This thesis explores the way music is characterized, used, or accounted for in recent (post-1968) French thought, focusing in particular on the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Alain Badiou. In spite of the differences in their philosophical-theoretical positions, all of these writers invoke music - both directly and indirectly - to negotiate their relationship to ontological, political, ethical and aesthetic concerns, particularly in terms of how it relates to the (im)possibility of a subject, the condition of truth, and the role of philosophical thought itself. The thesis situates these texts in a longer genealogy of musico-philosophical interactions and also brings them into dialogue with recent musicological approaches, thus showing how an inherited idea of what music 'is' is often assumed rather than critically re-evaluated. In short, by tracing the musical-transcendental baggage of an inherited metaphysical conception of music - one which often understands music in close relation to the feminine, (sexual) excess, and the beyond of language and/or the symbolic - the thesis shows that though music is instrumentalized by progressive thinkers as a way of shifting theoretical/philosophical paradigms, it nonetheless does so in a way that has a strong sense of continuity with previous thinking on music. Secondly, the thesis highlights the way in which music in its metaphysical-ontological guise is often conceived as synonymous with Western high art classical music (which is itself constructed as absolute and transcendent, and ontologically independent of its means of (re)production or context) whilst non-literate, popular, folk and world musics - on the occasions that they are considered and not simply ignored or denigrated - are notably considered almost exclusively in terms of their social-cultural or technological contexts. Finally, the thesis demonstrates that much of this takes place through a simultaneous instrumentalization of gender as an organisational category for philosophy, and one which all too often has the consequence of sending women - along with music - to the beyond of pre-, inter-, or post-signification.

It would seem that the thematic structure of the sonata is at least as important as the tonal scheme, if not more so. With this possibility in mind and with the recognition that composers continue to employ "sonata" as a title, a study of the contemporary sonata seems both useful and valid.

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During the first half of this century, a wealth of anthem literature was published and performed in the United States that, as a result of the deluge of new publications since those years, has been either forgotten or is unknown to modern church musicians. The purpose of this study is to make the best of this music known, for much of it is still both suitable and desirable for contemporary worship. The research is grouped into six chapters that are entitled: The Quartet Anthem, "Anthems in the Anglican Tradition," "Prominent Choral Ensembles and the Dissemination of the Anthem," "Anthems by Prominent Music Educators," "Anthems in the Russian Style," and "The Negro Spiritual."

Timbre and orchestration are neglected parameters in analytical writing, partly because analysis traditionally privileges pitch organisation as the primary structural parameter in music, but also because timbre appears more resistant than pitch to theoretical abstraction and systematisation. Yet, in the music of early twentieth-century Viennese composers such as Schreker, Zemlinsky and Schoenberg, timbre often assumes a pre-eminent place in musical design and formal architecture. In such works, timbre often moves from what Robert Hopkins (1990) describes as a 'secondary parameter' to the forefront of a listener's consciousness. Conventional analytical approaches - including Schenkerian, Neo-Riemannian or pitch-class set theories - arguably have little to offer at such moments. This thesis begins by examining the 'crisis of response' to timbre in fin-de-siècle Austro-Germanic circles and, in particular, to the increasingly complex timbral constructions of many Viennese composers, such as Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg. The crisis of response appeared to stem from an inherited nineteenth-century view of orchestration as ornamental in function, as well as the lack of an appropriate analytical framework and meta-language with which to critique the growing importance of timbre as a musical parameter. This thesis contributes to the discussion as to the how the area of timbral analysis might develop: firstly, by treating timbre as an 'emergent' property rather than an absolute analytical category (i.e., that timbre often results from a complex interaction of multiple musical parameters); secondly, by considering the effect of timbre's spatial properties within the auditory scene on subject-position through examination of contemporary and more recent theories on the convergence of the visual and auditory arts; and thirdly, through timbre's ability to function as an agent of immanent musical critique through disjunctive juxtapositions, or by historically-contextualized responses to codified orchestral tropes as found in Alexander Zemlinsky's 'Der Zwerg'. Timbre certainly was not always the secondary parameter some fin-de-siècle critics suggested it was, or wanted it to be. The joint purpose of this thesis is to offer historically-engaged analytical readings of neglected works from twentieth-century Vienna (alongside a few better-known works whose timbral construction had been left unanalyzed), and to reflect on the benefits of applying recent research to contemporary theories of timbre. These two aims are set in productive counterpoint rather than a straightforward synthesis, with the adoption of recent cognitive research and theories of subject-position feeding into analyses of historical work in order to try to mediate the gap between theory, text, and musical practice.

The aim of this thesis is to explore life, works and pedagogical benefits of the Russian composer Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky. I would also like to focus on children's piano instructive literature by D. Kabalevsky because it is very appreciative recitative methodological material widely used at elementary schools of art. The thesis also includes a methodological analysis of instructive compositions, formal analysis of piano sonatas and concertos aesthetic analysis.

Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924-1949, had, throughout his career, a reputation as a champion of modern music. The anticipation of his arrival in Boston in 1924 sparked a great deal of public debate about his reported modernism which the critics reflected and contributed to. This thesis analyzes the critical reaction, preserved in scrapbooks of newspaper clippings at Symphony Hall, Boston, to Koussevitzky's programming of contemporary music during his first five years with the BSO.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo comparativo das Sinfonias n° 4 e 5 de Dmitri Chostakovitch, analisando as características das duas obras à luz dos acontecimentos que separam a composição das duas sinfonias, em especial o banimento da obra do compositor a partir da publicação do artigo Caos em vez de música em caráter oficial no jornal Pravda em 1936, motivado pelo comparecimento de Stálin à uma apresentação da ópera Lady Macbeth do Distrito de Mtsensk. Este trabalho propõe-se a realizar uma análise que possa evidenciar os diferentes aspectos do impacto da perseguição governamental no discurso musical de Chostakovitch e sua significação para a música do século XX. / This work presents a comparative study of the Symphonies No. 4 and 5 of Dmitri Shostakovich, analyzing the characteristics of the two works in connection with the events that separated the composition of the two symphonies, especially the ban of his works after the publication of the article Chaos instead music in the official media Pravda in 1936, motivated by the presence of Stalin to a performance of the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. This work intends to show the various aspects of the impact of government persecution in the musical discourse of Shostakovich and its significance to the music of the twentieth century.

When John Cage invented the prepared piano in 1940, he created a sound world and body of music unlike anything heard before. The innovative music he wrote for prepared piano requires a completely new approach to performance, and expands our understanding of the piano's capabilities. This study will examine the main prepared piano works by John Cage, with a detailed analysis of the Sonatas and Interludes. Cage's Table of Preparations will be examined to establish an aesthetic rationale for this preparation. Different modes of listening will be explored through a selection of the Sonatas and Interludes recorded in three different technological systems - conventional AB 2.0, surround 5.1, and Disk Jecklin. The latter allows for a true "surround sound" experience as Cage himself might have heard his own pieces. Included is a compact disc of selections from Sonatas and Interludes recorded in each of the three technological systems. / by Inara Ferreira. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.