Thesis (M. Mus.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The transcription for two pianos of Arnold Schonberg's Verkliirte Nacht fills a gap in the two-piano literature and gives an insight into the composer's earlier style of composition. Few works of this complexity exist in the two-piano literature. The process of transcription has to take into account the composer's structural and tonal language, and in particular the problems of transferring a composition from string instruments to the piano. The transcriber cannot imagine how the composer would have done a similar transcription, but the intentions of the composer in the original version can be interpreted and transferred in a stylistically acceptable manner. At all times the possibilities of the instruments should be taken into consideration. Given the complex sound texture of the original version, the suggestions for a twopiano version have to incorporate the following: note length and rest length, sound colour, attack/articulation, bowing, articulation markings, effects and texture. In the assignment an explanation is given of the deviations that stem from the above factors. The awareness of these deviations necessitates a distinction between arrangement and transcription and compels the transcriber to be as faithful to the original score as possible. The explanation of deviations further provides the performer with an awareness of the artistic possibilities that the work provides. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die transkripsie vir twee klaviere van Arnold Schonberg se Verklarte Nacht vul 'n gaping in die tweeklavier-literatuur. Dit gee ook verdere insig in die komponis se vroeere komposisiestyl. Daar bestaan min werke van hierdie soort kompleksiteit in die tweeklavier-literatuur. Die transkripsieproses moet die komponis se strukturele en tonale taal in ag neem - in die besonder die probleme rondom die transkribering van 'n strykkomposisie na 'n klavierkomposisie. Die uitdaging hierin Ie in die feit dat die transkribeerder die bedoeling van die komponis in die oorspronklike weergawe moet interpreteer en dan op 'n stilisties-aanvaarbare manier moet transkribeer. Die moontlikhede van die instrumente moet ook te alle tye in ag geneem word. Met inagneming van die komplekse klanktekstuur van die oorspronklike weergawe, fokus hierdie werkstuk op voorstelle vir 'n tweeklavier-weergawe rondom die volgende aspekte: noot- en ruslengte, klankkleur, aanslaglartikulasie, strykslae, artikulasieaanduidings, effekte en tekstuur. Afwykings rondom bogenoemde aspekte word ook verduidelik. Weens die transkribeerder se bewuswees van hierdie afwykings is 'n onderskeid tussen verwerking en transkripsie noodsaaklik. Boonop noop dit die transkribeerder om so getrou as moontlik te bly aan die oorspronklike weergawe. Die verduideliking van die afwykings maak die uitvoerende kunstenaar bewus van die artistieke moontlikhede van die werk.

This study chronicles the development of piano music in China through seven representative works. An important aspect of this research will be to evaluate how and to what extent the repertoire reflects the diverse influences of Western music, traditional Chinese culture, and Chinese politics. Due to the tumultuous social history of modern China, political factors have dictated and continue to dominate cultural aesthetics in a unique way. As we have seen, at some period, styles closely conformed to the political ideology. When the political climate was freer, however, the composer's creative ideology was allowed to be expressed more openly, and the cultural exchange with the West was freer. Although many Chinese pieces are not of high quality, a number of Chinese composers have successfully devoted themselves to integrating Western musical techniques with their own rich cultural background.

This portfolio presents seven compositions composed for different instrumental and vocal forces, accompanied by a commentary and recordings of some of these works. Across the seven pieces there has been a concern with building longer-term structures; establishing a stronger developmental style; and with moving towards a more systematised approach to harmony as a way of creating a harmonic language that can underpin development more efficiently.  Several of the works show a direct engagement with the issue of form, which is approached from the perspective of Classical models, the listener’s perception and in the context of a highly chromatic harmonic language.  In contrast, two works (<i>Aubade</i> and <i>So Turn Your Heart</i>) engage more directly with diatonic models of harmony. The dominant concern across all the works presented has been the desire to create developmental, direct music in which the notion of transformation, rather than stasis and ritual, are of paramount importance.  From a melodic, harmonic and structural point of view each work represents different ways in which this has been attempted. The commentary that accompanies the works explores many of these ideas in more detail as well as setting out the origins and development of each composition. There is also an explanation as to how the initial material was decided upon and utilised during the compositional process. The commentary then concludes with a summary of what has been achieved over the course of the programme and where this might lead in the future.

