Samuel Barber's Capricorn Concerto for flute, oboe and trumpet with strings is an important though seldom performed work. The concerto is teeming with performance choices that are indicative of both historical and contemporary influences. At present, there are limited resources available to performers regarding Capricorn. The first section of this study presents an historical and contextual examination of Capricorn both in terms of Barber's own compositional output and that of his influences and contemporaries. The second section includes a performance analysis of the work, while the third section includes an analysis of existing recordings. Implications for the performer are outlined in last section. The guide provides performers with pertinent background, analytical and performance information in order to facilitate informed, high-level performance.

This analysis of Schwantner's Concerto is focused primarily on the pitch organization within the work, using terminology and concepts borrowed from those designed by Allen Forte in The Structure of Atonal Music. Discussion of pitch sets, their use, their derivation, their intervallic content, and their evolution throughout the piece are discussed. Additional discussion regarding Schwantner's style, orchestration techniques, textural manipulation with regard to form, are also discussed. Sources consist of the orchestral score, the two - piano reduction, and the solo percussion score. This document is in six chapters. The first discusses Schwantner's life and general musical style. The second is a brief discussion of terms in the field of pitch set organization. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters discuss in detail the musical materials themselves in each respective movement. Finally, the sixth chapter is a summary of the findings from the analysis.

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Spectral Radiance is a concerto for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra. In this paper, the influence of Franz Schreker's Kammersymphonie on Rowlett's compositional inspiration is discussed in detail. In addition, the various compositional elements that make up the work are explained. These include elements of form, motivic development, sharing themes between movements, and harmony. Rowlett's use of these compositional elements aims to create cohesion throughout the work as a whole. The paper acts as a guide, retracing the steps taken by the composer during the composition of the concerto.

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In this paper, I analyze the musical content in Federico Alvarez del Toro's marimba concerto El Espiritu de la Tierra. This dissertation represents my analysis of features I hear in the composition, and does not reflect the composer's original compositional process. Commissioned by the governor of Chiapas, the piece was composed in collaboration with internationally renowned marimba virtuoso Zeferino Nandayapa and premiered in 1984 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City at Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato. The work has not been published and has been mentioned only briefly in scholarship. Particular attention in the analysis is given to indigenous and folk idioms from the southern region of Mexico combined with post-modern compositional techniques. My primary argument within the dissertation is that I believe the piece demonstrates a respect for tradition and heritage while concurrently utilizing non-traditional and contemporary compositional techniques. Analytically, I argue that two basic shapes are used throughout the piece, and I argue that the many cultural references within the piece solidify a preoccupation with the lineage of southern Mexico.

Chen Qigang (b. 1951) is one of today's most representative and prolific Chinese composers. His works are regarded as setting a standard of excellence among Chinese composers in the twenty-first century. Like many Chinese composers of his generation, Chen combines in his works the traits of both Chinese traditional music and Western musical language. La joie de la souffrance (The Joy of Suffering) for violin and orchestra, composed for the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition in 2016–17, is one of his mature works that not only represents one of the great achievements of fusing Chinese and Western musical languages, but is also a major addition to the venerable tradition of Chinese concertos. By analyzing La joie de la souffrance as the nexus of old and new, East and West, I hope to provide not only insight into a valuable work of the twentieth-century violin concerto repertoire, but also a glimpse into some of the musical influences of a Chinese composer working in France in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. By extension, I hope to shed light on some of the factors, trends, and developments that have influenced Chinese composers in the early twenty-first century.