Born in 1927 in Bombay, Vanraj Bhatia is an Indian composer of music for concerts, film, television, opera, meditation, and commercial jingles. His musical style is unique, stemming from his training in both Western and North Indian classical, or Hindustani, music. Little is known about Vanraj Bhatia in the Western classical world, and in India he is recognized primarily as a composer of film music. This dissertation aims to bring awareness of Vanraj Bhatia's significance as a Western classical composer, focusing on uncovering the cross-cultural influences of his only solo flute piece, Night Music, composed in 1964. This research offers Western flutists a better understanding of Indian music, specifically Hindustani and Indian folk music traditions, often not fully understood since Indian music is an aural tradition, rarely transcribed and notated, and relies on a guru/shishya (teacher/student) relationship. Such an understanding will elucidate the compositional choices made in Night Music, allowing flutists to be more informed in their performance of it. Although the focus of this study is on Night Music, other repertoire from Bhatia's concert music and film music will also be examined to illuminate Bhatia's compositional style, which includes elements of Hindustani music, Indian folk music, and Western musical traditions. An exploration of some of Bhatia's other compositions written for Western musicians will give readers beyond the realm of flutists a better understanding of his distinctive, cross-cultural style and influences, and will introduce larger audiences to this exceptional and little-known composer.

While unaccompanied music encompasses an ever increasing portion of clarinet literature, it comprises a comparatively small percentage of music performed. However, study of unaccompanied repertoire provides a valuable pedagogical bridge between etudes and accompanied music that is abundant with opportunity to address larger universal musical concepts, rather than repertoire-specific solutions. This dissertation demonstrates the application of concept-based pedagogy to selected unaccompanied clarinet repertoire of five different ability levels. Using principals of concept-based pedagogy, each work is broken down to its component technical and expressive parts in order to address larger musical concepts. Three to five exercises addressing each work's technical and expressive challenges are provided and explained.

The purpose of this study is to explore neoclassical elements present in Krenek’s George Washington Variations. By identifying the stylistic features associated with the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the study will examine Krenek’s application of his neoclassical tendencies. Key neoclassical elements include musical form and structure, key relationships, melody and harmony, and chromaticism. Since at this time there is little research on Krenek’s piano works, and none on the George Washington Variations, the result of this examination provides pianists and instructors with historically constructive information about Krenek’s musical style, as well as a deeper understanding of Krenek’s Neoclassicism in his George Washington Variations.

Marilyn Shrude is a champion for contemporary concert music. Throughout her career, she has written multiple works including the saxophone that utilize its unique timbre. Atonality is a chief characteristic of her compositional style. Her contributions to the saxophone repertoire include solos, duos with piano, chamber works, quartets and larger works with band. This study surveys five chamber pieces that include saxophone with diverse instruments written by Marilyn Shrude. The pieces includes are Splintered Visions (1985), Notturno: In Memorium Toru Takemitsu (1996), Transparent Eyes (2000), Face of the Moon (2000) and Within Silence (2012). The analysis of each work includes information pertaining to the creation of cohesion and atonality throughout the piece.

Polymetric writing is an integral technique in contemporary compositional practice. Dan Welcher and Yo Goto are principal employers of this practice in the wind band medium. Their methods endure even the results of modern scholarship showing limited human perception of polyrhythmic events. This dissertation provides a comprehensive metric analysis of excerpts from the music of Welcher and Goto. Five examples are explored from major band works of each of the two composers. The analytical process in the study utilizes the metrical concept set forth by Maury Yeston, so that a comparison can be made between the rhythmic components of the competing meters. The results of the study show that both Welcher and Goto, in all ten excerpts, create polymetric sections containing elements that surpass the aural limits proposed by modern scholarship. Additionally, through identification of the misaligned metric layers causing each polymeter, pedagogical considerations are offered to aid performance of each identified excerpt.

Leo Ornstein's most significant piano oeuvre, the Seventeen Waltzes, stand out as a unique example of a pianism as a foundation for the composer's musical thoughts. The purpose of this document is to provide musical and technical suggestions based on Ornstein's pianistic patterns, which will help pianists understand the composer's complex writing and form a coherent interpretation. The guide covers the main avant-garde musical devices used by Ornstein such as tone clusters, polymeter, and polyrhythm. A comparison process within the collection will help performers to address Ornstein's unmarked waltzes by underlining the composer's similar ideas and traits.

