No description available.

xxi, 222 p. : ill., music. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / When published 1836, Chopin's first Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, was not only the first instrumental ballade of his own, but also the first ballade ever written without words. Since Chopin himself never disclosed any literature behind his idea, a question arises: how did he express the narrative nature of the Ballades in his purely instrumental music? The purpose of this dissertation is to explore Chopin's logic and the coherence that governs and connects every detail of the piece and how he "narrates" without words in his instrumental works. I use two compositional and analytical ideas established by Schoenberg-- Grundgestalt and tonal network--to explore Chopin's compositional idea. According to Schoenberg, the real compositional idea of tonal music is how balance is restored. The Grundgestalt becomes the source of conflict and unity throughout the Ballades while the story unfolds, and the balance is restored in a unique way in each Ballade. I attempt to apply two features of Grundgestalt : functional Grundgestalt , which is responsible for the piece's structural development, and motivic Grundgestalt , which creates thematic development. Another focus of the dissertation is how Chopin's excursion to the outskirts of the tonal boundary, the manifestation of octatonic pitch collections, was created and later assimilated into the tonal structure. Traditionally, the use of octatonic scales was considered a tool for much later compositions, typically in the early twentieth-century works of Russian composers such as Stravinsky. However, recent research reveals that the application of the octatonic scale goes back considerably farther. Chopin's use of the octatonic scale is for the most part manifested by tonally ambiguous chords, such as diminished 7th chords and modal mixtures, to lengthen octatonic pitch-sets already existing in diatonic scales. Although Chopin's application of octatonic scales is subtle, it usually relates to other sections of the piece motivically and is smoothly integrated into his tonal scheme and graceful style of writing. / Committee in charge: Jack Boss, Chairperson, Music; Stephen Rodgers, Member, Music; Timothy Pack, Member, Music; Hal Sadofsky, Outside Member, Mathematics

Cindy McTee's Symphony No. 1: Ballet for Orchestra is composed primarily of pitch materials from the octatonic collections that contain both diatonic and non-diatonic relationships in the themes, harmonic content, and larger structure of the symphony. Because the octatonic collections contain the potential for both diatonic and non-diatonic relationships, the piece is argued to have octatonic structure, as the octatonic collection is capable of producing both relationships. The second chapter contains a review of the literature, focusing particularly on the work of Arthur Berger, Pieter C. van den Toorn, Richard Taruskin, and Allen Forte. Next, the octatonic structure of the symphony is shown in the thematic material. Finally, the harmonic support and large-scale structure of the piece are shown to contain octatonic relationships as well.

Canvas was commissioned by the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Consortium in fall 1999 for the CBDNA Biennium National Conference to be held at the University of North Texas in February 2001. This substantial and profound three-movement work is Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker's first work for wind ensemble and is a milestone in wind composition at the turn of the millennium. This analysis considers Walker's sophisticated use of octatonic collections and their subsets. Walker uses the three transpositions of the octatonic scale as a harmonic framework for the work. Within this framework, specific subsets of the collection are used in traditional harmonic ways. A hierarchy of pitch sets is created, lending a "tonic" function characteristic to prevalent and specifically placed sonorities. Onto this "canvas" of octatonic harmonies, Walker "paints" specific motivic gestures. These motivic gesture monopolize specific intervallic relationships that are initially presented in the beginning of the work. Certain motivic techniques are then employed in the ongoing development of the motivic content. These motivic techniques include melodic suspension, interval alternation, double stroke articulation, irregularly recurring patterns, chordal punctuations, interrupted sequences, and dramatic uses of silence. Formally, Walker uses short "cells" of similar motivic and harmonic content as a tool of organization.

This research aims to trace the influence of McCoy Tyner's style of "intervallic improvisation" on Chick Corea and Kenny Kirkland, as evident in both later pianists' use of triad shapes and patterns based on pentatonic and octatonic scales. While the languages of Chick Corea and Kenny Kirkland were influenced by Tyner, they each subsequently established different harmonic structures and rhythmic devices. Therefore, I describe the stylistic similarity of pentatonic cells based on an intervallic approach to improvisation from one generation to the next with Tyner's improvisational vocabulary found in Kenny Kirkland and Chick Corea. Then, I demonstrate its modernization with octatonic patterns and triad pairs in the jazz tradition via a comparison of the improvisational tendencies of Kirkland and Corea.

