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The problem of how to perform the early Classical keyboard slur has prompted perplexity and dissension in generations of thoughtful performers and teachers. While the mandatory legato indicated by the slur is unquestioned, diversity of opinion centers around the performance of the last note of the slur, specifically regarding its length. Modern pedagogy has generally followed a time-honoured principle of an early release for the last note of a slur, yet many artists seem to disregard this guidance at will. This study attempts to clarify the issue by examining several treatises of the early Classical period. A brief history of the slur is included because its origins undoubtedly influenced how it was later performed. Most of the research, however, focuses on relevant material found in three treatises written by contemporaries of Wolfgang Mozart, namely, CPE. Bach, Daniel Turk, and Mozart's father, Leopold. The three components of the slur—the first note, the notes under the slur, and the last note are treated in turn by presenting information found in the treatises and providing interpretative commentary. This information is then applied to slurs found in the keyboard sonatas of Wolfgang Mozart. Unfortunately, treatises provide no definitive answer to the question of the performance of the last note of a slur. This lacuna is most likely due to the daunting task of describing the many musical circumstances involved in performing the last note under a slur. Solutions to the problem, therefore, cannot simply be founded solely on treatise instructions regarding the slur. Fortunately, the wealth of descriptive writing on the general art of effective music-making also provides some important clues to understanding the principles of performing the last note under a slur. Much of this study focuses on understanding the three important factors influencing the slur's ending: formal structure, Classical violin bowing technique and, most important, the musical context in which a slur is found. When these three aspects of performance are understood, much of the uncertainty surrounding Wolfgang Mozart's slurs will disappear.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1981.

This study was conducted to ascertain and report attitudes of faculty-artist piano teachers at NASM-accredited music units with graduate programs concerning the diverse aspects of designing graduate student and artist piano recitals. A second objective was to compare and contrast the principles which govern program-building practices of graduate and artist piano recitals.The study consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 presents background information and the purpose, delimitations, and significance of the study. Chapter 2, a review of related literature, reveals that discontent toward program-building practices began as early as the middle of this century.Chapter 3 delineates the methods and procedures employed to collect the data. Responses collected from the questionnaire are reported in Chapter 4. Four recital types--graduate recitals, faculty-artist recitals, artist recitals in major cultural centers, and artist recitals in outlying areas are examined in terms of program length, format, content, and balance. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the study as well as comparisons and conclusions.It was found that graduate student and artist recitals enjoy few program-design commonalities. Analysis of the data revealed that only four commonalities were shared by all four recital groups: 1) Consider the respective moods of the repertory "Almost Always" or "Often" when determining the construction of a program, 2) a program's format should be chronological "Sometimes," 3) the "First Half" of a recital should be longest, and 4) lengthy works may be placed in "Both Halves" of a program.Respondents gave "Performer's Security" top priority when selecting the opening work for all recital types. Four criteria considered very important when selecting closing works were: 1) Mood, 2) Intensity, 3) Effectiveness, and 4) Performer's Security.Challenging the notion that there is one correct way to design a recital, participants offered a variety of strategies and formats. Finally, lists of suggested opening and closing works, works generally considered difficult for audiences and works composed post-1950 which have found favor with audiences are appended to the study. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to create two multimedia projects using computer software that combined a soundtrack with an interpretive visualization of music written for two pianos, and to document the technical procedures involved in the creation of the multimedia projects.This study was a collaborative undertaking between the author and the other member of PALENAI Piano Duo, Adrienne Shannon. A companion to the current dissertation has been submitted by Ms. Shannon, titled Black and White in Color: The Creative Aspects Involved in the Production of Two Computer Multimedia Projects Based on Music for Two Pianos.The goal of the multimedia projects was to produce visualizations of the musical elements and compositional devices found in the selected compositions. The two pieces selected for these visualizations were "Le Cygne", from Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Satins, and the Prologue from the Sonata for Two Pianos by Francis Poulenc. The SWAN project is visualized by means of realistic photography and the PROLOGUE project makes use of abstract imagery.This study examines the technical procedures in all stages of the projects, including the creation of the source photographs and the scanning procedures, the image editing and manipulation stage that was carried out in Adobe Photoshop, the composition of the project using Adobe Premiere, and the output to a computer-based presentation by compiling the project into a QuickTime movie.The projects in this study are intended to express the music by visual means as a creative endeavour, as an educational tool, and as a demonstration of the capabilities of two Adobe software programs within a Macintosh environment. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to create two multimedia projects using computer software that combined a soundtrack with an interpretive visualization of music written for two pianos, and to document the creative factors involved in the creation of the multimedia projects.This study was a collaborative undertaking between the present writer and the other member of PALENAI Piano Duo, Joy Innis. A companion to the current dissertation has been submitted by Ms. Innis, titled Black and White in Color: The Technical Procedures Involved n the Production of Two Computer Multimedia Projects Based on Music for Two Pianos.The goal of the multimedia projects was to produce visualizations of the musical elements and compositional devices found in the selected compositions. The two pieces selected for these visualizations were "Le Cygne", from Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Satins, and the Prologue from the Sonate pour deux pianos by Francis Poulenc.The study begins with a traditional analysis of the works followed by a description of the images that were selected from the image pool for the visualizations (the image pool is described in detail in the companion dissertation); an explanation of the criteria for image enhancement and manipulations that were carried out in the Adobe Photoshop program; and a detailed outline of the composition stage of the projects using the Adobe Premiere program.The projects in this study are intended to express the music by visual means as a creative endeavour, as an educational tool, and as a demonstration of the capabilities of two Adobe software programs within a Macintosh environment. / School of Music

