The Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues of Rodion Shchedrin is the magnum opus of perhaps the most respected living Russian composer, whose music is virtually unknown in the United States. Inspired by J. S. Bach and following in the footsteps of Dmitri Shostakovich, Shchedrin produced this impressive and original cycle for solo piano. It was written during the span of about six years, from 1964 to 1970. Since then, most of the preludes and fugues have become popular among students and pedagogues in Russian colleges and conservatories. The purpose of this monograph is to introduce this commendable work in the United States and to provide comprehensive structural analysis with performance suggestions and pedagogic overview. For each Prelude and Fugue, this monograph provides clear structural tables, which summarize form, compositional techniques, and rhythmic, textural, and polyphonic organization. In addition it provides performance and pedagogic evaluation of the entire cycle, with short discussions of each prelude and fugue. This monograph begins with a biographic overview of the composer, including a discussion of general aspects of his style, with information about Shchedrin's formal music education in Soviet Russia and influences that helped form his musical language. It also provides an historical context for Shchedrin's cycle, citing precedents for his work. With the growing popularity of Rodion Shchedrin's music outside of Russia, this monograph will be a valuable resource for musicians who are interested in teaching, performing, or studying selected Preludes and Fugues from his cycle. / Music Performance

abstract: This dissertation presents a multifaceted examination of the complex sociopolitical contexts of contemporary popular and classical music in Russia. By attending to the competing expectations of Russian creators, government officials, impresarios, critics, and listeners, it examines how contemporary musical artists have navigated the shifting nationalistic and popular moods of the past two decades. I argue that popular music artists Olga Kormukhina and Polina Gagarina, composer Rodion Shchedrin, and the Mariinsky Theater have transformed the works of past artists, including Viktor Tsoi and Nikolai Leskov, updating them according to a popular demand for patriotic works that the Russian state has cultivated through its media outlets and official pronouncements on cultural policy. Other rock musicians (Konstantin Kinchev and the band Bi-2) have also transformed their political identities to match the present-day demands and expectations of either Russian officialdom or their particular Russian audiences. With the exception of Bi-2 (an ambiguous counterexample), all of these transformations have led to greater associations with nationalistic sentiments or fervent support for state agendas in the contemporary geopolitical arena. Exploring the wide variety of styles and genres in this dissertation required a methodological versatility involving archival research, reception history, the analysis of musical scores and sound recordings, an examination of prose and poetic texts, and close study of visual imagery in music videos and onstage. The approach to reception history is the most groundbreaking, for it considers a wide range of digital sources, including blogs and social media comment threads, and makes use of language partner apps to augment the pool of informants, allowing conversation with Russians living outside the limited geographical range (St. Petersburg and Moscow) considered by previous studies. This holistic approach to contemporary reception history helps us to better understand how Russian audiences from diverse regions perceive these ongoing transformations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020