Music

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    GABRIEL FAURE (1845-1924): INNOVATOR OF THE FRENCH MODERN STYLE AS SEEN IN HIS WORKS FOR CELLO AND PIANO
    (2003) Oh, Jooeun; Elsing, Evelyn; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    Gabriel Faure was a deeply influential leader in establishing modem trends in early twentieth-century French music. His individualistic compositions include both traditional and modern aspects incorporated into his own distinctive style. This doctoral project is a study of Faure's contributions to French chamber-music and explores especially his works for cello. In the first chapter of this dissertation, a brief biography of Faure is presented, and Faure's personal relationships with several influential contemporaries, including Camille Saint-Saens, are discussed. The second chapter describes Faure's highly effective career as Professor and then Director and reformer at the Paris Conservatoire. In the third chapter, Faure's chamber music is discussed, with emphasis on his works for cello. His works can be divided into three time periods, each representative of the composer's unique musical style and illustrative of Faure's stylistic development throughout his career. The fourth and final chapter examines the evolution of Faure's musical approach, while his complete works for the cello are analyzed and compared. Diverse reactions of his contemporary critics to Faure's late-period chamber works are also presented. As part of this doctoral project two recitals of works by Faure and his contemporaries were performed at the University of Maryland School of Music. The works performed in the first recital include Camille Saint-Saens' Romance for Violoncello and Piano, Opus 36 ( 1877); Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violoncello and Violin ( 1920-22); Claude Debussy's Sonata for Violoncello and Piano ( 1915); and Faure's Violoncello Sonata No. I in d minor, Opus I 09 ( 1917). The second recital incorporated selections from all three of Faure's compositional periods: Elegie for Violoncello and Piano, Opus 2-1 ( 1880); Papillion for Violoncello and Piano, Opus 77 ( 1885), Romance for Violoncello and Piano, Opus 69 ( 1894 ), Sicilienne for Violoncello and Piano, Opus 78 ( 1898, originally 1893 ); Violoncello Sonata No. 2 in g minor, Opus I I 7 ( 1921 ); and Piano Trio in d minor, Opus I 20 ( 1922-1923 ).
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    PERFORMANCE OF THE VIOLIN CONCERTO AND SONATAS OF JOHANNES BRAHMS WITH AN ANALYSIS OF JOSEPH JOACHIM'S INFLUENCE ON HIS VIOLIN CONCERTO
    (1997) Hsieh, I-Chun; Heifetz, Daniel; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    This dissertation consists of a performance project and extensive studies of selected works by Johannes Brahms, including the Violin Concerto, Sonatensatz, and three Violin Sonatas. The performance project was presented in two recitals at the University of Maryland, College Park, on November 14, 1997, and November 16, 1997. The first recital featured Brahms' s Sonatensatz in C Minor, Violin Sonata No. I, Op. 78 in G Major, and Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. 108, in D Minor. The second recital included Brahms' s Violin Sonata No.2, Op. 100, in A Major and Violin Concerto Op. 77, in D Major. Section One gives an overview of this dissertation project. Section Two introduces the violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, his relationship with Johannes Brahms, and Brahms' s life and major violin works. This section also analyzes Joachim' s performance practice and his teaching style. The end of this section focuses on the influence of Joseph Joachim on Brahms' s Violin Concerto and indicates the differences between Brahms' s original manuscript and the version suggested by Joachim. Section Three is composed of the programs of the two recitals. Section Four consists of program notes for the two recitals. The first recital was performed by I-Chun Hsieh, violin and Roy Hakes, piano. The second recital was performed by I-Chun Hsieh, violin and Chia-Hsuan Lee, piano.
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    THE GENRE CHARACTER PIECES OF KAROL SZYMANOWSKI: A COMPLETE RECORDING
    (1981) Barroll, Rayna Sue Klatzkin; Gordon, Stewart; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) is a transitional figure whose work bridges late nineteenth-century romanticism and the twentieth-century movement away from tonality. The fifty-four genre character pieces, which are recorded on tape as the major portion of this study, delineate the evolution of his style: his origins in a highly chromatic nineteenth-century medium, influenced by Chopin and Skriabin; his flirtation with atonality; and finally, the realization of a personal twentieth-century style, affected by his exposure to the music of Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Skriabin, and also by his immersion in the indigenous folk-music of one of the regions of his country. The Nine Preludes, Opus 1, completed by the time he was eighteen, are intensely personal, finely wrought and quasi-improvisational in nature. Even in some of these early, passionate outcries, which show the specific imprint of Chopin and early Skriabin, however, there is an avoidance of the resolution of dissonance which definitely mark Szymanowski as a twentieth-century composer. There are prophetic suggestions, here and in the Opus 4 Etudes, of atonality and also of the bitonality that dominates much of his later music. The Twelve Etudes, Opus 33, written in 1916 , are already in a full-fledged twentieth-century idiom. The etudes, which are dissonant, usually bitonal, tending toward atonality, show Szymanowski's desire to cast off conventional tonality. He uses seconds and sevenths as predominant colors, pentatonic scales, extended passages of parallel chords, heavy reliance on the tritone, persistent dissonance, and occasional whole-tone scales. The twenty-two Mazurkas written between 1926 and 1935 reflect Szymanowski's involvement with the mountaineers in the Goral region of the High Tatra Mountains in Southern Poland and his enchantment with their culture and their music. Like Bartok, whom he respected and admired, and whose music these late works most immediately resemble, Szymanowski seems to have found his ultimate expression through the indigenous music of his own country. Szymanowski continues in his use of dissonance and bitonality, although the modal orientation of the folk melodies induces a strongly tonal feeling.
