Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) created the accompanied art song as we know it. His achievement as a composer of Lieder stands at the very core of his labors as a creator. Franz Liszt (1811-1886) in addition to being a composer of genius, was also the greatest virtuoso pianist of the nineteenth century. He had a particular affinity for Schubert's music, which led him to transcribe as many as 54 of the Lieder for piano solo. These transcriptions are faithful recreations of Schubert's musical thought, yet the pianistic layout is completely Lisztian. Franz Schubert was hardly a public figure during his lifetime, and he gave just one public concert of his works, on March 26, 1828 in Vienna. According to Hans Gal: "In 1828 there were the beginnings of an improvement in his circumstances. His songs were becoming more widely known, German publishers were beginning to show an interest in his music, and Schubert was induced by his friends to give a public recital of his works. It was his first and last... Schubert's supporters could easily fill a hall, and the undertaking was both artistically and financially a great success."

Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Opus 11, is important primarily as a transitional work. It is the first work in which Mendelssohn deploys large orchestral forces in the traditional form of the symphony; thus, it provided Mendelssohn with the means of making the important transition from the relatively small, chamber-music ensemble in which he had previously worked (as represented by the "string symphonies") to large-scale symphonic works. Its historical or biographical importance definitely outweighs its importance as a musical work in its own right; this can be seen by the fact that it is much less performed today than other symphonies by Mendelssohn. In these later symphonies the composer displays his talents in a more fully developed form. Nonetheless, Symphony No. 1 has many excellent qualities. It has several memorable melodies and shows the working of a vigorous, youthful, though somewhat derivative musical intelligence. It has several brilliant and memorable moments, although considered as a whole it must still be regarded as a work that promises a greater talent than it displays.

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The Eight Songs for a Mad King lends itself very nicely to the analysis of the various Sprechstimme and "extended vocalism" techniques. Peter Maxwell Davies uses all the conventional Sprechstimme techniques as well as vocal sounds and notation of his own design. By explaining and illustrating these techniques before the performance of the work, the audience can gain additional insight into and understanding of the performance. The historical aspect of the text used in the Mad King is also of interest to the listener. The poems were inspired by a small mechanical organ supposedly once owned by King George III and which played eight tunes. A scrap of paper sold with the organ explains that "This organ was George the third for Birds to sing". The songs are understood to be his monologue while listening to his birds perform. The text incorporates many sentences actually spoken by George III in both his sane and insane moments.

Though there has long been debate concerning the dating and the inception of the Serenade for Thirteen Instruments in B Flat Major, K. 370a (K. 361), the greatest inquiry has arisen in this century with the public discovery and examination of the autograph score. Coincidental with traditional Mozart scholarship has been that which finds parallels in the wind band movement of this country encompassing the past twenty-five to thirty years. With the growing importance of the wind ensemble and its capacity to perform literature of various instrumentations, many contemporary scholars from the U.S. as well as Europe have responsibly probed questions directly related to early wind music, particularly the period of the late eighteenth century. Notable among these are Frederick Fennell, David Whitwell, Daniel Leeson and Neal Zaslaw of the United States, and Marius Flothuis, Erik Smith, and Roger Hellyer of Europe. Through their efforts much new information has come to light which both changes the perspective by which certain works have come to be viewed, and the very nature of performance practice itself. Indeed, the current deepening involvement with the wind ensemble approach in our colleges, universities, and even selected high schools, demands that solid historical inquiry be made concerning all early wind literature. Only in this way will wind players, conductors, and eventually the listening public become conscious of the aesthetic value of this music in our society. The Serenade in B Flat, despite the ambiguity surrounding its inception and the accuracy of the various manuscript and printed editions, is a vital staple in the repertoire of the wind band as well as that of the orchestra. In that it comes from the pen of Mozart's maturity and constitutes such an extensive display of imaginative writing within its seven movement span, the unreserved attention it receives in performance is easily matched by its musicological significance. This paper attempts to examine in general terms the period of harmoniemusik, Mozart's contributions to this genre, as well as the critical aspects of K. 370a in some detail. Included in the Appendices is a chronological list of owners of the autograph score, a survey list of Mozart's strictly wind works, a formal analysis of K. 370a, and a complete harmonic analysis of the Neue Mozart Ausgabe (NMA) score. Frequent use of the following abbreviations should be noted: AMA = Gesammtausgabe Mozart's Werke (1878 -1905); NMA = Neue Mozart Ausgabe (1955 and on); K1, K3, K6, K7 = respective Köchel catalogue editions. The use of Köchel numbers is in accordance with the latest major revision of the catalogue, namely, the sixth edition; older Köchel numbers appear in brackets. A comparison of Köchel equivalents between K1, K3 and K6 is given in Appendix A.

