This study is concerned with the examination of choral symphonies by major nineteenth-century composers. Its purpose is to delineate the common characteristics which these works have. Emphasis is given to the investigation of the choral elements in the symphonies. Detailed musicological studies of nineteenth-century music are minimal; there has. been a particular lack of interest in nineteenth-century works for chorus. Therefore, the principal sources of data for this study were the full scores of the following nine symphonies: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet and the Funeral and Triumphal Symphony, Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, Liszt's Faust Symphony and Dante Syrmphony, and Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 2., 3, and 8. Other important sources included major biographies of the composers of the symphonies listed. chapter is devoted to each of these composers, subdivided as follows: a general survey of the composer's other works for chorus and/or orchestra; the historical facts connected with the composition and first performance of the individual symphonies; analysis; and conclusions.

The purpose of this study, ve to analyze the stylistic characteristics in the unaccompanied music of one twentieth century composer, Francis Poulenc, in order to discover the choral problems which would confront choruses and conductors as they performed his music. It is hoped that this study will not only enable choral conductors to better understand, interpret, and appreciate the music of Poulenc, but also will serve as a guide toward the investigation of other twentieth century composers and their works.

Através de elementos musicais passíveis de serem comparados, isto é, por meio de elementos intertextuais, tivemos a intenção de exemplificar as referências à tópica de valsa vienense (relacionada as valsas de Joseph Lanner e Johann Strauss II), compará-las as valsas de Frédéric Chopin compostas após sua estada em Viena - em especial a Grande Valse Brillante, Op. 18 - e cotejá-las às seis Valsas Humorísticas Op. 22 de Alberto Nepomuceno. Uma peculiaridade que se revelou comum as valsas acima mencionadas é a forma musical que possuem: um formato medley, enquanto que as valsas de Chopin compostas em Varsóvia, por exemplo, apresentam forma ternária da capo. Por meio da análise realizada, mostramos semelhanças formais que há entre elas a fim de compreender a valsa enquanto tópica musical e como essa tópica se apresenta nas Valsas Humorísticas Op. 22 e constatamos que ela acontece por meio da tropificação de estilos: a tópica de valsa se justapõe ao estilo concertante, ao estilo pianístico e ao estilo pianeiro (relacionado aos pianistas populares cariocas). Tanto o formato medley, que pode ser visto como uma técnica composicional de bricolagem, quanto a justaposição dos estilos mencionados evidenciam que as Valsas Humorísticas possuem elementos progressistas para a época em que foram compostas. Além disso, mostramos as intertextualidades explícitas que Nepomuceno realiza ao citar o Danúbio Azul, de Strauss II e a Valsa do Minuto, de Chopin e elucidamos que tanto a tropificação de estilos como o uso de citações são mecanismos geradores de humor musical. Para chegarmos a essa conclusão foi necessário verificar e perceber quais são os elementos musicais que geram humor nas Valsas Humorísticas visto que elas possuem um título que direciona os ouvintes para uma possível escuta jocosa, ou seja, foi necessário verificar o que musicalmente se apresenta como humor. / Alberto Nepomuceno handles four topical styles in order to evoke humor in his Valsas Humorísticas Op. 22 for piano and orchestra: the waltz, concertante, pianistic and pianeiro (related to popular pianists from Rio de Janeiro) styles. Meaning tropification of these styles, namely, their overlap creates musical humor. By means of these intertextual elements, present research had the intent to show references related to the topical vienense waltz (associated with Johan Strauss II and Joseph Lanner\'s waltzes) and compare them to Frédéric Chopin\'s Works composed after his stay in Vienna - in particular the Grande Valse Brillante, Op. 18 - and analogize them with the six Valsas Humorísticas. Medley format revealed itself as a peculiarity in this musical form and a common ground between the mentioned above waltzes. Chopin\'s compositions, in contrast, shows da capo ternary form as an example. Present thesis based its analysis on Klein (2005) in order to comprehend intertextuality as an aesthetical phenomenon, whose relations are given by the recipient\'s perception. McKee\'s studies (2012) were also took into analysis to understand the waltz genre as a topical music. Both medley format, seen as a compositional technique of do it yourself, and the overlapping of mentioned styles show that Valsas Humorísticas had progressive elements by the time they were created. Besides, present research shows the explicit intertextualities Nepomuceno performs when citing Strauss II\'s Blue Danube and Chopin\'s Minute Waltz and elucidates that both tropification of styles and usage of citations are mechanisms to create musical humor. Current thesis takes Casablancas (2014) studies in order to comprehend, verify and describe how humor manifests itself in music and how many musical elements evoke humor on Alberto Nepomuceno\'s Valsas Humorísticas.

