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The reputation of Mendelssohn's music has suffered more than that of most major composers of his era from the vicissitudes of musical taste. From the beginning, the general public felt drawn to his simple lyricism and vitality, expressed within clearly ordered, easily understandable musical structures. Performers and critics at first responded with the same warm enthusiasm, but later became caught up in sweeping changes of musical style and in political propaganda which denounced Mendelssohn's work for non-musical reasons. Until recently his music has rarely received an objective evaluation. During his lifetime his music was received with almost universal acclaim. To the public, even to the most conservative elements of Victorian society, it had an immediate emotional appeal, while professional musician appreciated his polished craftsmanship. Performances of his works were greeted with the eager excitement described in the following London Times review of the oratorio Elijah: "It was as if enthusiasm, long checked, had suddenly burst its bonds and filled the air with shouts of exultation." His friend and colleague Robert Schumann called him a "god among men," and described him thus: "He is the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest musician who most clearly fathoms, and then reconciles the contradictions of our time -- classicism and romanticism." In another comment, Schumann pays tribute to the ease and elegance of his compositional technique: "Mendelssohn I consider the first musician of this day...He plays with everything, especially with the grouping of the instruments in the orchestra, but with such ease, delicacy and art, and with such mastery throughout."

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) was the composer of a substantial body of compositions for the piano which, outside of his native Poland, remain little known and performed more than forty years after his death. This document is designed to acquaint the reader with this literature, and to give him a general introduction to the stylistic characteristics of the composer. As most of the important books about the composer are in Polish, an annotated bibliography is included which directs the reader's attention to more detailed sources, in both English and Polish, concerning the solo piano works.

The purpose of this study is to organize the musical philosophies of Edgard Varese and to develop an approach for stylistic analysis of his works. Many concepts which Varèse translated into musical thought were not solely musical. They were also represented in twentieth century painting, architecture, poetry, science, mathematics, and technology. An understanding of Varèse's works required a redefined approach for listening. The pursuit of this study is, therefore, relevant and justified. This document is organized in four chapters. The first chapter will examine Varèse's personal development through an overview of important influences in his life, and his aesthetic philosophies. Chapter 2 will demonstrate how Varèse's own statements helped determine the approach for the author's analyzations. Chapters 3 and 4 deal directly with the analyzations of Intégrales and Déserts. Great music of any historical period has distinguished itself by individuality and not by complacency. Composers of innovation have risen to prominence because of the uniqueness and quality of their work. The music of Edgard Varése must also be included in this category because of its uncontestable originality and merit.

In the Fall of 1919, the Boston Symphony, under Pierre Monteaux, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Stokowski, premiered works cf Charles T. Griffes. The performances met with phenomenal success. A reviewer in the Boston Globe found Griffes' music to exhibit "genuine originality and power of a sort that entitles its composer to be judged by the same standard as men like Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky, not by that usually applied to..works by unfamiliar Americans." The following Spring Griffes died at the age of thirty-five. Most sources agree that American composition suffered a great loss in the early death of Charles Griffes. His music has gained critical prestige and has won a small but significant position in the orchestral and solo repertoire in the concert hall as well as in the teaching studio. Griffes' creative life spans the first two decades of the twentieth century. He was a pianist and over half of his compositions were for solo piano. In addition, many of his orchestral works are transcriptions of piano pieces. And yet, except for The White Peacock and the Sonata, his piano works are almost unknown and rarely performed. This study seeks to trace the influences contributing to Griffes' general style, and explore the technical components characteristic of that style as they relate to his piano music. Its purpose is to create an interest in the study and performance of this important source of twentieth century American piano music.

