This thesis explores the eleven solo piano nocturnes by living American composer Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), to serve as a performer's guide. Characteristics of previous nocturnes provide historical context for Liebermann's pieces, illustrating similarities to the style developed by John Field, Frédéric Chopin, and Gabriel Fauré. Other musical influences on Liebermann, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferruccio Busoni, demonstrate his relationship to the Western art music tradition and placement within the canon. Four distinct facets of Liebermann's musical style are presented: his reliance on traditional formal practices, motivic coherence, his particular harmonic vocabulary, and his use of texture. Liebermann's works use consonant triads, third relations, and smooth voice leading; because of these features, Neo-Riemannian models are suggested as a potential lens through which to view and analyze these pieces. In particular, hexatonic systems and their depiction of the musically "uncanny" relate to how Liebermann's music can have a sort of "defamiliarizing" and destabilizing effect on the listener. The salient musical features of motivic coherence, harmonic relationships, and formal innovations within tradition are presented for each nocturne alongside descriptions of musical character, to capture the essence and spirit contained within the works. The pieces verge on the fantastic and the rhapsodic, demonstrating Liebermann's imaginative approach to tradition. By utilizing a harmonic language that both synthesizes gestures of the past with a rich history of suggestive emotional content, and that innovates with a more modern and dissonant sensibility, Lowell Liebermann has achieved a distinctive musical vocabulary that captures the poetic and dark essence of nocturnes.

The purpose of this essay is to encourage the study and performance of trumpet concertos written by notable contemporary composers. The essay focuses on two outstanding trumpet concertos composed in recent years: Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, op. 64 and John Williams’ Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. The essay specifically provides the following information: 1) a concise history of the concerto for trumpet, 2) a short biography of Lowell Liebermann and John Williams, 3) the history of Liebermann’s and Williams’ concertos for trumpet, 4) musical analysis of both concertos, 5) a soloist’s practice and performance guide to both works, and 6) a short list of other contemporary trumpet concertos worthy of study. Both Liebermann’s and Williams’ trumpet concertos acknowledge established musical convention, and neither uses any experimental performance techniques. However, both works are written in their own distinctive harmonic language, and each provides its own unique modifications to traditional forms and melodic shapes. Hopefully, this essay will advance the status of Liebermann’s Trumpet Concerto and Williams’ Trumpet Concerto in the history of the trumpet concerto genre and serve as a resource for those who wish to research, study, and perform Liebermann’s Concerto, Williams’ Concerto, or other contemporary trumpet concertos.

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Walt Whitman's poetry continues to inspire composers of choral music, and the growing collection of musical settings necessitates development of a standard evaluative tool. Critical evaluation of the musical settings of Whitman's work is difficult because the extensive body of verse is complex and of uneven quality, and lack of common text among compositions makes comparison problematical. The diversity of musical styles involved further complicates the issue. Previous studies have focused on either ideology or style, but none have united the two critical approaches, thus restricting potential for deeper understanding of the music. This study proposes an approach to critical evaluation of Whitman settings that applies hermeneutics, or a blend of analysis and criticism, to the process. The hermeneutic approach includes an examination of the interrelationship between musical form and style and the composer's ideology, which is revealed through his/her treatment of Whitman's poetry and analyzed in light of cultural influences. Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961) has composed a large scale choral/orchestral setting of Whitman texts in his Symphony No. 2, opus 67 (1999). The selection, placement, and treatment of poetry in Symphony No. 2 provide a window into the composer's mind and his place in the current musical climate. Liebermann's setting reveals his interest in Whitman's search for spirituality and the human spirit's transcendence over time and space. His understanding of Whitman is filtered through a postmodern cynicism, which he seeks to remedy with his nostalgic neo-Romantic style. Chapter One provides an introduction to Whitman's life and examination of his poetry's themes, style, and reception. Chapter Two outlines issues relevant to criticism of Whitman settings and proposes an approach to critical analysis. Chapter Three applies the critical method to Liebermann's Second Symphony, drawing conclusions about its place in contemporary culture.

This submission investigates the interpretation and performance of selected solo and chamber works for flute by American composers Lowell Liebermann (b.1961) and Robert Beaser (b.1954). The exegesis presents a discussion of the interpretation and preparation of the included works from two differing perspectives. First, it examines the repertoire from the perspective of the composer, drawing on audio recordings of interviews and lessons conducted by the author in the United States of America. Second, it reviews the recitals from the perspective of the performer with emphasis on the preparation and performance of the selected repertoire. The discussion draws on two recitals by the author and associate artists that were recorded and presented in Elder Hall, The University of Adelaide on 11 December 2008 and 16 June 2009. Excerpts from the recitals are used to demonstrate the discussion and the CDs of the complete recitals are therefore integral to the submission. / Thesis (M.Mus.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 2009

This submission investigates the interpretation and performance of selected solo and chamber works for flute by American composers Lowell Liebermann (b.1961) and Robert Beaser (b.1954). The exegesis presents a discussion of the interpretation and preparation of the included works from two differing perspectives. First, it examines the repertoire from the perspective of the composer, drawing on audio recordings of interviews and lessons conducted by the author in the United States of America. Second, it reviews the recitals from the perspective of the performer with emphasis on the preparation and performance of the selected repertoire. The discussion draws on two recitals by the author and associate artists that were recorded and presented in Elder Hall, The University of Adelaide on 11 December 2008 and 16 June 2009. Excerpts from the recitals are used to demonstrate the discussion and the CDs of the complete recitals are therefore integral to the submission. / Thesis (M.Mus.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 2009