The main objective of this document is to explore the life and spiritual convictions of composer Peter Lieberson, and the creation of his Piano Concerto. Lieberson is a sought after composer who has won many awards and commissions. His works have been premiered and performed by some of the best musical artists of the late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century, such as Peter Serkin, Emmanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, and Pierre Boulez. This study is divided into six chapters. After the Introduction, a biographical summary of Peter Lieberson's life, his spiritual beliefs and compositional style is presented. Chapter II contains background information on the Piano Concerto, along with biographical sketches of Peter Serkin, for whom the work was written, and Seiji Ozawa, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor of both the premier performance and Serkin's recording of the piece. Chapter III is a selective survey of the compositional techniques used in Lieberson's Concerto, in terms of the application of twelve-tone theory and the resulting octatonic, pentatonic, and whole-tone scales. Chapter IV introduces a general overview of the influence of Buddhism as a source of inspiration in the Piano Concerto. Chapter V examines aspects of performance practice issues. Chapter VI provides conclusions. The aim of this study is to further establish Peter Lieberson's stature as an important modern American composer. It is hoped that this study will encourage further research and interest in his works.

Im Gegensatz zu in der Strawinsky-Literatur geläufigen Ansichten zur Bedeutung von Oktatonik für Strawinskys Werk kann dessen ›Leitharmonie‹ als ein verschlungenes pentatonisches Netzwerk verstanden werden: Das diesem zugrundeliegende melodische Pattern – kleine Terz, Ganzton – ist aus der anhemitonischen pentatonischen Skala ableitbar, welche Strawinsky in einem Brief von 1913 als ›pseudo-chinesische Skala‹ bezeichnet hatte. Im Unterschied zu gängigen oktatonischen Interpretationen hebt mein Zugang die ›Pentatonisierung‹ des chromatischen Tonraums hervor und beleuchtet zwei Beispiele dieses verschleierten ›Pentatonizismus‹, die der zweiten Kompositionsphase der Oper Le Rossignol (1913–14) vorangehen: erstens eine Leitharmonie-Skizze zur Einleitung des ersten Akts (1908–09), wo orthographische und modale Eigenheiten die Gegenwart der ›pseudo-chinesischen Skala‹ maskieren; zweitens einige Stellen in L’Oiseau de feu (1909), wo dieselbe Skala wiederum durch eine vertikale Überlagerung pentatonischer Ketten mit Kleinterz-Ganzton-Zellen verschleiert ist. Eine Charakterisierung dieser bislang kaum untersuchten Techniken verlangt es, der Schlüsselrolle der pentatonischen Skala in den zwei besprochenen (wie auch möglicherweise in anderen zwischen 1908 und 1914 entstandenen) Werken Aufmerksamkeit zuzuwenden. ›Pentatonizismus‹ – eine oft vernachlässigte Facette von Strawinskys Kompositionspraxis um 1910 – kann sowohl auf den Einfluss einer modernen Pariser als auch der traditionellen chinesischen Klanglichkeit zurückgeführt werden; er manifestiert sich in der ›Leitharmonie‹ und durchdringt Strawinskys Musik auch jenseits von Chinoiserien in der Oper. / The present study offers an alternative understanding of Stravinsky’s ›Leitharmonie‹ that reads it as an intricate pentatonic network instead of octatonicism. The underlying melodic pattern – minor third with whole tone – is derivable from the anhemitonic pentatonic scale, which Stravinsky referred to in a letter from 1913 as the ›pseudo-Chinese scale‹. Contrary to existing octatonic interpretations, my approach highlights the ›pentatonicisation‹ of the chromatic pitch space and illuminates two instances of this disguised pentatonicism that precedes the second composition phase of the opera, Le Rossignol (1913–14): firstly, a ›Leitharmonie‹ sketch for the Introduction to Act I (1908–1909), where orthographical and modal idiosyncrasies mask the presence of the ›pseudo-Chinese scale‹; secondly, several passages in L’Oiseau de feu (1909), where the same scale is again veiled through vertical superimposition of pentatonic chains with minor-third-major-second cells. A characterisation of these little-examined techniques calls for critical attention to the key roles of the pentatonic scale in the two discussed works (and potentially others created between 1908 and 1914). Pentatonicism – an oft-neglected facet of Stravinsky’s compositional practice around 1910 – can be traced back to the influence of modern Parisian as well as traditional Chinese sonorities; it manifests in ›Leitharmonie‹ and penetrates Stravinsky’s music beyond the chinoiseries in the opera.