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    Black Gospel Music Styles, 1942-1975: Analysis and Implications for Music Education
    (1978) Baker, Barbara Wesley; Folstrom, Roger J.
    The purpose of this dissertation is to determine styles and style changes that have occurred in Black gospel music since 1942, and to document those changes with representative cassette recordings. Implications of those changes are presented for secondary music education and for prospective music teacher training. This study should provide a significant addition to the field of music, and to Black music, because of the creation of an analysis model that provides the framework for analysis of styles in Black gospel music. This study also provides access to another musical resource for use in the secondary school music classroom by linking the a nalysis of Black gospel to the practical, educative uses of Black gospel music.
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    The King Shall Rejoice (HWV 265) by George Frederic HandeI: a Critical Edition and Commentary
    (1987) Brisco, Frederick Arthur; Traver, Paul; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
    Heretofore there has been no modern edition available of George Frederic Handel's anthem for chorus and orchestra, The King Shall Rejoice, companion piece to the Dettingen Te Deum. The first part of this project, an edition and commentary, is prepared in accordance with the standards of modern scholarship and at the same time meets the needs of today's performers. The project ls based on the composer's autograph manuscript corrected, where necessary, from the readings in other contemporary sources originating in Handel's circle. Except for one secondary source which is in a private collection and for the moment unavailable, all known sources have been collated prior to determining that the autograph should serve as the copy-text. The process of collating variants led to a hypothesis regarding the filiation of the sources. The edition includes a preface that discusses the events which led to the composition of the anthem and presents what lnformation we have about its first performance. The edition and critical commentary adhere to guidelines adapted from those of the Hallische Handel-Ausgabe, the new complete critical edition of Handel's works. The second part of the project consisted of a performance of the Dettingen Anthem conducted by the editor on April 26,1987 at WiIde Lake High School, Columbia Maryland, with the Columbia Baroque Ensemble based on the the score presented here.
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    Symbolism in the Music of Lili Boulanger: an Analysis of Clairieres dans le ciel
    (1993) Dopp, Bonnie Jo; Davis, Shelley; Music; University of Maryland (College Park, Md); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
    French composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) lived and worked at a time of experimentation and change in European musical techniques and aesthetics. Her documented interest in French Symbolist literature, her sheltered, sickly life and her mystic personal beliefs were reflected in a style of composition that grew more subjective as she matured. Analysis of her longest work, the song cycle Clairieres dans le ciel, when amplified by specific information about her life, reveals symbolism that parallels personal meanings contemporary Symbolist artists in literature and painting encoded in their work. Other composers of the period engaged in similar semiotic invention, though the term "Symbolist" is seldom applied to them. When critical hallmarks of Symbolist writings are employed, they support the assignation "Symbolist" to the music of Lili Boulanger.
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    A Study Of Background Characteristics, Preparation, And Perceptions Of Black And Non-Black Performing Musicians As It Relates To Selection And Placement Criteria Within Major And Regional Symphony Orchestras
    (1989) Edwards, George Leonard; Craig, Randall J.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
    The purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to investigate the extent to which major and regional symphony orchestras employed non-Black and Black musicians. The second was to investigate the background characteristics (education, musical training, culture), Professional experiences, and perceptions of non-Black and Black musicians in major and regional symphony orchestras. The population was composed of 31 major symphony orchestras (orchestras with annual operating budgets in excess of $3.4 million), and 44 regional symphony orchestras (orchestras with annual operating budgets between $950,000 and $3.4 million). From this population, the sample was composed of 75 orchestra managers and 244 performing musicians, 200 non-Black and 44 Black. Data were collected through the use of two questionnaires, one to managers of the orchestras and one to musicians in the orchestras. An analysis of the data was made using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques: frequencies, means, chi-square and MANOVA. The statistical Package from the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program was used to process the information received in response to questionnaire items. The results revealed that very little progress has been made in hiring Black musicians in symphony orchestras since 1977. There is less than two percent Black employment of musicians in major and regional symphony orchestras. Most of these orchestras have no official training program or activity to increase the number of Black performing musicians, nor is there any significant attempt to recruit qualified Black musicians. Orchestra managers acknowledge the limited participation of Black musicians in symphony orchestras and indicated that few qualified Black musicians apply and audition. This study showed that the background experiences (musical and educational) of the two groups of player personnel (non-Black and Black) were very similar; however, because of the fierce competition for positions, few Blacks apply and audition. It is recommended that early and consistent exposure and a traditional conservatory style of training that concentrates on mastering the instrument and gaining knowledge of the symphony repertoire serve as a means for promoting symphonic music as a career.
