This document examines Sonata No. 1 for Piano, Op. 74 of Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936) and illustrates the incorporated Russian musical elements. The study has the twofold purpose of firstly defining musical elements idiomatic of Russian folk song, Russian Orthodox Church music and the Mighty Five; and secondly finding their representation in Glazunov's piano sonata. The introductory chapter describes the purpose of this study and the need for identifying the idioms of musical Russianness. The second chapter provides a historical background and explores characteristics of Russian folk music and Russian Church music, which are intrinsic to Russian musical culture. The third chapter discusses the historical background of Russian nationalism in music, the establishment of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and the contributions of the Mighty Five to the rise of a truly Russian national style as opposed to the Western traditions. Chapter four provides biographical information about Aleksandr Glazunov. The first part of chapter five presents historical background of Sonata No. 1 for Piano, Op. 74. The second part of this chapter discusses the composition within the context of Russian musical elements as identified in chapters two and three. The concluding chapter six summarizes the observations of the author. It was the premise of this study that the compilation of historical and analytical evidence would lead to an identification of the idioms of musical Russianness and of their use by Aleksandr Glazunov. The analysis performed here captures the musical elements of Russianness and offers a deeper understanding of Glazunov's achievement in integrating them with traditional Western compositional techniques.

Alexander Grechaninov was one of the most important composers of the late Russian Romantic School. By the second half of the twentieth century he remained one of the few living composers who continued the traditions of the great Russian Romantic masters, such as Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. He is primarily known for his liturgical works, which are truly masterpieces of this genre. Because many of his instrumental works remain unpublished, particularly the chamber works, they continue to be undeservedly ignored in the concert hall. Grechaninov's unpublished works for clarinet include Septet for Clarinet, Bassoon and String Quintet, Op. 172a, Serenade for Clarinet and String Orchestra (without opus number), and Sonata No. 1 for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 161. This project not only brings to light Grechaninov's unpublished clarinet works, but also emphasizes the importance of his published clarinet pieces which have to date been forgotten, especially in the United States. The writer prepares a performance edition of the Sonata No. 1, Op.161 from Grechaninov's original autograph manuscript which is held in the New York Public Library's Toscanini Archives. After a brief introduction, the document describes Grechaninov's biography, including his historical and societal background, compositional growth throughout his career, and outside influences to which he would have been exposed (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 discusses in details Grechaninov's compositional output and distinct features of his style. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the published and unpublished works for clarinet by Grechaninov. Chapter 6 provides a detailed structural and tonal analysis of the Sonata No. 1, Op. 161 and discusses the process of editing. Included in the appendices are: performance edition of the Sonata No. 1 for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 161 (score and clarinet part); photocopy of the original autograph manuscript of the Sonata No. 1 for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 161 (score and viola part); photocopy of the original autograph manuscript of the Septet for Clarinet, Bassoon and String Quintet, Op. 172a; and photocopy of the original autograph manuscript of the Serenade for Clarinet and String Orchestra, without opus number.

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a musical work of one of the world's most favorite composers of the 20th century - Sergej Prokofiev. Even though I would like to address all his pieces, given the extensiveness of his work and my profession as a pianist and a pedagogue, I decided to focus only on the pieces for solo piano. I detail each piano piece in a catalogue organized by opus number. My analysis focuses on compositions, eventually on cycles, which can be somehow beneficial to us. Beneficial, in this sense means exposure to pieces with variety of character, use of melody and eventually pieces from a various work periods. Another condition during a selection of pieces for my dissertation was various levels of difficulty. The majority of my thesis is dedicated to the piano sonatas. Although they are not very long, they belong to the piano masterpieces forever. Further, I mention less performed Etudes, Op. 2 and Visions fugitives, Op. 22, and on the other hand well known Suit from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75. The music for children is represented in my analysis by one piece only - Children's Songs, Op. 65. Prokofiev wrote nearly 40 opuses for piano, which makes up almost a third of his work. That is a remarkable number and these pieces are worth interest.