xiii, 188 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Beethoven's last five string quartets have engaged the imagination and curiosity of performers, listeners, and critics at a level that has rarely been touched in the world of chamber music, or beyond. Throughout the late quartets' history, musicians have scrutinized the works in search of a logic that might demystify their stylistic and structural peculiarities. This present study continues this pursuit as it examines analytically (through Schenkerian techniques) the harmonic, contrapuntal, and motivic procedures in Beethoven's last complete composition, the String Quartet in F major, op. 135. Most of the published analytical commentaries on the F major quartet approach the work more or less exclusively from a motivic standpoint. Arnold Schoenberg (1941), Rudolf Reti (1951), Deryck Cooke (1963), and Christopher Reynolds (1988) have all praised op. 135 for its highly unified motivic structure; what their studies show--at least in a general sense--is that there is undoubtedly a motivic strategy that ties much of op. 135 together. But what are we to do when the details of one motivic reading opposes another? Or what if a particular reading contradicts the way we understand a passage aurally (which happens often when the proposed reading is incongruous with the music's harmonic-contrapuntal structure)? What criteria should we use to evaluate a motivic analysis? Clearly, we need a set of principles and standards that will help answer these questions and advance us beyond mere intuition. The position taken in this study echoes John Rothgeb's argument that "proposed thematic relationships must bear scrutiny in the light of the Schenkerian theory of structural strata," and that incompatible readings should be "dismissed as spurious" (1983, 42). In the pages that follow, Schenkerian approach is adopted to help assess existing motivic readings of op. 135 within the requisite contexts of harmony and voice leading. The method is also used to help generate a rational, hearable analysis that reveals motivic relationships that reside at deeper, hidden levels of structure. / Adviser: Jack Boss

Twelve-tone music illustrates many characteristics relative with those of conventional tonal form, though works are based on a different composition method. The fundamental question of twelve-tone music arises in debate on terminology between tonal and atonal as well as methodology of musical analysis. Certain theorists try to approach twelve-tone music by traditional harmonic views rather than by pitch-class set theory. Conventional harmonic aspects arise from the fact that both tonal and twelve-tone music share similar narrative strategies. This point is explored in examining Anton Webern's Quartet for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor-Saxophone and Piano, Op. 22, which displays connection to tonal music. The present study seeks to examine certain features of the composer's working in pitch materials; i.e., the dispositions of pitch classes and the characteristics of the matching dyads, and thereby to disclose the connection between twelve-tone methods and conventional harmony.

Heinrich Koch completed his treatise in 1793, a pioneering work regarding the musical phrase as well as a sonata form description (lacking that term). Composition of Opus 18 began in 1798, a momentous project for several reasons in Beethoven's early career. Here, the theories expressed in Koch's Versuch are taken as an analytic springboard into a thorough analysis of the first movement of the quartet published no. 3, which was the first composed; additionally, nos. 1 and 6 are explored to a lesser degree. This study in phrase-analysis demonstrates significance in the fundamental ideas of Koch as applied to a masterwork of the turn of the 19th century.

The discussion dealt with stylistic influences, compositional techniques, and performance considerations of chamber music involving clarinet composed by Bohuslav Martinu and included a performance of three of his works: Quartet. for clarinet, horn, cello, and side drum, Madrigals for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, two bassoons, and piano. The selections performed and discussed in the lecture show compositional growth of the composer through the three periods of his life in which he composed chamber music which included winds. These three time periods are 1923-40 during his residency in Paris, 1941-56 during his residency in the United States, and 1957 until his death in 1959 when he returned permanently to Europe.

The purpose of the lecture was to investigate the historical and musical heritage of the Moravian Church, with a particular interest in the works and players of the American Moravian Trombone Choir. The historical overview of people, customs, and practices is traced from its beginnings with the Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia through the Northern Germany settlement of Herrenhut and the establishment of the American Moravian colony at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The musical life of the church is represented by a discussion of the early hymns of the founding fathers in Bohemia and the subsequent instrumental music of the Moravian trombone choir in America. The trombone choir played chorales that were used to call the congregation to order, announce important visitors to the town, and provide music at special occasions. Anthems were played by trombones (when players were available) in regular church services, or outside when it was necessary to double voice parts. Concerted music was played in the Bethlehem Collegium Musicum. Biographies of the players of the 18th and 19th century trombone choirs provide information attesting to the proficiency and dedication of these musicians. A list of players who contributed to the trombone choir movement since the 19th century is included, as well as information about the popularity and function of the Moravian Trombone Choir today.