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music recital, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The chamber music program included a trio with the violin and cello performing with the piano. The repertoire of all of the programs was intended to demonstrate a variety of types and styles of piano music from several different historical periods. The lecture recital, "The Poetic Ideal in the Piano Music of Franz Liszt," was an attempt to enter a seldomexplored area of Liszt's musical inspiration. So much has been written about the brilliant and virtuosic compositions which Liszt created to demonstrate his own technical prowess that it is easy to lose sight of the other side of his creative genius. Both as a composer and as an author, Liszt reiterated his belief in the fundamental kinship of music and the other arts. The visual arts of painting and sculpture were included, but he considered the closest relationship to be with literature, and especially with poetry.

The lecture recital was given October 15, 1971. The subject of the discussion was Brahms and the Character Piece: Emotion Guided by Intellect, and it included historical and biographical information, an analysis of Brahms' romantic-classic style, a general analysis of the six character pieces in Opus 118, and performance of Opus 118 by memory. In addition to the lecture recital, three other public recitals were performed. These three programs were comprised of solo literature for the piano. The first solo recital was on April 15, 1971, and included works of Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, and Ravel. The second program, presented on April 28, 1972, featured several works of Beethoven. Performed on Septemhber 25, 1972, the third recital programmed compositions by Chopin, Debussy, and Prokofieff. Magnetic tape recordings of all four programs and the written lecture material are filed together as the dissertation.

This study examines what Busoni meant by "formal deficiencies" when he described his 1884 version of Chopin Variations, and reveals that changes made to the 1884 version during its process of revision in 1922 correct the "formal deficiencies" and show a fundamental change in Busoni's compositional style and perception of musical motion. Including a detailed analysis of the modifications, omissions, and additions made to the 1922 version (including an examination of the Chopin Prelude in C minor, op. 28, No. 20 as a theme to reveal aspects of its construction used in the variation process), which shows how these changes affect the work's compositional structure.

The purpose of the thesis is to analyze formally, harmonically and melodically the five movements of the suite both as separate movements and inclusively as one cohesive unit. The thesis will be written in three parts: Part One will include a biographical sketch of the composer, a general discussion of his music, background information on the suite and Dett's antecedents and contemporaries influencing him. Part Two will discuss the following: A) Form, B) Harmonic Analysis, and C) Melodic Analysis and the influences of black folk idioms. Part Three will include the keyboard music of Dett's contemporaries as compared to his suite in terms of their contrasts and similarities.

The purpose of the present study is to determine the stylistic characteristics of Beethoven's early piano trios. For the purposes of this study, the term "piano trio" is defined as any work for three instruments in which a piano participates. Of the twelve such trios written by the composer, the first six are dealt with. There is in addition a brief discussion of a trio of uncertain origin. These six piano trios were composed over a span of about ten years (1785-1795), between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Although there is a great deal of uncertainty as to the exact time and place of origin of these trios, the first three are generally considered to have been written in Bonn, and the last three in Vienna.

There are two major purposes in selecting Couperin's programmatic clavecin pieces for study; to prove their importance in the evolution of programmatic music and to prove the value of their study by the modern pianist. Due to the enormous number of Couperin's programmatic pieces, a detailed analysis of each piece will not be attempted in this paper. Instead, a general survey will be made.

Bela Bartok's art is a perfect microcosm of the art of the twentieth century. It is interwoven with the musical conceptions and techniques of the great Western European masters, without in any way obscuring the individuality, the national consciousness, and the personal style and originality of the composer's own musical language -- a language rooted in the glorious tradition of his people. In the six volumes of the Mikrokosmos, or "little world," Bartok has presented a series of progressively difficult pieces designed -- if not intentionally, at least effectively -- to introduce to the piano student a technical approach to piano playing in the modern idiom. Admittedly, the etude does not cover every pianistic technical problem. It clearly shows that Bartok fully appreciates the worth of the great wealth of piano literature, and does not prescribe his method as a "cure-all" for the technical problems of piano playing.