Music Theses and Dissertations

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21st CENTURY AMERICAN TRUMPET SONATAS: THE PERFORMANCE PRACTICE AND PEDAGOGICAL INFLUENCES OF FOUR SONATAS
(2024) Rudy, Brennan; Gekker, Paul C; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Sonatas for trumpet and piano have played an impactful role in the development of the trumpet as a recital instrument. Thorvald Hansen’s 1903 sonata for cornet and piano was the earliest sonata for our instrument, later leading to the first two sonatas for the Bb trumpet and piano in 1939 by German composer Paul Hindemith and Soviet composer Boris Asafiev. The first American sonata for trumpet and piano was written by Harold Shapero in 1940 and was dedicated to his teacher, Aaron Copland. These early sonatas led to other prominent 20th Century trumpet sonatas that were written by American composers Kent Kennan, Halsey Stevens, and Eric Ewazen. As a modern solo instrument, performance and pedagogical practices for the trumpet are strongly based on compositions of the 20th Century or earlier. As we are now almost 25 years into the 21st Century, trumpet sonatas and their composers have continued to evolve and create a lasting impact on the use of the trumpet and its pedagogy. This dissertation will discuss the pedagogical impacts and musical developments of several 21st Century sonatas for trumpet and piano. Accompanying this dissertation are four recordings of some of the most recently published trumpet sonatas from 2015-2023, each by American composers of diverse backgrounds. The four recorded sonatas previously had very few or no professional recordings and exemplify modern developments on traits originally established by composers of early trumpet sonatas. Through this dissertation and accompanying recordings, I hope to encourage the use of modern trumpet sonatas for application in pedagogical instruction, performances, and college and university juries and entrance auditions.
DEPARTURE, CONFLICT, AND REBIRTH IN THE MUSICAL LANGUAGE OF FRANZ LISZT
(2023) Chen, Tzu-yi; Haggh-Huglo, Barbara H; Gowen, Bradford; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
“Departure” is a starting point to examine how Franz Liszt responded to and expressed his life away from his homeland through the musical language of selected piano works. After his initial departure from Hungary, Liszt’s relocations, changes of occupation, and artistic vocations led to conflict and disillusionment and at the same time reawaken his creative craft and religious calling to God to which his emotional experiences and spiritual calling give witness. While the idea of departure in Liszt’s case often signifies a geographical separation, it also reflects the resulting inner conflict, which fundamentally shaped his choices of compositional tools that he used to express conformity or deviation from musical traditions. This study examines five spiritually influenced programmatic piano works dating from 1839 to 1877 in light of Liszt’s physical and musical departures and demonstrates how he infused an evolving selection of extramusical inspirations into his program music, forms, and harmonic language. It provides a timeline connecting the events of his life and his artistic development. The tension and conflict of his inner life and creativity, after many twists and turns, will be shown to have led to his reconciliation with his Catholic faith, but first led him to compose program music. Liszt encountered a variety of extramusical inspirations around the mid-1830s. His reading of literature, ranging from epic poems to poetry collections influenced him heavily. As a result, he began to conceptualize program music. All five examples discussed here drew inspiration from literary texts, but his symphonic poems were inspired by poetry and painting. After arriving in Weimar in 1848, he developed his program-music concept in his symphonic poems and in important published piano works including revisions of earlier piano works. He learned to be more selective in quoting from a program in his compositions—he typically included poetry to introduce musical scores or as inserted texts in musical scores—and in the mid-1850s, he further defined his thoughts on musical forms and programs in his essay of 1855, On Berlioz’s Harold in Italy. During his subsequent prolonged sojourn in Rome, the unexpected failure of his marriage plan and the loss of his two children brought heightened awareness of destiny and death. These tragic events led him to reduce the numbers of themes expressing different moods. That allowed him to delve into his quoted program more deeply, which he accomplished by experimenting freely with various harmonizations. In his programmatic works that were spiritually influenced, Liszt responded to the tension he felt between his Christian ideals and his worldly desires by the divine and the diabolical in his music, by including quoted literary texts in the score that inspired him, and by using harmonies based on different scales. His musical conception of the divine was inspired by the musical heritage of the Church, which he evoked with pentatonic and hexatonic (whole-tone) scales, Gregorian chant-inspired themes and melodies, and harmonizations based on the Church modes. In his spiritually inspired compositions, Liszt also favored F-sharp major, representing heaven, as his key of choice, and he balanced a selection of consonant or perfect intervals versus dissonant harmonies and diminished intervals based on his readings of spiritually inspired literature. In contrast, his diabolical side is manifested in tritones, diminished seventh chords, chromatic scales, unexpected modulations, and his “diabolical” themes, which were part of his programmatic plan and represented by thematic transformations. This study describes his nuanced compositional progress in his conception and application of new forms—a modified one-movement sonata form, a freely structured passacaglia theme and variation form embedding a recitative and answered by a chorale, a three- act dramatic form—and in his use of increasingly sophisticated compositional techniques. He transformed themes to advance the plot of the quoted poetry, composed melodies to ‘sing’ the syllables of an absent but musically implied and thus quoted text, and even deliberately placed the texts of a Lutheran chorale or from the Latin Bible within his musical scores to make his piano compositions resemble vocal or liturgical choral music. These observations show how Liszt’s physical departures from Hungary, Paris, Weimar, and Rome fundamentally stimulated his artistic growth, in that his resulting life as sinner and saint, and his inner spiritual conflicts awakened both his diabolical nature and his ultimate search for the divine. Liszt succeeded in representing his strongly felt inner departures with deeply informed imagination in his piano music. I performed these five compositions on February 16, 2021, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland. Both live and studio recordings of this performance can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland.