Chapter I. Emma Lou Diemer, currently Professor of Composition at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is an excellent representative of the mainstream of twentieth- century American music. Born in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri, she began composing at an early age, motivated by her improvisations at the piano. She received a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music from Yale and a Doctor of Philosophy from Eastman, all in composition.Diemer's career has encompassed teaching in the public schools and at the university level, working as a church organist, and performing publically on all of her keyboard instruments. Her compositional output reflects this diversity. In 1959, she was the only woman in the first group of young composers to be awarded Ford Foundation Grants, for which she was assigned to the secondary schools of Arlington, Virginia. During this time, the simpler works for the bands and choirs resulted in requests from publishers and commissions from many sources, for choral works in particular. These have since become her largest category of compositions. However, she has also written some twenty-six chamber and solo works for piano. This body of music, which reflects both her many influences and her unique style, constitutes an outstanding contributionto her art.Chapter II. Her earliest works reflected her stated models, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Gershwin, in their programmatic titles, energetic rhythms, and full keyboard sound. In them one can see her affection for low sustained resonant tones and for Prokofiev-like brilliant high register sounds. She frequently used chord structures in thirds, but employed a deliberately atonal harmonic framework.Chapter III. At Yale, she fell under the neoclassic influence of Hindemith. Her forms tightened and her harmonic language centered on tonics and key schemes resembling traditional modes. Features seen in the early works became pervasive: motivic melodic construction, ametric and syncopated rhythms in a strongly metric context, ostinatos in all registers, imitative textures, structured fugues, and a Bartokian control of harmony by intervals, particularly the fourth and fifth.Chapter IV. With the solo piano works, she melded the neoclassic structured language with her earlier romantic style. Ideas once again flowed directly from improvisations, while she also wrote her first large twelve-tone work.Chapter V. In the 1970's, she combined the sonorities of the electronic world with intrinsically pianistic techniques, including the new sounds of the avant-garde. Rhythm returned as pulsing beats, contrasted with free and aleatoric sections. Neoclassic motivic development generated dramatic forms.Chapter VI. Diemer integrates many techniques, new and old, into a highly successful and personal style, one which places ultimate value on expression and communication. Retaining a strong tie to the past, she is a cautious explorer, rarely breaking new ground, but eventually encompassing even the most advanced trends into wonderfully effective works.

The encore piece for piano is viewed both as an historical study and an investigation of current programing trends. Data from the New York Times, music reviews and questionnaires completed by distinguished American pianists provided information that was compiled and charted.A study of the years 1920 through 1990 showed a discernible move away from extended encore segments, with a shift toward a single encore offering. Spontaneous rushing of the stage by theaudience and demanded immediate re-hearings of works faded shortly after 1940.Questionnaires revealed present-day artists are most influenced by length and character of the work, as well as the ending program piece in selecting encores. Two additional influences are the desire for contrast in succeeding encores and spontaneity in encore choice. Questionnaire answers reaffirmed that fewer encores are given in the 1990's; also noted were the facts of encores becoming shorter, more substantial, and less virtuosic. An inclusion of lesser-known works from the twentieth century was indicated.Research indicates that selecting the appropriate encore is both an art and a science. The importance of the intuitive art of judging audience response and spontaneity of encore choice is matched only by the role of the analytical in studying past successful encore models and programing an effective encore sequence. A successful encore is determined as much by what precedes and follows its performance as by its own character. / School of Music

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Rochester, 1966. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves 302-303. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4006