Esta pesquisa pretende demonstrar as principais transformações da música das escolas de samba do Rio de Janeiro através da transcrição, catalogação e análise de suas estruturas melódicas, harmônicas e formais mais recorrentes. Entre as estruturas analisadas estão as que considerei como características do samba-enredo, as quais são compartilhadas por um grande número de compositores das mais diversas épocas e tendências estilísticas. A partir do seu estudo detalhado, passou-se a reflexões mais amplas relativas à presença do formulismo no processo de composição dos sambistas, o qual pode estar ligado tanto ao modelo oral de pensamento e comportamento ainda existente nas escolas de samba quanto ao fato de o samba-enredo estar inserido em uma lógica capitalista que abarca desde a indústria cultural da qual ele faz parte (gravação de discos, transmissão em rádio e TV) até o próprio modo de escolha das obras que são apresentadas no carnaval. / This research intends to demonstrate the main transformations of the music of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro through the transcription, cataloging and analysis of its most recurrent melodic, harmonic and formal structures. The analyzed structures include those that I considered as characteristics of samba-enredo, which are used by a large number of composers from diverse epochs and stylistic tendencies. From their detailed study, I examine the presence of formularity in the composition process of the sambistas, which may be related both to the oral model of thinking and behavior that still exists in the samba schools and to the fact that samba-enredo is embedded in a capitalist logic that ranges from the cultural industry it takes part in (disc recording, radio and TV broadcasting) to the way of choosing the works that are presented in the carnival.

Em observação à existência de obras de Stravinsky influenciadas pela música popular americana (incluindo Ragtime for Eleven Instruments, Preludium for Jazz Ensemble, Tango e Ebony Concerto) esta tese investiga processos identitários através dos quais o compositor fora possivelmente interpelado pela ideia do popular enquanto ponto de partida para situacionais possibilidades estéticas modernistas. Explora também tópicos da teoria hipertextual conforme proposta por Genette (1982), a fim de examinar a presença de transposições hipertextuais em empréstimos de ragtime realizados por Stravinsky. Por fim, realiza revisão de aspectos pertinentes a correntes teóricas no âmbito da relação entre alturas (SCHENKER, 1906, 1910, 1922, 1935; LERDAHL, 2001; STRAUS, 2014), de textura, densidade e movimento musical (BERRY, 1987), da repetição (FERRAZ, 1998) e da sucessão ordenada (HORLACHER, 2011); e da potencialidade projetiva (HASTY, 1997), com o propósito de apurar traços da articulação destas questões em processos composicionais de Stravinsky, com ênfase nas obras acima referidas. Os resultados obtidos por este trabalho apontam que os empréstimos de \"popular\" articulados por transposições hipertextuais atuam enquanto ponto de partida para criação de obras inéditas, as quais são estruturadas através de múltiplos centros de altura principal, níveis de prolongamento, blocos simultâneos e paralelismos. / Considering Stravinsky\'s American popular music inflected works (including Ragtime for Eleven Instruments, Preludium for Jazz Ensemble, Tango and Ebony Concerto), the present thesis aims to investigate identity processes through which Stravinsky was possibly challenged by the popular as a starting point for occasional modernist aesthetic possibilities. It also explores hypertextual theory topics as proposed by Genette (1982), in order to examine issues related to hypertextual transpositions in Stravinsky\'s ragtime borrowings. Finally, it carries out a review of theoretical trends relevant aspects, concearning pitch relations (SCHENKER, 1906, 1910, 1922, 1935 and LERDAHL, 2001); texture, density and musical movement (BERRY, 1987); repetition (FERRAZ, 1998); ordered succession (HORLACHER, 2011); and projective potentiality (HASTY, 1997), with the purpose of ascertaining traces of the articulation of these issues into Stravinsky\'s compositional processes. The results obtained by this work point out that the popular borrowings articulated by hypertextual transpositions act as a starting point for the creation of new works, which are structured through multiple pitch centers, levels of the basic space, simultaneous blocks and parallelism.

O Presente trabalho é o estudo das funcionalidades de um descritor e sua aplicabilidade em análise musical tendo como ponto de partida a obra a Ladainha de Nossa Senhora de Faustino Xavier do Prado. Utilizaremos os intervalos melódicos existentes na Ladainha como padrões para verificar similaridades nos contextos; Brasil, Itália e Portugal. Utilizaremos como ferramenta de busca de padrões o software MelodicMatch e desenvolveremos um software para tratar os resultados obtidos organizando-os em uma proposta metodológica que estará descrita na própria aplicação. / The present work is the study of the features of a descriptor and its use in musical analysis taking as its starting point the work of the Ladainha de Nossa Senhora - Faustino Xavier del Prado. We will use existing melodic intervals in the Ladainha as standards for checking similarities in the contexts; Brazil, Italy and Portugal. We will use as standards search tool MelodicMatch the software and develop software to handle the results organizing them into a methodology that will be described in the application itself.

