No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This DMA dissertation provides a pragmatic and coherent way of interpreting a piece of post-tonal music, Four Songs of Solitude, by John Harbison. In this study, a modified Schenkerian analysis, namely linear analysis, serves as a methodological tool for the performer to identify and understand the implicit focal pitches, linear progressions, musical directions, and background structures of the music. By exploring this modified Schenkerian approach to interpreting post-tonal music in-depth, the performer is expected to achieve convincing results in performance on stage.

Time for Bee consists of a series of ten original musical/theatrical compositions created between September 1992 and January 1994, first performed on the evening of January 28, 1994 in the Recital Hall of the University of British Columbia. While each of the works can be performed individually, it was the composer’s intent to create a recital which is logical in its progression. This should suggest that in some way the pieces belong together as a larger whole. The concept of “waiting” circulates throughout all the works, in the sense that the actual material is either minimalist (and so one is forced to “wait” for changes), or the philosophy behind a given piece is similarly based, but may not be evident in the sounding music. The studies in the music machine, for example, try to incorporate necessary stage changes between pieces (and the waiting the audience goes through) into musical events about such waiting. A secondary interest concerns the concept of contradiction. The majority of the works are, for example, based upon high-sounding textures (flute, violin, clarinet, high piano and mallets, etc). The studies in the music machine attempt to introduce low-sounding textures as a contrast, however, and throughout the recital a timpani and a bass drum sit off to the side of the stage, unplayed. These ideas, and others, are meant to serve as a contradiction to the unified high-sounding textures of the majority of the recital. Individual pieces are similarly based upon concepts of contradiction and waiting. Memory, as a concept, plays a prominent role in several pieces as well.

Time for Bee consists of a series of ten original musical/theatrical compositions created between September 1992 and January 1994, first performed on the evening of January 28, 1994 in the Recital Hall of the University of British Columbia. While each of the works can be performed individually, it was the composer’s intent to create a recital which is logical in its progression. This should suggest that in some way the pieces belong together as a larger whole. The concept of “waiting” circulates throughout all the works, in the sense that the actual material is either minimalist (and so one is forced to “wait” for changes), or the philosophy behind a given piece is similarly based, but may not be evident in the sounding music. The studies in the music machine, for example, try to incorporate necessary stage changes between pieces (and the waiting the audience goes through) into musical events about such waiting. A secondary interest concerns the concept of contradiction. The majority of the works are, for example, based upon high-sounding textures (flute, violin, clarinet, high piano and mallets, etc). The studies in the music machine attempt to introduce low-sounding textures as a contrast, however, and throughout the recital a timpani and a bass drum sit off to the side of the stage, unplayed. These ideas, and others, are meant to serve as a contradiction to the unified high-sounding textures of the majority of the recital. Individual pieces are similarly based upon concepts of contradiction and waiting. Memory, as a concept, plays a prominent role in several pieces as well. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Includes 1 sound cassette / Graduate

