Throughout Leopold Godowsky's teaching career he emphasized to students that the technic of piano playing is not synonymous with the mechanics of piano playing.' Mechanics encompass specific problems such as 1) octaves, 2) pedalling, 3) articulation, 4) velocity, and 5) weight and relaxation. Technic involves not only the practical execution, but basic understanding in the application of such problemmatical areas.This study will deal with the mastery and understanding of five specific areas that form a basis for one's individual technical approach to performance. It is important pedagogically to confine oneself to a single problem while discussing such areas in order that each item be thoroughly understood.2 For example, the first chapter involves preparation needed to encounter confidently octave passages found in the actual piano repertory. The second chapter deals with application of the damper pedal in selected piano excerpts, while the chapter on articulation is limited to the ambiguities of printed staccato markings. The final two chapters encompass progressive steps toward controlled velocity in passage work and a study of two terms, weight and relaxation.The author hopes that with use of this manual these items can be handled with less difficulty and put into proper perspective. Careful thought has been given by the writer in selecting representative exercises and piano literature excerpts as illustrations for the reader and/or performer. These examples cannot only be studied, but used as preparation for any other related work. The purpose of this study is to supply teachers, students, and performers with a ready-reference guide dealing with five common, yet confusing areas in piano performance, pedagogy, and study.1Ruth Slenczynska, Music At Your Fingertips (New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1968), p. 35.2Karl Leimer, Rhythmics, Dynamics, Pedal, and Other Problems of Piano Playing (New York: Dover, Inc., 1972), p. 83.

This dissertation takes the form of an inter-subjective investigation into the ritual of performance, considering its function in terms of community engagement and its place in contemporary society. Ritual is placed in a secular context in which music is performed through the development of individual artistic expression, yet presented in a way that engages the audience as active participants. In this way audience and performer are united in experiencing the affect of music upon the emotions and the mind. / The views of art theorists, historians and critics, anthropologists, musicologists and arts practitioners, are held in the light of the author’s creative output through which a range of questions emerge regarding the cultivation of artistic identity, the artist’s role in the refinement of cultural expression, the relevance of live performance in the digital age, the transformational qualities of artistic practice upon the social and intellectual evolution of humanity, and the value of new musical language. / Chapter One examines the relationship between audience and musician from a performer’s perspective, in relation to Milton Babbitt’s article, Who Cares if You Listen? The connection between music performance and ritual practice and the possibility that artistic expression can actively engage audience receptivity is discussed in Chapter Two. Chapter Three contemplates the philosophical stance of the Art for Art’s Sake movement, that art exists in its own right without reference to the emotive experiences of humanity. Topics such as formal structure, the absence or presence of ethical content, the concept of aesthetic emotion and self objectivity, are examined alongside discussions of perception and consciousness. Chapter Four argues that performance, as ritual ceremony, becomes a porous boundary between lived and dream-like experience, through which the audience may pass to experience art on a profound level. The shared gesture of performer and audience becomes a life-enriching act that in turn nourishes all of society.

This dissertation takes the form of an inter-subjective investigation into the ritual of performance, considering its function in terms of community engagement and its place in contemporary society. Ritual is placed in a secular context in which music is performed through the development of individual artistic expression, yet presented in a way that engages the audience as active participants. In this way audience and performer are united in experiencing the affect of music upon the emotions and the mind. / The views of art theorists, historians and critics, anthropologists, musicologists and arts practitioners, are held in the light of the author’s creative output through which a range of questions emerge regarding the cultivation of artistic identity, the artist’s role in the refinement of cultural expression, the relevance of live performance in the digital age, the transformational qualities of artistic practice upon the social and intellectual evolution of humanity, and the value of new musical language. / Chapter One examines the relationship between audience and musician from a performer’s perspective, in relation to Milton Babbitt’s article, Who Cares if You Listen? The connection between music performance and ritual practice and the possibility that artistic expression can actively engage audience receptivity is discussed in Chapter Two. Chapter Three contemplates the philosophical stance of the Art for Art’s Sake movement, that art exists in its own right without reference to the emotive experiences of humanity. Topics such as formal structure, the absence or presence of ethical content, the concept of aesthetic emotion and self objectivity, are examined alongside discussions of perception and consciousness. Chapter Four argues that performance, as ritual ceremony, becomes a porous boundary between lived and dream-like experience, through which the audience may pass to experience art on a profound level. The shared gesture of performer and audience becomes a life-enriching act that in turn nourishes all of society.

This dissertation takes the form of an inter-subjective investigation into the ritual of performance, considering its function in terms of community engagement and its place in contemporary society. Ritual is placed in a secular context in which music is performed through the development of individual artistic expression, yet presented in a way that engages the audience as active participants. In this way audience and performer are united in experiencing the affect of music upon the emotions and the mind. / The views of art theorists, historians and critics, anthropologists, musicologists and arts practitioners, are held in the light of the author’s creative output through which a range of questions emerge regarding the cultivation of artistic identity, the artist’s role in the refinement of cultural expression, the relevance of live performance in the digital age, the transformational qualities of artistic practice upon the social and intellectual evolution of humanity, and the value of new musical language. / Chapter One examines the relationship between audience and musician from a performer’s perspective, in relation to Milton Babbitt’s article, Who Cares if You Listen? The connection between music performance and ritual practice and the possibility that artistic expression can actively engage audience receptivity is discussed in Chapter Two. Chapter Three contemplates the philosophical stance of the Art for Art’s Sake movement, that art exists in its own right without reference to the emotive experiences of humanity. Topics such as formal structure, the absence or presence of ethical content, the concept of aesthetic emotion and self objectivity, are examined alongside discussions of perception and consciousness. Chapter Four argues that performance, as ritual ceremony, becomes a porous boundary between lived and dream-like experience, through which the audience may pass to experience art on a profound level. The shared gesture of performer and audience becomes a life-enriching act that in turn nourishes all of society.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1978. / Bibliography: l. 72-73.

Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Alexanders-Universität zu Erlangen.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Rostock.

Thesis (doctoral)--Philipp-Universitẗ zu Marburg.

Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Alexander-Universität zu Erlangen.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Greifswald.