From the mid nineteenth century onwards, musical form has primarily been defined in terms of predetermined paradigms, which ostensibly provide a framework for hierarchically ordered materials. Despite its pervasive presence in theoretical literature, however, this Formenlehre tradition is not universal in musical thought. Since antiquity, theorists have resorted to images of dynamism, change, process, energy, intensity, and narration to denote a more elastic conception of (musical) form. However, most of them – such as, for instance, Kurth, Asaf’yev, or Maus – have not recognised that it is ultimately performers – not composers – who individually shape musical materials on the basis of the structural relations that they perceive within the music and then project in performance. This dissertation explores how such apparent incompatibility between theory and practice might be bridged. To that aim, the first part discusses how ‘dynamic’ notions of musical form might realise their full explanatory potential by accounting for the reality of performance. It also reviews previous investigations of performers’ strategies to project their structural understandings of musical works, with a special focus on their handling of timing, dynamics, articulation, intonation, and timbre. Using recorded interpretations of Brahms’s Cello Sonatas as sources for three case studies, the second part evaluates dynamic ideas of musical form from an analytical viewpoint. Through their personal approaches to these works, I show how select performers create a wide range of structural connections, which are never alike across their different recordings. Likewise, these performers neither resort to the same parameters nor ‘shape’ the select movements in the same manner or with the same intensity. I ultimately posit that musical structure is inferred, created, and experienced in a unique way on every occasion a given piece is performed – and also whenever it is composed, analysed, or listened to. This research does not dismiss music theory as having no explanatory potential in the investigation of abstract notions such as musical structure as we sense them in performance. Rather, it aims to contribute to the dialogue between theory and practice by showing how, and why, music theory should reconceptualise musical form as a set of possibilities affording multiple choices and interpretations, that is to say, as a ‘multiverse’ that emerges across time and in sound.

The National Library of Canada houses 3.5 meters of textual documents related to the celebrated Quebecois composer, Jacques Hétu (1938-2010). Among the working documents and biographical material donated in 1997 to the Jacques Hétu Fonds are autograph compositional documents relating to Hétu’s Suite pour guitare, Op. 41, written in 1986 (10 folios of sketch material and the composer’s fair copy). After deciphering, transcribing, and ascertaining the chronology of the sketches, an examination of the documents yields a new understanding of Hétu’s compositional process for Op. 41 (including the discovery of an unpublished movement entitled “Prelude II”) and the work’s form and structure. In addition, unpublished writings and correspondence by the composer are explored regarding Hétu’s life, musical style and his reception in Quebec. The study differs notably from traditional sketch studies in its adoption of a theoretical framework and methodology borrowed from critique génétique, or genetic criticism, a French movement of literary criticism originating in the 1970s. As opposed to traditional approaches to “genetic” documents, critique génétique dismisses the notion of a singular definitive text in favor of textual plurality by elevating the status of variants produced during the creative process (i.e. rough drafts or discarded versions). The advantage of a “genetic” approach is that it allows for the preclusion of fundamental theoretical problems associated with the use of a composer’s sketches to analyze a musical work. The extent to which the approach of critique génétique can be applied to music sketch is examined along with the consequences of adopting such a theoretical framework (including those regarding performance, editorial practice, and the ontology of completions of fragmentary works). / Graduate