PIANO SUITES FROM 1900 TO THE PRESENT
(2022) Youn, Saeha; Tsong, Mayron; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Inarguably, the piano suite is an essential part of the pianist’s standard repertoire. With roots in the early baroque dance suite, the keyboard suite has played an important role in both performance and pedagogy. Certain suites, those by Bach for example, have become some of the most cherished works in classical music. Unsurprisingly, these seminal works and their broader style inspired many composers after Bach, most notably in the twentieth century and beyond, to write their own piano suites. Perhaps equally unsurprisingly, the baroque suite has inspired much research and countless recordings, whereas the most modern suites have attracted neither the same scholarly attention nor the same recorded legacy. For this reason, I decided to devote my dissertation to the suites of the modern era. The history of the suite can be traced from as early as the fourteenth century, beginning with the pairing of dances. The term Suite became common by the end of the seventeenth century, to serve not only as a form for newly composed pieces but for arranging pieces for publication or performance purposes. The ‘classical’ form of the Baroque suite includes the Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue. The idea of suite, in its more general sense, continuously evolved over time under various guises. In order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the term, a broader approach, including a definition of the term and its historical background, is necessary. The purpose of this project is to survey selected piano suites written between 1900 and 2016 that I believe give an excellent overview of modern piano suites. I have recorded approximately two hours of solo piano music, recorded by Antonino D’Urzo of Opusrite Productions, at the Dekelboum Concert Hall, in the School of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and Todd Yaniw at the Grace Church on-the-Hill in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The recordings are available in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).
Rachmaninoff's Performance Style As Heard In His Recordings: An Artistic And Technical Survey
(2022) HENRY, DAVID; Gowen, Bradford; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation explores the piano recordings made by Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, in particular the works he recorded multiple times, identifying the larger developmental arc of his playing during the twenty-four years of his latter career. We show that the common axes of technique and interpretation provide an insufficient lens through which to understand his changing style; instead, we propose an additional dimension of identity which better captures Rachmaninoff’s evolution as a performer. Furthermore, this point of view allows a separation of his recordings into three distinct periods. Rachmaninoff stands as a unique figure in modern musical history, reflecting an improbable convergence of events: 1. he was a world-renowned composer for the first half of his career. 2. upon the emergency of the Russian revolution in 1917, he emigrated with his family to America at the age of forty-five, industriously working to become one of the leading concert artists of his generation. 3. he was one of the first pianists to leave a recorded legacy. Appropriate historical and biographical context is provided to better understand Rachmaninoff and his times, and to place his recordings in a fuller context. We also present the current state of knowledge and availability of Rachmaninoff’s extant recordings, the various technologies by which they were made, and the recording companies with which Rachmaninoff chose to work. We describe the importance of matrix numbers, alternate takes, potentially unreleased recordings, piano rolls, and unintentional recordings. Rachmaninoff’s recordings currently exist across many fragmented sources, some difficult to learn of and acquire. This dissertation thereby provides a modern guide to these recordings in hope of aiding future scholars.
