<p>ELLISON, TIMOTHY LEE, D.M.A. An Analysis of Joel Puckett's Short Stories: A Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Ensemble. (2014) Directed by Drs. John R. Locke and Kevin M. Geraldi. 33 pp. The purpose of this study is to examine Joel Puckett's work, Short Stories, a new concerto for string quartet and wind ensemble. Composed for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Wind Ensemble and premiered at the 2013 National Convention of the College Band Directors National Association, this document provides insight and background information to future performers and conductors through research, analysis, and first-hand experience from the commission to the premiere. The research method was designed to present original research and scholarship on Short Stories, addressing three main areas: the background of Short Stories and the compositional process, a formal analysis, and conclusions. The uniqueness of Short Stories lies in its construction and emphasis on pairs. Puckett utilizes pairs in a powerful way in Short Stories. The pairing of a string quartet and wind ensemble, pairing each of the eight movements - four pairs, and the individual and intimate atmosphere created by the use of pairs, all speak to the overarching duality contained within the composition.

<p> Prior to the initial collaboration between Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo resulting in Afro-Cuban jazz during 1947, latin dance music and jazz were initially very separate styles of music with not very much in common. By the 1960s New York City gave birth to the first true Salsa music in America with jazz and Latin musicians collaborating with one another. Some of the most notable performers responsible for the creation of the "New York" sound are Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco and Willie Colon.The fusion between Puerto Rico and New York's salsa music with jazz was stated through the music of Papo Lucca and Ray Barretto, who not only fused both styles but created an innovative and appealing sound of Latin music. </p><p> This project report is an examination of the techniques, instrumentation, and musicians that Lucca and Barretto used with their bands during the 1960s and 70s. Personal transcriptions of tunes recorded by Lucca and Barretto will be analyzed and compared to earlier versions of these same songs, with the purpose of highlighting the fusion of salsa traditions with jazz harmonies. These transcriptions will then be used to rearrange a traditional Latin tune with contemporary jazz techniques and harmonies.</p>

The five concertos by Charles Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) were the first works in that genre to be written in nineteenth-century France. The composer, a versatile musician of strong intellectual and imaginative power, was one of the great pianists of his era, and his concertos, highly idiomatic for the keyboard, were an important addition to the repertory. They demonstrated coloristic devices not previously employed, and imposed more stringent demands upon virtuoso technique. Saint-Saens' style is a blend of traditional and novel elements. An eclectic and Romantic, he was attracted to melodic and rhythmic patterns of other cultures--particularly the Arabic--and incorporated them judiciously. The most prominent use of such "exoticisms" is found in his Fifth Piano Concerto, the "Egyptian": his crowning work. Although this concerto, deservedly, receives fullest attention, my document gives descriptive and analytic treatment of all five, with emphasis on those distinctive aspects of structure, harmony, rhythm, melody, and orchestration which are the "earmarks" of the composer's genius. An innovator, Saint-Saens was no less a formalist, who anticipated and influenced the neo-classicism of the early twentieth century. The five piano concertos, a distillation of his finest writing, are works of intrinsic and enduring value.

The motets Der Gerechte kommt um, Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt and Ich lasse dich nicht have figured prominently in the ongoing discussion regarding the authentic and spurious motets of Johann Sebastian Bach. While the high musical quality of these compositions has long been recognized, disagreement over their authorship has continued because of the complexity of their source transmission. Evaluation of previous scholarship in light of recent investigations into the source transmission of these pieces suggests that all three works were, indeed, the handiwork of J. S. Bach. In support of this premise, a look at stylistic evidence derived from these pieces and selected cantatas and motets by J. S. Bach makes clear that an attribution to J. S. Bach is in the realm of very high possibility.

This research establishes an initial step in codifying a specific and formalized textural theory of music by developing a basic system for illuminating textural activity. The musical elements integral to this system include the rhythm, instrumental groups, and dynamics. In order to study the texture of Ives' Fourth Symphony, instruments are grouped together based upon similar rhythmic patterns. Individual instruments with no rhythmic relationship to any other instrumental part are labeled soloistic. Each group and solo part is considered either cooperative or antagonistic based upon rhythmic similarities/dissimilarities to other groups and solo parts. The changes in the number of groups, their instrumentation, and the solo instruments have a striking effect on the overall dynamic structure of the movement. Generally, the groups and soloistic instruments are more antagonistic in sections that are either building or have reached a dynamic climax. However, consistent principles of order for predicting such occurrences are not always present. A large amount of data is gathered in order to generate the graphic representations of each movement's texture. Graphs illustrate the number of instruments playing at any given time, how they are grouped, the number of soloistic instruments, their duration, and the perceived dynamics. The graphs aid in producing some overall observations and uncover additional details concerning the formal structure of this symphony resulting in a clearer understanding of Ives' methodology and organizational principles. For purposes of reference and discussion, the symphony is divided into sections according to the overall dynamic curve. Specifically, the points at which crescendos and diminuendos begin and end represent natural delineating areas.

