Music is a by-product of place and time. Musicians have opportunities to use the idea of place in their music. Thus, music has regionally distinctive characteristics which reflect human perceptions of the physical environment. Artists of the past and present focus on geographical themes, and paint a picture of ‘place’ in their music. This thesis focuses on the music of a geographical location: Utah. Musicians wrote of Utah in hymns of the past, and contemporary musicians continue to write music about Utah. This thesis answers the questions: Is music characterized by geography? How have the local musicians been influenced by the physical geography of Utah? Included are hymns from various years, biographies of several artists and a sample of contemporary music on Utah. Also included are the results of a questionnaire given to twenty musicians residing in Utah. Conclusions are made from this information that music is indeed characterized by geography, to a great degree.

Both of the Chopin concertos are the earliest of his works to be found in the ordinary piano repertoire, and they possess the direct influences and inherited traits of the composer. Since he did no more orchestral work after completing these two works, it is evident that he thought only in terms of pianistic expression. Probably one of the reasons for Chopin's ineffectiveness as an orchestral writer is due to his inability to conform to the classical form: sonata allegro. The e minor concerto is representative of his treatment of the larger forms. Analyzing the elements of an early work of the composer reveals the degree of maturity in individual traits. Elements of basic chord structure and use of harmony, melodic characteristics, and pianistic expression mark the style of a composer. This concerto demonstrates the beginning of chromatic harmony in his time and in his own writing; it contains melodic beauty and pianistic features which make it acceptable in standard concerto repertoire in spite of its many defects.

John Corigliano (b. 1938) is a contemporary American composer who has in the last twenty years established himself as a composer whose versatility and accessibility are appreciated by a wide range of audiences. He has labeled himself an eclectic composer who unashamedly borrows from other musical styles and periods in an effort to create works that appeal to a variety of listeners. He has been mentioned along with George Rochberg, George Crumb, and Jacob Druckman as an advocate of the post-modern movement in contemporary American music, a trend that has been crucial to the development of contemporary concert music. The purpose of this study is to examine the two solo piano works of Corigliano in terms of style, structure, and musical influences. The Etude Fani-agy (197 6) is a set of five etudes, performed without pause. The etudes are unified through an elaborate use of thematic transformation in which a row-like idea generates most of the material. The keyboard writing is varied and dramatic, with similarities to Debussy, Bartok, Prokofiev, and Copland. Fantasia on an Qstinato (1985), commissioned for the van Cliburn International Piano Competition, is an atmospheric tone poem that transforms the theme from Beethoven's Symphony no« 7 (second movement) . The rhythmic and harmonic structure of this theme are retained through much of Corigliano's work. Full quotations and fragments of the symphony are combined with newly-composed material influenced by Beethoven's theme. Influence of minimalist techniques associated with Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass is apparent throughout the work; rhythmic phasing, repetitive patterns, and musical stasis are used extensively in the second section. A comparison of the Etude Fantasy and Fantasia nn an OstinatQ confirms the eclectic characteristics of Corigliano's style. In both works, the composer borrows freely from a variety of musical traditions, combining and modifying traditional and avant-garde techniques. It is this intelligent combination of elements, along with expert craftsmanship, that has become Corigliano's trademark and have earned him an important place in contemporary American music.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate ways classical composers of African descent have been included in the mainstream academic canon. I examined the insights of four scholars who have been committed to including classical composers of African descent throughout their music careers. The initial research questions of this study were: 1) How do participants describe their frameworks for making the commitment to include classical composers of African descent throughout their careers? 2) What have been the challenges and benefits associated with their commitment? 3) What might contemporary scholars view as strategies for integrating classical composers of African descent into the mainstream academic canon? Four musicians, who have contributed to the scholarship related to classical works by composers of African descent in very different ways, participated in this qualitative collective case study: Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell, a composer and performer; Dr. Dominique-Rene de Lerma, musicologist; Dr. Anthony Thomas Leach, educator, conductor, and organist; and Mr. Hannibal Lokumbe, composer, trumpeter, and visionary. Through two in-depth interviews with each of the four scholars, a related question emerged: How have the participants contributed to the inclusion of classical composers of African descent throughout professional careers and personal lives? I transcribed the interviews, returned them to the participants for member checks, and prepared final, revised transcripts based on their feedback for analysis. I examined the interview data to obtain a collective representation related to the research questions. I analyzed the data for emerging codes, categories, and themes until details considered substantive to the research emerged. Themes that emerged focused on the need to identify the importance of seeing the contributions for classical composers of African descent from an Afrocentric as well as a Eurocentric perspective; the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on how each participant engaged the music throughout their lives; the importance of informal and formal education and the roles family, community, and school played in their relationship with the music they shared; and, the significance of creating access to their works through publications and professional associations. / Music Education