Russian Jazz with Bolshevik Trimmings: Modernist Composer-Pianists in Revolutionary Russia
(2021) Tumanov Pavlov, Mijail V; Dedova, Larissa; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The purpose of this project is to highlight the piano compositions of the extraordinarily diverse period in Russian music between the emergence of pre-Revolutionary modernism in the early twentieth century and the publication of the “Muddle Instead of Music” article in 1936, the lack of State intervention in artistic matters up until the early 1930s proved to be a boon for Soviet composers. The title of this project is taken from Karleton Hackett’s review of the 1921 premiere of Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges in the Chicago Evening Post. Hackett’s misguided characterization is very telling – The Love for Three Oranges contains neither jazz nor Bolshevik influences. The figure of the composer-pianist played an important role in the development of Russian piano music in the early twentieth century; every one of the composers featured in this project was an accomplished pianist. This project presents but a small fraction of the solo piano repertoire created by the remarkable innovativecomposers of early twentieth-century Russia. A number of these composers failed to remain relevant in the post-1936 political climate and have thus vanished from history books. Yet their works offer a wealth of exciting new repertoire for pianists. In addition to discussions of each work and composer featured, special attention is given to Samuil Feinberg, whose life and works remain in obscurity. An extensive analysis of Feinberg’s Second Piano Sonata, Op. 2, and Berceuse, Op. 19a, is included since available information on Feinberg’s musical language is very scarce. References to thorough analyses and discussion of works covered is provided in the bibliography.
Affecting Eternity: The Pedagogical Influence of Olivier Messiaen
(2020) Welch, Andrew; Sloan, Rita; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Olivier Messiaen was among the most prominent and prodigious composer-teachers of the 20th century, teaching scores of students while holding two positions at the Conservatoire de Paris, first as professor of analysis, then as professor of composition. This dissertation explores the connections that can be established through three generations of composers: the composers whose works Messiaen lectured on, his own works, and works by the students of Messiaen. The repertoire considered centers on the piano in various solo and collaborative settings, including operatic reductions, art song, and instrumental chamber music. An effort was made to include students from different periods of Messiaen’s teaching career and representatives of different aesthetic traditions, including serialism, neo-expressionism, European minimalism, and others. Compositions by composers preceding Messiaen were chosen because they were most important to Messiaen and his philosophies. All of these works and composers are assembled here in order to represent the breadth and diversity of Messiaen’s teaching, which enabled his students to find distinct voices in the postwar musical scene. This repertoire was performed over the course of three recitals on November 15th, 2019, March 8th and May 6th, 2020, with the first two recitals held in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, and the third recital streamed live from the living room of the pianist. Recordings of these three recitals can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).
MEL BONIS (1858–1937): PIANO WORKS
(2020) Palcic, Rok; Dedova, Larissa; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In a world dominated by men, music, and art in general, are thankfully seeing encouraging signs that point to the community finally not only realizing the disparity, but actively working towards finding a solution that would at least mitigate the problem. It is important to realize that women have always occupied an important place amongst composers, and it was mostly societal limitations that prevented them from receiving rightful praise. Mélanie Hélène Bonis was one of the rare exceptions. Like many of her contemporaries, she had to resort to the use of synonyms, and changing her name to the gender-neutral version Mel Bonis made it possible for her works to be acknowledged by audiences, and publishers. Yet, her talent was undisputedly the driving force behind her success. Since a very young age, she has garnered the support of some of the most prominent members of the music community, including César Franck, whose role was instrumental in getting her admitted to the famed Paris Conservatoire. Even though she shared classrooms with Debussy and Pierné, she managed to set herself apart and excel, and her achievements eventually led to her role as of Secretary of the Société des compositeurs de musique (Music Composers Society). However, despite her fame, position, and rich opus, which comprises about 300 vocal and instrumental works covering a variety of genres, her name remains largely confined to music archives. The goal of this research is to at least try to assuage this issue by presenting, in the form of studio recordings, about three quarters of her works for solo piano, which are representative of her mature creative period—between 1881 and 1932—and document the evolution of her compositional technique and style in great detail. To my knowledge, while most of her piano works have been recorded, this project represents the first collection by a single performer, and the only one entirely based on the recent reissue of her collective piano works by the German publisher Furore Verlag, which introduces important revisions, achieved through scholarly research.
When the Cello Speaks Alone: Cello Cadenzas in Chamber Music Duos
(2019) Borowsky, Frances Grace; Kutz, Eric; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation explores chamber duo works in which the cello has one or more significant solo passages. Works studied are sonatas for cello and piano by Luigi Boccherini (1771), Anton Rubinstein (1855), Edvard Grieg (1883), Alexander Tcherepnin (1924), and Marcus Paus (2009); show pieces by David Popper (Hungarian Rhapsody, 1894), Sulkhan Tsintsadze (Five Pieces on Folk Themes for Cello and Piano, 1950), Joachim Stutschewsky (Three Hebrew Melodies, 1934), and Buxton Orr (A Carmen Fantasy, 1985); and two duos with violin by Zoltán Kodály (1914) and Bohuslav Martinů (1927). Short biographical notes are provided on each composer and cadenzas are analyzed for their role and placement in each respective composition. Works have been organized according to the following categories: improvised cadenzas, cadenzas that prolong harmonic tension, virtuosic cadenzas based on folk and ethnic traditions, cadenzas providing an introduction or transition, and reflective cadenzas. In the conclusions, it is noted that post-Classical era composers place the cadenzas in a variety of locations, including at the opening of the work, before the recapitulation, and between themes of the recapitulation. Some composers use the cello alone for transitions or to introduce material at the beginning of the piece or movement. Few of the cadenzas include previously stated themes, and most cadenzas discussed in this paper wholly abandon the traditional function of delay. In all of these, the inclusion of a cello cadenza augments the emotional and textural dimension and variety.
