The period between 1880 and 1885 was a significant time in Claude Debussy's life and compositional career. 1880 marks the date of his first published composition, "Nuit d'étoiles," and 1885 is the year in which he began his two-year tenure in Rome after winning the coveted Prix de Rome in 1884. During the intervening time Debussy composed about forty songs. Scholarly literature, especially analytical literature, tends to focus heavily on music in Debussy's mature style, often casting his early compositions in an unfavorable light. Writing on Debussy is scattered with references to the early songs but authors almost always situate them on one end of a continuum that shows an evolution of compositional style culminating in maturity. Such a view tends, if only tacitly, to regard early works as inferior instances of juvenilia rather than works worthy of study in their own right. In this dissertation I establish a foundation for regarding Debussy's early songs as significant compositions in their own right, independent from anachronistic comparisons with his more mature compositional style, and provide justification for considering the songs as a unified, identifiable repertoire within Debussy's larger œuvre. Using a modified Schenkerian analytical approach, I identify consistencies among the songs that give them an independent identity and provide support for their classification as an identifiable collection of works. I consider the songs within a proper historical narrative and in close association with poetry, French musical culture, and issues related to Debussy's biography. Furthermore, I delineate Debussy's compositional aesthetic in the early songs and examine his relationship to other notable contemporary composers of the mélodie, thus showing how his early style emerged from the tradition of the mélodie, how he participated in late-nineteenth century art-song culture, and how he ultimately pushed the genre of the mélodie forward.

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

F. Melius Christiansen was very influential in the a cappella choral tradition. He started his career in Norway and brought his expertise to the American Midwest. Christiansen established a name for himself while working at St. Olaf Lutheran College as the head of the music department. It was the blended choral sound and precision he was able to achieve and display with his new choir in 1912 that caught everyone's ear. He continued to succeed with national and international tours, allowing him to spread his new "St. Olaf" choral sound through his music, compositions, and conducting school. This study explores the influence of F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955) and the Minnesota choral tradition on six subsequent conductor-composers' compositions and conducting styles, including: Olaf Christiansen (1901-1984), Paul J. Christiansen (1914-1997), Kenneth Jennings (b. 1925), Robert Scholz (b. 1940), René Clausen (b. 1953), and Kenneth Hodgson (b. 1939) using Schenkerian analysis.

Different sections or movements of a piece are associated with each other and contain the composer essential thought. A vague affinity of mood and a resembling theme or form testifies to the relationship. However, the evidence is insufficient to reveal the unification of the different sections or movements since these are under restraint of external music proofs. In order to figure out the relationship, thus, identical musical substance should be discovered. In the study the substantial evidence, which can be called unity or unification, is mainly discussed. The unity is illustrated with Brahms's Horn Trio, Op.40 that is one of the Brahms's significant works. The unity found in the Horn Trio is based on the internal structure and structural voice-leading notes. The unity in the Horn Trio is the fundamental structural unity that is divided into initial ascent and voice exchange, and fundamental voice-leading motive. The fundamental unity seriously affects the master piece and penetrates the movements as a whole. Further, it reveals the hidden connections to the historical background of the Horn Trio and the philosophy of Brahms for the music. Even though a piece consists of several sections or movements, the entire piece presents homogeneity. The identity of the composer's underlying philosophical thought suffices to discern the musical unity in a piece. Thus, the investigation of unity is one of the critical ways to understand not merely a piece but also the philosophy of a composer. The study will help to enhance the audience's interpretation of music.

This study explores Sibelius's last and, perhaps, most enigmatic Symphony from historical (source-critical), Schenkerian, and transtextual perspectives. Through a detailed study of its genesis, musical architecture, and meaning, the author maintains that the Seventh, its composer, and its generative process, can best be understood as a series of verges: conceptual points of interaction between two or more forces. Verges between Sibelius's nature mysticism and the dramatic biographical circumstances of the period (1914-1924), between inspired and reasoned modes of composition, between genres (symphony and fantasy), between various form types, between tragic despair and hopeful yearning, between innovation and classicism, and between a host of other seeming oppositions, all define the Seventh Symphony and illuminate various facets of the composer's life and thought.