Bulgaria, though a fairly small Eastern European country, boasts an ancient history of folk traditions and music; however, very few notated works exist due to the people's primitive lifestyle throughout Bulgaria's history. Singing and dancing as well as creating instruments from wood and animal skin were considered an integral part of everyday life, equal to cooking, sewing, herding, or farming; in fact, one almost always accompanied the other. Thus, more than 1500 years of folklore was orally passed on and preserved generation after generation; however, nothing was notated until only very recently when Bulgarians realized the cultural and national value of their history. After the liberation from Ottoman Rule (1453-1877) a nationalist movement spread throughout the Balkan countries, which resulted in the emergence of Bulgarian composers. Music and songs from the local folk traditions evolved, developed, and - with notation - became the foundation for the vocal and instrumental music of the so-called first generation of Bulgarian composers. Around the turn of the century, many Bulgarian artists and musicians traveled to Western Europe (mostly Austria, Germany, and Russia) and upon their return, their artistic output created an original mixture of Bulgarian national folk with influences from Western classical music. After World War II, Bulgaria became one of the countries governed by the Communist regime, which restricted all travel to and contact with the West, including cultural influences from the West. Gradually, as the Communist regime became less controlling until it dissolved completely in 1989, restrictions on music and culture started to lift. Petar Christoskov (1917-2006), considered part of the second generation of Bulgarian composers, began his compositional career immediately after returning from Germany to a communist-ruled Bulgaria. His first opus was the set of 12 Caprices for Solo Violin (1953, formerly known as Concert Etudes in Folk Style); they have a fairly simple compositional style but are full of elements from the Bulgarian folk tradition. Some of these caprices, along with other works from the beginning of Christoskov's compositional career, were commissioned by the nationalist government and/or were required repertoire at national music competitions. Nearly thirty years after the first set of caprices, Christoskov composed another set: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 24 (1978-9). These later works also contain many Bulgarian folk characteristics, but their compositional style is much more abstract, atonal, and complex - more “mainstream Western.” The goal of this document is to compare and contrast the two sets of Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 and Op. 24, by investigating the development of Petar Christoskov's compositional style. I will argue that the constantly-changing political systems in twentieth-century Bulgaria had a direct impact on the composer's artistic output. After a historical overview of Bulgaria's music and political background, the two sets of caprices will be compared and contrasted by focusing on technical, musical, and sociological similarities and differences. In order to illustrate these similarities and differences, three caprices from each set will be selected and analyzed, as well as compared and contrasted with each other. The second part of the document will discuss the negative influence of the political climate on music and printing, with a focus on the difficulties of preserving Bulgarian culture itself. This research has the additional purpose of serving as scholarly support for a future project: as a personal contribution to the circulation and preservation of Bulgarian music, I intend to produce a new violin edition of Petar Christoskov's caprices as well as complete the arrangements for viola.

The aim of the study was to examine how students get their motivation to learn. How two different schools, Kulturskolan in Stockholm and Lilla Akademien, practises motivation when they teach the violin. The method was field studies and qualitative interviews. The result of the study indicates the importance of teaching students how to practise to get progression on their playing, to develop their learning skills to get them motivated. The result of the study indicates that the social environment and the positive experience of playing matters in terms of motivation. It also shows that to reach a professional level of playing the violin, a goal is needed. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur elever får motivation till att lära. Hur två olika skolor, Kulturskolan och Lilla Akademien, arbetar med motivation i ämnet fiolundervisning. I studien behandlades områden som motivation, lärande och övning. Båda skolorna granskades för att påvisa om det fanns likheter och skillnader i hur elever förhåller sig till övning och motivation. Studierna är genomförda på Kulturskolan i Stockholm samt på Lilla Akademien. Studiens material har insamlats genom fältstudier och kvalitativa intervjuer. Studiens resultat indikerar att det är viktigt att elever lär sig hur de ska öva för att få progression i sitt spel, utveckla sitt lärande och få motivation. Det som även spelar stor roll i motivation, är det sociala klimatet och den positiva upplevelsen av att spela. Studien visar på att, för att nå ett professionellt spel, behövs det ett tydligt mål.

The "Mystery'" sonatas for scordato violin and continuo by H. I. F. Biber (1644-1704) had been largely ignored until 1905, when they were included in the collection of Austrian masterpieces, Denkmäler der Tonkunst der 0sterreich. Even then, they were the cause of some confusion which was later corrected in an addenda to the volume which included this series of sonatas. In the baroque period, scordatura was used by a few of Biber's contemporaries, but the technique is not commonly used today. In order to fully understand and to appreciate the " mystery" sonatas, a knowledge of scordatura is necessary, and this technique is discussed in Chapter II. Because the 17th century violins differed slightly from those used today, and the resources of the instrument had not yet been fully developed, a discussion of these aspects has been included. A comparison of the works of Biber with those of his contemporaries shows him to be an innovator who contributed greatly to the growing technique of the violin.