<p> This treatise is meant to increase awareness of a lesser-known work by Joseph Canteloube entitled <i>L'Arada</i>, a cycle of six songs for voice and piano based on the sonnets of Occitan poet Antonin Perbosc. The cycle is unique in that it represents an original vocal composition by Canteloube, with freely composed music not based on pre-existing folk melodies. Background information to the cycle is provided through 1) biographical sketches of both the composer and the poet, 2) general discussions of the poetry collection and the cycle as a whole, and 3) an overview of Occitan pronunciation. The final section of the treatise addresses the performance of the songs more directly, providing word-for-word translations, IPA transcriptions, and musical commentary for each piece.</p>

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2009 May 24

<p> This study seeks to establish the feasibility of <i>assai</i> as a moderating term in more cases than is typically assumed. Since evidence of concurrent competing definitions for the term <i>assai</i> exists from the mid- to late-18^th century, understanding and putting into practice a composer&rsquo;s indications according to his own understanding of the term becomes murky where the word <i>assai</i> is concerned during and beyond the time when the two definitions exist concurrently. Through investigation of musical scores, examining such features as ornamentation, the relative brilliance of the work, tonality, meter, and structure, the characteristics of a piece of music that are crucial to navigating the multivalent qualities of the word <i>assai</i> are identified and tested against the actual musical content of examples from works of J. S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, W. F. Bach, J. C. F. Bach, Johann Friedrich Agricola, C. P. E. Bach, W. A. Mozart, F. J. Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Chopin, and Franz Liszt.</p><p>

<p> Between 1958 and 2002, Italian composer Luciano Berio wrote fourteen compositions that have since become integral to the solo repertoire of the twentieth-century: the Sequenzas. A well-received body of works, the Sequenzas are most obviously defined by their virtuosity and timbral, technical experimentation. They are also marked by another feature, however&mdash;an analytically refractory nature. Indeed, the music of these pieces tends to resist applications of traditional analytic methods (especially those reliant on crisp category constructions), prompting a question&mdash;the question to which this dissertation responds: given the Sequenzas' resistance to mainstream tools, how might meaningful interpretations be generated for them? Or more specifically, how can form be supplied to the Sequenzas?</p><p> In this dissertation, I answer this question by proposing that formal sense can be generated for the Sequenzas by way of a traditional type of analysis referred to here as <i>associative formal analysis</i>. In this style of analysis, small-scale recurring units within the music&mdash;<i> patterns</i>&mdash;are appealed to in order to determine local-level form, each pattern's instantiation signaling a segment. The interaction and development of the patterns over time&mdash;both of which define the patterns' collective <i>temporal associative design</i>&mdash;are then consulted in order to supply shape to the music along more global lines. </p><p> I propose more than this, however, for were the proposition simply that associative formal analysis is useful in the Sequenzas' consideration, 1) this dissertation would be rehearsing an old argument and 2) such an assertion could not explain why set-class analysis (one type of associative formal analysis) is less effective. I thus specify that it is not merely associative formal analysis that is productive but a certain type of associative formal analysis. </p><p> Crucial to recognize about associative formal analysis, and what accounts for its various types, is the existence of two variables within the analytic strategy. The first variable concerns the patterns recognized: obviously, associative formal analysis involves the location of patterns, but what do (legitimate) patterns look like? The second variable concerns the evaluation of temporal associative design: which relationships, processes, etc. ought to be considered in assessments of pattern behavior? </p><p> Relative to the variable of pattern recognition, I propose that meaningful analytic results emerge in the Sequenzas' analysis when an orientation is adopted that incorporates both 1) a multiple-domain perspective (beyond pitch and pitch-related domains) and 2) a <i>flexible approach</i>&mdash;an approach to pattern recognition that allows for the variable use of multiple pattern-recognition strategies, many of which permit the recognition of less crisply defined patterns. This promotion of flexible-pattern recognition is central to this dissertation's methodology and, in some respects, is not new; but this dissertation renders the flexibility of its method in an uncommonly explicit fashion. Thereby, a direct answer is supplied to a question often neglected: if flexibility is beneficial, what does this flexibility look like? </p><p> Then, relative to the variable concerning temporal associative design, I propose that meaningful results emerge through a method that attends to both the development of patterns and the nature of their interaction, particularly as it concerns what is referred to here as <i>relative duration</i> and <i>relative position</i>. </p><p> So as to wage and substantiate both of these propositions, the dissertation proceeds in two parts. Part I outlines the dissertation's methodology, thereby introducing tools and discursive means that are apt to be of broad appeal. Notable among Part I's contributions are a set of terms and bases for the general evaluation and comparison of pattern types. Another prominent contribution is a newly formalized pattern type that consolidates previously marginalized work and a basic logic that permeates informal discourse: the <i>Mode of Activity</i>. Part II then features two extended, piece-long analyses of <i>Sequenza VIIa</i> and <i>Sequenza XI</i>. Through them, the dissertation demonstrates the power and potential of this dissertation's methodology, both of which are alluded to but not developed through Part I's small-scale analyses of music from <i>Sequenzas I, III, IV, V</i>, and <i>IXa</i>. Through the analyses, a message central to this project is also substantiated: patterns defined by low levels of associative specificity can be powerful objects of analytic inquiry, especially when they are responsibly defined and rigorously pursued. It is this author's hope that the communication of this message&mdash;combined with the general, pattern-based resources of this dissertation&mdash;will embolden others to be similarly adventurous in their association-making, helping to open up and expand analytic discourse on the Sequenzas and beyond.</p>