Continuing the discussion of interpreting J. S. Bach's lute music on the guitar, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate that Schenkerian analysis can assist the modern classical guitarist to better understand Bach's music. In particular, the Schenkerian approach provides an important methodology for studying Bach's music in depth, and then guiding performance practice on the guitar. Although there are many books and articles about transcribing, interpreting and performing Bach's music on the guitar, they do not apply Schenkerian analysis to guitar performance. This research will fill in the lacuna in this field, while promoting music scholarship and enhancing the performance practice of classical guitarists.

Les sonates pour piano de la « génération romantique » (Rosen) et des compositeurs qui l’ont suivie s’éloignent des conventions qui régissent la forme classique, et ce à plusieurs égards : schéma tonal, découpage, fonctions formelles, voire même l’affect ou l’esthétique générale du mouvement. Lorsqu’il s’agit de sonates de jeunesse, ces écarts ont généralement été interprétés comme des maladresses ou comme un manque de métier. Cette thèse remet en question cette perspective et propose une démarche analytique permettant de rétablir ce répertoire dans sa spécificité en définissant une nouvelle conception esthétique de la sonate romantique. L’approche développée ici n’est pas fondée sur une construction musicale purement théorique : elle repose plutôt sur une conciliation entre, d’une part, les valeurs esthétiques caractéristiques de cette époque, et, d’autre part, l’analyse structurelle et formelle. Cette approche est exposée en deux grandes étapes. Les chapitres 1 et 2 parcourent les écrits philosophiques, littéraires, théoriques et critiques des années 1790-1860 pour y découvrir six valeurs esthétiques qui définissent la sonate au XIXe siècle : la forme abstraite, la cohérence à grande échelle, l’organicisme, la tension entre tradition et innovation, l’expression du sublime et celle de la noblesse. Les chapitres 3 à 5 emploient différentes techniques d’analyse (la Formenlehre de William Caplin, l’analyse réductionnelle de Heinrich Schenker et l’étude de l’organisation rythmique et métrique d’après Lester, Krebs et de Médicis) pour montrer comment ces six valeurs esthétiques permettent de rendre compte de la structure spécifique des oeuvres sélectionnées : la Sonate pour piano en mi majeur, op. 6 (1826), de Mendelssohn ; la Grande Sonate pour piano en fa dièse mineur, op. 11 (1832-1835), de Schumann ; la Grande Sonate pour piano en fa mineur, « Concert sans orchestre », op. 14 (1835-1836, rév. 1853), de Schumann ; et la Sonate pour piano en fa dièse mineur, op. 2, de Brahms (1852). Cette approche, qui permet d’appliquer la théorie de la forme à un répertoire pour lequel elle n’a pas a priori été conçue, met l’accent sur la souplesse du rapport entre le discours esthétique et la pratique compositionnelle. Chaque compositeur, sinon chaque oeuvre, répond aux valeurs esthétiques à divers degrés et selon différentes combinaisons. Au final, cette démarche permet de montrer à quel point les considérations esthétiques jouent un rôle primordial dans la conception même de la forme sonate au XIXe siècle. Elle ouvre de nouvelles perspectives en permettant de mieux cerner les points de contact et les divergences entre la sonate classique et la sonate romantique, et fournit des éléments qui permettront une comparaison plus légitime entre ces deux répertoires. / Piano sonatas written by composers from the ‘Romantic Generation’ (Rosen), as well as those from the following generation, tend to move away from the conventions of classical form in many ways: tonal plan, form, formal functions, and even the general affect or aesthetic of the movement. When the sonatas in question are early works, unconventional details are frequently interpreted as mistakes or the result of a lack of training. This dissertation challenges that perspective and develops an analytical approach that establishes the unique elements of this repertoire by defining a new aesthetic understanding of romantic sonata form. This approach is not based on a purely musical construct. Rather, it combines characteristic aesthetic values of the period with formal and structural analysis. The approach is presented in two stages. The first two chapters of the dissertation survey philosophical, literary, theoretical and critical texts from 1790 to 1860, uncovering six aesthetic values that define the sonata in the 19th century: abstract form, large-scale coherence, organicism, the opposition of tradition and innovation, an expression of the sublime and of nobility. Chapters 3 to 5 use different analytical methods (Caplin’s Formenlehre, Schenkerian linear analysis, and rhythmic analysis based on Lester, Krebs, and de Médicis) to illustrate how these six core aesthetic values illuminate the specific structures of four sonata-form movements: Mendelssohn’s Piano Sonata in E Major, op. 6 (1826), Schumann’s Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, op. 11 (1832-1835) and Piano Sonata in F Minor, “Concert sans orchestre”, op. 14 (1835-1836, rev. 1853), and Brahms’ Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, op. 2 (1852). This approach, which applies Caplin’s theory of form to a repertoire for which it was not originally developed, underscores the fluidity of the relationship between aesthetic discourse and compositional practice. Each composer, perhaps each individual work, responds to the aesthetic values in different ways and to varying degrees. In the end, this type of analysis shows how significant aesthetic considerations are in conceptualising sonata form in the 19th century. It broadens our perspective on form by better identifying the commonalities and divergences between classical and romantic sonata form, and provides elements that will allow a more accurate comparison of these two repertoires.

