George Frederick Bristow (1825-1898) was a prominent American instrumental performer, teacher, conductor, and composer working in New York City in the mid-nineteenth century. His compositions provide valuable insight into the musical life of New York at that time, and into the development of American music. Presently, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts holds a wealth of manuscripts of his work, and very little of it has been published. Bristow's Niagara Symphony, Op. 62, was composed in 1893 and received its first performance under the baton of the composer shortly before his death in 1898, and represents the culmination of his compositional output. The symphony is divided by Bristow into two large parts of equal duration: the first part consists of three movements scored for orchestra only, and the second part is a multi-section cantata for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. I have here created a critical edition of the fourth movement of George Frederick Bristow's Niagara Symphony that faithfully and accurately represents the composer's intentions. I also provide here a meticulous recounting and justification of my editorial decisions, a thorough analysis of the work including an examination of compositional influences, and a discussion of performance considerations. This completion of a modern performing edition of the fourth movement of the Niagara Symphony is intended to help make the work of George Frederick Bristow more widely known, and to help scholars, performers, and audiences grasp our own American musical heritage.

abstract: The combination of soprano, trumpet, strings and continuo was used with much frequency by Baroque composers in their cantatas, oratorios and operas of the time, giving the trumpet a very important place as a solo instrument from 1600 to 1750. The discovery of two pieces by Neapolitan Baroque composers Domenico Sarro (1679-1744) and Gennaro Manna (1715-1779) enlarges the already important body of known works for this instrumentation. Presenting them in performance editions is a valuable contribution to this repertory. Making performance editions available to performers is always an important and exciting task, especially if they exhibit features that have rarely been seen in this combination of instruments and voices. This is specifically the case with Manna's Tuba Sonora Exclama, which shows many interesting features of the Early Classical style. Both works were discovered by the author in a digital archive sponsored by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture for the Italian Government. The original copies of these works are held at two Neapolitan libraries: Biblioteca Statale Oratoriana del Monumento Nazionale del Girolamini (Manna's piece), and Biblioteca del Conservatorio di musica San Pietro a Majella (Sarro's Per abbattere il mio core, from his opera Partenope.) The manuscripts, obtained in digital format, are well preserved and easy to understand. Along with the scores prepared for this document, some historical background about each composer, a discussion of the use of the trumpet as a solo instrument in arias with voice, and descriptions of the pieces are presented. Other important information, such as editorial procedures and critical notes, is also given. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2011

abstract: The German pianist and composer Johannes Brahms (1883-1897) wrote more than 122 works for a wide variety of ensembles and genres. Despite this remarkable productivity, and his widely heralded talent for innovation and technique as a composer, few of his works have been arranged for solo guitar, and these have focused primarily on his simpler, more melodic works. Conventional wisdom is that his music is "too dense" to be played on the guitar. As a result, there are no arrangements of orchestral works by Brahms in the standard repertoire for the guitar. In arranging Brahms's Serenade in D Major, movt. 1 for the guitar, I provide a counter argument that not all of Brahms's orchestral music is too dense all of the time. In Part I, I provide a brief overview of the history of, and sources for, the Serenade. Part II describes a step-by-step guide through the process of arranging orchestral repertoire for the solo guitar. Part III is an examination of the editing process that utilizes examples from the guitar arrangement of the Serenade in order to illustrate the various techniques and considerations that are part of the editing process. Part IV is a performance edition of the arrangement. In summary, the present arrangement of Brahms's Serenade, op.11 is the beginning of a conversation about why the "guitar world" should be incorporating the music of Brahms into the standard repertoire. The lessons learned, and the technical challenges discovered, should help inform future arrangers and guitar performers for additional compositions by Brahms. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2013

When the Taiwanese composer, Tai-Hsiang Li received the National Cultural Award in 2013, he said, “My blood is full of music. If you take out the music from my life, I am nothing!” Tai-Hsiang Li brought contemporary music to Taiwan, combining folk music with the modern orchestra, and raising the quality of Taiwanese popular music. He almost single-handedly infused Taiwanese culture into classical, modern, popular, film, and television advertising music. His arrangements of folk music have shown the Taiwanese the beauty of their own music and inspired countless younger musicians. The music critic Chung-Heng Yang declared, “Without Tai-Hsiang Li, the music history of Taiwan will not be complete.” After the composer’s death in 2014, his life story was made public by various media, but many of the information disseminated were not accurate. Musicians have difficulties performing his works because of his constant revisions to his scores. For this thesis, I have personally interviewed the composer’s family and the Hakka singer Yu-Wei Hsieh. I investigated documents, collected Hakka mountain songs and three different editions of his Hakka-style suite Mountain and Farmland. I also investigated journal articles, newspaper articles, and read the books about the composer. In addition to presenting an updated biography of Tai-Hsiang Li’s life, I also prepare a critical performance edition of the Mountain and Farmland. It is my desire that more musicians will find interest in performing Mountain and Farmland as well as scholars doing research on Hakka music and works by Tai-Hsiang Li.

Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-15T20:41:09Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Pieter Rahmeier.pdf: 12711400 bytes, checksum: a3b6201c9b1893bc5d066c80b62aa70a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-15T20:41:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Pieter Rahmeier.pdf: 12711400 bytes, checksum: a3b6201c9b1893bc5d066c80b62aa70a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-15T20:41:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Pieter Rahmeier.pdf: 12711400 bytes, checksum: a3b6201c9b1893bc5d066c80b62aa70a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-23 / Ernst Mahle (1929) is a german composer naturalized brazilian who has in his catalogue over 200 pieces written for all orchestra instruments. For guitar he wrote solo pieces, chamber music and concerts. This work has the purpose to develop a critical and a performance edition of the Suite (1975) for guitar solo, by Ernst Mahle, taking as a source of research the digitalized version of the Suite made by the composer himself and the manuscript of the piece. In the following research was made a stylistic technical and idiomatic analysis of his mainly works for the guitar, as well as an interview with the composer about the Suite and his works for the instrument. Furthermore, it was achieved a succinct biography of the composer due the scanty material about him. The construction of a Critical and Performance Edition of the Suite was the result of questions made about the interpretation of the piece, the rigorous comparison between the sources and the talk with the composer (interview), all of that aiming at to provide a comprehensive approach of this piece for the guitarists who wish to play it. / Ernst Mahle (1929) é um compositor alemão naturalizado brasileiro que tem em seu catálogo mais de 200 obras escritas para todos os instrumentos da orquestra sinfônica. Para violão escreveu peças solo, música de câmara e concertos. O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi desenvolver uma edição crítica e de performance da Suíte (1975) para Violão Solo de Ernst Mahle, tomando como fonte de pesquisa a versão digitalizada da Suíte, feita pelo próprio compositor, e o manuscrito da obra. Na pesquisa em questão foi realizada uma análise estilística, técnica e idiomática de suas principais obras para violão, bem como uma entrevista com o compositor sobre a Suíte e suas obras para o instrumento. Além disso, foi levantado uma breve biografia do compositor pelo fato de haver escasso material que trate do assunto. A construção de uma Edição Crítica e de Performance da Suíte foi o resultado das questões levantadas acerca da interpretação da peça, da comparação minuciosa entre as fontes e da discussão com o compositor (entrevista), isso tudo visando fornecer uma abordagem compreensiva da obra aos violonistas que desejarem executá-la.

Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments (1964) by English Composer Harrison Birtwistle represent extended notation, complex meters, and extended instrumental techniques. After World War II, the style and techniques of musical composition evolved considerably and musical trends began to continuously change. Conducting contemporary compositions requires new approaches in conducting methods. This paper examines a) introduce important elements of Birtwistle's compositions in the 1960, b) include an updated score of Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments (notated by the author), and c) provide a performance guide to the work.

No description available.

James Robert Gillette (1886-1963) was an early advocate for original wind band music at a time when marches and band transcriptions of orchestral music contributed heavily to the wind band repertoire. Primarily known as an influential, in-demand organist and composer, Gillette became the director of the Carleton College band program in Northfield, Minnesota in 1924. Taking an innovative approach to building, organizing, and programming, Gillette transformed that group into the Carleton Symphony Band and led a wider push for the symphonic band movement. In promoting his ideals of the symphonic band, he composed and arranged music specifically for the Carleton Symphony Band. One of his original works, Vistas, was widely performed and well-received in the decade just prior to and after its publication in 1934. Despite the popularity of the piece at that time, it has since gone out of print and is a rarely performed piece from Gillette's repertoire. This dissertation focuses on Vistas, Gillette's second published tone poem. This study starts with the examination of the history of Vistas from its origins as a movement in Gillette's transcription of Paul Robert Fauchet's Symphony in B-flat to its subsequent transformation and publication as an original work for band. Next, the performance history and reception of Vistas in the United States is traced and described from the year of publication to the present day. Finally, discrepancies present in the 1934 publication of Vistas are addressed through the creation of a performance edition. This performance edition also provides modifications to make the piece more widely accessible to wind bands today and the full score is presented at the end of the study.

The Cello Concerto in B-flat major, G.482, by Italian composer Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), is the composer's most beloved work for the instrument, as well as one of the most performed pieces in the Classical concerto repertoire. Historically, cellists performing this work have used an edition prepared by German cellist Friedrich Grützmacher (1832-1903). However, an 'original' version that was discovered in 1949 is significantly different from that of Grützmacher. A comparison of both editions has revealed that Grützmacher in fact made considerable modifications to Boccherini's 'original.' Along with the issue of having two editions, cellists that have played the 'original' edition have noted that there are certain practical and interpretative matters that are not favorable to the cellist, particularly in terms of the way the music is notated and how it lacks many details. This dissertation provides clarity to these issues by undertaking a comprehensive analysis of both editions in order to make cellists become aware of the differences between both editions by comparing musical elements from a performance practice viewpoint. In addition, I discuss relevant issues that are present in the 'original' version, ultimately providing an alternative performance edition to this score that is based on historically informed performance (HIP) practices. Finally, I hope to draw attention on how a performance edition like this can be useful as a rare critical source to one of the major works from the eighteenth-century cello repertoire.

The flute music of Anna Bon di Venezia (1738–ca. 1767) belongs to the group of long-overlooked compositions by women composers throughout history worthy of rediscovery. This dissertation includes a discussion of Bon's life and music, as well as the artistic, historical, and theoretical significance of her compositions. It also presents biographical research on Bon, including Michaela Krucsay's dissertation, which provides new evidence of Bon's birth date, which had been uncertain up until 2015. Bon's Sonata in F Major for flute and basso continuo is analyzed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the work. A table is provided explaining specific ornaments and articulations added to the performance edition. In addition, this dissertation includes analyses of sonatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) and Johann Joachim Quantz (1697–1773) to contextualize Bon's sonatas within the standard flute repertoire. This dissertation expands the music scholarship on this distinguished composer and performer and provides a historically informed performance edition of the Sonata in F Major, op. 1, no. 2, for flute and piano, to serve as a model to modern flutists for historically informed performances of Bon's entire opus 1.