The thesis deals with the birth of the Baroque cantata in Northern and Central Germany. It introduces musical forms that led to the creation of cantata and thus significantly influenced its form, which crystalized during the Late Baroque period. The picture of Early Baroque German music is completed with profiles of three principal composers, on a selection of whose works the gradual development of this new musical form - the German Baroque cantata - is demonstrated. The second part is devoted to an analysis of a work representative of this style, Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu nostri, which is a supreme example of this musical form.

Busoni's contribution to the art of the piano transcription is formidable. His chorale prelude transcriptions make him responsible for giving over to the piano repertoire a small portion of sacred literature. His special admiration of J. S. Bach, evidenced throughout his life, make Busoni's transcriptional practices all the more significant. Bach himself was a prolific transcriber of his own works and the works of others. This paper presents a brief history of keyboard transcriptional practices, emphasizing Busoni's methods by comparing the original works for organ with the transcriptions for piano. Four chorale preludes form the basis for this study: Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 639), Komm, Gott, Schopfer, Heiliger Geist (BWV 667), Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659), and In dir ist Freude (BWV 615).

Anthony Plog's Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble is a substantial but relatively unknown work from the composer's early compositional period. It deserves wider exposure and recognition in the repertoire for solo flute and wind ensemble, given its accessibility for both the soloist and the ensemble.

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This study is unique as the basic research acknowledges the chorale prelude as a genre in South Africa. The compilation of a catalogue of organ chorale preludes by South African composers is also a first and important contribution to the knowledge of this genre. The history of the organ in South Africa is an integral part of this study and offers a background and context for the research on this specific category of music. Knowledge of the contributions to this genre in South Africa is however limited because the available literature on these topics is dated. Due to the restricted publishing opportunities in South Africa, works are unpublished or informally published and not re-printed or even published in other countries. All available literature was thoroughly researched whereafter there was a need to extrapolate the unsatisfactory data with the primary research. Many composers and organ specialists were approached and different library collections were consulted. The church plays a key role in the history of the organ in South Africa, and this results in the fact that most organ repertoire, by South African composers, is liturgical (church) music. Unfortunately, knowledge of early compositions is unknown and the first documented chorale preludes date from the late 19th and early 20th century. It is only since the middle of the 20th century that South African composers have been actively contributing to the genre reaching a climax during 2010 and 2011 when two volumes of chorale preludes were published by the Suider-Afrikaanse Kerkorrelistevereniging (SAKOV). 1170 Chorale preludes by 78 composers are catalogued with a chronological discussion of the key works, with reference to different styles and forms, as a well-developed genre. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Music / unrestricted

Beginning with his High Mass written in 1994, popular Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström modeled multiple compositions after famous canonical works using the same texts and/or instrumentation. Sandström wants to be compared to the greatest, specifically in how a twenty-first century composer responds to a text set , in the case of J.S. Bach's , over 250 years ago. His setting of Matthäuspassion (MP), which uses the same libretto as J.S. Bach, is his most extensive non-operatic work, one he considers his most significant, and likely his last work based on a preexisting model. This study 1) examines the influence of J.S. Bach's MP on Sandström's setting in the use of characters and chorales, 2) illustrates Sandström's compositional language in MP based on recent studies on his choral music, 3) describes his use of musical symbolism, and 4) discusses his religious and spiritual motivations behind the work, as well as his preferred uses in performance.