Korean-German composer Isang Yun received international recognition as one of the successful and leading twentieth-century composers. Despite Yun’s lasting fame, some of his works remain lesser known such as all three of his violin concerti. Yun’s main compositional techniques in his violin concerti are abundant ornamentations and articulations that imitate the sound of Korean folk instruments but played on the violin. Without acknowledging Korean folk music performance practices and folk instruments, a violinist cannot accurately deliver what Yun’s music expressed. The fact that Yun’s Violin Concerto No. 3 imitates Korean string instruments, haegeum or komungo, it must be explained how Korean ornamentations are played and can be incorporated on the violin. The purpose of this paper is to provide these answers as well as technical suggestions regarding abundant ornamentations, frequent dynamic and articulation changes, as well as fingerings and bowings. It is hoped that this study will help violin performers to understand Yun’s Concerto No. 3 and encourage more frequent performances of it.

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The first movement of the present work is a French overture patterned in form after the overtures of Jean Baptiste Lully. The second movement (Lento) is a simple ABA song-form and presents a rather rhapsodic development of its theme. The third movement consists of a set of six continuous variations on the polyphonic chanson Revecy venu du printans by Claude le Jeune (1528-1600). The last movement is a rondo (ABACADA).

abstract: Every collaborative pianist encounters unrealistic and unsuccessful piano reductions of orchestral and operatic compositions on a regular basis. In some cases, the reductions were realized by the composers themselves, and therefore may contain all the notes from the full score, but might not be realistic piano reductions. Other times, the reductions may have been made by an editor who might arrange the piano part according to their own physical abilities, experience, or taste, but might ignore essential elements of the original orchestration. Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 82 is frequently performed by students and professional violinists alike. The existing piano reduction of the concerto was written by the composer himself. However, the reduction has various issues that make performing this composition challenging for pianists. The main purpose of this paper is not the simplification of the existing reduction, but the creation of a new reduction that is more pianistic and approachable, yet more true to Glazunov’s dynamic and expressive orchestration. The first chapter of this project is an introduction to and comparison of currently available editions. An overview of the composer’s biography and the historical background of the composition comprise the second chapter. Chapters three, four and five are dedicated to each respective movement of the concerto, with explanations and details about certain editorial decisions. The appendix features a new piano reduction of Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in its entirety. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2019

Human life in Europe started to change radically in the first half of the twentieth century between two world wars. Comparing to the nineteenth-century Western musical environment, employing the early compositional technique and style of the past, mainly the Baroque and Classic period, Neo-classicism among the various movements in the twentieth century is extremely important but also controversial. With diversity of the musical style, Igor Stravinsky composed Concerto for Two Solo Pianos in 1935, which combined the compositional principles of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the new musical innovations of the twentieth century. The piece reveals characteristics of Neo-classicism thoroughly. In addition to adopting four traditional forms and thematic development technique, Stravinsky replaced the orchestra part with the second piano and still kept the concertante textural treatment of a traditional concerto format. The first chapter will introduce the life and musical style of Stravinsky. In the second chapter Neo-classicism movement and how deeply Stravinsky was influence by it will be discussed. The third chapter focuses on the compositional background and formal analysis of the Concerto for Two Solo Pianos. And final part will be the conclusion of this topic.

Anthony Plog (b. 1947) has contributed several notable works for brass instruments. He is known for writing extremely technically challenging works that contain angular melodies, fast rhythms and a large degree of chromaticism. Though his music is difficult, it also conveys intense emotions. His music for trumpet, specifically Concerto no. 1 for Trumpet, Brass Ensemble and Percussion and Concerto no. 2 for Trumpet and Orchestra, represents a zenith in his compositional development. This dissertation examines Concerto no. 1 and Concerto no. 2 from a performer’s perspective to better understand the stylistic characteristics and challenges encountered in his music. Each concerto is examined in terms of rhythmic structure, intervallic structure, thematic material, motivic material and form.