This study investigates the possibility of applying Hatten’s theory of musical gesture to a formal system of musical analysis. Using historical antecedents and established musicological practice as a guide, a range of musical parameters in a motive length span of music are incorporated into a single gesture. This gesture forms the basic semantic unit upon which an analytical tableau structure is built, and a syntax is developed to allow derivations of new gestures; a large scale structure displaying fractal-like self-similarity is then proposed. The completed system is applied to the analysis of the ‘Adagio’ of Mozart’s Flute Quartet K.285 to test whether it can consistently be implemented and whether it produces falsifiable results while maintaining predictive power. It is found that these requirements are indeed met and that a set of inference rules can be derived suggesting that the proposed system has ample scope for further development. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M. Mus.

Prelude -- 星 : 女高音獨唱、混聲合唱團及鋼琴 = Star Suite : for soprano solo, SATB choir and piano -- Temptation. / Prelude -- Xing : nü gao yin du chang, hun sheng he chang tuan ji gang qin = Star Suite : for soprano solo, SATB choir and piano -- Temptation. / 2nd works derived from five poems written by Prof. Yu Kuang-chung (余光中). / 2nd works derived from five poems written by Prof. Yu Kuang-chung (Yu Guangzhong). / Wong Nga Yin. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Librettos (2nd work) in Chinese with English translation ; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Table of Contents --- p.iii / Chapter 1. --- Prelude -for String Quartet --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- 《星》tar Suite --- p.20 / Chapter (I) --- "《送別》<Farewell> -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir and Piano" --- p.25 / Chapter (II) --- 《孤星》<The Lonesome Star> -for Soprano Solo and Piano --- p.32 / Chapter (III) --- "《新月和孤星、》<The New Moon and The Lonesome Star〉 -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir (Acappella)" --- p.36 / Chapter (IV) --- 《流星》<The Shooting Star> -for Soprano Solo and Piano --- p.41 / Chapter (V) --- "《對語》〈Diabgue〉 -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir and Piano" --- p.46 / Chapter 3. --- Temptation -for Orchestra --- p.55 / Appendix Authorization E-mail of the Poems

This study investigates the possibility of applying Hatten’s theory of musical gesture to a formal system of musical analysis. Using historical antecedents and established musicological practice as a guide, a range of musical parameters in a motive length span of music are incorporated into a single gesture. This gesture forms the basic semantic unit upon which an analytical tableau structure is built, and a syntax is developed to allow derivations of new gestures; a large scale structure displaying fractal-like self-similarity is then proposed. The completed system is applied to the analysis of the ‘Adagio’ of Mozart’s Flute Quartet K.285 to test whether it can consistently be implemented and whether it produces falsifiable results while maintaining predictive power. It is found that these requirements are indeed met and that a set of inference rules can be derived suggesting that the proposed system has ample scope for further development. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M. Mus.

This thesis uses two different musical analytical systems, one of Heinrich Schenker and one of Paul Hindemith, to analyze tonality within "Die Gurre Lieder" and "Fourth String Quartet" by Arnold Schoenberg.

This dissertation is a tonal modular work for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone solo voices and large orchestra (3343, 4331, Timp.+4, Hp., Pno., Strings) with an accompanying narrative. The text is drawn from eighteen of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s sonnets. This work consists of four interlocking song cycles, one for each solo voice, and two added songs for the combination of two or more of the solo voices. There are shared tonal and thematic relationships across the work as a whole as well as within and among the individual song cycles. The unique modular nature of the work allows for performance of the whole, but also allows for extracting the individual song cycles—or even individual sonnets from the work as free-standing pieces, complete in themselves. The modular nature of this work makes it attractive as a programming option for orchestras and choirs with featured guest soloists, and also as an addition to singers’ repertoires. Chapters 3–7 of the narrative address the songs in each individual module or cycle, thus providing a useful reference for a singer wishing to program one or more of the songs for her or his voice classification. The complete transposed orchestral score follows the conclusion of the narrative. This dissertation holds potentially helpful information for research on the topics of contemporary classical music, Indiana composers, and/or orchestral song cycles. / School of Music