Pianists often have trouble in determining where a phrase ends, or in other words, cadence identification. This is especially true of certain cadences that can be considered either as half cadences or authentic cadences. This analytically ambiguous cadential point can result in different performance decisions, so pianists should make informed decisions about what kind of cadence it is. This study aims to investigate such cadential ambiguity shown at points of phrase boundaries by focusing on Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35, first movement. I offer both possibilities (a half cadence or an authentic cadence) at the phrase ending, suggesting a performance-related strategy based on each possibility. My objective is not to support only one cadential status, but to bring up the cadential problem from the analytical perspective and to demonstrate how cadence identification affects performance results. The dissertation is divided into two parts: analysis and performance, so it relies on a combined method of analytical terminologies and performance-related musical elements. In the analysis, the terminology of William Caplin is employed. The performance part refers to several method books written by prestigious piano pedagogues. After an introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 reviews some literature on cadences. Chapter 3 specifically analyzes the first movement of Chopin's second sonata by means of Caplin's terminologies. Chapter 4 provides a performance-related method and Chapter 5 deals with a practical performance strategy.

Das Jahr is considered Fanny Hensel's most impressive accomplishment of piano solo work. However, the only modern edition that is extant includes many additional editorial markings. By further analyzing the sections that are technically challenging or musically demanding from an interpretive standpoint, pianists wishing to perform the work will have to find workable fingerings and pedal markings to learn this piano cycle. For this reason, this dissertation will not only provide readers with an original text of Das Jahr, but also assist pianists in finding practical solutions that can help them to interpret this distinctive work successfully on the modern piano.

This dissertation provides an interpretive guide to Variationen und Fuge über ein Thema von Händel, Op. 24, written in 1861 by Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), in orchestral terms, using as basis the orchestral transcription by Edmund Rubbra (1901–1986), published as his Op. 47 in 1938. Not only does Brahms' Variationen present players with considerable pianistic difficulties, its intense harmonic and polyphonic structures make the music sound symphonic. The English composer Edmund Rubbra, a great Brahms enthusiast, transcribed the work for orchestra. The transcription in effect represents Rubbra's interpretation of the piano work as well as his respect for it. When both orchestra and piano versions of a composition exist, pianists may obtain essential musical ideas from studying the orchestral version, just as it is advisable for conductors to study the piano versions of symphonic works, not only those arranged by the composer. Brahms himself was not only a composer but also a pianist and conductor. It is possible that he imagined orchestral sound when composing large-scale piano works such as his Variationen. New experiments in interpretation can offer a refreshing perspective. This study focuses on elements from Rubbra's orchestral version of Variationen that can inform pianists' interpretation.

David Baker (b. 1931) is an educator, composer, and jazz legend. He has composed at least fifteen works that include the clarinet. Baker’s Clarinet Sonata (1989) has become a standard of clarinet repertoire and a popular recital inclusion. His chamber work Heritage: A Tribute to Great Clarinetists (1996) interweaves solo transcriptions of five jazz clarinetists. The compositional style of Baker’s clarinet works frequently links jazz and classical idioms. The two works discussed in this document are excellent examples for classically trained musicians who would like to increase their ability and experience in interpreting jazz styles. The purpose of this document is: (1) to provide background, style, and performance considerations for Baker’s Clarinet Sonata and Heritage: A Tribute for Great Clarinetists, for Clarinet, Violin, Piano and Double Bass; (2) based on these style elements, to provide suggestions for interpreting jazz-style works for classically trained clarinetists; and (3) to archive Baker’s published and unpublished clarinet compositions. Appendices include transcripts of interviews with David Baker and other experts in this field (James Campbell, Rosana Eckert, Mike Steinel and Steven Harlos).

Continuing the discussion of interpreting J. S. Bach's lute music on the guitar, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate that Schenkerian analysis can assist the modern classical guitarist to better understand Bach's music. In particular, the Schenkerian approach provides an important methodology for studying Bach's music in depth, and then guiding performance practice on the guitar. Although there are many books and articles about transcribing, interpreting and performing Bach's music on the guitar, they do not apply Schenkerian analysis to guitar performance. This research will fill in the lacuna in this field, while promoting music scholarship and enhancing the performance practice of classical guitarists.

This study investigates how different guitarists introduced saxophone-like phrasing into the improvisatory and compositional vocabulary of jazz guitar through their collaborations with saxophonists. This research presents a comparative analysis of phrasing, articulation, and melodic design in solo improvisations. The mixed approach to this study includes analysis of motives, voice leading, articulation, length of phrases, melodic contour, and the execution of bebop vocabulary on the guitar. The findings are based on original transcriptions from significant recordings by guitar-saxophone pairs. These highlight the similarities between and adaptations of musical devices from saxophonists Stan Getz, Jimmy Giuffre, and Joe Lovano into the jazz guitar styles of Jimmy Raney, Jim Hall, and John Scofield. This study supports the argument that the evolution of modern jazz guitar playing is directly connected to the adaptation of saxophone-like phrasing at an improvisatory and compositional level. It also shows that the concept of style in jazz flows between different instruments' lineages. Understanding these findings provides a more complex and accurate concept of the development of style in jazz.

