The first three recitals contained solely performances of piano music. The first one consisted of an Etude-Tableau by Rachmaninov, the Capriccio by Stravinsky (the chamberensemble accompaniment arranged for second piano), and the great Sonata in A minor by Schubert. The second recital contained a Prelude and Fugue by J. S. Bach, Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, a Romance by the performer, Peter Covino's Toccatina Op. 4 No. 8, and Chopin's Nocturne Op. 55 No. 2 and Scherzo in E. The third recital consisted of Schonberg's Sechs Kleine Klavierstilcke, Ives's Some South-Paw Pitching, and the Sonata Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier") by Beethoven. The fourth recital featured a lecture which surveyed the piano waltz throughout its history. Several complete examples, namely Weber's Invitation to the Dance, Chopin's Waltz in A minor, and La Valse by Ravel, and incomplete examples including a Lundler by the performer, several of Schubert's waltzes, Chopin's Waltz Op. 42, and Man Lebt Nur Einmal! by Strauss-Tausig interspersed the lecture. All four recitals, tape-recorded, and the lecture, typewritten, are filed together in the Graduate Office of the North Texas State University.

This dissertation focuses on the clarinet music of Luigi Bassi (1833-1871), an Italian clarinetist and composer. Biographical information and performance history for Luigi Bassi are included. Bassi wrote 27 works for clarinet, including 15 opera fantasies or transcriptions. Most of his works are housed in the Milan Conservatory library. This document provides analysis of all but two of Bassi's 27 works. For Bassi's pieces with ties to opera, I identified his source material and discussed the ways in which he manipulated the material. A brief synopsis of each opera is included. This study serves as a performance guide for those seeking to perform Bassi's clarinet works.

Beginning and intermediate piano students typically study the repertoire of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This pedagogical approach leaves them underprepared to approach compositions written since the latter part of the twentieth-century which are significantly different in terms of harmony, rhythm, meter, and compositional procedure. Therefore, a step-by-step method is necessary to prepare a student for the challenges of learning twentieth and twenty-first century piano music. Civil War Variations (1988), by Logan Skelton, is an excellent example of a piece that presents a number of challenges characteristically found in late twentieth-century piano music. The twenty-five variations that comprise the work incorporate a series of twentieth-century musical techniques, namely complex rhythms, extreme dissonance, frequent metric changes, dissonant counterpoint, the inclusion of blues scales and rhythms, and new notations. The purpose of this study is to identify the technical, musical, structural and notational challenges posed by a work such as Logan Skelton’s Civil War Variations; examination of this piece will lead to suggestions regarding repertoire that a teacher may assign to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students in order to prepare them logically and in a step-by-step fashion to cope with and meet the challenges posed by this and other compositions having similar characteristics.

This paper investigates Ronald Stevenson's unique treatment of large-scaled structure in his Passacaglia on D S C H. This piece's unusual eighty-minute length, use of traditional forms and unusual piano techniques, musical references to other cultures and a massive triple-fugue over a ground bass will be examined as they relate to its overall form. The elements of rhythm, melody/mode, harmony, counterpoint, piano techniques, and tonality are also used as means of highlighting many unifying elements of the piece which contribute to its overall cohesiveness. Tributes to other composers, among them Dimitry Shostakovich to whom the piece is dedicated, are discussed in addition to many references to world cultures and events which support Stevenson's views on what he terms world music. Rarely is a piece written that encompasses such a wide range of musical elements that possess the ability to engage an audience for an uninterrupted length of eighty-minutes. As of yet, an in-depth scholarly investigation of Stevenson's treatment of formal unity in this landmark piano work has not been done. This analysis reveals Stevenson's approach to composing in such a large form, as well as illustrating his mastery of variation, counterpoint and unending ingenuity for innovative piano techniques. The composer's background and philosophies are discussed as well as the major impact made on his compositional style by both Percy Grainger and Ferruccio Busoni.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie verhandeling is om die opvoedkundige en artistieke waarde van klavierwerke, wat vir die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika (hiema UNISA) se musiekeksamens voorgeskryf is, uit te lig. Die eerste hoofstuk gee 'n beknopte oors1g van die geskiedenis van UNISAmusiekeksamens. In die tweede hoofstuk word geselekteerde werke ontleed en geevalueer. Daarna volg drie bylaes wat die volgende inligting bevat: Bylae 1 'n V olledige lys van alle werke wat tot 1990 gekomponeer is vlf UNISA se klaviereksamens, volgens komponiste gerangskik. W erke word alfabeties ingedeel volgens die komponis en datums word voorsien van wanneer die werk gekomponeer en voorgeskryf is. Werke wat nie in hierdie verhandeling ontleed is nie, word met 'n asterisk aangedui. Bylae 2 'n Volledige lys van alle werke wat tot 1990 gekomponeer is Vlf UNISA se klaviereksamens, volgens grade ingedeel. Komponiste word graadsgewys alfabeties gerangskik. Bylae 3 Kort biografiese sketse van die komponiste gedek in hierdie verhandeling ter inligting van leerlinge en onderwysers. Komponiste word alfabeties gerangskik. In hierdie verhandeling is slegs navorsing gedoen met betrekking tot die klavierwerke. W erke van ander instrumente is nie nagevors nie. Veertig komponiste se werke word gedek. Meer as eenhonderd en dertig stukke is versamel. Die ontleding van al hierdie werke sou te veel wees vir die omvang van hierdie verhandeling en is daar dus geselekteer. Seleksie het plaasgevind op grond van: Eksamengraad Daar word op laer grade gekonsentreer (V oorgraad 1 tot graad 5) omrede dit juis gedurende hierdie aanvangsonderrig is waar die liefde en belangstelling vasgele word vir die aanleer van werke uit eie bodem. Twee vorige verhandelings oor Suid-Afrikaanse klavierwerke ontleed oorwegend werke van hoer grade. Die navorser verwys hier na verhandelings van Rosemary YA Maritz en CL Venter (volledige verwysing in bibliografie). Moeilikheidsgraad Stukke wat makliker hanteerbaar is vir die leerling, het voorkeur geniet. Geen werke van graad 8 en die Onderwyslisensiaat of Voordraerslisensiaat word ontleed nie. Enkele werke van grade 6 en 7 word egter ook ontleed. Die ontleding en evaluering van die werke word alfabeties, volgens komponiste, ingedeel. In die ontleding word daar gelet op aspekte wat van opvoedkundige en artistieke waarde vir die jong leerling sal wees. Dit word ook bedoel as aansporing vir die onderwyser om van die werke aan die leerling te leer. Al die werke (voorgraad 1 tot graad 7) is bekombaar van die Argief in die biblioteek van die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika. Sommige onderwysers mag nog van die ou eksamenbundels in hul privaat versameling he. Dit sou egter 'n groot aanwins wees indien al hierdie musiek beskikbaar sou wees in een bundel. Onderwysers sou dan meer gereeld van die werke in die jong leerling se repertorium kon insluit. Die navorser vertrou dat die benadering van hierdie verhandeling, wat konsentreer op interessante opvoedkundige aspekte, die leerkrag sal voorsien van voldoende motivering om van die ryke erfenis uit eie bodem gebruik te maak, sodat dit nooit verlore mag gaan nie. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M. Mus.

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