T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets is full of beautiful and resounding imagery, yet the art of unfolding these images, discovering the movement and drama taking place in and between them, often remains elusive. In this thesis, I approach this problem by offering a detailed reading of Eliot's four poems, tracing the repetition and subtle movements of these patterns of images and the connections between them. I show how in each poem, Eliot develops a set of images that uniquely depicts the entrance of the timeless into time; these images offer ways of framing the problem of responding to revelations of deeper reality, which I take to be the poem's central drama. At the same time, across the whole of the four poems, this reoccurring drama—the issue of the intersection of the timeless with time and the poet's response to this intersection—continues to develop, becoming more complex and layered in each of the poems. Unfolding the different but parallel movements that are enacted across the four poems gives us a better understanding of the way the poems work together as a whole, harmonizing with one another to expand and deepen the individual images and momentary expressions of emotion each poem conveys. / Master of Arts

In 1873, Brahms completed the two op. 51 quartets. These were not the first string quartets Brahms composed, hut they were the first that Brahms allowed to be published. He found the string quartet difficult; as he confided to his friend Alwin Cranz, he sketched out twenty string quartets before producing a pair he thought worthy of publishing. Questions arise: what aspect of the string quartet gave Brahms so much trouble, and what in the op. 51 quartets gave him the inclination to publish them for the first time in his career? The op. 51 quartets are essential to understanding the evolution of Brahms's compositional technique. Brahms had difficulty limiting his massive harmony and polyphony to four solo strings. This difficulty was compounded by his insistence on deriving even the accompaniment from the opening main motivic material. This study investigates the manner in which Brahms distributes the main motivic material to all four voices in these quartets, while at the same time highlighting each voice effectively in the dialogue.

This thesis is concerned with the historical context and evaluation of the string quartets of Franz Berwald. It will establish the environment within which Berwald composed these quartets, and show the results of his efforts. The material for this investigation was gathered from musical scores and literature about music. Chapter I gives an introduction to the thesis and a short biographical sketch of Berwald. Chapter II surveys the string quartet in the first half of the nineteenth century, citing the work of major composers. This chapter concludes with an examination of the influences on Berwald's musical styles. Chapter III surveys Berwald's musical output and describes the Quartet in G Minor. Chapter IV describes his last two quartets. The evaluations and conclusions are presented in Chapter V.

Capriccio -- Rhapsody -- The Miliky way. / Li Cheong. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Capriccio (for four percussion players) --- p.1 / Rhapsody (for string quartet) --- p.16 / The Milky Way (for orchestra) --- p.31

For the purposes of expressive intent, Carter developed compositional strategies that possess qualities congruent with the musical language in his Second Quartet (1959). He employed strategies including tempo modulation, triple groupings, and large-scale ratios to assemble the musical discourse and to guide the listener's perception of large-scale continuity. I label these devices collectively as "preferential strategies" because it is Carter who selects certain pre-compositional ideas that organize musical material and demarcate structural locations. Tempo modulations that organize dual meters and triple groupings that interact in transitional and transformational ways demonstrate his concern with controlling the overall time continuity through local level organization. Large-scale ratio relations between nine interlocking sections of this four movement work illustrate how Carter employs a local strategy that projects a large-scale structure. Recognizing that Carter's ultimate compositional goal prioritizes temporal processes, these proposed preferred strategies articulate a convergence of musical elements.

It is a music manuscript

The purpose of this paper is to present the non-traditional theo- retical techniques of Erno Lendvai and introduce the application of these techniques in a detailed analysis of the Fifth String Quartet of Bela Bartok. The theories of Lendvai are based on the Fibonacci Series, a series of integers which he assigns to consecutive half-step gradations of the chromatic scale. The numbers 1,2,3,5,8... are manipulated to produce two important cornerstones of his theory, namely mi-pentatony and alpha harmonies. According to Lendvai, mi-pentatony, directly related to the Hungarian folksong idiom, is the basic scale used by Bartok. Alpha harmonies are derived by the intervallic relationships created through the use of Fibonacci numbers. Erno Lendvai's theories, although not widely known, are a partial answer to the analytical problems Bartok's music presents. His con- cepts allow for tertian chords as well as non-tertian harmonies. By basing his theories on the intervallic relationships which comprise the folksong idiom, Lendvai's theories can account for much of Bartok's music. Lendvai's theory, in contrast to traditional tonality, not only allows the tritone interval between roots of chords, but relies heavily upon it. The axis system and relative chord structures establish polar relation- ships which give the same function to chords whose roots are a tri- tone apart. Through the use of polar exchange, it is possible to shift the tonal center by six key signatures, yet never alter the function of the two polarly related chords. The analysis portion of this paper is designed to give a struc- tural, tonal and harmonic overview of each movement, giving particular attention to three areas: pentatony; relative, modally related and substitute chord harmonies; alpha harmonies. These areas assume varying degrees of importance depending on the particular movement. The theories of Lendvai are too new and untried to place them into any kind of perspective at this time. Lendvai's own writings are concerned more with a few specific pieces of Bartok's works which conform neatly to golden section principles, clear cut use of models (1:2, 1:3, 1:5), or alpha harmonies. His writings avoid thses portions of Bartok's music which defy explanation using this methodology.

This portfolio of eleven scores and an accompanying commentary is an in depth investigation into the use and development of compositional techniques over a wide range of instrumental and vocal combinations.  The scores submitted trace my development as a composer by considering research questions related to structural organisation, harmonic and rhythmic development and how external sources, particularly visual and literary, can be used as a starting point for the compositional process. Included in the portfolio are eleven works, categorised into three sections: instrumental music, solo works, and vocal music. The portfolio researches and examines elements of composition such as harmony, texture and timbral relationships, as well as the use of visual and literary art as a stimulus for composition across all of the instrumental and vocal combinations included.  My interest in the combination of pre-existing compositional methods such as serialism, with particular regards to pitch, and atonality is also examined in many of the scores and documented in the accompanying commentary.

The six-movement work is scored for two violins, a viola, and a violoncello. A new approach toward the decision making of the compositional process is revealed which structures the parameters of the composition along an arbitrary frame of reference. This reference is selected prior to composition and influences every aspect of the work. The reference chosen is an existing musical work used in quotation and for stylistic modeling, paraphrase, and variation. Consonance, dissonance, and thematic development are defined in terms of this source.

by Ho Siu Wa, Albert. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / First Movement --- p.1 -10 / Second Movement --- p.11 -20 / Third Movement --- p.21 -32