Music Theses and Dissertations
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Item Beyond Rococo: Variation Form in Fifteen Works for Cello(2022) Doveala, Emily Ann; Kutz, Eric; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the formal structures, technical demands, and historical significance of 15 works for cello that take the form of theme and variations. The works featured are variations by Ludwig van Beethoven (Variations WoO 45, Variations Op. 66, and Variations WoO 46,) Felix Mendelssohn (Variations Concertantes), Jean Sibelius (Theme and Variations), Gioachino Rossini (Une Larme), Ferruccio Busoni (Kultaselle), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Variations), Donald Tovey (Elegiac Variations), Paul Hindemith (A frog he went a-courting), Bohuslav Martinů (Variations on a Slovakian Theme), Imogen Holst (Fall of the Leaf), Edison Denisov (Variations on a Theme of Schubert), Elena Ruehr (Prelude Variations), and Adolphus Hailstork (Theme and Variations on “Draw the Sacred Circle Closer”). These pieces are divided into two categories: works with existing themes and works with original themes. The discussion of each piece includes the historical context of the work, relevant biographical information on the composer, and description of the role of the theme and the use of specific compositional techniques to alter that theme. Through the examination of these pieces, this paper accomplishes three objectives: tracing the history of cello playing through the expansion of technical demands as observed in these works; following the evolution of variation form in this selection of music; and encouraging the increased inclusion of these compositions in cello recitals. The recitals were performed at the University of Maryland School of Music’s Gildenhorn Recital Hall and Tawes Recital Hall. Recordings can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).Item GAMBISTS, CELLISTS, AND THEIR COMPOSITIONS FROM THE BAROQUE TO THE MODERN ERA: A CASE FOR CONTINUING THIS TRADITION TODAY(2018) Castleton, Seth Thomas; Kutz, Eric; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project aims to demonstrate the rich tradition of gambist and cellist composers from the Baroque to the modern era through the performance of selected works in a series of three recitals, a discussion of these performer-composers and their works in this document, and by engaging in this tradition through the creation of an original work to be premiered in the third and final recital. Simply stated, the purpose of this project is to illuminate a rich heritage that is fading out of our modern practice and to argue the relevance of perpetuating this tradition in our time. The first recital features works by gambist-composers representing a variety of styles prominent in various music centers in Europe from1650-c.1800. Three selections by the English gambist Christopher Simpson, a Suite in A minor by French gambist Marin Marais, three unaccompanied pieces by Carl Friedrich Abel, and the Sonata in A minor for Three Bass Viols and Continuo by Johann Nicolai, demonstrate the vibrancy of the gambist-composer tradition. The second recital pivots to the nineteenth century cellist-composer tradition, beginning with Bernhard Romberg’s Trio in E minor for Cello, Viola, and Bass, and continuing with Jean Stiastny’s Cello Duo in F Major. A modern performance edition of the Stiastny has been created for this performance (See Appendix A). Four of Dotzauer’s Six Pieces for Three Cellos, come next in the program, followed by a Tyrolienne by Grützmacher and a Notturno by Alfredo Piatti. The Recital closes with Popper’s unique Requiem for Three Cellos and Piano. The final recital celebrates the works of cellist-composers active in the twentieth century. The program begins with Mark Summer’s lively Julio-O and Variations: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. A Romance by the German Bertold Hummel and a Notturno by the Italian Enrico Mainardi follow. Two showpieces, La Pendule, la Fileuse et le Galant and Danse du Diable Vert, by the Spanish virtuoso Gaspar Cassadó conclude the first half. My original composition, Laura-Lu, for Viola, Cello, and Piano, begins the second half, with Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto in E minor closing the program.Item Voices from the Holocaust, Remembered: Selected Works for Cello(2018) Jones, Molly; Kutz, Eric; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)During the Holocaust, many prominent Jewish composers’ lives and careers were cut short in their prime. Their music was banned and they had to abandon their homes and emigrate in order to survive. Tragically, many were shipped off to concentration camps where they were murdered. These composers were stripped of all possible advantages. As a result, their music often fell into obscurity. I chose to explore the lives and works of six of these composers: Hans Gál, Hans