Mexico, a land of contrast and mystery, was the birthplace of the two composers included in this study. These two composers were chosen for several reasons: the two men represent the enigma of the country that influenced their development and each of them molded Mexico's popular musical heritage into a classical format. Miguel Bernal Jiménez was considered in 1941 as the most brilliant composer of Catholic Mexico; Silvestre Revueltas received the title of Mexico's greatest composer, yet today the composers are almost unknown in the United States. Arizona, and Tucson in particular, are situated so near to Mexico that it is important to become aware of that country's varied musical heritage in the classical idiom, as well as its other cultural and historical aspects. As a resident in Mexico for three years with a previously acquired interest in Latin American music, the writer became increasingly involved in study of the music. Her residence laid a foundation for research into these two composers. When the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, one of Mexico's major symphony orchestras based in Toluca near Mexico City, made a nationwide tour of the United States in June 1975, Revueltas' orchestral composition Sensemayá received several performances. The Tucson Symphony also performed Sensemayá in 1979 with Dr. George Trautwein conducting. The writer found this work to be fascinating and she wondered if Revueltas had written works for cello; with research she found that he did not write for cello solo, but that he composed for string quartet. The writer first encountered the Cuarteto Virreinal by Miguel Bernal Jiménez when she performed the work from manuscript with a professional string quartet sponsored by Patrimonio Cultural in Toluca, Mexico. The work is a pleasant combination of classical and Mexican qualities; the writer decided that someday she would like to perform it for audiences in the United States.

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Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston University. This item includes the dissertation paper, handouts, as well as a video of the February 26, 2017 lecture and clarinet performance by Karen Luttik. / Géza Frid (1904-1989) was a significant Hungarian-born Dutch composer and pianist of Jewish descent. His compositional style was highly regarded in the Dutch musical scene of the 20th century; his music has been programmed on multiple occasions by the Concertgebouw Orchestra and in 1949 and 1954 won the City of Amsterdam Music Award. Major influences on Frid’s musical development started in his native Hungary where he studied with Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály before his move to the Netherlands. In 1972, he composed an unusually lovely concerto for Bb, A, Eb and bass clarinets (Op. 82) and dedicated it to George Pieterson, principle clarinet with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Scholarly discussions of Géza Frid’s clarinet music are not to be found in either the US based International Clarinet Society’s The Clarinet, or in the Dutch based De Klarinet. Intensive World Cat library searches have yielded no recordings of this piece, and currently there is not even one recording of Frid’s Concerto for Clarinets on YouTube or in the Naxos Music Library. The Concerto for Clarinets is a significant addition to the standard clarinet repertoire and needs to be introduced to the world wide clarinet community. Furthermore, save for some short selections on the Géza Frid website set up by his son, Arthur Frid and a Wikipedia article, no translations exist of Géza Frid’s autobiographical material. His life story was exceedingly interesting, having been a Jewish composer during the World War II years who was not allowed to perform or compose for years during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Luckily he survived the war years by going into hiding; he managed as part of the musician’s resistance to find ways to perform and work illegally giving clandestine concerts and falsifying documents. These were exceedingly dangerous risks, yet ones Géza Frid and his fellow musicians were willing to take because of their music. Frid published two autobiographical books and numerous articles for the Dutch music magazine Mens en Melodie, (People and Melody) revealing his deep musical insights; especially those relating to the music of the Concerto need to be summarized and translated to English from Dutch. This paper provides a general overview of the historical aspects of Géza Frid’s life, his WWII experiences, and his position as one of many persecuted Jewish musicians at the time. Géza Frid’s autobiographical information relating to his personal friendships with Bartók and Kodály is of interest when considering his music. Summaries and some translations are made of his two Dutch language autobiographical books, In 80 Jaar de Wereld Rond (Around the World in 80 Years) and Oog in Oog Met… (Eye to Eye With…). A basic analysis of Frid’s Concerto for Clarinets is provided regarding form, the various instrument appearances, and a special feature invented by George Pieterson called the ‘tremolo special’. Since this concerto was specifically composed for the Reformed Boehm system clarinets which George Pieterson used, a discussion of the differences between the French, German and Reformed Boehm clarinet systems is included. The performance portion of this project is a historically informed performance of this piece on the specific models of clarinets for which it was written. George Pieterson passed on in April 2016, and this project is a fitting tribute of his teaching to a generation of professional clarinetists in the Netherlands including the author.

The romantic piano literature contains three important collections of nocturnes. The nocturnes of John Field (1782-1837) were the first to appear, and were followed by collections from Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) and Gabriel Faure (1845-1924). While the relationship of the nocturnes of Field to those of Chopin is well documented, the corresponding relationship between Faure and Chopin is not. This study contains a detailed examination of this relationship, and shows the precise nature of Chopin's strong influence on Faure's early nocturnes, as well as the nature of Faure's growth from that influence. Chopin's influence was strongest in the area of harmonic language, as Faure carried certain of Chopin's techniques to logical extremes. Faure also adopted ternary form as the important form for the piece from Chopin. Faure's use of this form shows both similarities and differences from that found in Chopin. Faure's early nocturnes employ the same basic textures as Chopin's nocturnes, but Faure's later works abandon this in favor of increasingly contrapuntal writing. Chopin's influence is weakest in the area of melodic construction, as Faure's melodies often show a rigorous motivic construction which is not found in Chopin.