In the first section of this thesis rhythmic theories of Leonard Meyer and Grosvenor Cooper, Wallace Berry, William Benjamin, Joel Lester, Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, and Jonathan Kramer are discussed. Each theortician's treatment of meter and grouping is compared. The appropriateness of each theory as an analytic tool for the analysis of El Decameron Negro by Leo Brouwer is evaluated. / The analysis itself concerns a section of music in which written meter changes at almost every barline. Within the measures binary and ternary rhythmic groups occur in the context of a continuous pulse. The analysis explicates the metric organization of the section. Suggestions are given for a performance which will project the underlying organization of the section of music.

This thesis examines separately two rhythmic styles: Renaissance mensural proportions and Elliott Carter's metrical modulation. Some historical background for each style is discussed (including examples from Gafurius' fifteenth-century treatise Practica Musicae) and the musical results of each are enumerated, examined, and compared. Examples of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century compositions are drawn from the works of Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem, and Heinrich Isaac, among others. Elliott Carter's first string quartet and Double Concerto provide most of the sources for the study of metrical modulation.Similarities and differences between the two styles are noted, and their significance discussed. / School of Music

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on November 29, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1990. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [187]-208).

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed March 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-111).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1972. / Typescript. "This essay and the composition '91 plus 5' together constitute the dissertation." Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Score bibliography & bibliography: leaves 554-572.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-104).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175).