Prokofiev had a specific approach to the modernist aesthetic that is worthy of a special study from a new perspective: eclecticism. There are two distinguishable views on his achievement in modern music. One is the Western version, which sees his eclectic approach as not innovative enough in comparison with modern composers such as Stravinsky. The other view is from the traditional Soviet approach, which holds Prokofiev in the highest esteem. These sources largely ignore Prokofiev's Paris and American periods. Such an oversimplification is likely to have reflected political circumstance. Neither the Western view nor the Soviet view provides a satisfying interpretation of Prokofiev's musical style. Therefore, understanding his eclectic approach is important to challenge and redefine our notion of Prokofiev's musical aesthetic. This dissertation examines Prokofiev's eclectic approach in his Violin Concerto in G minor with a combination of historical research and historically informed style analysis. The historical research is mainly based upon current interpretations of Prokofiev's musical style. The two contrasting views (Western and Soviet) on Prokofiev's contributions to modern music are equally lacking in objectivity due to their entrenchment in political rhetoric. Therefore, to have a more precise interpretation of Prokofiev's concerto, historically informed analysis is used to evaluate his essential self-characterization shift in his compositional style, the so-called "five lines."

This dissertation aims to examine the motivic voice leading of the first two movements of Korngold's Violin Concerto, Op. 35 to illuminate the interwoven motives within the underlying structures of the movements. The analysis principally concentrates on two main motives: the motivic tritone and rising-third motives. Moreover, the analysis of Korngold's motivic writing further investigates the semantics that are evoked by the technical aspects. With his exceptional ability to interconnect music to narratives both in operas and films, Korngold never ceased to express the recurring themes of love and revival also in his instrumental music. It is noteworthy that he borrowed only the "love themes" from his film scores for the first two movements of the violin concerto. The violin concerto was the first work written after Korngold returned to absolute music after a decade of composing for films to ensure his and his family's survival during the war. After the Anschluss, during his exile in California as a Jewish refugee, Korngold's love for his homeland Austria, his philanthropic concern for humanity, and longing for peace became his primary focus; these concerns are reflected in his Violin Concerto through his use of specific motives. By researching the historical and biographical materials, as well as employing linear analysis, this study seeks to explore the meanings of the linear motives in Korngold's music; more specifically, it attempts to show how particular motivic figures and tonal structures express the composer's ideas of transcendental "love." It argues that an in-depth understanding of both the technical and semantic aspects is also the first and foremost requirement for performing this piece.

Johann Joseph Fux's influence on the development of eighteenth-century alto trombone literature is significant. His music, when compared with that of other composers who wrote for the alto trombone before 1730, reveals a more elaborate and frequent use of the instrument. Many of Fux's compositions call for alto, tenor, or bass trombone, but his Sonata a Quattro K. 347 and Alma Redemptoris Mater K. 186 are of particular interest in regard to the composer's treatment of the alto trombone. This study points out the technical demands placed on the trombonist in Fux's works as compared to such contemporary composers as Antonio Caldara and Marc'Antonio Ziani. The primary goal of this study is to substantiate the importance of Fux's role in the development of the alto trombone repertoire. Published and unpublished works by Fux that significantly incorporate the instrument have been studied and compared to compositions of his contemporaries. A thorough discussion of Sonata a Quattro and Alma Redemptoris Mater illustrates the technical aspects of his alto trombone writing. The secondary goal of this study is to create a performing edition of Sonata a Quattro and Alma Redemptoris Mater. The existing editions in Denkmaler der Tonkunst in Osterreich and Johann Joseph Fux, Samtliche Werke are less than complete. There are no individual parts for performers, and tempo indications for several movements are missing. Mistakes in the parts of Sonata a Quattro and discrepancies between the figured bass and continuo realization have been corrected for the creation of a new edition. Tempo, ornamentation, instruments, and articulation are also discussed to assist in the presentation of an historically informed performance of the Sonata a Quattro and Alma Redemptoris Mater.

This thesis seeks to explore the many possibilities that lie within the incorporation of the voice alongside playing the violin. This territory is still very unknown, and the author believes that many new artistic possibilities and tools are yet to be discovered.The attempts made seek to understand the difficulties and limitations of the incorporation of the voice, while discovering its bountiful treasures. / <p>"Terje Vigen" by Ivar BøksleArrangement by Olav Eirik LølandViolin and vocal - Olav Eirik Løland</p><p></p><p>Konserten börjar efter två minuter.</p>

The diploma thesis deals with the contemporary works of selected Cypriot composers for violin. Throughout the centuries, since ancient times until today, Cyprus has been under the influence of many foreign conquerors including the Arabs, Venetians, Franks, Ottomans, and the English, among many others, who passed through Cyprus and left their marks on Cypriot cultural life. Natives, occupiers, and continuously migrating populations from Europe, Asia, and Africa formed a multicultural environment, where languages, religions and dogmas, ethnic traditions, education, and living standards have been diverse, and in constant interaction and transformation. It is necessary to mention the current violent division between the Greek and Turkish people has still not been overcome. This conflict has left an indelible mark on musical traditions. Cypriot folklore is also reflected in the work of the modern generation of composers. I believe that Cypriot classical music is a not very commonly known issue in the Czech Republic, and I have written this thesis in the hopes that it will increase awareness of Cypriot music. In this Diploma thesis I introduce three modern composers from Cyprus and Greece: Solon Michaelides (1905- 1979), Alkis Baltas (*1948) and Andreas Argyrou (*1957) and their compositions for violin. I focus...