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    Thirty-Two Transcriptions for Piano of Organ Chorales of J.S. Bach
    (1995) Mortensen, John Joseph; Koscielny, Anne; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
    Thirty-two new piano transcriptions of selected Bach organ chorales comprise this dissertation. Examples of the various types of the organ chorale are included. Seven pieces from the recently-discovered Neumeister Collection have also been transcribed . Each transcription is accompanied by a commentary which includes the text and translation of the German Reformation hymn upon which the piece is based, a discussion of the music itself and its relationship to the hymn text, and a description of the specific method used in transcribing the piece for piano. The transcriptions themselves cover a range of technical difficulties, from pieces intended for the student to compositions for public performance. Furthermore, some are arranged for piano duet, duo, and in one case, for two pianos, eight hands. The method of transcription varies from an attempt to approximate the organ sound to an approach in which creating a new, thoroughly pianistic timbre is the goal. In some cases significant portions of Bach's originals have been arranged in order to accommodate the piano and its sound.
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    Voices of the Cello: Speak, Sing, Play; An Aesthetic Examination of Style Periods in the Cello Repertoire and How They Relate to the Viability of Transcription
    (2019) Singer, Daniel Pecos; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
    This dissertation was produced in conjunction with three cello recitals as part of a Performance Dissertation Project. Each recital focuses on music from style periods ranging from the Baroque to the twenty-first century and seeks to demonstrate how the aesthetic language of a composer or style period affects the viability of transcription. The recitals also highlight the unique qualities of the cello, both when playing music originally for another instrument and when performing music specifically written for it. The first recital includes music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Schubert. Bach’s Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012—performed on a five-string Baroque cello—shows how the spoken quality of the Baroque idiom in Bach’s music allows for transcription between instruments. The Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821 by Schubert offers an opportunity to expose the vocal quality of the ello while exploring the limitations of transcription in this aesthetic language so inspired by song. The second recital focuses on transcriptions within the violin family of instruments by including a transcription of the Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 by Johannes Brahms, as well as César Franck’s Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano. While the Franck only needs minor adjustments for the cello version (the piano part is untouched), the Brahms is transposed from G major to D major in order to be suitable for the cello. The final recital completes the arc by culminating in music written specifically for the cello—music that would be impossible to imagine on any other instrument. First the Sonata for Solo Cello, Op.8 by Zoltán Kodály develops the unique sound of scordatura by lowering the pitch of two lower strings by one half step (from C and G to B and F-sharp). Similarly, the Sonata for Solo Cello by György Ligeti is so cellistic in its conception that it is essentially unviable on any other instrument. Finally, Crest, Clutter, Clamor by Bradley S. Green was designed specifically for the physical characteristics of the cello, thus making it a quintessential example of cello specific writing. The first recital was performed on November 26, 2018, with Ruth Bright on the piano in Ulrich Recital Hall. The second recital took place on March 6, 2019 in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall with Andrew Welch and Alexei Ulitin on the piano. The final recital was completed on May 5, 2019 in Ulrich Recital Hall.
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    The Clarinet Repertoire and Musical Aesthetic of William Thomas McKinley
    (2019) Morales, Melissa; DiLutis, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
    The clarinet repertoire of William Thomas McKinley is varied and interesting, but seldom performed today. The few recordings that exist were created by an elite contingency of soloists and chamber musicians who were close friends and colleagues with McKinley. Outside their premieres and these few recordings, his music has seldom been performed. While many of his works are challenging and engaging, most were never published and thus remain inaccessible. Through several engraving projects and performances, this dissertation brings light to a corner of the clarinet repertoire seldom explored and heard today. For this project, I have completed performance editions of several McKinley works and presented them on recital. I plan to make the editions themselves available through later publication. This will make his music more accessible for performers and audiences alike. A recital on McKinley’s influences, including Aaron Copland, Mel Powell, Gunther Schuller, and Lukas Foss, took place on December 7, 2018 in Gildenhorn Recital Hall. The recital on April 19, 2019 in Leah Smith Recital Hall concentrated on McKinley’s development and career trajectory, featuring For One, Mostly Blues, Two Romances for clarinet, violin, and piano, and Intermezzos No. 1 & 2. The final recital took place on May 4, 2019 in Ulrich Recital Hall and featured what could be considered his greatest works and clarinet duos, Clarinet Duets Book 1, Clarinet Concerto No. 2, and Clarinet Sonata. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).