1 Abstract This Master's thesis presents the first look into the music of Scottish-Czech composer Geraldine Mucha (1917-2012) which has never been subject to academic study before. I characterize her compositional style and musical language, as well as their development over time, by analyzing four orchestral compositions written between the 1940s and 1980s - Overture to Tempest, Piano Concerto, Suite from the ballet Macbeth and John Webster Songs. In the thesis, I am also introducing the - in Czech musicological context entirely unknown - discourse on the issue of musical analysis of pieces written by women composers and I critically explore its different strands of thought. When possible, I examine the selected pieces by using Ellie M. Hisama's theoretical model which claims that in women's music, evidence may be found that provides information about their specific female experience in the patriarchal world.

The connection of music and verse evident in the work of American poet, Carl Sandburg, is a topic that has received inadequate attention. Much preexisting research has focused on Sandburg's work with The American Songbag anthology; however little has been written about music composers' settings of his verse. The relevance of Sandburg's work as a poet has faded in today's society; the rural prairie subject matter and his poetic style are deemed archaic in an ever-evolving mechanistic society. Philip Wharton, a native of Sandburg's Midwest prairie, composes to create an evocative and image-laden world for the hearers of his music. This is what creates a semblance between both artists' works. This paper makes a connection between the work of the 20th century prairie poet and a current, 21st century American composer's musical setting of Sandburg's verse. Both artists are connected not only geographically, but also in their approach to an accessible art form for their audience. Negating current compositional trends and using text from Sandburg's poetry collections, Chicago Poems and Cornhuskers, Wharton melds the text into his evocative, imagistic musical language in his song cycle, The Prairie Sings. Using examples from the five movements of the cycle, I show the dependent relationship of verse and music. An in-depth analysis of the connection of poetry and music in each of the five movements of the cycle is contained in the paper. An additional connection in the dynamic interplay of the vocal line and piano accompaniment, the two "narrators" of the cycle, is also discussed. The resulting research points to an aspect of a creation of a regional American "sound, " reminiscent of trends of nationalism in the 19th and 20th century in art, literature and music.

Isang Yun (1917-1995), one of the most important avant-garde German-Korean composers, is perhaps best known for his success at integrating Korean musical elements into traditional Western styles. His Concerto for Oboe, Oboe d'amore, and Orchestra incorporates many traditional Korean elements, and uses techniques such as Hauptton, Hauptklang, and Umspielung to blend these elements into a Western musical style. This study explores the elements of traditional Korean music and instruments present in Yun's score, examines his compositional techniques, and makes practical performance suggestions that allow performers to properly convey his intentions. This dissertation includes six chapters. The first chapter discusses the purpose and importance of the study. The second chapter reviews Isang Yun's biography and works, based on a published interview with Yun and a biography written by his wife of many years. The third chapter introduces the characteristics of traditional Korean woodwind instruments relevant to the work. The fourth chapter examines Yun's compositional techniques of Hauptton, Hauptklang, and Umspielung in the work and their relationship with the main-tone and Sigimsae techniques. The fifth chapter introduces and explores different types of Sigimsae in the work, with suggestions for quarter-tone performance techniques. The sixth and last chapter is a conclusion.

Canadian composer Istvan Anhalt (1919-2012) wrote four operas: La Tourangelle (1975), Winthrop (1986), Traces (Tikkun) (1996), and Millennial Mall (1999). The overarching thematic structure of these works represents the composer’s historical and personal exploration of identity construction and the immigrant experience. This thesis focuses on the first opera in the cycle, La Tourangelle, which premiered at the MacMillan Theatre in Toronto in 1975. Specifically, it builds a chronology of the opera’s history from a study of previously unpublished primary source documents (mainly folder E,32 from Library and Archives Canada, containing personal correspondences and professional correspondences, with the addition of other folders containing source materials, and libretto manuscripts) dated 1970 to 1975. In addition to revealing budding friendships and professional respect, the documents provide invaluable insights into the various phases of Anhalt’s creative process. The thesis chronicles each phase of the process, from both personal and musical points of view, from contract negotiations, monastery visits, lending of resources, humble requests for feedback, recording of multimedia components, and rehearsals, to the premiere and its initial reception. The chronicle reveals Anhalt’s non-linear creative process for La Tourangelle which involves multiple collaborations and reciprocal influences.

Диссертация посвящена актуальной и мало разработанной теме, касающейся современной киномузыки, осмысленной в свете проблемы диалога и взаимодействия элитарной и массовой культур. В работе дается анализ философских,_социологических, культурологических трудов по избранной проблематике. Большое внимание уделено анализу специфики музыки в современном массовом кино (преимущественно в зарубежном) и сделаны выводы о различных путях диалога и взаимодействия элитарной и массовой культур и об использовании музыки в концептуальном, жанрово-стилевом и техническом аспектах. Работа содержит самостоятельный проект «ParkScreen», касающийся деятельности Екатеринбургского парка культуры и отдыха им. В. Маяковского (ЦПКиО), в котором автор предлагает возвратиться к традициям летних концертов и киносеансов, объединяюших интересы людей разных поколений, в целях культурного отдыха и культурного обмена внутри Уральского региона. / The dissertation is devoted to a topical and poorly developed topic related to modern film music, comprehended in the light of the problem of dialogue and interaction between elite and mass cultures. The work provides an analysis of philosophical, sociological, culturological works on the selected problems. Much attention is paid to the analysis of the specifics of music in modern mass cinema (mainly in foreign cinema) and conclusions are drawn about various ways of dialogue and interaction between elite and mass cultures and about the use of music in conceptual, genre-style and technical aspects. The work contains an independent project "ParkScreen" concerning the activities of the Yekaterinburg Park of Culture and Leisure named after V. Mayakovsky (Central Park of Culture and Leisure), in which the author proposes to return to the traditions of summer concerts and film shows, uniting the interests of people of different generations, for the purpose of cultural recreation and cultural exchange within the Ural region.

One of the famous Russian composers and a pianist himself, Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) composed a vast quantity of piano music. His nine piano sonatas represent well how he projected his musical individuality and the principles that he addressed in his autobiography: classical line, modern trend, toccata line, lyrical line, and grotesque line. However, even though Prokofiev's piano sonatas are considered one of the important collections in the piano repertoire, not all of them have gained popularity and only a few tend to be frequently performed by pianists today. For this reason, this dissertation focuses on one of his less-performed piano sonatas, No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29. The pianists György Sándor and Boris Berman were chosen as specialists in Prokofiev's piano works, and their performance editions and recordings are analyzed and compared as main references. This study provides analysis and a performance guide to this piano sonata. This guide discusses pedaling, fingering, phrasing, touch, voicing, tempo suggestion, articulation, hand distribution, and expression.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Byung-dong Paik is the one of the most famous Korean composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He has wanted his music to keep up with the times and also incorporate features of Eastern music without catering to the "difficulty" of modern Western music. The Passacaglia for Solo Violin takes a unique modern approach to the Baroque form of passacaglia and its tonal structure by transforming the characteristics of the original theme in a series of seventeen variations and a coda. In this paper, a general analysis of the work leads to suggestions on how to perform it effectively.