The exegesis investigates ways in which major piano works of the 19th and 20th centuries reflect elements of baroque tradition and considers the implications for performance. After the baroque period, from the 18th century to the present, many composers have continued to explore baroque forms, textures and expressive devices. Thus, by investigating the nature of such stylistic linkages, the performer can enter the works at a deeper structural and expressive level. / Thesis (M.Mus.) -- Elder Conservatorium of Music, 2008

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In this essay I discuss a collection of seven piano pieces that I commissioned by four emerging young Colombian composers. It contains two parts: the first explains the importance of involving contemporary and world music in piano education and includes a brief history of music in Colombia. The second part discusses in detail each of the piano pieces and the contemporary and folkloric references that each one uses. It also illustrates the technical challenges that each piece presents and provides suggestions on how to practice each work. The two pieces by Castaño include taped electronic sound as part of them. The two files are attached with the paper. I have always believed in the responsibility and importance that teachers have in the creation of new music and discuss the importance of educators working with composers. I also explore the importance of teaching and learning world music and contemporary music from the beginning of a piano education. The commissions are the first step towards the creation of a piano pedagogical anthology of Colombian contemporary music for the late intermediate and early advanced level for which there is very little Colombian repertoire. Colombia's rich rhythms, dances and musical traditions are not reflected in the formal music education in the country. Heightened security and the resulting economic growth have brought significant changes over the last ten years to the country providing a moment of possibility to advance an agenda in musical education as well. If the piano teachers take charge of the education of the new generation, beyond simply teaching them how to play the piano, the classical music tradition in Colombia will grow at the same time that high quality music will be provided around the world to play.

Piano teachers tend to approach pedagogy by treating technical studies and repertoire as separate parts of the curriculum, often using etudes by Charles-Louis Hanon, Josef Pischna, and Carl Czerny to build the student's technique. Yet, although these methods are popular, pedagogues disagree about their value. In any case, many pieces suitable for intermediate pianists integrate technique and musicality, such as Friedrich Burgmüller's 25 Etudes, Op. 100, Muzio Clementi's Preludes and Exercises, Op. 43, and Ignaz Moscheles's 24 Etudes, Op. 70. Although these exercises can indeed build technique through intermediate-level recital pieces, many similar piano works from the Russian school are rarely used, and yet they could better serve students who will eventually move on to the advanced Russian piano repertoire. This paper provides a pedagogical guide for introducing technical skills through various levels of the Russian piano repertoire. The guide focuses on technique in the context of musical expression, especially tone production, wrist motion, and finger technique, progressing systematically through elementary, intermediate, and advanced Russian piano pieces, composed in a Romantic style—both elegant and rich with melody and expression. The repertoire used as examples should develop the finger technique as well as the musicality of the student. The examples come from nineteenth-century Russian Piano School composers such as Reinhold Glière, Alexander Goedicke, Samuel Maykapar, Semyon Barmotin, and Anton Arensky.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

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My paper defines and analyzes the use of Native American elements in classical piano repertoire that has been composed based on Native American tribal melodies, rhythms, and motifs. First, a historical background and survey of scholarly transcriptions of many tribal melodies, in chapter 1, explains the interest generated in American indigenous music by music scholars and composers. Chapter 2 defines and illustrates prominent Native American musical elements. Chapter 3 outlines the timing of seven factors that led to the beginning of a truly American concert idiom, music based on its own indigenous folk material. Chapter 4 analyzes examples of Native American inspired piano repertoire by the "Indianist" composers between 1890-1920 and other composers known primarily as "mainstream" composers. Chapter 5 proves that the interest in Native American elements as compositional material did not die out with the end of the "Indianist" movement around 1920, but has enjoyed a new creative activity in the area called "Classical Native" by current day Native American composers. The findings are that the creative interest and source of inspiration for the earlier "Indianist" compositions was thought to have waned in the face of so many other American musical interests after 1920, but the tradition has recently taken a new direction with the success of many new Native American composers who have an intrinsic commitment to see it succeed as a category of classical repertoire. Native American musical elements have been misunderstood for many years due to differences in systems of notation and cultural barriers. The ethnographers and Indianist composers, though criticized for creating a paradox, in reality are the ones who saved the original tribal melodies and created the perpetual interest in Native American music as a thematic resource for classical music repertoire, in particular piano repertoire.