Ce mémoire a reçu l'appui financier du Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC). / Ce mémoire porte sur la musique composée par John Towner Williams (1932- ) pour le film The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Il se limite à la musique extradiégétique, c’est-à-dire celle dont l’origine se situe à l’extérieur du monde fictionnel dans lequel prend place le récit du film. Ce répertoire présente l’intérêt de suivre le modèle classique hollywoodien, où la trame musicale est étroitement associée au déroulement narratif. L’étude propose une analyse de l’organisation des hauteurs musicales (accords, couches à l’intérieur d’une texture stratifiée) et cherche à élucider son impact narratif au sein d’une sélection de scènes. Plutôt que de s’appuyer sur des outils traditionnels propres aux approches tonale fonctionnelle ou schenkérienne, l’analyse s’inspire des théories néo-riemanniennes se traduisant par l’usage des transformations ainsi que des Tonnetz. Ceux-ci sont employés dans leur rôle usuel, mais également comme représentations d’espaces harmoniques pouvant englober des ensembles plus vastes que de simples enchainements d’accords. Ils peuvent par exemple illustrer des motifs ou encore le rapport entre les différentes couches qui composent une texture stratifiée. Cela permet d’aborder le déploiement d’un matériau musical selon l’axe diatonique, hexatonique ou octatonique d’un Tonnetz. De plus, la récurrence de certaines transformations suggère des espaces harmoniques qui contribuent à l’identité des matériaux thématiques au même titre que l’orchestration ou l’usage d’échelles données. Finalement, ce type de trame musicale étant ponctué de fréquentes ruptures et changements, sa construction est considérée à travers de multiples déplacements entre des espaces harmoniques. / This thesis is centered on John Towner Williams’s (b. 1932) music composed for the movie Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It concentrates on extra-diegetic music, that is, music that originates outside the fictional world where the story takes place. The interest for this repertoire originates in its conception, which is based on classical Hollywood film scores, specifically in its high degree of correspondence with narrative content. This study proposes an analysis of pitch organization (chords, strata in a multi-layer texture) and seeks to establish the narrative connections that the music maintains with the image throughout selected scenes. Rather than relying on traditional tools drawn from functional or Schenkerian approaches, here analysis borrows from the theoretical method of Neo-Riemannian theories such as transformations and Tonnetz. These are used in a conventional way, but also as representations of harmonic spaces capable of encompassing broader musical events aside from simple triadic progressions. For example, they may represent motives, or the connections between the different strata comprised in a layered texture. This allows musical material to unfold through the diatonic, hexatonic or octatonic axis from the Tonnetz. Furthermore, the reiteration of particular transformations suggests harmonic spaces that establish the identity of thematic material in a way similar to that of orchestration or scales. Finally, because this type of soundtrack is punctuated by frequent breaks and changes, we will consider its construction throughout multiples shifts between harmonic spaces.