This study investigates whether different stereo techniques used as a main array influences the preferred level from spot microphones when combined in a mix. Time delay compensation and its influence on spot microphone level was also examined. A clarinet soloist and a violin &amp; piano duo were recorded as stimuli. A listening test was conducted where subjects were asked to set the level on spot microphone channels of a clarinet, and violin in combination with several stereo techniques. A/B, X/Y, ORTF, and Blumlein were examined. In general, results suggested that there wasn’t a significant difference in preferred spot microphone level between stereo techniques. Time delay compensation could not be proven to significantly influence the preferred spot microphone level.

A high spatial resolution acoustic directivity acquisition system (ADAS) has been developed to acquire anechoic measurements of the far field radiation of musical instruments that are either remote controlled or played by musicians. Building upon work performed by the BYU Acoustic Research Group in the characterization of loudspeaker directivity, one can rotate a musical instrument with sequential azimuthal angle increments under a fixed semicircular array of microphones while recording repeated notes or sequences of notes. This results in highly detailed and instructive directivity data presented in the form of high-resolution balloon plots. The directivity data and corresponding balloon plots may be shown to vary as functions of time or frequency. This thesis outlines the development of a prototype ADAS and its application to different sources including loudspeakers, a concert grand piano, trombone, flute, and violin. The development of a method of compensating for variations in the played amplitude at subsequent measurement positions using a near-field reference microphone and Frequency Response Functions (FRF) is presented along with the results of its experimental validation. This validation involves a loudspeaker, with known directivity, to simulate a live musician. It radiates both idealized signals and anechoic recordings of musical instruments with random variations in amplitude. The concept of coherence balloon maps and surface averaged coherence are introduced as tools to establish directivity confidence. The method of creating composite directivities for musical instruments is also introduced. A composite directivity comes from combining the directivities of all played partials to approximate what the equivalent directivity from a musical instrument would be if full spectral excitation could be used. The composite directivities are derived from an iterative averaging process that uses coherence as an inclusion criterion. Sample directivity results and discussions of experimental considerations of the piano, trombone, flute, and violin are presented. The research conducted is preliminary and will be further developed by future students to expand and refine the methods presented here.

My recent compositions are situated within a postmodern theoretical framework. The heterogeneity of materials and hybridity of musical formation in these works are interpreted and contextualized within a personal reading of postmodern theories. The critical essay traces my aesthetics through a historical investigation into the definition of musical postmodernism. Through extensive citation and analysis of the writings of Julius T. Fraser, Italo Calvino, and Richard Rorty, the essay aims to provide a theoretical context for the interpretation of the musical examples. The creative documentation contains three newly-composed musical works: Piano Trio from Opus 3/c, Opus 6 for Violin, and Opus 7 for Piccolo. The works' postmodern features include creative approaches to the fragmentation of musical time into separate levels, historical allusions, and the exploration of multiplicity.

This study investigates the possibility of applying Hatten’s theory of musical gesture to a formal system of musical analysis. Using historical antecedents and established musicological practice as a guide, a range of musical parameters in a motive length span of music are incorporated into a single gesture. This gesture forms the basic semantic unit upon which an analytical tableau structure is built, and a syntax is developed to allow derivations of new gestures; a large scale structure displaying fractal-like self-similarity is then proposed. The completed system is applied to the analysis of the ‘Adagio’ of Mozart’s Flute Quartet K.285 to test whether it can consistently be implemented and whether it produces falsifiable results while maintaining predictive power. It is found that these requirements are indeed met and that a set of inference rules can be derived suggesting that the proposed system has ample scope for further development. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M. Mus.

This study investigates the possibility of applying Hatten’s theory of musical gesture to a formal system of musical analysis. Using historical antecedents and established musicological practice as a guide, a range of musical parameters in a motive length span of music are incorporated into a single gesture. This gesture forms the basic semantic unit upon which an analytical tableau structure is built, and a syntax is developed to allow derivations of new gestures; a large scale structure displaying fractal-like self-similarity is then proposed. The completed system is applied to the analysis of the ‘Adagio’ of Mozart’s Flute Quartet K.285 to test whether it can consistently be implemented and whether it produces falsifiable results while maintaining predictive power. It is found that these requirements are indeed met and that a set of inference rules can be derived suggesting that the proposed system has ample scope for further development. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M. Mus.