<p> The lives and careers of the three women composers Marion Bauer (1882-1955), Miriam Gideon (1906-1996), and Vivian Fine (1913-2000) spanned more than a century. Each wrote works for viola and piano, including Bauer's Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 22, Gideon's Sonata for Viola and Piano, and Fine's <i> Lieder for Viola and Piano.</i> Together, these composers' careers encompass a number of important trends in the professional development of the twentieth century woman composer in the United States. </p><p> Women composers were hindered in their advancement and acknowledgement for a number of reasons. One of these was a lack of "female tradition", the absence of an existing community of successful women composers to look to as examples. Another was the "female affiliation complex", the idea that female professionals struggle to look toward their predecessors as models because the female tradition is devalued. First, this document will explore the lives and influences of Marion Bauer, Miriam Gideon, and Vivian Fine, aiming to contribute to a better understanding of how "female tradition" and the "female affiliation complex" affected these composers' lives. Second, each work for viola and piano will undergo theoretical analysis focusing on goal-directed linearity. Goal-directed linearity is an issue of interest to performers and will encourage a deeper understanding of the works in question, fostering their further performance and dissemination.</p><p>

<p> My thesis paper examines the process of capturing and studying the sounds that surround us through three case-studies involving audio recording, the subtext beneath the sound, and bringing documentation of real life situations into a performance atmosphere. Each topic will be discussed through the examination of the personal processes and compositional methods of three composers who use environmental sound recordings in very different ways. With specific reference to my own piece Within a Soundscape&mdash;Scorned Confusion, I will present compositional concerns in relationship to the particular issues discussed with each composer.</p>

<p> This thesis examines the relationship between Giuseppe Verdi and the Paris Opera and the stage works that Verdi composed or reworked as a result of this business venture. Between 1847 and 1867, Verdi accepted four formal commissions for Paris: Jerusalem (1847), <i>Les v&ecirc;pres siciliennes </i> (1855), <i>Le trouv&egrave;re</i> (1857) and <i> Don Carlos</i> (1867). After a brief introduction discussing Verdi's career before Paris, each commission is discussed in detail from the genesis of the work through its premiere, and the eventual outcome of each opera. This study also evaluates the benefit of this collaboration to Verdi's international career given the requirements and time expended to produce each commission. It explores Verdi's adaptation to cultural differences, his handling of foreign business affairs, and his personal feelings toward French society. Much of the source material is drawn from Verdi's own writings and correspondence, as well as the writings of several Verdi scholars.</p>

<p> Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917-1995) was an African American composer, conductor, and professor. His compositional output contains more than 135 works that have been performed, recorded, and have earned him several awards, fellowships, and commissions. This document includes a descriptive analysis of three works for flute by Ulysses Kay: <i>Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute, Suite for Flute and Oboe</i>, and <i>Aulos for Solo Flute and Orchestra</i>. </p><p> The purpose of this study is to increase awareness of Kay's flute repertoire, to stimulate more frequent programming, to provide relevant historical information about these works and resolve discrepancies surrounding incorrect data. The discussion will provide flutists and teachers with a descriptive analysis that contains suggestions for performance practice. The procedures used closely examine the musical elements of tonality, pitch, rhythm, timbre, texture and form. This analysis will help flutists understand the historical context in which these works were written, and can assist in developing a clearer interpretation, yielding a more authentic performance. At the conclusion of each discussion, performance notes will provide a summary of technical challenges for the flutist, and recommendations for teachers to facilitate selecting appropriate repertoire for their students. </p><p> This investigation also includes an interview conducted with renowned flutist John Solum, the commissioning artist of the <i>Aulos</i>. Solum worked closely with the composer and has performed all of Kay's works for flute. The interview serves as a source of historical information and performance practice interpretations as told by one of the last living flutists to have worked personally with the composer. As there is very little written material surrounding Kay's compositions for flute, this study will serve to augment the current research concerning African American composers of flute literature.</p>

<p> This treatise will address the late twentieth-century and well-known Korean composer Chung Gil Kim's piano work <i>Go Poong</i> (Memories of Childhood; 1981) as a case study on how to make pedagogical use of works intended for performance. <i>Go Poong</i> is purely a programmatic composition intended to create a musical picture of four items in Korean cultural history including: a temple incense jar, a wooden shoe, a jade hairpin, and a paper window patch. The piece is also capable of functioning as an ideal pedagogical tool for intermediate and early-advanced players to experience technical exercises and compositional features that are a necessary part in the training of successful pianists. Repertoire useful either as preparation or as follow-up will be suggested.</p>

<p>This project report discusses the development of the transverse flute in the eighteenth century with reference to J. S. Bach's <i>Partita in A Minor</i> for unaccompanied flute. Though still relatively new, the transverse flute of this period rapidly developed to become the new standard over the recorder due to the new opportunities it provided to composers. The works of Bach serve as a prime example for showing the instrument's increasing popularity, and his motivations for creating the <i>Partita in A Minor </i> reveal the influences of many composers and performers of the transverse flute, such as Pierre Buffardin and Johann Joachim Quantz, on the instrument's developing idiom throughout the century. </p>