O principal objetivo desse trabalho é observar como o compositor italiano Luigi Dallapiccola trabalha, cria e manipula o material musical, as séries e seus desdobramentos, na composição da ópera Il Prigioniero. Por se tratar de uma obra conduzida por um percurso dramático, a análise também envolve, quando necessário, aspectos narrativos, dramatúrgicos, cenográficos e, consequentemente, psicológicos - ao abordar os personagens e suas interações na história. Durante a pesquisa, foram revelados processos composicionais idiossincráticos na maneira como Dallapiccola trabalha o serialismo, em particular, quando o compositor deriva coleções octatônicas de séries dodecafônicas, criando complexos harmônicos e melódicos, inter-relacionando materiais de natureza aparentemente antagônicas. A fim de demonstrar com a maior clareza possível a diversidade de materiais e técnicas utilizadas na criação da ópera, diferentes ferramentas analíticas foram aplicadas, muitas vezes de maneira complementar, durante as análises musicais. O trabalho está dividido em três capítulos sequenciais, além da introdução e das conclusões finais: o primeiro capítulo, introduz, de modo geral, a obra e o desenvolvimento técnico do compositor durante sua vida profissional; o segundo capítulo, aborda a construção dos materiais que alicerçam a composição da ópera; e o terceiro capítulo, expõe a maneira como o compositor cria e desenvolve a composição dramático-musical da ópera. / The main goal of this work is observing how the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola works, creates and manipulates the musical material, the series and its unfolding, in the composition of the opera \"Il Prigioniero\". Because it is a dramatic work, the analysis also involves, when necessary, narrative, dramaturgical, scenographic and, consequently, psychological aspects - in approaching the characters and their interactions in history. During the research, idiosyncratic compositional processes were revealed in the way Dallapiccola works serialism when the composer derives octatonic collections from dodecaphonic series, creating harmonic and melodic complexes, interrelating antagonistic materials. To demonstrate as clearly as possible, the diversity of materials and techniques used in the creation of the opera, different analytical tools were applied, often in a complementary way, during the musical analyzes. The work is separated into three sequential chapters, in addition to the introduction and final conclusions: the first chapter introduces, in a general way, the work and technical development of the composer during his professional life; The second chapter deals with the construction of the materials that sustain the composition of the opera; And the third chapter, exposes the way the composer creates and develops the dramatic-musical composition of opera.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston University. This item includes the dissertation paper, handouts, as well as a video of the February 26, 2017 lecture and clarinet performance by Karen Luttik. / Géza Frid (1904-1989) was a significant Hungarian-born Dutch composer and pianist of Jewish descent. His compositional style was highly regarded in the Dutch musical scene of the 20th century; his music has been programmed on multiple occasions by the Concertgebouw Orchestra and in 1949 and 1954 won the City of Amsterdam Music Award. Major influences on Frid’s musical development started in his native Hungary where he studied with Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály before his move to the Netherlands. In 1972, he composed an unusually lovely concerto for Bb, A, Eb and bass clarinets (Op. 82) and dedicated it to George Pieterson, principle clarinet with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Scholarly discussions of Géza Frid’s clarinet music are not to be found in either the US based International Clarinet Society’s The Clarinet, or in the Dutch based De Klarinet. Intensive World Cat library searches have yielded no recordings of this piece, and currently there is not even one recording of Frid’s Concerto for Clarinets on YouTube or in the Naxos Music Library. The Concerto for Clarinets is a significant addition to the standard clarinet repertoire and needs to be introduced to the world wide clarinet community. Furthermore, save for some short selections on the Géza Frid website set up by his son, Arthur Frid and a Wikipedia article, no translations exist of Géza Frid’s autobiographical material. His life story was exceedingly interesting, having been a Jewish composer during the World War II years who was not allowed to perform or compose for years during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Luckily he survived the war years by going into hiding; he managed as part of the musician’s resistance to find ways to perform and work illegally giving clandestine concerts and falsifying documents. These were exceedingly dangerous risks, yet ones Géza Frid and his fellow musicians were willing to take because of their music. Frid published two autobiographical books and numerous articles for the Dutch music magazine Mens en Melodie, (People and Melody) revealing his deep musical insights; especially those relating to the music of the Concerto need to be summarized and translated to English from Dutch. This paper provides a general overview of the historical aspects of Géza Frid’s life, his WWII experiences, and his position as one of many persecuted Jewish musicians at the time. Géza Frid’s autobiographical information relating to his personal friendships with Bartók and Kodály is of interest when considering his music. Summaries and some translations are made of his two Dutch language autobiographical books, In 80 Jaar de Wereld Rond (Around the World in 80 Years) and Oog in Oog Met… (Eye to Eye With…). A basic analysis of Frid’s Concerto for Clarinets is provided regarding form, the various instrument appearances, and a special feature invented by George Pieterson called the ‘tremolo special’. Since this concerto was specifically composed for the Reformed Boehm system clarinets which George Pieterson used, a discussion of the differences between the French, German and Reformed Boehm clarinet systems is included. The performance portion of this project is a historically informed performance of this piece on the specific models of clarinets for which it was written. George Pieterson passed on in April 2016, and this project is a fitting tribute of his teaching to a generation of professional clarinetists in the Netherlands including the author.