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

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986) was a South-African born composer whose highly original compositional style attracted great attention during her lifetime. She spent most of her life in England, but was inspired by the images and recollections of her youth in Africa. Despite the critical acclaim she received, little research has been done about her, both in South Africa and abroad. Additionally, the nature of existing sources is mostly not analytical, but rather provides an overview of her life or general aspects of her style. Although some conclusions have been drawn about her compositional style, they are not thoroughly substantiated by concrete analytical evidence. Also, the focus is mostly on her prominent rhythmic use (often linked by authors to the “African” element of her idiom), with an evident disregard of the other aspects of style, most notably with regard to pitch coherence. This research attempts to correct this unbalanced discourse by analysing one of her few solo piano works, the Barbaric Dance Suite (composed in 1949), and pointing out significant pitch relations, similarities and contrasts. The rationale for selecting this specific work originated from Rainier’s own pronouncement that “The Suite is a key to all my later music, for in the three DANCES, their structural embryo is, on a small scale, the basis for most of the later works.” Although the scope of the research did not allow for a comparative analysis, it is strongly believed that the conclusions reached in this study could also be applicable to many of Rainier’s other works, especially of the early period. The study consists of an introduction in which the Barbaric Dance Suite is contextualised, followed by the main body of the thesis that consists of a detailed analysis of each of the three movements. The foremost method of analysis used is set theory analysis, which could be briefly described as a method whereby (particularly atonal) music is segmented and categorised in pitch class sets. As set theory focuses exclusively on the dimension of pitch, traditional methods of analysis are employed to examine the other musical parameters. In the conclusion, the analytical results are contextualised with regard to existing pronouncements on Rainier’s oeuvre. The study also comments on the applicability of set theory as analytical system in Rainier’s music. The many complex pitch relations that were discovered by the intensive analysis of pitch content has given enough evidence to conclude that Rainier’s use of sonorities has been unjustly neglected in the discourse of this work and perhaps also in her musical style as a whole. It is hoped that further detailed analysis of her use of sonorities in other works could lead authorities to revise the insistent pronouncements on her rhythmic use in favour of a more balanced assessment of all aspects of her compositional style.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Arnold van Wyk was a composer and a pianist. He recorded his largest work for piano, Night Music (1958), on LP in 1963. Steven de Groote performed Night Music on 21 July 1984 at the Cheltenham International Festival of Music. This live performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 24 September 1984 and a copy of this broadcast exists in the Arnold van Wyk collection in the J.S. Gericke Library at Stellenbosch University. Night Music is a perfect example of Van Wyk’s compositional techniques for the keyboard. It demands a considerable musical imagination and piano technique from the performer. The score of Night Music contains many detailed instructions regarding the different musical parameters and it also encloses unusual terms such as glacial or lugubre. It shows that the composer is extremely concerned to control all aspects of the performance and expects great depth of interpretation of the performer. Analysing the score of Night Music together with a performance by the composer enables one to consider two versions of “authenticated text”. The comparison between Arnold van Wyk’s recording, score and Steven de Groote’s performance allows the researcher to draw conclusions about score fidelity as a condition for “authenticity” in performance. Therefore, the primary aim of this research project is to yield interesting perspectives on notions of authenticity in performance with regard to these two particular performances of Night Music. The main body of this thesis consists of four chapters. In Chapter One a philosophical discussion about authenticity in performance is presented. Chapter Two focuses on the contextualisation of the work under discussion, including the reception and a short analysis of Night Music. It is followed by Chapter Three which compares the pianism of Arnold van Wyk and Steven de Groote. These latter two chapters form the background of the comparative performance analysis of the renditions of Night Music by these two performers which are presented in Chapter Four. Through the careful comparative analysis of Arnold van Wyk’s and Steven de Groote’s performances of Night Music it was possible to observe that a composer can present a version of his work that departs quite radically from the score. As “authenticity in performance” strives to honour the composer’s intentions as notated in the score, this discrepancy illustrates the controversial nature of the discourse on the “authentic” in music.

This investigation sought to compare the transcription techniques of two pianist-composers, Godowsky and Liszt, using three Schubert lieder as examples. The lieder were "Das Wandern" from Die Schöne Müllerin, "Gute Nacht" from Winterreise, and "Liebesbotschaft" from Schwanengesang. They were compared using four criteria: tonality, counterpoint, timbral effects, and harmony. Liszt, following a practice common in the nineteenth century, was primarily concerned with bringing new music into the home of the domestic pianist. The piano transcription was the most widely used and successful medium for accomplishing this. Liszt also frequently transcribed pieces of a particular composer in order to promulgate them by featuring them in his recitals. The Schubert lieder fall into this category. Liszt did not drastically alter the original in these compositions. Indeed, in the cases of "Liebesbotschaft" and "Das Wandern," very little alteration beyond the incorporation of the melody into the piano accompaniment, occurs.Godowsky, in contrast, viewed the transcription as a vehicle for composing a new piece. He intended to improve upon the original by adding his own inspiration to it. Godowsky was particularly ingenious in adding counterpoint, often chromatic, to the original. Examples of Godowsky's use of counterpoint can be found in "Das Wandern" and "Gute Nacht." While Liszt strove to remain faithful to Schubert's intentions, Godowsky exercised his ingenuity at will, being only loosely concerned with the texture and atmosphere of the lieder. "Gute Nacht" and "Liebesbotschaft" are two examples that show how far afield Godowsky could stray from the original by the addition of chromatic voicing and counterpoint. Godowsky*s compositions can be viewed as perhaps the final statement on the possibilities of piano writing in the traditional sense. As such these works deserve to be investigated and performed.

The purpose of the following study is to make an analysis of the structural elements and stylistic characteristics of the Sonata in A Minor for violin and piano by David Stanley Smith. This analysis will include the composer's treatment of form, harmony, melody and tonality, rhythm, intellectual and emotional content, and mediums of expression.