the draft manuscript 50PS1, compares the draft and other relevant sources with the final composition. Bartók's framework for the entire Improvisations is based on a compositional strategy of pairing individual improvisations combined with systematic revision of the draft copy by the introduction of tritones as tonal equivalents and movement by fifths from semitones, to achieve structural coherence in the individual improvisations. The tonic-dominant relationship is used to rearrange the individual improvisations in the draft and tritones as tonal equivalents are used to propel the movement between the improvisations to produce a coherent whole.

This thesis includes information about Béla Bartók's Concerto for Viola and Orchestra and composer's curriculum vitae.

Various approaches to rhythmic analysis have been produced by recent research. Many of these are most suitable for tonal musical compositions; when other methods of tonal organization are present, these theories are less useful. This study uses accent based criteria in order to establish a set of analytical procedures which are applicable to a wide range of musical compositions. Four accent types (contour, agogic, dynamic, and motivic) are identified in two string quartet movements. These are Beethoven's Op. 18, No. 1, movement four, and Bartok's String Quartet No. 4, movement five. The study finds great differences in accent placement between the two works. In both works accents affect phrase grouping and meter. Accent patterns and composite accent profiles, which represent all the accent types in a particular passage, are compiled for important themes. Large fluctuations in accent use are evident between the formal sections of each work.