La synthèse pour par modèles physiques propose une approche à de la création musicale alternative à de celui celle plus habituelle du traitement du signal. En prenant en considération le phénomène musical comme un unicum émergeant de l'interaction entre le musicien et les instruments à sa disposition, on expérimente et donne corps phénoménologique et sensible aux actions créatrices.En ne considérant pas comme entités distinctes la matière sonore et la structure musicale, on oriente les potentialités de l'ordinateur et crée une dialectique originale et féconde entre le formel (structurel) et le perceptif (cognitif).Le champ d'action envisagé dans cette thèse concerne le développement, la formalisation et la catégorisation des modèles physiques réalisés à l’aide du formalisme CORDIS-ANIMA de structures - créées par modélisation physique - utiles pour la composition musicale, dans la perspective de mettre en évidence la fonction de formalisation musicale associée portée au par ce paradigme. de simulation par modèle physique CORDIS-ANIMA.Le point de départ est ma pratique personnelle de près de 20 années, en tant que compositeur, avec le logiciel de création sonore GENESIS du laboratoire ACROE-ICA. Cette pratique, à travers des travaux à la fois scientifiques (en modélisation) et artistiques (en composition musicale), m'a conduit à considérer cet environnement non pas comme un synthétiseur, mais comme un instrument " organique " permettant de créer une composition musicale complète couvrant les trois échelles de catégorisation usuelle de l'acoustique et de la musique : micro-formelle (le timbre, l'harmonie, l'orchestration), mezzo-formelle (le rythme, la mélodie et les séquences / structures harmoniques de premier niveau) et macro-formelle (la structure harmonique de niveau supérieur, le schéma formel de la composition complète).L'objectif ne consiste pas à proposer le cadre d'une "nouvelle musique" ou d'une nouvelle esthétique, mais à "bien tempérer" les instruments pour une nouvelle pratique de la création musicale explorant et exploitant au mieux les potentialités de l'ordinateur et des technologies numériques, aussi dans la direction d'un élargissement de la dialectique instrumentalité - écriture musicale vers une "supra instrumentalité" [Cadoz6] et vers des perspectives "post-scriptiques" de la création musicale [Cadoz7]. / Physical model synthesis offers an approach to composition alternative to the more usual signal processing. Considering the musical phenomenon as a "unicum" emerging from the interaction between the musicians and their instruments the physical model synthesis realizes and gives phenomenological and sensitive corporeality to the creative actions. By conceiving not as separate entities sound material and musical structure directs the potentialities of the computer and creates an original and fruitful dialectic between the formal (structural) and perceptual (cognitive).The sphere of action for my PhD concerns the development, formalisation and categorisation of structural models – created by physical modelling – useful for musical composition in the perspective to highlight the musical formalisation function associated with the CORDIS-ANIMA physical model simulation paradigm.The starting point for this work is 20 years of personal use as a composer, of the GENESIS physical model musical creation software developed by the ACROE-ICA laboratory.This experience has led me, through works both scientific (modelling) and artistic (music composition), to consider this environment not as a synthesis tool, but as a complex instrument, which allows to create a complete musical composition covering all three usual categories of acoustics and music: micro-formal (the tone, harmony, orchestration), mezzo-formal (the rhythm, melody, and the basic sequences/harmonic structures) and macro-formal (the higher level harmonic structure, the formal outline of the entire composition).My goal is not to propose the framework of a new music or a new aesthetic, but develop "well-tempered" instruments for a new practice of music creativity that explores and accomplishes better the potentialities of computer and digital technology. This also leads in the direction of broadening the dialectic instrumentality - writing music to a "supra instrumentality" [Cadoz6] and to post-scriptic outlook on musical creation [Cadoz7].

John Ireland is one of the most important British composers of the twentieth century. Many scholars believe the works of his early period were deeply influenced by Brahms. After graduating from the Royal College of Music, Ireland went on to develop a much more individual musical language, with influence from contemporary French composers. However, the young composer found himself confronted with the challenge of finding a new and personal style without turning wholly to impressionism or to chromaticism. In Ireland's Piano Sonata, Ireland adopted several of Brahms' compositional techniques. This piano sonata is an excellent example of one of Ireland's mature works that still demonstrates Brahms' influence.

According to a recent United Nations report, China's population of 1.4 billion represents 19% of the world's entire population of 7.6 billion. As the distance between east and west contracts in business, so too do the arts. This dissertation focuses on six selected contemporary Chinese art songs composed by Nan-Chang Chien. By providing the references of musical facts, synopsis of the poems, word-for-word translation, IPA transcription, poetic translation, and interpretive and performance guides, singers and pianists will have an overall understanding and detailed directions for learning the Chinese language and Chinese art songs. This dissertation also provides the foundation and model for further exploration and research into Chinese art sing literature by scholars in the west.

The purpose of this study is to research the music of Geonyong Lee (이건용), one of the most recognized active Korean composers, while determining Lee's intent to compose with influences from both Western and traditional Korean music. This paper analyses Lee's violin works Rhapsody for Piano and Violin and Heoten Garak, and explains the cultural and historical significance surrounding both works in terms of traditional Korean music. Lee asserts that his primary influence Rhapsody for Piano and Violin was Nongac (농악), a traditional form of Korean farming music. Similarly, Heoten Garak displays a distinct influence of traditional Korean music genres, Heoten Garak and Pansori. By analyzing Geonyong Lee's compositional style and approach to the violin, one learns how his musical philosophies combine Western and traditional Korean music practices into a unique compositional approach. The study concludes by summarizing not only Western and traditional Korean style as evident in his music, but also the conceptual approach by which the composer attempts to bring a unique combination of these influences to his audience.