This is a musical score written to fulfill the requirements of a master of music.

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The innovative compositions of Miloslav Ištvan (1928-1990) and his influential theoretical writings contributed to the creation of the modern composition school in Brno, capitol of Moravia in the present Czech Republic. Through the vehicle of his three piano sonatas (unpublished, but composed in 1954, 1959, and 1979), this monograph places Ištvan and his music against the political background of ideological repression in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The unique blend of Moravian folk music and fierce pride in Czech culture are clearly evident throughout Ištvan’s compositional oeuvre and specifically in his piano music. In particular, his sheer creativity and courage to create his own voice under severe artistic deprivation combine to create a body of work that remains one of the most prominent influences in the present-day compositional scene in Brno. Each of the six chronological sections in this monograph employs a single year as a frame of reference. These years were selected both for their political significance and to represent an important event in Ištvan’s personal or musical life. In addition to the biographical details, political context and analysis of the piano sonatas, other significant compositions and contemporary writings are considered to trace the developmental thread of Moravian music. Ištvan’s search for artistic expression brings the lineage of his direct predecessor, Brno compositional giant Leoš Janáček, into the avant-garde New Music movement of the 1960s. Ištvan’s further work as a composition professor and writer of theoretical texts in the 1970s and 80s continues to influence the current generation of composers in the Czech Republic. This monograph calls attention to a composer and his rich body of work, created during politically turbulent times, that remains virtually unknown outside his country of origin. / Music Performance

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This thesis has been written with several goals in mind. The first purpose has been to inform the reader about the life of Charles Ives and the influences he experienced that gave him the impetus to experiment and write music of a nature thirty years ahead of its time, while the rest of the world was basking in the waning light of Romanticism. The second purpose has been to describe in a short space general characteristics that may be found throughout the entire musical output of Ives. The third purpose has been to analyze in greater detail the major portion of his contributions to piano literature, the three piano sonatas, so that the student may better understand the complexities which will face him in performance of these compositions. Perhaps the strongest motivation for the present study has been the hope that it might induce more students to be explorers themselves and become familiar with this music of Ives.

Beethoven's early sonatas have already revealed a complex and varied technique that can present significant difficulties for intermediate piano students. In particular, the absence of systematic methodological guidance, as well as the lack of suitable and high-quality repertoire, can result in students struggling to learn Beethoven's piano technique and not being satisfied with the results. By examining and analyzing the theories of great educators, pedagogues, and performers, some of the standard technical patterns are identified and methods of mastering them are summarized. A sampling of related late-elementary level and intermediate level repertoire is identified, providing study material for students starting to learn the Beethoven sonatas, and serving as a guide for their teachers.

The following study deals with the structural elements of the six Mendelssohn Organ Sonatas, opus 65. The problem excludes stylistic considerations. The Mendelssohn organ works are the greatest that appeared from the time of J. S. Bach until the nineteenth century. The Sonatas "have long been accepted as 'classics' of the instrument." Of them Mendelssohn himself wrote in a letter to his publisher, "I attach much importance to these Sonatas." They have no formal predecessor and no formal counterpart in subsequent organ literature. Their structures are hybrid, contrasting, unique, and unconventional; yet, to the writer's knowledge, there is no material available which presents a thorough, scientific formal analysis. It is hoped that the following study will fill this need.

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This thesis deals in particular with the pianist's approach to the Brahms Sonata for Piano and Violin in D Minor, Opus 108. There are two chapters, the first of which takes the form of a bibliography in which different theoretical aspects for consideration in the learning of the work are presented. One of the sections in the first chapter which is entitled The Pianist, should prove helpful to a prospective piano teacher, as well as a student of the Brahms Sonata in D Minor, Opus 10 8. In this section sources presenting different solutions to technical problems which the pianist is likely to encounter both generally, and specifically with regard to this Sonata, are listed. The other sections in this chapter include a discography and comments concerning recordings of the Sonata in D Minor, Opus 108, which a student of this work and its composer may consult. The second chapter of the thesis deals with specific issues involved in the interpretation based on my performance of the Sonata in D Minor, Opus 108, for the practical examination. Three other possible interpretations by well-known pianists are briefly evaluated. Attached to the thesis is a cassette tape on which recommendations for the practising of certain passages may be heard. / Thesis (M.Mus)-University of Natal, Durban, 1989.