Submitted by Erika Demachki (erikademachki@gmail.com) on 2014-09-08T20:49:14Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Jonathan Taylor de Oliveira - 2014.pdf: 6874426 bytes, checksum: f8916385ae58a9b51e0a55502aea7a8a (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-08T20:49:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Jonathan Taylor de Oliveira - 2014.pdf: 6874426 bytes, checksum: f8916385ae58a9b51e0a55502aea7a8a (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work discusses the performance of the extended techniques found in three Brazilian pieces for solo piano composed in the 21st Century in light of this researcher’s musical upbringing, which did not include repertoire with extended techniques. The pieces selected are Pó (2008), by Liduino Pitombeira (1962- ), Prélude VII (2008), by Marcílio Onofre (1982), and Pianimbau (2011), by Daniel Wolff (1968). The criteria for selecting the pieces were a contrasting compositional language between the pieces and that they should not be for beginner or intermediate levels. These pieces were the object of both parts of this research: Part A, in which the pieces were studied and prepared for the final recital, and Part B, which consists of a written record of the research. The historical context of the extended techniques found in the selected pieces, based on authors such as Stone (1980), Costa (2004), Burge (2004) and Ishii (2005), guided the investigation of the technical and interpretative aspects of the pieces. The discussions dealt with the following topics: type of extended technique, notation, dynamics, region of the piano on which a technique is performed, ways to perform a technique, parts of the body that are used, physical structure of the piano, materials used, and the sound resulting from the use of a technique. The research that was undertaken made it possible to conclude that the performance of these techniques within the established parameters involved the adaptation of technical abilities acquired previously during this researcher’s musical upbringing, as well as the development of new abilities. This research also revealed that extended techniques are present in the piano repertoire written by present day Brazilian composers, and it is thus pertinent to study such pieces throughout one’s musical upbringing. / Este trabalho discute a realização das técnicas estendidas encontradas em três peças brasileiras para piano solo compostas no século XXI à luz da formação deste pesquisador, que não incluiu repertório contendo técnicas estendidas. As peças selecionadas são Pó (2008), de Liduino Pitombeira (1962- ), Prélude VII (2008), de Marcílio Onofre (1982) e Pianimbau (2011), de Daniel Wolff (1968) que tiveram como critérios de seleção linguagem composicional contrastante entre as peças selecionadas e não serem peças de nível iniciante ou intermediário. Essas peças foram objeto de estudo nas duas partes desta pesquisa: a Parte A, que consistiu no estudo das peças para apresentação no recital de defesa, e Parte B, que consistiu no trabalho escrito. Uma contextualização histórica das técnicas estendidas encontradas nas obras, fundamentada por autores como Stone (1980), Costa (2004), Burge (2004) e Ishii (2005), norteou a investigação técnico-interpretativa das mesmas. As discussões abordaram os seguintes tópicos: tipo de técnica estendida, notação, dinâmica, região do piano em que a técnica é realizada, formas de execução, partes do corpo utilizadas, estrutura física do piano, materiais utilizados e resultado sonoro. A pesquisa realizada permitiu concluir que a realização dessas técnicas dentro do recorte estabelecido envolveu tanto a adaptação de técnicas pianísticas já utilizadas ao longo da formação deste pesquisador quanto a assimilação de novos conhecimentos e habilidades. Esta pesquisa também revela que técnicas estendidas estão presentes no repertório para piano de compositores brasileiros da atualidade sendo pertinente o estudo das mesmas no processo de formação pianística.