Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-161). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed Aug. 22, 2007). PDF text: 422 p. : music, facsim. UMI publication number: AAT 3211384. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Title from accompanying document. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references and discography (leaves 85-89).

Thesis (D.M.A)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2005. / Compact discs. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Oct. 10, 2007). PDF text: 86 p. : music. UMI publication number: AAT 3258774. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 13, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes disc containing sound files of the pieces and PDF version of the thesis.

Aaron Copland has been in the forefront of the American musical scene since the 1920s. He has been called an "American composer" for his ability to formulate the essence of American folk music into a wide variety of mediums. The variety and scope of his compositions encompass a diverse array of styles and techniques. From the jazz influenced works that dominated his early period to the works for Hollywood films, from the chamber music that was directly influenced by his Jewish background to the partial acceptance of serial technique, Copland has managed to delve equally into all these styles. Yet, one could arguably rank his works for the stage as his most popular and generally most successful compositions of his career. The extent to which the American public has accepted these works as being "folk" is a case for the genius and adaptability of Copland's talent. Although works like Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, and Lincoln Portrait command the attention of the general public, of whom Aaron Copland was constantly aware, there are works for the piano that deserve and demand close study by pianists. One such work is the Piano Variations. Written in 1930, it has been acknowledged as a twentieth century masterpiece in publications for piano and piano literature as well as by pianists since its premiere in 1931. It is a brutal and sparse work that encompasses a quasi-serial technique in which the motto of four notes transforms itself through the course of twenty variations and a coda. The demands of learning a work such as this can be overwhelming for the pianist not accustomed to the rigors of a non-diatonic piece. However, a careful analysis precipitated by specific questions directed not only at learning the piece but also with the goal of performance in mind, can shape the interpretational issues that will eventually face the pianist. The questions that I pose are directly pulled from Michael Remson's article, "Copland's Piano Variations: A Forgotten Masterpiece." Although it is considered by this writer as an introduction to the technique of serialism, largely because of the classical practices among which are tonal center, period structure and interruptions of the motto, Copland's Piano Variations is a classic example of a twentieth century work that will be heard as avant-garde and studied in the style of late Romanticism.

The internal unity of the themes in a sonata-allegro movement and the external unity of the movements in a sonata cycle are crucial elements of Beethoven's compositional aesthetic. Numerous theorists have explored these aspects in Beethoven's sonatas, symphonies, quartets, and concertos. Similar research into the independent variation sets for piano, excluding Opus 120, has been largely neglected as the result of three misconceptions: that the variation sets, many of which were based on popular melodies of Beethoven's time, are not as worthy of study as his other works; that the type of hidden internal relationships which pervade the sonata cycle are not relevant to the variation set since all variations are, by definition, related to the theme; and that variations were composed "additively," that is, one after another, without any particular regard for their order or relationship to one another. The purpose of this study is to refute all three of these incorrect assumptions. Beethoven was concerned with the order of variations and their relationship to one another, and he was able to transcend the additive tendency in a number of ways. Some of his methods included registral connection, registral expansion, rhythmic acceleration, textural expansion, dynamics, articulation, and motivic similarities. Chapter I contains a discussion of the role of the variation set in Beethoven's overall output. The teachers, composers, and works which may have influenced him are also discussed as well as his training in variation composition. Finally, those factors which Beethoven employed to unify his sets are listed and explained. Chapters II-V are devoted to detailed analyses of four striking variation sets: Opus 34, Opus 35, WoO 80, and Opus 120. Chapter VI presents a summary of the findings. It suggests that each of the sets investigated has a unique form and that each variation has a distinct place and purpose.

Aaron Copland was born of Russian-Jewish parents on November 14, 1900. Harris Kaplan, his father, had acquired the American equivalent of his name when an immigration official at the British port of entry wrote it on his papers, and from then on the family name was "Copland." Sarah Mittenthal and Harris Copland met at a family social gathering in New York and were married in 1885. They lived in the upper stories of his department store in Brooklyn which remained the family home until 1924 and was where Aaron, the youngest of five, was born.