This document focuses upon external influences in the development of Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov's (1873-1943) musical style as seen in two early solo piano collections: Morceaux de salon, Opus 10, and the Moments musicaux, Opus 16. In this author's opinion, these two collections are important compositions in the evolution of Rachmaninov's musical style. Both Opus 10 and Opus 16 are representative of his early compositional period. This study examines the development of these two compositions and provides information regarding important, experimental processes related to Rachmaninov's own musical materials. Opus 10 was written shortly after his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory. Like many of his early works, it was written under the constraints and structural models of his conservatory training. The Opus 16 collection, however, shows evidence of extended compositional experimentation and freedom from the aforementioned constraints. This examination of influences and stylistic overview of Rachmaninov's Morceaux de salon, Opus 10 and Moments musicaux, Opus 16 includes an historical perspective of the compositions, the influential elements of Russian/Eastern Orthodox Church music, the influence of external factors on the two works, the influence of nineteenth century composers on the two works, and the evolution of Rachmaninov's own unique compositional techniques and style.

André Caplet (1878-1925) was a major figure on the musical scene for the first quarter of the twentieth century. He contributed substantially to the repertoire of the solo voice, and to that of choral and chamber music. He was moreover an acclaimed conductor; besides extensive engagements in Paris, Caplet was the conductor of French repertoire at the Boston Opera Company from 1910-14. His career was tragically cut short when he was forty-six years of age because of war-related injuries. An in-depth look at the compositions he left behind reveals a brilliant intellect, meticulous attention to detail, a tremendous ear for color, and keen sensitivity to poetic nuance. The richness of his poetic imagination and his technical resources resulted in a variety of oeuvres of originality and depth. He is unsurpassed as a text-painter in the history of mélodie. The name of André Caplet should be added to those of Debussy and Ravel as an important representative of musical impressionism. This paper examines the exquisite text setting of Caplet. I have chosen the wartime mélodies because of the depth and range of their emotional and musical content. Moreover, they are loosely linked by the undercurrents of war which, with their ever-changing, reflecting and refracting surfaces, run through these mélodies like an impressionistic stream. Caplet wrote predominantly for the mezzo-soprano voice during this period, perhaps using a richer voice to more richly express the depth of his experiences. These mélodies thus represent a wonderful addition to French repertoire for this Fach.

The earliest European Christian (Catholic) music was exclusively vocal. Western music's Renaissance (c.1400-1600) brought about independent instrumental music. However, the idea that religious sentiment could be expressed non-vocally, in non-liturgical contexts, on instruments not associated with religious circumstance, did not develop before Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Though Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote non-liturgical music regarded as "spiritual," (e.g., the late piano sonatas, the late string quartets), Liszt sought to articulate a category of music specifically religious, apart from vocal, liturgical associations. Liszt invented such music at the piano, an instrument incorporating the variety of sounds, gestures, and harmonies he considered evocative of religious sentiment. The Dante Sonata is such a composition. Except for a brief, early moment in the Dante Sonata, the score is void of scales and arpeggios--very basic pianistic musical gestures. The score instead comprises innovative harmonies, creative use of octaves, chords, and original concepts of notation and rhythm. However, scales arpeggios, and indeed the gamut of 19th century pianism, are used by Liszt in other "religious" piano solos. The Legendes de St. Francois, contain substantial use of scales and arpeggiated figures. Other Catholic works, such as Pater noster, Vexilla Regis Prodeunt, Ave Maria, and numerous death-oriented works, though not virtuosic, are not limited in pianistic style. The Harmonies Poetiques et Religious (1845-1852, Nrs. 1-10), contain pieces with both limited and non-limited pianism. The Invocation is void of scales and arpeggios, like the Dante Sonata; but the Benediction and the Cantique d'amour contain much typical arpeggiated accompaniment of melody. The present essay does not identify individual compositional elements as "religious." Each element of the Dante Sonata selected for present analysis, is simply cited as interesting. The Dante Sonata itself is put in the context of religious music. The subjects of religious music and pianistic innovation are both addressed, though neither is interpreted nor defended. That the Dante Sonata is religious music, and pianistically innovative, are the author's judgments a priori. This essay assumes responsibility for circumstantial, pragmatic exemplification of these judgments, not the due process of academic logistics by which they derive. (The latter process requires separate essays.)

This paper demonstrates how and why Alexander Scriabin's Fourth Piano Sonata marks a critical turning point in his compositional style. It also touches lightly upon the philosophical underpinnings of his musical evolution. Three piano sonatas are examined in turn: the Third Sonata--a work representing Scriabin's early style; the Fourth Sonata--a significant transitional piece; and the Seventh Sonata--a sophisticated work from his later period. The innovative harmonic language and musical form of the Fourth Sonata is traced back to its roots in the Third Piano Sonata, after which its evolution reflected in the Seventh Piano Sonata is elucidated. Scriabin's innovations in the Fourth Sonata include his use of the chord-pair, his exploration of the tritone, his manipulations of dominant seventh chords and the condensation of the multi-movement sonata into the one-movement sonata. The Fourth Piano Sonata marks a clearly turning point in Scriabin's compositions.

"The Keyboard Music of Frederic Anthony Rzewski With Special Emphasis on the North American Ballads" focuses on the piano works by Frederic Anthony Rzewski. Opening chapters are devoted to Rzewski's life and his activities, particularly his special political and social associations, and those musicians, composers and performers who have been an important part of his life, and to the development of his music. There is a special chapter on the piano variations The People United Will Never Be Defeated, as this piece brought to fruition many of Rzewski's compositional techniques, particularly those used in the North American Ballads. As Rzewski suggested that this author investigate the folk music of North America, a chapter centered on those aspects of folk music used in the Ballads is also contained herein. The paper is focused on an in-depth analysis of the North American Ballads with a fully-annotated score. A chapter on some of Rzewski's other important piano pieces and a complete works list is also included.