Thesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [118]-120).

Dissertation (D.M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by John Salmon; submitted to the School of Music. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-159).

Thesis (D.M.A.--Music)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Works analyzed: First piano concerto / Dmitri Shostakovich -- Quintet for piano and strings / Alfred Schnittke -- Drei Stücke / Edison Denisov -- Sonata no. 5 in ten movements / Galina Ustvolskaya. Duration of acc. tapes: 1:25:00. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-84).

Einojuhani Rautavaara's oeuvre is characterised by four distinctive creative periods, each demonstrating a remarkable variety of compositional idioms and styles. His application of multifaceted elements, often within a single work leading to notions of postmodernism, is derived from multifarious sources, such as (Finnish) folklore, Orthodox mysticism and a wide variety of standard twentieth century compositional techniques. Furthermore, Rautavaara regularly quotes from his own material, thus creating elements of auto-allusions within his oeuvre; a predisposition which forms an essential part of his compositional aesthetic. Analyses of eight piano works (1952-2007) provide a cross-section of Rautavaara's output which, together with a consideration of biographical factors and analytical focus on the intertextual elements of his writing, offers a rationale for determining the development of his musical identity. The analyses conclude that intertextual elements, which appear through a diverse array of expressive modes (such as mysticism, nationalism and constructivism) are an essential part of Rautavaara's eclectic compositional style and contribute to an understanding of the on-going development of his musical identity.

The lecture was given on September 25, 1989. The discussion dealt with the stylistic characteristics of music for clarinet by Ernesto Cavallini and included a performance of four romanzas: La Calma, Un Pensiero, L'Incudine, and Lontano dalla Patria. Cavallini was the foremost clarinet virtuoso of the nineteenth century as well as a prolific composer of music for his instrument. The works presented in the lecture represent Cavallini's proclivity for a performance style combining virtuosity with lyrical expression. Copies of the original publications of Cavallini's romanzas were obtained from the Biblioteca del Conservatory, "Giuseppi Verdi," Milan, Italy. In addition to the lecture recital, three other recitals for solo clarinet were given. The first recital was given on October 29, 1984, and included works by Carl Maria von Weber, Leslie Bassett, Halsey Stevens, and Carl Reinecke. The second recital was given on July 29, 1985, and included works by Bernard Heinrich Crusell, Halsey Stevens, and Johannes Brahms. The third recital was given on October 3, 1988, and included works by Saviero Mercadante, Eugene Bozza, and John Ireland. All four recitals were recorded on magnetic tape and are filed, along with the written version of the lecture materials, as a part of the dissertation.

Four of the composers of the Second New England School, Amy Cheney Beach (1867-1944), Arthur Foote (1853-1937), George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931), and Horatio Parker (1863-1919), led the flowering of America's art music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This study focused on these composers' partsongs that contain an original piano part and also on one chamber work with piano by each of them. The role of pianism within these works was the primary topic of this study, and the piano's contribution to the partsongs and the chamber works was compared and contrasted.The study centered on the four composers' compositional techniques, and the relationship between the voices or strings to the piano was identified. It also revealed the technical demands placed on the pianist. Each partsong or chamber work movement was first briefly analyzed and then suggestions to the pianist/ensemble were made, which were based on the analysis, and that intended to draw the pianist's attention to the most relevant concerns that he will face while preparing this music. The works that I included in this study are from the first period of American history in which American composers wrote significant pieces of art music. The compositions from this turning point in American history reveal a fascinating mix between German Romantic, Modernist, and "American" elements. I found both the partsongs and chamber pieces to be worthy of study, and the large body of works of these four composers, in my opinion, deserves greater exposure.The piano writing, in both their partsongs and chamber works, is quite accomplished and reveals just how gifted these four composers were as pianists. The varied piano textures and the technical demands for the pianist create challenging, yet enjoyable interesting, piano parts, which serve both the partsongs and chamber pieces very well. The piano writing of these four composers' chamber pieces is more complex than that of their partsongs, but both genres contain effective piano parts. Contemporary audiences of classical music would find the piano writing of these works (not to mention the works in their entirety) to be very worthwhile. / School of Music

This study has three purposes: first, to point out the stylistic elements of music that are present in the piano works of Debussy and Ravel; second, to determine how the composers have used these elements; and third, to discover the effects that have been achieved through individual uses of the elements.

The present dissertation consists in an original composition for solo piano, titled Seven Nocturnes (2020). The score is preceded by a critical essay in which I discuss the overall aesthetic and formal qualities of the work, its musical, philosophical, theoretical, and historical background, as well as specific performance suggestions for future interpreters. Particular emphasis is given to the work's experimental use of musical time and original approach in relating expanded time with directional harmony.

The purpose of this study is to acquaint the reader with certain scales, not merely as they are used to provide the theoretical "building stones" of all music, but as they have been used as actual scale passages in the piano music of two twentieth century composers. This is a study of the use of various scales in the piano music of Debussy and Ravel. A list of the piano music of these composers which was available for the present investigation is given in the Bibliography. A careful analysis of the music has been necessary in order to determine: First, the types of scales the composer uses; second, the interpretation of the scale in its context; third, the ways in which some scale passages are employed to help project musical thought in the composition; and fourth, the frequency of occurrence of types of scale passages.

Toru Takemitsu's piano works reveal a new scope to the concept of sound in modern piano literature. He achieves originality through his imagination and his Japanese cultural and musical heritage. Subtle Japanese elements, which have been embedded for centuries in Japan's culture and music, lend a unique, but not outwardly Japanese, feeling to this work.