We propose a Bayesian monaural source separation system to extract each individual tone from mixture signals of piano music performance. Specifically, tone extractions can be facilitated by model-based inference. Two signal models based on summation of sinusoidal waves were employed to represent piano tones. The first model is the traditional General Model, which is a variant of sinusoidal modeling, for representing a tone for high modeling quality; but this model often fails for mixtures of tones. The second model is an instrument-specific model tailored for the piano sound; its modeling quality is not as high as the traditional General Model, but its structure makes source separation easier. To exploit the benefits offered by both the traditional General Model and our proposed Piano Model, we used the hierarchical Bayesian framework to combine both models in the source separation process. These procedures allowed us to recover suitable parameters (frequencies, amplitudes, phases, intensities and fine-tuned onsets) for thorough analyses and characterizations of musical nuances. Isolated tones from a target recording were used to train the Piano Model, and the timing and pitch of individual music notes in the target recording were supplied to our proposed system for different experiments. Our results show that our proposed system gives robust and accurate separation of signal mixtures, and yields a separation quality significantly better than those reported in previous works. / What makes a good piano performance? An expressive piano performance owes its emotive power to the performer's skills in shaping the music with nuances. For the purpose of performance analysis, nuance can be defined as any subtle manipulation of sound parameters including attack, timing, pitch, loudness and timbre. A major obstacle to a systematic computational analysis of musical nuances is that it is often difficult to uncover relevant sound parameters from the complex audio signal of a piano music performance. A piano piece invariably involves simultaneous striking of multiple keys, and it is not obvious how one may extract the parameters of individual keys from the combined mixed signal. This problem of parameter extraction can be formulated as a source separation problem. Our research goal is to extract individual tones (frequencies, amplitudes and phases) from a mixture of piano tones. / Szeto, Wai Man. / Adviser: Wong Kim Hong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-128). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Alors qu’il est interrogé sur la nature fragmentaire de l’écriture se faisant jour dans ses dernières œuvres, Luigi Nono affirme : « la logique du discours est pour moi quelque chose de terrifiant. » En signifiant ainsi son opposition au discours musical, le compositeur italien ne revendique pas seulement le refus du principe de déduction et l’univocité du développement : c’est le fondement même de l’expression musicale occidentale qu’il considère comme caduc. Car la musique écrite appartient aux disciplines du logos, domaine de la pensée et de sa loi d’intelligibilité auquel elle a longtemps été inféodée, même lorsque ses théoriciens ont revendiqué son autonomie. Aussi, la notion de discours musical se rapporte à un modèle de raisonnement hérité de la pensée syllogistique issue de la rhétorique aristotélicienne. Décliné au cours de son Histoire sous les méthodes du contrepoint, du développement ou encore de la variation, le principe d’engendrement causal de la forme révèle néanmoins son aporie à partir de la première moitié du XXe siècle. La génération de compositeurs se retrouvant à Darmstadt au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale se confronte alors à une double difficulté. D’une part, le renouvellement des structures logiques de la musique apparaît comme une véritable urgence afin de libérer l’écriture musicale de la rigidité des systèmes qui l’ont dirigée depuis la fin de la Renaissance. D’autre part, l’avènement des nouvelles technologies dévoile la richesse du phénomène sonore et intime à repenser l’expression musicale au contact de ce matériau inédit qui ne peut se réduire aux procédés compositionnels instrumentaux. Dès lors, l’acte d’écriture s’enrichit d’une responsabilité critique, en ce qu’il doit se satisfaire à l’exigence d’une articulation logique tout en rompant avec la rigidité d’un discours univoque imposé à l’écoute. C’est dans ce contexte que Pierre Boulez et Luigi Nono propose une esthétique musicale mixte fondée sur la virtualité, l’espace et la résonance au cours des années 1980, instaurant un régime discursif unifiant l’hétérogène sans le contraindre ni l’abolir. / When he is questioned about the fragmentary nature of the writing appearing in his last works, Luigi Nono asserts: “the logic of the discourse is something terrifying for me.” By standing against the musical discourse, the Italian composer does not just claim his refusal of the principle of deduction and the univocity of the development: he also considers the foundation of the western musical expression as obsolete. Indeed, written music belongs to the disciplines of the logos, the domain of the thought and its law of comprehensibility in which it was enfeoffed for centuries, even when the theorists claimed its autonomy. So, the notion of musical discourse relates to a model of reasoning inherited from the syllogistic thought of the Aristotelian rhetoric. Declined during its History under the methods of the counterpoint, the development or the variation, the principle of causal establishment of the form reveals its aporia since the first half of the 20th century.Then, the composers who went to Darmstadt after the World War II confront themselves with a double difficulty. On one hand, the renewal of the logical structures of the music appears as an urgency to release the musical writing of the rigidity of the systems which managed it since the end of the Renaissance. On the other hand, the advent of the new technologies reveals the richness of the sound phenomenon and suggest to reconsider the musical expression in order to integrate this material, which cannot be reduced to the writing processes of instrumental music. Therefore, the act of composing is enhanced by a critical responsibility because the composer has to fulfill the requirement of a logical articulation while he abolished the rigidity of an unambiguous discourse imposed on the listening. It is in this context that Pierre Boulez and Luigi Nono propose an electroacoustic aesthetics based on virtuality, space and resonance during the 1980s, establishing a discursive regime which unifies the heterogeneous without forcing it nor abolishing it.