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Erich W. Korngold's Second Sonata, op. 2 (1910), and Artur Schnabel's Piano Sonata (1923) are composed in completely different styles. Korngold's late-Romantic sonata has lush, poignant harmonies, while Schnabel's five-movement work is atonal with twelve-tone elements and unabashedly harsh. However, the two pieces share Expressionistic attributes like extreme contrasts, leitmotifs, and manic-depressive tendencies. Korngold's sonata has a façade of glory and splendor that conceals darker proceedings. This façade breaks down in the later movements. Schnabel's sonata, like his personality, is frank and unapologetic. Each movement has a unique agenda; the five movements as a whole have few musical elements in common among them. Despite these divergent effects, the sonatas are united by the personal link between the composers, namely, Schnabel's decision to widely perform Korngold's sonata. Schnabel, more famous for performing than for composing, was inordinately choosy regarding the composers whose music he performed. Schnabel "only [performed] music that is better than it can be played," and he was especially disdainful of modern music. Given these preferences, Schnabel's championing the young Korngold's unproven work is extraordinary. Forty years later, Schnabel described it as a "most amazing piece." Perhaps this fascination is the result of their common perspective toward Vienna. The present essay will interpret these two works using fin de siècle Vienna as a framework, especially typifying "the atmosphere of Vienna, of jesting defeatism and precious, playful morbidity in the [1890s], of her gradual decay." Accounts by Schnabel, author Stefan Zweig, and others describe the Viennese as "incorrigible optimists" fascinated by music and theatre but uninterested in world affairs. Korngold composed his sonata during the foreboding years preceding World War I, profiling the indifference to societal and political ills. Schnabel composed his sonata after the war, when the "Golden Age of Security," as Zweig phrased it, was corroded by Vienna's opulence and decadence. Accordingly, this essay will elucidate one possible interpretation for each of these pieces, movement by movement, with this dichotomy in mind. The interpretations will vividly illustrate the pretentious depravity and decadence from raucous revelry, as well as the profound pain and dire consequences that follow. Korngold's sonata is as a painting of realism, and his piece uses rich harmonies and soaring melodies to plainly depict the society. Schnabel's sonata, on the other hand, is a work of abstract art, using surrealism and exaggeration to warp images and environments, and portray society as suffering consequences that are unimaginably horrible, consequences that only a mind in the throes of a never-ending nightmare could envisage.

This study addresses the discrepancy between the range of Beethoven's double bass parts and the instrument or instruments in use in Vienna in his day. Scholars and musicians have complained about Beethoven's apparent disregard for the instrument's capabilities since the middle of the nineteenth century. A systematic examination of Beethoven's orchestral writing for the double bass shows that this reputation is undeserved. In fact Beethoven paid close attention to the lower compass of the double bass throughout his orchestral writing: a clear boundary of F is observed up to op. 55, and thereafter E, though F still obtains in some late works. Beethoven's observance of the F boundary suggests that he was writing for the Viennese five-stringed violone, and not the modern form of the instrument, as has previously been assumed in scholarship. Other evidence pointing to the use of this instrument is presented. Some of Beethoven's bass parts between op. 55 and op. 125 do in fact descend to C (sounding C1); yet there is no evidence supporting the existence of a double bass instrument capable of C1 in Beethoven's day. Possible explanations for these violations of the compass of the double bass are discussed. These focus on the possibility of simple proofreading error, and on evidence for the unwritten practice of reinforcing the double bass with one or more contrabassoons. The contrabassoon in Beethoven's day had a lower compass of C1, and Vienna was an early center for its production and use. Analysis of the bulk of Beethoven's double bass parts for their range is given. Emphasis in this analysis is given to instances where Beethoven demonstrates a clear awareness of the compass of the instrument. Out-of-range pitches are compiled in table form.

This thesis focuses on different forms of national identity of the first generation Czech migrants in Vienna from the perspective of transnational theory. It is based on analysis of thematically oriented biographical interviews with the group of 15 immigrants. The data come from research conducted in spring 2015 in Vienna. Firstly, the thesis summarizes the history of migration from Czechoslovakia to Austria. Secondly, the concepts of transnationalism, identity and transnational identity are explained as they serve as theoretical basis for the research methodology and analysis of data. First part of analysis explores topics important for decision, whether it is possible to designate the migrants as transnationals. These topics and practices include language, relation toward Czech Republic, political participation, interest in culture, traditions, gastronomy, social contacts, discrimination and loyalty, feelings of pride and shame and citizenship. The second part of analysis introduces the different forms of national identity based on self-understanding of migrants. Following this, the examples of respondents and organisations show the transnational identity of some of them which is based on their lived identity and everyday practices.

6 Abstract This essay's primary focus is on the phenomenon of "magic farce" within the works of Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nepomuk Nestroy, its essence, main establishment conditions and its motifs on the background of the Viennese popular theater, the Biedermeier idyll and Vormärz. With respect to purpose of this essay, selected works of both authors are introduced and are afterwards the subject of analysis: Raimund's Der Barometermacher auf der Zauberinsel and Nestroys Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus oder das liederliche Kleeblatt, Freiheit in Krähwinkel and Höllenangst. The framework of the analysis is the historical and biographical context; notably the phenomenon of censorship and its impacts on artistic production of both Raimund and Nestroy. This essay also comprises important biographical aspects in relation to the transformation of the artistic approach of the authors in later years. Keywords Magic farce, farce, Besserungsstück, Viennese popular theater, Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nepomuk Nestroy, Biedermeier and Viennese Vormärz

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Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Rochester, 2008. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/7669

In an appendix section, three notable arias have been transcribed for two clarinets, voice, and piano. A further evaluation of Classical period opera orchestration will aid modern performers and musicologists in their understanding of what clarinets and clarinetists were able and expected to do.

Vienna, once the biggest Czech city, into which craftsmen, wage workers and servants, most of them coming from the Bohemian and Moravian south, poured by houndreds in search for work in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. Some would progressively return back to Bohemia and Moravia, while others would settle down in Vienna and assimilate completely. This thesis, however, focuses on the descendants of those who, although they stayed in Vienna, maintained their tie to Czech culture and their Czechness. The thesis, based upon nineteen biographical stories collected in May and June 2015 in Vienna, presents the ways in which the interviewees construct their ethnical/national and collective identity and communicative memory. The interviewees are representatives of Vienna's Czech old residents who speak Czech, are active in the community's life and each one of whom has at least one ancestor of Czech origin who came to Vienna before Wold War II or earlier. Depending on their birthdate, they were assigned a place within one of the following generations: interwar, war, middle and youngest. Every generation is given one chapter presenting its speakers, the ways in which they identify themselves, their attitude (active or passive) to the building of their identity as well as the commonly shared...