The subject of this study is the phenomenon of plant and animal illustration as an aspect of naturalism in Italian manuscript art from the mid thirteenth century to the early fifteenth century. 'Naturalism' in the context of this study is defined as the accurate representation of natural objects within the given limitations of period and style. In addition, the term is also applied to the phenomenon of the more frequent occurrence of natural objects like plants and animals in manuscript art. Chief among the factors that gave rise to this type of illustration were the demands of medieval science, in terms of practical works like herbals and hunting treatises. Secondly, the secular interests of the courts, in particular Frederick II's court in the thirteenth century, and the courts of the North Italian despots in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries encouraged the pastimes that generated a need for naturalistic illustration. Although Franciscanism has traditionally been credited with stimulating naturalism in Italian art, there is no solid evidence to suggest that the limited aspect of naturalism discussed here was directly influenced by the movement. The accurate portrayal of both plants and animals can be documented in a number of manuscripts dating from the thirteenth, fourteenth, and early fifteenth centuries. The concentration on accurate portrayal of isolated natural objects resulted in a more sophisticated and at the same time more naturalistic recording of facts about both plants and animals. Eventually, this close observation of nature contributed to certain rudimentary developments toward the mastery of landscape and pictorial space. These developments coincided with, or perhaps even encouraged, the acceptance of the International Gothic Style in Italy. This style incorporated some of the aspects of naturalism discussed in this study, and introduced them into a part of the mainstream of Italian art in the fifteenth century. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / The cantatas of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) represent the culmination of more than a century of Italian secular cantata composition. Although overshadowed by the immense popularity of the Neapolitan opera, the cantata served as the ideal medium for the experimentation with and the perfection of new musical techniques. Thus, while Scarlatti himself was far better known for his operas, his numerous cantatas are historically of more special musical significance. Although Scarlatti's cantatas are distinguished by their beauty and craftsmanship, only a very few have been edited in modern published editions. This is despite the fact that almost eight hundred of Scarlatti's cantatas are known to exist in manuscript form. These have been exhaustively indexed by Edwin Hanley in an unpublished Yale University dissertation, "Alessandro Scarlatti's Cantate da Camera: A Bibliographic Study" (1963). However, the forthcoming complete edition of them lies years in the future. [TRUNCATED]

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The Prelude, Chorale and Fantasy is a tonally conceived work for orchestra with a duration of approximately twenty minutes which uses as its inspiration the final chapter of Ecclesiastes. It is constructed from a relatively small number of germinal elements which function throughout the work as connecting forces and icons. In it can be found musical ideas used to represent the Trinity, the most significant of which are the quotations of the hymn "How Brightly Shines the Morning Star" which appear throughout. / A greater understanding of the work can be gained by approaching it first on a philosophical level, making connections between the Biblical text and the music and extrapolating from those connections. Following this, a step by step analysis will show the microscopic structure of the work and its relationship to the larger form.

The paper details and discusses the compositional issues and techniques employed in the candidate's M.Mus. Thesis Composition Filigranes pour les Freres Limbourg. The piece takes its title and inspiration from the work of the fourteenth-century master-illuminators and also makes reference to music of the same period, while at the same time being grounded in a post-serial aesthetic. The composition's relationship to these models and the specific compositional processes derived from the resulting fusion of certain aspects of mediaeval music (including modality and numerology) with serial technique are described and illustrated. Special emphasis is placed on the interaction of abstract organisational principles (such as permutation) and their musical results.

The way I approached this analysis was to start with two general statements, one on the form and the other on the harmony. This was so the reader could get a sense of the direction of the piece. Then I did a fairly detailed analysis of the introduction since most of the ideas originate from there. The rest of the piece is discussed in less detail, but occasionally there were places that needed a little more detailed explanation. In the postscript I describe some of my influences.