Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) was a Czechoslovakian musician born in Prague, to a German-Jewish family, and whose life came to a premature end in 1942 at the Wülzburg concentration camp, near Weißenburg, Bavaria. Schulhoff’s life, compositional style, and two of his flute works are addressed in this dissertation: Sonata for flute and pianoforte, WV 86, and Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass, WV 75. Each work is considered as a discrete entity, and insight provided into the structure of the music; stylistic and compositional influences, form, phrase structure, and other aspects are discussed. The intended audience is the flutist seeking knowledge regarding the historical significance and performance of each piece. The analysis and summary of Schulhoff’s life and primary flute works will contribute to the understanding of performance scholarship of his music and provide a deeper understanding of the composer, from the perspective of musical and compositional style.

Robert Dick is best known as a leading proponent of contemporary music and extended techniques for the flute; however, his teaching is informative on a broader level that encompasses technical and musical aspects of traditional playing as well as contemporary practices. This dissertation is intended to serve as a resource for flutists, providing a detailed documentation of his approach to playing and teaching the flute. Dick’s highly integrated pedagogy—informed by his traditional training, revolutionary work in documenting and codifying extended techniques on the flute, and his equal personal involvement in performance, composition, and improvisation—provides a strong basis and clear trajectory, musically as well as technically, to his students. The primary research material for this document is the author’s personal collection of detailed notes from her studies with Dick. Additionally, as no pedagogy exists in a vacuum, a number of sources including historical treatises and more recent published documentations of flutists’ pedagogies provide context and support. Such publications are of current and continuing educational value; considering Dick’s contributions to the development of flute playing and his integrated approach to teaching the flute, a document that accurately and thoroughly addresses his pedagogy is a logical addition to this literature.

Fleogan is a work for a flute choir consisting of four piccolos, six C flutes, six alto flutes, and four bass flutes. The formal structure of Fleogan consists of three levels of arch form. First is the arch structure of the work in its entirety; next is the arch form within a movement, and on the smallest scale is the form within a tempo-section.

The purpose of this study is to analyze two of Chen Yi's works that include flute. She was raised in China and later studied in the United States, leading to a compositional output notable for its combination of Eastern and Western musical elements. Her unusual early experiences, such as experiencing the Chinese Cultural Revolution, working in rural areas, studying the violin, playing the piano in the orchestra, and being influenced by Western modernists, became her musical inspirations in her later compositional career. Focusing on the composer's Three Bagatelles from China West and Woodwind Quintet No.3, this study explores how the composer links Chinese traditional folk tunes to Western compositional techniques, as well as Western flute techniques to Chinese musical styles. Since the folk tunes in the first movement, Introduction, and third movement, Miao Dances, of Woodwind Quintet No. 3 are the same as those used in the second and third bagatelles of Three Bagatelles: Nai Guo Hou and Dou Duo, both are studied, presenting how they relate to each other.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis uniquely explains the mechanical improvements which have occurred to the flute over the last 147 years. Theobald Boehm revolutionized the flute by changing many of its components culminating with the 1847 model flute. Since that time other improvements have been made which enhance the flute's capabilities in terms of pitch, tone, timbre, and simplification offingeringpassages. Among those improvements which are discussed in the following pages are the Dorus G-sharp key, the gizmo key, the Cooper scale, and The Brogger Mekanik as well as the makers behind the various improvements including Vincent Dorus, George Barrere, and Albert Cooper.

Analyzes music of Ravel, Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern, Milhaud, Bozza, Francaix, Poulenc, Cowell and Riegger.

Carl Nielsen, considered by some to be Denmark's greatest composer, has had great influence on twentieth-century Danish music. Nielsen wrote several chamber works that include the flute, three of which were examined in this study. These pieces, "The Fog is Lifting" (for flute and piano or flute and harp), "The Children are Playing" (for flute alone) and "Faith and Hope are Playing" (for flute and viola) are part of the incidental music for the Helge Rode patriotic drama "The Mother." "Fantasy Pieces, op. 2," originally written for oboe and piano, was transcribed for flute and piano by James Galway, and is also discussed in this study.The purpose of this research was to conduct a detailed examination of these works with regard to pedagogical, performance and compositional concerns. Information was gathered through the examination of written materials about Nielsen, results of questionnaires sent to selected flute pedagogues, results of coaching sessions with three flutists and comparisons of three recordings. Questionnaires revealed that many pedagogues were not familiar with the pieces in question. Varying responses were provided to questions regarding the level of proficiency needed to study these pieces, appropriate situations in which to program the works, why the pieces are not often programmed and pedagogical concerns. Coaching sessions revealed potential pedagogical problems, while recordings provided information regarding differences in interpretation. Compositional traits of Nielsen are discussed, as are additional pedagogical suggestions for students with little experience. / School of Music