For more than three centuries, violin pedagogical practices have been extensively developed towards music covering the common practice period. However, a problem arises when a violin student performing avant-garde music needs to find realistic solutions to problems that are not addressed in the standard repertoire. This critical essay offers a pedagogical approach to a work that fits well within this paradigm: Four Nocturnes (Night Music II), George Crumb’s only published work for violin and piano duo. The multi-dimensional aspect of this avant-garde work requires an equally multi-faceted approach to overcoming the inherent technical hurdles. Through practical illustrations and concise explanations, musical examples indicate how the score may be re-notated and simplified to create a preliminary step towards advancing to the original notation. Borrowing from the methodology of Otakar Ševčík and other leading twentieth-century violin pedagogues, the author shows how students can modify their approach to fit contextually in the realm of avant-garde music. Students who approach the work with this methodology will find it helpful in eliminating many of the potential pitfalls that they are likely to encounter.

George Crumb (b.1929)'s Makrokosmos is recognized as one of the masterpieces of twentieth century piano writing. Inexplicably, volume four of Makrokosmos, Crumb's only four-hand piano piece, is rarely studied by Crumb scholars. According to Crumb's program notes, his Makrokosmos is meant to be a hybrid of piano and orchestral sound. Crumb devised a list of signs and abbreviated letters to explain his specific instructions to the performers. The pianists who plan to perform Makrokosmos need to study Crumb's notations carefully in order to faithfully realize the composer's intentions. This dissertation examines the composer's treatment of four hands at the piano. In addition, a performer's analysis and practical "translation" of these techniques is provided, in the hopes of rendering this amazing piece more accessible to pianists in search of new and wonderful repertoire for piano four hands. It is also hoped that future composers will be inspired by Crumb's innovations and imaginative ideas.

Post-tonal repertoire can prove to be a challenging musical endeavor for performers and listeners alike. However, that does not mean that performers should avoid programming this music. If musicians undertake new repertoire with an open mind and a willingness to discover new avenues of musical expression, it creates a fulfilling experience for both the performers and the audience. Where performers are uncertain of how to proceed, musical and textual analysis can help them understand a piece’s structure and engage with audiences on a deeper level. Using George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children, I will analyze elements of the cycle that are salient to performers with the goal of creating a compelling, cohesive narrative for audiences. For those who are new to post-tonal repertoire, Crumb’s compositions offer an ideal opportunity for musicians to employ analysis as a tool for guiding performance choices. The musical structure of Crumb’s compositions is easily discernible when analyzed and is often deeply symbolic and spiritual in nature. His music, while meticulously notated, presents ample opportunity for individual interpretation and expression. Since its premiere in 1970, Ancient Voices of Children has become one of Crumb’s most celebrated pieces, largely due to his incredibly expressive setting of the poetry of Federico García Lorca. After a brief overview of both the composer and poet, I will explore the textual content, pitch content, melodic contour, harmonic structure, ensemble, and rhythm to provide performers with a clearer understanding of the work. This paper further investigates the relationship between Federico García Lorca’s poetry and George Crumb’s music and offers performance suggestions to convey that narrative. In outlining this process through Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children, this paper gives performers a guide to approaching post-tonal music and making it accessible to a broader audience. / Music Performance

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George Crumb sought to expand the sounds and techniques of modern pianism in his solo and chamber works for piano. His greatest contribution to the piano repertoire is Makrokosmos I and II for amplified piano. Although the work is widely known; it is typically only performed by specialists in advanced modernist repertoire because of the unfamiliar and demanding techniques that it requires. It is possible, though, for more pianists to learn this work by first mastering the techniques through preparatory pieces. The thirteen such pieces discussed in this dissertation come from different decades of the twentieth century and are in various styles, but they can all be mastered by beginner and intermediate-level students. These include Samuel Adler's Bells and Harp; Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos Vol. IV, No. 102; Seymour Bernstein's "Phoenix," No. 9 from Birds II; John Cage's "Prelude for Meditation" from Prepared Piano Music Volume 2, 1940–47; Paul Cooper's Cycles, II; Henry Cowell's Aeolian Harp and his "Time Table" from Five Encores to Dynamic Motion; George Crumb's "Berceuse for the Infant Jesu," No. 2 from A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979; Marti Epstein's "Inside the Piano" from American Etudes; Ross Lee Finney's "Black Notes and White Notes" from 32 Piano Games; Alan Hovhaness's Midnight Bell; Lajos Papp's Forte-Piano; and Jean François Proulx's "Scale Practice" from A Pedagogical Guide to Extended Piano Techniques.

I mitt kandidatarbete har jag genomfört en analys av George Crumbs (1929-2022) verk VOX BALAENAE (1971) som en form av auditiv paleokonst. Paleokonst är en genre inom bildkonsten som syftar till att med hjälp av paleontologi skapa bilder av hur förhistorisk flora och fauna kan ha sett ut. Andra satsen i VOX BALAENAE är en tema- och variationssats, Crumb har namngivit variationerna efter geologiska tidsåldrar, medan de kringliggande satserna är tillägnade själva tidens början och slut. Mitt fokus ligger på att analysera och jämföra musiken med den geologiska tidsålder som den gestaltar. Syftet med min studie är att undersöka hur Crumb musikaliskt gestaltar de geologiska tidsåldrarna och att se om förståelse av detta kan hjälpa mig att tolka och framföra stycket på ett mer meningsfullt sätt. Genom att analysera Crumbs musikaliska gestaltning av tidsperioderna kan jag få en djupare förståelse av hur musiken kan användas för att gestalta historiska epoker vilket i sin tur kan ge nya insikter om kopplingar mellan vetenskap och konst. Crumb använder sig av rytmik och kopplingarmellan fraser för att gestalta evolutionen samt skapar olika klangvärldar med hjälp av instrumentering och preparering av piano för att skapa musikaliska ljudlandskap. Att analysera ett verk i noggrann detalj är inte nödvändigtvis till gagn för det slutliga framförandet. Arbetet har vållat mig stor ångest och ibland hindrat mig från att tolka materialet ur ett enbart musikaliskt perspektiv. / <p>Ljudinspelning från examenskonsert 26/5-2023</p><p>VOX BALAENAE (1971) - George Crumb (1929-2022)</p><p>Emma Eskeby - flöjt</p><p>Hedvig Bengtsson - cello</p><p>Octavian Leyva Dragomir - piano</p>

During the 20th century, chamber works for harp expanded to include significantly different instrumentations, like flute, voice and harp. Indeed, a body of works for flute, voice, and harp began to develop mainly through the commissioning efforts of ensembles comprised of these instruments. This study of George Crumb's Federico's Little Songs for Children for flutes, soprano, and harp considers the unique advantages and challenges of this instrumentation and offers specific suggestions for performance. Attention to various compositional elements of Federico's Little Songs for Children, especially as they relate to the text, is also helpful in preparing to perform this work. The form, pitch material, and text-painting in the work allow for special opportunities to convey meaning to audiences in ways that do not rely on traditional tonal relationships. Accompanying the shift away from traditional tonal relationships, the development of the harp repertoire in chamber and solo settings during the 20th century also led to the development of many extended- techniques for this instrument. For the most part, these techniques have been described and given various notational symbols but not discussed in detail with regard to execution. Federico's Little Songs for Children itself requires several unique extended-techniques. Recommendations are given in this paper concerning how to achieve the extended-techniques in Crumb's work in a stylistically appropriate and effective manner.

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