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William Bolcom was born May 26, 1938, in Seattle Washington. Formal training in music began at age eleven at the University of Washington School of Music with Bertha Poncy Jacobson (piano), John Verrall (composition), and George McKay (composition). In 1958 he began study with Darius Milhaud, first at Mills College, Oakland, and later at the Paris Conservatory; while in Paris he also studied aesthetics with Olivier Messiaen and counterpoint with Simon Ple-Caussade. Stanford University awarded him a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition in 1964, and since that time he has taught at Queen's College in New York, the New York University School of Arts and Yale Drama School; he was also composer-in-residence at the New York University School of the Arts from 1969 to 1970. He is presently associate professor of composition at the University of Michigan School of Music, a position he has held since 1973. Bolcom is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He won second prize in composition at the Paris Conservatory, and he has held fellowships and grants from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations and the New York State Council for the Arts. He has also received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and commissions have come from the Domaine Musical (Berlin), Julliard Repertory Ensemble, the Koussevitsky Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Milhaud, Rochberg and Boulez have exerted a significant influence on Bolcom's development as a composer, and his compositions incorporate a wide variety of techniques and procedures ranging from popular music and improvisation to microtones and serialism. In 1979 eight of Bolcom's new works were premiered, and his other compositions continue to be performed widely. His works are published by Bowdoin College Press, Jobert, Theodore Presser, Nonesuch, Philips, Advance, and CMS-Desto. As pianist and accompanist for his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, he is recorded on Columbia, Jazzology, and Nonesuch. A prolific writer on musical subjects, Bolcom has written articles for Stereo Review and Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians; he is also co-author with Robert Kimball of Reminiscing with Sissle and Blake, a book about Eubie Blake and Nobble Sissle's contribution to the black musical theatre of the '20's (New York: Viking Press, 1973). Bolcom has written over a hundred compositions ranging from stage works to carillon music. His theatre works include Theatre of the Absurd, a work for actors, musicians and tape, and he has completed a half-length version of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera which was left unfinished by Darius Milhaud in 1937. He has produced a large body of piano literature including twelve Etudes, numerous rags, and a work for two pianos, harpsichord, and harmonium. Orchestral works, chamber music, choral music, violin pieces and works for organ are also represented in his output.

To most flutists, Paul Taffanel is known for his Method and as the "Father" of the French school of flute playing. Considering the import of this title, little research has been done on him. It is the goal of this researcher to present a more complete picture of Taffanel than has previously been seen. To understand the significance of some of the things Taffanel did, it is necessary to know what study at the Paris Conservatoire was like. Lessons were given in classes in which all levels of playing were represented. There was no individual study, and until 1945, there was only one flute class. The number in the class was usually 12, and entry into it was by competitive audition. These auditions were held every October, and the Concours (public exam) was held each July. Requirements for the Concours included a set piece for each instrument (called Morceau de Concours) and a piece of accompanied sightreading. The jury was chaired by the Director of the Conservatoire, with both internal and external jurors. Taffanel sat in on at least two of these juries before he became professor of flute at the Conservatoire. The awards given were First or Second Prize or First or Second Certificate of Merit. A prize means playing against a certain standard, not competition between individual candidates. As a result, more than one First Prize could be awarded, or it could be withheld altogether. A First Prize was really necessary for a successful musical career. In Paris, there were many theatre and concert orchestras. There were also salons in which to play chamber music, but the best positions available were in the Paris Opéra and Opéra- Comique. These were government subsidised and had full -time employment and state pension on retirement. There was also the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire which gave annual Sunday concerts between November and April. Membership into this orchestra was by election. The most successful flutist therefore was one who had gained a First Prize and held positions at the Paris Opera and Société des Concerts.

David Baker is a prominent American composer, noted for his fusion of jazz elements with western art music. The focus of this study is on his composition for cello and percussion, Singers of Songs-Weavers of Dreams, where this fusion is particularly evident. Baker's writing for the cello is most innovative and of considerable historical significance. Firstly, he introduced the cello to the realm of jazz, and secondly, revolutionized fingering patterns in order to accomodate jazz modal sequences and improvisational patterns. This composition is truly a milestone in the cello literature, unprecedented in style and technical innovation, and deserving of more attention.