Paganini's 24th caprice still remains to this day one of the most celebrated themes in classical music history. Many composers have used this theme to create variations and each composer attempted to produce stylistically unique variations on this piece. Hamelin's Variations on a Theme of Paganini stands out because his piece incorporates musical borrowing and many different composers' styles. His variations integrate music from different centuries, using pastiche and musical borrowing from figures such as Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. More provocatively, Hamelin's variations reach outside of Classical music, even adopting elements from salsa and friska. The spectrum of composers and styles included in this set are so radical and shocking that it creates a parody of not only Paganini's theme, but also the tradition of theme and variation pieces it has inspired. Due to its multiple variations juxtaposing extremely different styles, Hamelin's Variations on a Theme of Paganini presents the listener with a musical puzzle that is designed to invoke surprise. The juxtapositions of extremely different styles in these variations create disjointed variations with polystylism. The polystylism in this work diversifies his variations, while unifying these seemingly unbalanced movements through broad musical references. As such, both performers and listeners stand to benefit from a detailed, critical examination of the piece. I consider not just the musical sources themselves, but also the ways in which they interact, paying close attention to Hamelin's use of parody and humor.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1609093 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Kim, Warren |
| Contributors | Romero, Gustavo, Mondelli, Peter, Beckman, Bradley |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | iv, 45 pages : music, Text |
| Rights | Public, Kim, Warren, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
| Relation | Recital: November 8, 2014, ark:/67531/metadc948530, Recital: November 7, 2015, ark:/67531/metadc1157263, Recital: December 1, 2016, ark:/67531/metadc1615002 |
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