Text in English with abstracts in English, isiZulu and Xhosa / Page numbering of table of contents inconsistent with dissertation. Appendix A : Full transcription only of Tip toe by Lacey May / What is it about the vocal melodies of popular music that make you want to listen again and again? This music-theoretical study applies principles of Gestalt psychology and theories of expectation to a study of melodic hooks in 21st-century popular music. The hypothesis tested here is that melodic hooks are a vital element in “catchiness”. Transcription and analysis of melodies by major recording artists is used to explore the note-to-note basis for melodic hooks. The analysis of recordings by Adele, Carly Rae Jepsen, Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke shows how factors of repetition, familiarity, simplicity, resolution, ambiguity of key, and expectation all contribute to the sense of catchiness in music. A listener-response study was used to test the experience of catchiness in the case studies, and corroborates the hypothesis that catchiness depends principally on expectation as an overarching factor. The study also uses auto-ethnographic reflection on the practice of song-writing to give insight into strategies for creating catchy popular songs. The experience of composing a pop song, and releasing it on air, provides unique insight into the artistic process. The results of all these studies show that the perceptual principle of expectation is a crucial factor in the experience of catchiness. / Ingabe yini eyenza iminkenenezo yomculo odumile ikukhange futhi ikuhehe ufise ukuwulalela kaninginingi? Lolu cwaningo lwethiyori yomculo lusebenzisa imigomo ye-Gestalt psychology kanye namathiyori alokho okulindelekile (theories of expectation) ukucubungula nokuhlaziya amavesi eminkenenezo emnandi futhi ekhangayo yomculo odumile wekhulunyaka lama-21. Ihayiphothesisi ehlolwayo lapha wukuthi amavesi eminkenenezo emnandi futhi ekhangayo ayingxenye esemqoka kakhulu “ekukhangeni” komculo. Ukubhalwa nokuhlaziywa kweminkenenezo yabaculi abayizikhondlakhondla abaqopha umculo kuyasetshenziswa kulolu cwaningo ukucubungula inothi nenothi levesi lomnkenenezo omnandi futhi okhangayo. Ukuhlaziywa komculo oqoshiwe ka-Adele, Carly Rae Jepsen, Pharrell Williams kanye no-Robin Thicke kuyabonisa ukuthi izinto ezinjengokuphindaphinda, ukujwayeleka komculo othile, ubulula bomculo, ukuguquka kwenothi lomculo libe ngumnkenenezo ohlabahlosile (resolution), ukungaqondakali nokungaqiniseki ngokhiye womculo (ambiguity of key), kanye nalokho okulindelekile, konke kuyizinto ezilekelelayo futhi ezifaka isandla ekukhangeni komnkenenezo womculo. Ucwaningo lwendlela abazizwa ngayo abalaleli bomculo lwasetshenziswa ukuhlola ukuthi bakhangekile yini labo balaleli bomculo, kwizincwaningo-zigameko zokulalelwa komculo, futhi lolu cwaningo lwasekela lwaphinda lwaqinisekisa ihayiphothesisi ethi ukukhanga komnkenenezo womculo kuncike ikakhulukazi kulokho okulindelwe ngumlaleli womculo njengombandela-ngqangi wokuheheka nokukhangeka kwakhe. Ucwaningo lusebenzisa futhi nokuzibandakanya komcwaningi (auto-ethnographic reflection) enqubweni yokubhalwa kwamaculo ukuze athole ulwazi olunzulu futhi aqondisise kahle amaqhingasu okuqamba izingoma ezidumile ezinomnkenenezo omnandi futhi okhangayo. Ukuzibandakanya enqubweni yokuqamba ingoma yomculo we-pop, kanye nokuyikhipha ukuze idlalwe emisakazweni, kuhlinzeka ngethuba eliyingqayizivele lokuqonda ngokujulile inqubo yokwenza umculo. Imiphumela yazo zonke lezi zincwaningo iyabonisa ukuthi umgomo wendlela-kuhumusha izinto ngokwalokho okulindelekile wumgomo osemqoka kakhulu ekufikelweni komuntu ngumuzwa wokukhangwa nokuhehwa ngumnkenenezo. / Zingantoni izandi ezimnandi zokuvuma ezivakalayo zomculo odumileyo okubangela ufune ukuwuphulaphula njalo njalo? Olu phononongo lomculo ngokwenkcazelo eyingcingane lusebenzisa imigaqo-siseko yemeko yengqondo iGestalt (Gestalt psychology) kunye neengcingane (theories) zokulindelweyo kufundo lwezandi ezinomtsalane okubambayo kumculo wenkulungwane yama-21 Ulwazi oluyingcamango engenabungqina oluhlolwe apha kukuba izandi ezimnandi zokuvuma ingoma ziyinto ebalulekileyo "ekubambeni lula". Ukubhalwa kunye nohlalutyo lweengoma ezenziwa ngabaculi abaphambili bokushicilela kusetyenziselwa ukuphonononga isiseko senowuthi ukusuka kwenye ukuya kwenye inowuthi ngokwezibambo zokuvakala kwezandi. Uhlalutyo lokushicilela luka-Adele, Carly Rae Jepsen, Pharrell Williams kunye noRobin Thicke kubonisa indlela izinto eziphindaphindwayo, zokuqheleka, zobulula, ukusombulula, nobumbolombini kwikhi kunye nokulindelweyo konke kunegalelo kumba wokutsalwa ubanmbeke emculweni. Uphononongo lokusabela komphulaphuli lwasetyenziswa ukuvavanya amava okufumana ifuthe lomtsalane kwizifundo zabucala, kwaye zihambelana nengcinga yokuba ukubamba kuxhomekeka ikakhulu kulindelo njengeyona nto iphambili. Olu phononongo lukwasebenzisa imbonakalo ezenzekelayo kwinkcazo yenzululwazi ngeentlanga kumsebenzi wokubhalwa kwengoma ukunika ukuqonda ngeendlela zokuyila ingoma ezimnandi ezidumileyo. Amava okuqamba ingoma ye-pop, kunye nokuyikhupha emoyeni, inika ingqiqo eyahlukileyo kwinkqubo yobugcisa. Iziphumo zazo zonke ezi zifundo zibonisa ukuba umgaqo-siseko wengcingane yokulindelweyo luphawu olubalulekileyo kakhulu kumava okubamba. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M. Mus. (Musicology)