Krása, Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff, James Simon, and Alexander Zemlinsky. Through my dissertation, I hope to promote their compelling music and bring some measure of justice to the tragedy of lives and careers cut short by the Holocaust.Item NEGLECTED CELLO REPERTOIRE OF TWENTIETH CENTURY ENGLISH COMPOSERS(2006) Lim, Yekyung; Elsing, EvelynIn the Twentieth Century, the proliferation of cellists and the exceptional development of cello techniques, combined with composers' acceptance of the challenges by these developments, led many British composers to contribute to the enrichment of the cello concert repertoire. A great number of compositions written for the cello in the Twentieth Century England have been long neglected. In comparison with their other works in the genres of concerto, symphony, and opera, works for cello by prominent Twentieth Century English composers Elgar, Walton, and Britten are relatively unknown, except for Elgar's cello concerto. There are also many lesser-known composers like Delius, Bax, Bridge, and Clarke, who flourished in the fmt half of the century, but eventually became disregarded. Some reasons for this neglect may be as follows: the reluctant attitude toward new trends in the English musical establishment around the turn of the century; a lack of readily available editions of these composers' compositions; an over-abundance of fine composers at one time; and lastly, an overly individualistic approach to the music restricting a general public appreciation and recognition. Encountering a recording of the Walton cello concerto prompted me to further study the neglected Twentieth Century English cello repertoire. Many works of the above-mentioned composers still have not been fully valued in the cello repertoire. For this reason, the purpose of this project was to inspire cellists to learn and broaden as well as to appreciate the beauty of the Twentieth Century cello literature. As part of the doctoral performance project, three recitals featuring the works by six English composers were performed. My collaborator in all three recitals was pianist Eunae KO. The fmt recital included the Sonata for cello and piano by Frank Bridge and the Concerto by William Walton. The second recital was comprised of relatively unknown cello works: Sonatina in D major by Arnold Bax, Romance by Frederick Delius, and the Sonata Op. 40 by Rebecca Clarke. The third recital consisted of Folk-Tale by Arnold Bax and the Symphony for Cello and Orchestra Op. 68 by Benjamin Britten.Item Calling Tunes: A Piece in Three Movements for Violin, Clarinet, Violoncello, and Piano(2008-05-02) Lincoln-DeCusatis, Nathan; Gibson, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Calling Tunes is a seventeen-minute piece in three movements for violin, clarinet, violoncello, and piano. The title refers to the common jam-session activity of "calling tunes", which represents an expression of common knowledge between musicians within an unrehearsed, improvisation-based ensemble. Each individual in the group shares a common repertory that is used as a backdrop to music-making -- a collection of not only melodies and chords, but a world of performance practices, music theory, and cultural memory that is drawn upon to create music without the need of prior rehearsal or planning. Calling Tunes strives to capture this unrehearsed, impromptu quality as if the piece had been created by an informal gathering of musicians extemporizing on some kind of shared musical language. Each movement focuses on a single originating motive that is developed and transformed throughout like an improviser embellishing a familiar tune. The first movement, Montunos, is based on the piano vamp of Afro-Cuban salsa music, which is often characterized by off-the-beat syncopation and harmonization in thirds. The montuno that opens this movement combines these traditional qualities with metric irregularity and an ambiguous harmony that produces an otherworldly, out-of-tune quality. The second movement, Canzone, acts as an introspective, lyrical interlude within the piece that begins as a chord progression without a melody. The long lines in each instrument combine to form three- and four-note chords that imply fleeting diatonic collections that slowly bleed into each other at a glacial pace. The real canzone is saved until the end where the cello channels the previous glimpses of tonality into a final coda-like cantabile statement. The third movement, Variations on a Riff, takes the simple idea of a G major triad (first presented in the clarinet in mm. 34¬-44) and bends it through multiple permutations and harmonic contexts. This movement is framed by two fast sections in a galloping compound meter whose volatile, slightly unfinished texture sums up the attitude of the entire piece -- a composed musical narrative that seems to have been created in the moment out a subconscious musical language.