UNUSUAL SOUNDSCAPES: CHAMBER ENSEMBLES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND BEYOND INVOLVING THE COLLABORATIVE PIANIST
(2017) Gligic, Milena; Sloan, Rita; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
A Collaborative Pianist is constantly exposed to a variety of styles, soundscapes and ensemble combinations. Since the twentieth century proved to be the most musically diverse period in human history (and the twenty-first century continues that trend), it provided the most options to choose from while looking for so many varied sounds, combinations and styles in music. This recording project, while focusing on unusual ensemble combinations in music of the twentieth century and after, features both works that are strictly instrumental as well as works involving voice. The first part of my dissertation focuses on Olivier Messiaen, who is inarguably one of the most influential and unique composers of this period. The works that I have chosen to discuss are the magnificent Quatour pour la fin du Temps (1941) and a lesser-known but nevertheless gorgeous chamber work, La Mort du Nombre (1930) for soprano, tenor, violin and piano. The other half of the dissertation focuses on American music: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (1978) by Lukas Foss, Let Evening Come (1993) by William Bolcom, Struwwelpeterlieder op. 51 (1996) by Lowell Liebermann, and The Platter of Discontent by Marc Mellits (2004). The reason I have chosen works by American composers is due to the fact that after the World War II, the United States became the place to which many of the renowned European composers immigrated. Therefore, all the traditions that developed in Europe over centuries now continued to evolve in America. The two CDs can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM). Works by Messiaen are on CD1, recorded on June 16th, 2017 in Gildenhorn Hall at the University of Maryland with Amy Broadbent, soprano, Christian Hoff, tenor, Josh Henderson, violin, Emily Robinson, clarinet and Ismar Gomes, cello. Works by American composers are on CD2, recorded live between 2013 and 2016 with Laura Mitchell, soprano, Elliott Isaakson, viola, Julia Bullock, soprano, Fanya Wyrick-Flax, flute, Amy Garapic, percussion, Josh Henderson, violin, Anne Dearth, flute, Brad Cherwin, clarinet, Emma Schmiedecke, cello, and Yumi Tamashiro, percussion.
BEETHOVEN AND SCHUBERT: SELECTED LATE-PERIOD PIANO SONATAS
(2017) Carmichael, Sean Anthony; Tsong, Mayron; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The piano sonata genre sits at the apex of formal experimentation and expression within the solo piano repertoire. Since its introduction, the term ‘sonata’ has represented short instrumental pieces in binary form, pieces containing fantasy elements and multi- movement dance suites in the same key, to name a few. The modern definition of a sonata ultimately emerged as a work containing three or four movements: a sonata- allegro movement, a scherzo or minuet and trio, a slow cantabile movement, and an upbeat [typically] rondo finale. Following Beethoven’s piano sonatas, numerous composers have contributed to the genre in novel ways; however, none have produced an output of any comparable magnitude. This may be due in part to a sentiment felt by his contemporaries and expressed by Schubert, who commented, “Secretly, in my heart of hearts, I hope to make something of myself, but who can do anything after Beethoven?” While Beethoven and Schubert’s nearly coterminous deaths marked the end of the Viennese classical sonata, the passing of Beethoven in 1827 undoubtedly alleviated some pressure for Schubert as an instrumental composer. Composing a total of twenty-two piano sonatas (albeit some remaining incomplete), it was in this year that Schubert composed his final three, D. 958, 959 and 960. In this dissertation, I will examine four late-period sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, exploring their influences and the characteristics that position them between the classical and romantic eras. The sonatas examined are Beethoven’s Op. 101 in A major and Op. 110 in A-flat major and Schubert’s D. 959 in A major and D. 960 in B-flat major. The dissertation was recorded by Antonino d’Urzo in the Dekelboum Concert Hall at the School of Music, University of Maryland and edited by Sean Carmichael. These recordings can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

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