The purpose of this dissertation is to provide resources to enable scholarly performances of the 2007 choral-orchestral composition Kreek’s Notebook by Tõnu Kõrvits, one of Estonia’s most celebrated contemporary composers. Each movement in Kreek’s Notebook is based on a different Estonian folk-hymn variant. The piece’s title refers to Estonian composer Cyrillus Kreek and his work collecting and preserving this medium.This study provides background and source material for each movement of Kreek’s Notebook as well as a translation, IPA transcription for lyrical diction, piano reduction for choral rehearsals, brief musical analysis, and discussion of performance practice. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 9, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / André J. Thomas, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michelle Stebleton, University Representative; Kevin Fenton, Committee Member; William Frederickson, Committee Member.

This treatise is based on two lecture-recitals that were given as part of the Doctor of Music degree requirements at Florida State University on November 17, 2016 and November 13, 2017. The first lecture recital focused on the Sonate Nr. 2 for piano of Valentin Silvestrov and the second explored selected piano works of Toru Takemitsu. Both lecture-recitals were intended as separate events, the content of which was not related to each other. During the process of preparation for these projects, which included study of the score, analysis of form, research of the supporting material, and preparation for the performance of the selected pieces, I have discovered certain musical and conceptual ideas that are shared by both composers. The goal of the present research has been to reveal the creative concepts and corresponding historic background of the chosen piano works of composers from two different cultures. Valentin Silvestrov is a prominent modern composer from Ukraine. His compositional output covers a wide range of classical genres, in which music for piano is of great importance. The work chosen for this research is his Sonate No. 2, a transitional work in Silvestrov’s compositional style. The goal of this lecture was to explore the historical context in Silvestrov’s creative output that led to the creation of this large-scale work, the analysis of its form and content, and the attempt to understand the musical narrative of this piece. Toru Takemitsu was one of the leading 20th century Japanese composers. One of the highlights of his creative career was his ability to incorporate and connect philosophical and musical concepts of the traditional Japanese culture with the musical language of the Western contemporary movements. He was not only a prolific composer but also a writer who left valuable thoughts on various topics related to music. The goal of this lecture was to give an overview of the creative concepts of Takemitsu and illustrate his approach to music-making in his piano works. First two chosen pieces, Romance and Litany (in Memory of Michael Vyner), represent Takemitsu’s early compositions and both of his Rain Tree Sketches were selected to illustrate composer’s late style. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 10, 2018. / Creative Concepts, cultures, Piano sonata, piano works, Toru Takemitsu, Valentin Silvestrov / Includes bibliographical references. / David Kalhous, Professor Directing Treatise; Charles E. Brewer, University Representative; Heidi Williams, Committee Member; Christopher Moore, Committee Member.

The purpose of this treatise is to connect violin music which contains onomatopoeic sounds with the development of techniques that successfully portray these effects. The focus is primarily on animal and nature onomatopoeia (e.g. birds, insects, dogs, cats, frogs, rain, storms, thunder, river, sea, sunrise, etc.). Another onomatopoeia shortly discussed is the physical onomatopoeia, imitating motion in nature (such as the fluttering of an insect’s wings, and others). The examples of these onomatopoeic representations are mostly found in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and in the 20th and 21st centuries. This is due to the musical and philosophical aesthetics of the 19th century and their disregard for imitation of the external world in music. The survey of the works is selected from the solo violin literature and smaller chamber repertoire, such as the string quartet. Besides providing a collection of works that contain nature onomatopoeia, the treatise is meant to draw a connection between the advancement of violin technique and the desire to authentically represent acoustical properties of sounds found in nature. Violin technique evolved through experimentation; new techniques pushed the limits of the technical vocabulary. With nature onomatopoeia, the composer (who was typically a violin virtuoso, in the earlier period) had the desired sound in mind and was not afraid to search for it, even if that meant employing unconventional means of sound production. Having this acoustical guidance in search of appropriate and authentic technical tools helped break from the idiomatic common practices and led to the establishment of new techniques when referring to specific onomatopoeias. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 6, 2018. / Music onomatopoeia, Sounds of animals, Sounds of nature, Violin technique / Includes bibliographical references. / Benjamin Sung, Professor Directing Treatise; Clifton Callender, University Representative; Alexander Jiménez, Committee Member; Shannon Thomas, Committee Member.

Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince has been connecting Turkish and American cultures throughout his composition and teaching career. His post-minimalist style involves the energy of Turkish and Balkan folk music, the mysticism of Byzantium and Ottoman music, the tradition of western classical music and the accessible qualities of popular American musical genres. This treatise, in conjunction with two lectures, focuses on three of his chamber works: Two Step Passion (2011), Asumani (2012) and It’s a Nasreddin (2013). These works are examined in terms of cultural, geographical, and historical influences, and compositional elements. The goal of the research is to highlight Kamran Ince’s chamber work from the perspective of Turkish culture and history. His ethnic and original musical style is a significant addition to the existing flute repertoire. Ince’s musical language shows how every culture is beautiful and interesting. While the entire world is uniting culturally with technology, each ethnicity still has much to share and celebrate. This artistic attitude provides a model for the world to peacefully appreciate differences. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 9, 2018. / classical, contemporary, ethnic, flute, music, turkish / Includes bibliographical references. / Eva Amsler, Professor Directing Treatise; Richard Clary, University Representative; Deborah Bish, Committee Member; Jeffrey Keesecker, Committee Member.

The court at Mannheim between 1740 and 1778 produced an abundance of musical innovations and compositions. Composers such as Johann Stamitz and Christian Cannabich revolutionized orchestral playing in a multitude of ways, including the establishment of unified bowings and combining the roles of concert master and conductor. Perhaps most important are the stylistic innovations that these composers developed. The Mannheim Style was significant to the propulsion of music from the Baroque to Classical eras. The melodic ornaments, dynamic effects, thematic differentiation, and orchestration tendencies that resulted from the virtuosic players in the orchestra spread throughout Europe, and a multitude of composers were influenced by them. This treatise seeks to identify Mannheim influences in two pieces of the oboe repertoire. First, the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, K. 314 (285d) is used to find how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart employed these techniques. As one of the most important compositions of the oboe repertoire, this oft-performed work is exemplary of how the Mannheim Style influenced even those composers who had not yet visited the city. Second, the Duo Sonata for Oboe and Piano is one of Jacques-Christian-Michel Widerkehr’s small number of surviving compositions. Although it was composed after the Mannheim orchestra was past its prime, his compositions demonstrate the lasting effects of Mannheim Style into the early 19th century. This treatise identifies the impact of Mannheim Style’s idioms on these two works and offers a greater understanding of the pervasiveness and importance of the Mannheim Style’s influence throughout Europe. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 5, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Eric Ohlsson, Professor Directing Treatise; Richard Clary, University Representative; Jeffery Keesecker, Committee Member; Deborah Bish, Committee Member.

This treatise evolved from the author’s interest in concertos for trumpet and wind band. Through research, the author discovered that this genre consists of a large quantity of infrequently performed works. Based on these findings, the purpose of this treatise is to examine the challenges faced by concertos for trumpet and wind band in achieving a greater exposure to wider audiences. This treatise focuses on the careers, compositional styles, and selected concertos of Fisher Tull, Bruce Broughton, Jean Françaix, and Alfred Reed. The musical excerpts provided highlight technical challenges for potential performers. Finally, the appendix includes a list of additional noteworthy concertos for trumpet and wind band. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 9, 2018. / Concert Band, Concertos for Band, Trumpet, Trumpet Concertos, Trumpet Repertoire / Includes bibliographical references. / Christopher Moore, Professor Directing Treatise; Steve Kelly, University Representative; Michelle Stebleton, Committee Member; John Drew, Committee Member.

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was among the most important composers of the twentieth century. He is most well-known for his operatic and vocal works but he made significant contributions to instrumental repertoire as well. Many of his works were inspired by performers whom he knew personally and he wrote several pieces for cello as the result of his relationship with the Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Britten and Rostropovich met in 1960 and the two struck up an immediate friendship and musical partnership. Britten dedicated seven works for cello to Rostropovich during the last sixteen years of his life. The second of these, the Symphony for Cello, Op. 68 (1963), is the focus of this treatise. The work is neither well known nor widely performed, especially in comparison to Britten’s Sonata for Cello and Piano (Op. 65) and the three Suites for Solo Cello (Opp. 72, 80, and 83). The causes of this neglect might be a lack of understanding of the work on multiple levels. The unusual formal structure of the piece, Britten’s particular musical language, and the technical challenges of the piece present obstacles to an understanding of the work. This treatise seeks to remove these barriers by presenting a formal and motivic analysis of the work, placing it into the compositional and biographical context of Britten’s life, exploring its dual concerto-symphonic nature, and providing performance and practice suggestions for cellists learning the piece. This treatise is intended to help cellists working on the piece and teachers whose students are learning the work. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 5, 2018. / Benjamin Britten, Cello, Symphony / Includes bibliographical references. / Gregory Sauer, Professor Directing Treatise; Evan A. Jones, University Representative; Alexander Jiménez, Committee Member; Corinne Stillwell, Committee Member.