Beethoven's complex manipulation of formal structures, especially his tendency to build important connections and transformative continuities between non-adjacent sections of musical works, may be seen to function as an attempt to control and sometimes to distort the listener's perception of both the narrative process of musical directionality, as well as the subjective interpretation of time itself. Temporal distortion often lies at the heart of Beethoven's complex contrapuntal language, demonstrated equally through the composer's often enigmatic disruption of phrase-periodic gestures, as well as by occasional instances of overtly incongruous temporal shifts. The "Krakow" collection of compositional sketches for Beethoven's String Quartet in E-Flat, Op. 127, provides a number of instances of "non-linear" or "multi-linear" musical continuity. The term "Krakow" sketches, when referenced in this dissertation, specifically designates the group of Beethoven manuscripts possessed by the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Krakow, Poland, but which formerly were held by the Royal Library in Berlin. Structural voice-leading analyses are provided for selected portions of the "Krakow" collection; these analyses are then compared to voice-leading graphs and analytical reductions of the corresponding material from Beethoven's published versions of the same musical passages. In some cases the sketches supply almost complete texts, for which critical transcriptions are included as extended examples within the dissertation. The primary analytical technique applied to both compositional sketches as well as to complete musical texts derives from Heinrich Schenker's theory of structural voice-leading and graphical reduction. An important method of critical assessment, from which a number of theoretical arguments are developed, is the contention that Beethoven's contrapuntal language, at least in regard to the op. 127 String Quartet, relies heavily upon a temporal distortion of both form and phrase-periodic gestures, requiring the listener to actively re-construct the continuity of Beethoven's subjective formal archetypes.

Among the existing solo instrumental concertos of Joseph Haydn's oeuvre are two concertos for brass instruments. These are the Horn Concerto in D Major (Hob. VIId: 3) and Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major (Hob. VIIe: 1). In addition to their standing as the only two concertos for solo brass instruments written by Haydn in existence, the two concertos provide a unique opportunity for insight into the history of the concerto genre and Haydn's change in compositional style. This is because of their chronological position within Haydn's oeuvre; the Horn Concerto was composed in 1762 during the early years of Haydn's employment with the Esterházy family and the Trumpet Concerto in 1796 as the last known concerto written by Haydn. Significant changes had occurred during that thirty four year time-span, not only in Haydn's life, but also within the field of music. This dissertation examines some of these changes and provides a comparative analysis of these two pieces. More specifically, it employs Schenkerian analysis of the voice-leading and structure of both concertos to examine the transformation in Haydn's compositional style and show the evolution of concerto form. This evolution in style between the Horn Concerto and Trumpet Concerto is most prominently marked by a loosening of compositional constraints, including freer formal procedures, instrumentation, harmonic structures, and an increase in chromaticism (aided by the new chromatic abilities of the trumpet). This document provides an in-depth comparative analysis within an often overlooked genre of music and gives insight into changes in Haydn's compositional style and the concerto genre.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the first movements of Sergei Bortkiewicz's two piano sonatas and compare them with works by other composers that may have served as compositional models. More specifically, the intention is to examine the role of the subdominant key in the recapitulation and trace possible inspirations and influences from the Classical and Romantic styles, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The dissertation employs Schenkerian analysis to elucidate the structure of Bortkiewicz's movements. In addition, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 545, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, and the first movement of Schubert's "Trout" Quintet in A, D. 667, are examined in order to illuminate the similarities and differences between the use of the subdominant recapitulation by these composers and Bortkiewicz.