Arthur William Foote (1853-1937) was a member of the "Second New England" school of composers, and is known primarily for his work as a composer. This study shows that Foote was also very active in chamber music and that his influence in the musical community was by no means limited to his work as a composer.Several scrapbooks exist containing programs, letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, reviews, and photographs which Foote collected over a twenty-six-year period. These scrapbooks are arranged, for the most part, in chronological order and chronicle Foote's life and musical activity as no other source does.Foote was a very active chamber musician. He established and maintained a series of chamber music concerts where none had existed before; he sought out the best musicians of the time to write for, perform with, and learn from; and he traveled to many regions of the United States, and to parts of Europe, listening, learning, teaching, and performing.All of Foote's chamber music works, except for the works for cello, remain out-of-print or unpublished. Ten chamber works which include piano and that have been assigned opus numbers are examined historically and analytically in this study;TRIO IN C MOLL, fir Pianoforte, Violine and Violoncell, Op. 5DREI CHARAKTERSTUCKE, fair Clavier and Violin, Op. 9 SONATE IN G MOLL, fir Klavier and Violine, Op. 20QUARTETT IN C DUR, fir Klavier, Violine, Bratsche and Violoncell, Op. 23 TROIS PIECES, pour hautbois et piano, Op. 31 / School of Music

Thesis (D.M.A)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2005. / Compact discs.

This documents aims at the identification of the sources of influence upon the styles of selected 20th century Chinese composers. Personal influences are reflected as well as those general influences specific to the different stylistic periods discussed. Most important, however, is the description of the methods by which these composers employ contemporary compositional devices to project musical gestures that are uniquely Chinese: elements of culture which are fundamentally programmatic and intimately related to the lives of the Chinese people. The introduction of Western music and musical instruments to China in the early 17th century and cultural exchanges with Japan served to gradually westernize the musical environment and training. The establishment of decidedly Western schools was accomplished at the beginning of this century, with the founding of Peking University and Shanghai National Conservatory. Music theory was taught, as well as history and composition, but with an emphasis on the practices of the 18th and 19th centuries. Compositions from this period reflect Western techniques from these eras, with some use of the pentatonic scale. In the 1930's, nationalism arose, a mirroring of the 19th-century European nationalistic trends. This philosophical conception has remained essentially unchanged to the present, as composers have aimed to utilize Western techniques to create artistic works and compositional styles which are uniquely Chinese. The musical works examined are limited to works for piano solo, as it is believed these are often more immediately revealing of compositional techniques and stylistic idioms.

Contemporary repertoire is not commonly taught or explored by teachers during the intermediate level, when a student's musical training is transitioning to an advanced level. Nonetheless, it is important for piano instructors to be open-minded about contemporary music and have some perspective on the development of music repertoire in the future. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a performance and pedagogical guide to Stephen Chatman's (b. 1950) Fantasies, from both technical and artistic viewpoints. The collection, which consists of eleven pieces, features a wide variety of contemporary idioms, styles, and means of notation. For instance, there are jazz-like syncopated rhythms, asymmetrical accents reminiscent of Primitivism, and Impressionistic or dissonant sonorities. Fantasies is not only a valuable tool for students to explore new sounds and improve their performing techniques while executing nontraditional notations and contemporary idioms, it is also a great teaching resource for instructors to promote students' musicality through hearing, seeing, and thinking. In this study, I provide individual, detailed descriptions for each of the pieces in the score, adding examples on how to address the difficulties they present to the performer. As a result, instructors can better understand how to help students prepare to perform this collection and spark their interest in playing contemporary music.

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The harmonic practices of the late romantic period are often discussed in general terms, categorical phrases, and a score of subjectivisms characteristic of the era. It is the purpose of this thesis to clarify certain aspects of the harmonic vocabulary which developed in the late romantic period.

William Mason (1829–1908) was a well-known American composer, pianist, and pedagogue. Researchers have mainly focused on Mason's career as a pedagogue in the United States and his pedagogical treatises, which are widely considered and used as the conceptual core of teaching materials on the nineteenth century. However, there has been only an annotated catalogue of Mason's music works, and no performance guide to his piano compositions. This dissertation is designed to be the first performance guide to his solo piano repertoire and act as an introduction to his music through an examination of selected works suitable for the intermediate student. This study provides instruction for students on how to practice these works through the analysis of the elements of practice – pedaling, phrasing, technique practice, touch, and musical expression – which were all considered as essential by Mason himself for a good performance. The five piano works selected are: Three Preludes, Op. 8, No. 1; Ballade et Barcarole, Op. 15; Valse Caprice, Op.17; Spring-Dawn, Mazurka–Caprice, Op. 20; and Spring Flower–Impromptu, Op. 21.

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