The following treatise is based on content from two separate lecture recitals that I previously delivered at Florida State University. The first lecture recital was presented on April 6, 2016. There, an in-depth analysis of Witold Lutosławski's Sonata for Piano and was followed by the performance of that piece. The second lecture recital was presented on December 10, 2017, with focus on György Ligeti's Piano Etudes, Book 3 and Michaël Lévinas' Three Etudes for Piano. The first part of present treatise focuses on Lutosławski's rarely performed Piano Sonata. As his only existing student composition, this Piano Sonata is an ideal work through which it is possible to examine Lutosławski's stylistic development, evolving from traditional romantic idioms to distinctly modern aesthetics. The paper presents a short survey of composer's biography, historical background, and the musical influences; discusses the combinations of the "old" and "new" musical elements in this Sonata through analyzing the forms, structures, melodies, and the pitch organizations in the piece. The second part of this paper includes seven selected piano etudes by two 21st century European composers. Four of the etudes were chosen from Ligeti's Piano Etudes, Book 3 and Three Etudes for Piano by French composer Michaël Lévinas respectively, mostly because Lévinas' music was highly influenced by Ligeti's work. The purpose of the second part of this essay is to introduce composer Michaël Lévinas and his still unknown work and to simultaneously compare the distinct compositional styles and sound philosophies of Ligeti and Lévinas by analyzing the forms and compositional techniques of the etudes in question. In addition, the essay will discuss pianistic considerations and practice suggestions vis-à-vis certain etudes. While these two parts of this treatise are not directly connected, the author hopes that the discussion offered in these pages will help spread awareness of and generate more interest in some of the most original 20th and 21st century European piano works. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 10, 2018. / György Ligeti, Michaël Lévinas, Piano Etudes, Piano Sonata, Witold Lutosławski / Includes bibliographical references. / David Kalhous, Professor Directing Treatise; Evan A. Jones, University Representative; Heidi Williams, Committee Member; Diana Dumlavwalla, Committee Member.

This treatise seeks to examine the similarities and differences between Rilke Songs and Neruda Songs, two sets by American composer Peter Lieberson. This will be done by comparing different elements, including text setting, harmonic language, instrumentation, etc. It includes a brief biography of the composer and his wife as well a translation of all texts and a brief biography of the poets. Peter Lieberson met and fell in love with his second wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954-2006), during a production of his opera Ashoka’s Dream. They were married in 1999. Over the course of their marriage, Lieberson wrote two song cycles with his wife’s voice in mind, the first of which is entitled Rilke Songs and premiered in 2001. The texts are all from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Die Sonnete an Orpheus (Sonnets to Orpheus), the mythological musician demi-god who attempted to save his wife Eurydice from death. The second cycle, Neruda Songs (2005), contains five songs with Spanish texts by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Each song portrays love in a different phase, from the initial romance to the final farewell. Just a year after these songs were premiered, Lorraine died of breast cancer, making these songs especially poignant. Though these two cycles were written only four years apart, they are decidedly dissimilar. Neruda Songs exhibits a sweeping lyricism and an intense sense of urgency, while Rilke Songs has more disjunct melodies and a contemplative atmosphere. The primary reason for this difference is surely the text. In the Hal Leonard publication of Rilke Songs, Lieberson writes that he considers these five songs “love songs even though the poems themselves are not overtly about love.” However, no matter Lieberson’s intentions, Rilke’s texts simply do not contain the passion and fervor of Neruda’s. As a result, the two song cycles show two very different sides of love, one of which is staid, thoughtful, and profound, the other of which is intense, ardent, and fiery. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 10, 2018. / Lieberson, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Pablo Neruda, Peter Lieberson, Rainer Rilke / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglas Fisher, Professor Directing Treatise; Evan A. Jones, University Representative; Chuck Chandler, Committee Member; Valerie Trujillo, Committee Member.

This study shows the various compositional devices used in R. Nathaniel Dett’s short choral works. An analysis of each work with pertinent topical information is included for each song. The short choral works are catalogued. Additionally, a brief history of black folk music, its use during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his many writings on black music provide context for his use of folk music in these works. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 13, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / André J. Thomas, Professor Directing Dissertation; Clifton Callender, University Representative; Kevin Fenton, Committee Member; Kasia Bugaj, Committee Member.