Thesis (D.M.A.)--Cornell University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between piano performance and Schenkerian analysis. Schenkerian analysis was designed initially as a practical guide for performers. In the different levels of a Schenkerian graph, we can see “musical forces” which lead the performer to deeply understand music itself. Using Schenkerian notation to highlight certain notes helps us to recognize lines behind the surface of the music that give certain passages coherence. This study concentrates on Chopin’s mastery of counterpoint and voice leading which leads me into the relationship of analysis and performance, typically by using the Schenkerian method. My examples will include a variety of pieces by both Chopin and Mozart, to show in what ways the Schenkerian analysis both highlights similarities and makes distinctions between composers and genres.

This thesis reads three American Naturalist novels, Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, and Kate Chopin's The Awakening, as challenges to both domestic ideology and to the market. Exploring the boundaries of an individual's interiority and exteriority, these novels suggest an alternate, more fulfilling existence, though never fully conceptualizing it. Naturalism presents characters who must make sense of their world almost wholly on a material level; the world presented in Naturalism is concerned with the what of a person, not the who. Capitalism splits the self by valuing the outward performance rather than the inward development. The female protagonists of these three novels attempt to gain happiness promised by consumerism through the only plot available to them, that of marriage. When this fails, they all three turn to artistic expression as a way to find the inner fulfillment their commercial society refuses. Carrie, Lily, and Edna value the art they pursue not because of its economic value, but because of the emotional liberation it allows them. In developing their art, each of these women gets the chance to examine the interior life that their societies deny. Looking at marriage and the market within these novels, this thesis examines the split between an individual's exterior and interior in fin-de-siècle American fiction.

One of the major problems faced by performers of Chopin’s mazurkas is recapturing the elements that Chopin drew from Polish folk music. Although scholars from around 1900 exaggerated Chopin’s quotation of Polish folk tunes in their mixed agendas that related ‘Polishness’ to Chopin, many of the rudimentary and more complex elements of Polish folk music are present in his compositions. These elements affect such issues as rhythm and meter, tempo and tempo fluctuation, repetitive motives, undulating melodies, function of I and V harmonies. During his vacations in Szafarnia in the Kujawy region of Central Poland in his late teens, Chopin absorbed aspects of Kujaw performing traditions which served as impulses for his compositions. This study examines how certain qualities of movement or gesture experienced in Kujaw music are embedded in Chopin’s mazurka style. Modern performances of Chopin’s mazurkas are too often far removed from these original sources. This thesis aims to reconnect the pianist with the gestures embedded within Chopin’s mazurka styles by: i) assessing the gestural nuances in Kujaw folk music; ii) identifying these trends as gestures and notational elements in Chopin’s mazurkas; and iii) examining historical performances of Chopin’s mazurkas to demonstrate the techniques that performers have utilized to capture these folk patterns and traditions. Field recordings from the Kujaw region, and historical recordings of Chopin mazurkas played mostly by Polish pianists accompany the discussion. / Graduate / 0413 / monikaz@uvic.ca

This thesis examines the effects of a multi-methodological approach (theory, history, practice) to piano studies. The aim was to see how a deeper and more structured study would improve my piano playing. The study process was based on two specific compositions: Fantaisie-Impromptu, op.post.66 by the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin and Clair de Lune, from Suite bergamasque by the French composer Claude Debussy. The compositions were executed and recorded in the first part of this project before the academic year 2020/2021, once from the middle part and twice from the final part of the project, spring 2021. Four recordings were done between June 2020 and the final concert in June 2021 and are all uploaded on the same YouTube channel, Pianist Sven. As a result, an improved efficiency and structure during piano practice sessions and when stud- ying theoretical aspects, has been obtained. Musically speaking, I got a better understanding of rhythm and tonality. The practical and theoretical studies carried out has helped me to create a methodological map to applicate in the future and to develop further.During the study of the specific subject, I created two handwritten paper posters. For achieving an increased readability of the thesis, images were uploaded on an own created website, called Chopin-vs-Debussy. I have conducted an interview with pianist and teacher, Giulio Biddau and inserted as part of the thesis (5.1.4) and of the website as well.

Frédéric Chopin produced a remarkable body of piano works. Even though most of his works are essential repertoire in piano literature, some of them remain less familiar. One such significant work is the Allegro de Concert in A major, op. 46, which was apparently intended to be the first movement of a third piano concerto. Despite the praise the work has received, it is rarely heard, and references to performance are lacking in the scholarly literature. Some reasons include the substantial technical challenges, such as risky skips, trills in double notes, thick harmonic textures, complex passagework, and the perpetual motion. This study provides a performance guide for the Allegro de Concert, looking at various perspectives of an informed musical performance. The historical backstory of the intended third concerto and a detailed form analysis demonstrate that the work has a combined form, incorporating elements of both concerto and sonata-allegro form. The chapter on performance presents the technical issues and a comparative analysis of various editions and arrangements of this work to inspire musical ideas and suggest appropriate solutions to the musical and technical difficulties.

No description available.

To Bach, the Circle of Fifths was the language of the universe. Similar to the constellations used to understand the sky, the Circle of Fifths is a visualization device to understand the fundamental concepts of key signatures, which are the foundation for music. The Circle of Fifths is a guide for writing music because its structure helps compose and harmonize melodies, build chords, and move to different keys within a composition. The Octave is the most significant key signature because it completes the circle of fifths. The Octave, if in perfect tune will create an overtone, which is a tune unable to be created on its own. The movement through the Circle of Fifths led to a contemplation described by Pythagoras as "Music of the Spheres" or meeting between heaven and earth, between spiritual and material realms. The Well Tempered Building uses the Circle of Fifths as the underlying geometry for the foundation of the conservatory. Proportions from the Circle of Fifths, including the Octave, shaped the conservatory making the musicians, audience, sound, light, water and air tuned to each other. / Master of Architecture

This study examines what Busoni meant by "formal deficiencies" when he described his 1884 version of Chopin Variations, and reveals that changes made to the 1884 version during its process of revision in 1922 correct the "formal deficiencies" and show a fundamental change in Busoni's compositional style and perception of musical motion. Including a detailed analysis of the modifications, omissions, and additions made to the 1922 version (including an examination of the Chopin Prelude in C minor, op. 28, No. 20 as a theme to reveal aspects of its construction used in the variation process), which shows how these changes affect the work's compositional structure.