The original composition Bombasticism: Concerto for Four Percussion and Large Orchestra seeks to expand percussion ensemble literature, to the extent that the percussion quartet unites with the symphony orchestra in atypical fashion. This percussion quartet explores both expanded instrumentation as well as creates a homogenous new sound that suggests the importance of the percussion instrumentation collectively with wind and string instruments. Bombasticism diverges from traditional concerto by offering differing levels of soloist within the percussion quartet. The different levels of solo performance include; individual soloists in contrast to the percussion quartet, individual soloists layered within the percussion quartet in contrast to the orchestra, and the percussion quartet acting as a collective soloist in contrast to the full symphony orchestra. The percussion voice in Bombasticism shows wide variety not only as a rhythmic machine, but also plays an important melodic and harmonic role through the composition. Throughout the work, the percussion family contributes a complete array of sound to the composition in every aspect of musical language. Bombasticism is written in three movements. Each movement differs from the next in instrumentation, tempo, rhythmic intent, and pitch centers. The first movement, Skins, spotlight percussion instruments with drum heads. The timpani and roto-tom soloists will perform on pitched instruments, and the snare drum and bass drum soloists will perform on non-pitched instruments during the movement. Along with this instrumentation awareness, the primary compositional focus is rhythm. The second movement, Metal & Wood, utilizes percussion instruments that are made of metal or wood only. Pitched instruments include marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and chimes. Nonpitched instruments involved are woodblock, anvil, cymbals, and hi-hat. The primary focus of this movement is the exploration of various approaches to tonality. The third movement, Tutti Causatum, incorporates all the percussion instruments used in the first two movements. This movement is the most rhythmically active, as most of the movement is based on the groupings of two, three, and four sixteenth notes. Tutti Causatum is the final telling of how Bombasticism mingles all the timbres of the percussion family to create a balance and unity within the orchestra.

The Concerto for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra is a three-movement composition for solo bassoon accompanied by an ensemble of modest proportions. This piece is composed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Music with a concentration in Composition from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The Concerto was composed during the 2010-2011 academic year. This paper provides a narrative analysis of the Concerto in terms of the parameters of its musical content, and relationships thereof. In so doing, references are made to related or influential compositions of the last century in respect to genre, style, form, pitch content, rhythm, and orchestration.

This study provides an overall view of the significant change in compositional creation and performance practices in the nineteenth century. One witnesses concerto has become an important genre to demonstrate the technical playing of violin. In addition, through various violin schools, violin performances have developed different styles of playing. Bruch was an important German composer in the late romantic period. Although his status is not sublime as Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms, his ¡§Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor Op. 26¡¨ is well received. Among numerous violin concertos in the nineteenth century, the work is regarded as an essential piece for violinist and in fact up to the present the work has been often performed and included in most concert programs. The most significant in Bruch¡¦s music is his employment of different performance techniques together with beautiful violin voicing. He believes ¡§melody is the soul of music¡¨ and demonstrates with his individual performance, and this explains the long lasting character. The value of Bruch¡¦s music is equal fame of the composition well regarded as his contemporaries. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The First chapter discusses about the succession of the violin performance technique, the influences of violin schools on violin music, and elaboration of the violin concerto features. The Second chapter includes Bruch¡¦s life, the historical background of his Op. 26 and its status. The Third chapter focuses on the performance techniques, examine the sophisticated techniques on both right hand and left hand. Its incorporation with orchestra will also be discussed in this chapter. And followed by a conclusion. Through the research of this work, author, hopefully, could help violinists will not only focus on the technique stage but also convey the idea of the composer more accurately while playing this work.

My Concerto for Marimba Quartet and Orchestra is designed to be a showcase for marimba ensemble, within the context of a traditional orchestral concerto. It is comprised of three movements. The language of the concerto is at times pluralistic, and at other times homogeneous. The music plays with repetition, simplicity, variability and persistence. The three movements that comprise this concerto are each designed to capitalize on the unique sound of the marimbas in combination with other instruments. In the first movement a small three-note motive (carefully selected to be easy to play rapidly with mallets) is translated from the marimbas to the ensemble to create homogenous textures that develop harmonically using pattern and repetition. The second movement is an exploration of the elasticity of rhythm. It sets the marimbas against still chords in the orchestra. It also employs a heightened level of chromaticism in passages that contrast with diatonic chords that are built from the three- note motive of the first movement. The final movement is an exploration of ensemble virtuosity. Rhythms and harmonic material are passed throughout the soloists and orchestra. This movement is designed to play with repetition and the expectations of a rondo form. Material from the two previous movements is recapped at the end.