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The Adagio of Mahler's Ninth Symphony: A Schenkerian Analysis and Examination of the Farewell Story

Description: Mahler's Ninth Symphony, since its premier in 1912, has sparked much debate about its programmatic meaning. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the Adagio and an examination of the controversy of the farewell story. In the process of the analysis I have compared my findings to some of the important authors in Mahler's field such as Vera Micznik, Henry-Louis de La Grange, and Christopher Orlo Lewis. Some of the conclusions are that a closer investigation of the music is necessary and th… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Patterson, Jason, 1982-
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Assimilation of Baroque and Classical Essence with Romantic Sentiment: a Structural Analysis of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Sonata in C Minor for Organ, Opus 62, No. 2

Description: The purpose of this study is to examine Sonata No. 2 in detail from many analytical perspectives including melodies, rhythms, harmonic progressions, tonal plans, voice leading, and cadential patterns on macro- and micro-levels. It is believed that a more in-depth discussion of the composition from the perspective of harmony and voice leading may provide answer for the questions raised, and correct some misinterpretations in the works of certain writers. Furthermore, through analysis of Sonata N… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Chou, Kwong-Yan Godwin
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Pitch Content of Selected Piano Works of Toru Takemitsu

Description: The purpose of this study is to examine the pitch content and compositional techniques of Takemitsu's recent solo piano works, which have not been analyzed by Koozin, and to trace the evolution of his techniques in his solo piano works during his career. It also discusses how Takemitsu projects his philosophy and aesthetics of musical composition through Western musical idioms.
Date: May 1998
Creator: Fukuchi, Hidetoshi
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Musical Borrowing: Referential Treatment in American Popular Music

Description: This thesis examines the relationships between popular contemporary musical styles and classic-era art music. Analysis of pop-rock songs, and their referential treatment in art rock, classical music, and society will be examined. Pop-rock musicians borrow from the masters of the past and from each other. Rock guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen employ a virtuosic technique suggestive of Liszt and Paganini. The group Rush borrowed freely from opera seria. Frank Zappa referenced contemporary music… more
Date: December 1998
Creator: DiGiallonardo, Richard L. (Richard Lee)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Theory and Practice in the Traditional Chinese Music: Observations and Analysis

Description: Chinese music has one of the longest histories of development of all music cultures of the world. A system of music (theory) was formulated, in its unique way, but is differed fundamentally from its occidental counterpart. The discussion of this thesis focuses on the following two aspects: (1) the observations on those musical and non-musical factors, which had conditioned the course of development of Chinese music and (2) the analysis of selected examples to summarize the tonal structures and … more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Huang, Hsun-Pin
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Preferential Strategies in Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 2

Description: For the purposes of expressive intent, Carter developed compositional strategies that possess qualities congruent with the musical language in his Second Quartet (1959). He employed strategies including tempo modulation, triple groupings, and large-scale ratios to assemble the musical discourse and to guide the listener's perception of large-scale continuity. I label these devices collectively as "preferential strategies" because it is Carter who selects certain pre-compositional ideas that org… more
Date: May 1999
Creator: Crafton, Elizabeth B.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Fantasias of John Dowland: An Analysis

Description: In spite of an increasing interest in the analysis of Renaissance music by contemporary theorists, few analyses of lute music exist. It is hoped that this thesis will serve to open a new area of analysis to scholars of Renaissance music. Chapter I deals with the background information necessary for the analysis, including Dowland's biography, lute history, technique, and notation, and the practice of modality on the lute. An overview of Dowland's music, especially the solo lute music, ends the … more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Walker, William J. (William Jared)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Chaconne Bass as a Musical Topos in Mozart's Fantasia Music

Description: This thesis provides evidence that a particular "topos" from the high Baroque's exalted style, the so-called chaconne bass, made a profound impact on a considerable body of Mozart's compositions from the last ten years of his life in Vienna. After identifying the topos in the first chapter, a detailed study in chapter two shows how Mozart's faith in the extraordinary emotional power carried by this topos was enough for him to work it into all of the completed keyboard fantasias. Chapter three i… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Spicer, Mark Stuart
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Analysis of Nocturnal op. 70 by Benjamin Britten

Description: Nocturnal op. 70 is one of the most important large-scale works written for guitar in the twentieth century. Brief biographical data and some background information on Nocturnal show how it exemplifies Britten's compositional approach. The focus of the analysis is on three structural aspects: the rhythmic, the intervallic, and the aspect of underlying pitch patterns. The rhythmic analysis discusses the distortion of rhythmic patterns by the use of compression, expansion, elisions, syncopation, … more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Frackenpohl, David J. (David John)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Elements of Jazz Harmony and Analysis

Description: This study develops a method for analyzing jazz piano music, primarily focusing on the era 1935-1950. The method is based on axiomatic concepts of jazz harmony, such as the circle of fifths and root position harmonies. 7-10 motion between root and chordal seventh seems to be the driving force in jazz motion. The concept of tritone substitution leads to the idea of a harmonic level, i.e., a harmony's distance from the tonic. With this method in hand, various works of music are analyzed, illustra… more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Mahoney, J. Jeffrey
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Scriabin: A New Theory of Harmony and Structure

Description: The thesis speculates upon the source of Scriabin's pitch selection in several of his atonal works, concluding that Scriabin's "principle" stems from his own "mystic chord," its inversion at the major third, and the transposition of these two chords at the tritone. These four chords share the same invariant harmonic basis, Scriabin's characteristic French-sixth sonority. The quartet of chords combine to form two nine-note scales, each containing as a subset the octatonic scale. The thesis demon… more
Date: December 1991
Creator: McVay, Michael (Michael Jones)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Study Of Lu-Pitch Name Signification: A Translation with Commentary

Description: The purpose of this thesis is to provide translation of documents on lu from two primary sources for a study of the theory of ,lu, with the main focus on the interpretation and the signification attached to each of the twelve lu-pitch names. To establish the background information of the lu-10 system, an explanation of its acoustical properties is first presented. Based on the most important and widely used tonal system in ancient China -- the san-fen-sun-i system, the illustration is provided… more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Tung, Anne An-Yi Lin
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Study of the Effects of Frequency Variance on Duration Perception

Description: This study investigates the effects of frequency variance on duration perception, using musically trained subjects. In the experiment three silent duration intervals were examined (4.75, 5.00, and 5.25 seconds); each interval was preceded and followed by tone markers. The onset marker was preceded by seven discrete tones one second apart, on the frequency 174.968 Hertz. This established a pulse or an external standard time measure. The subjects made judgments as to whether the offset marker fel… more
Date: May 1980
Creator: Gay, Leslie C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Two-Part Framework in Selected Choral Works as a Harmonic and Stylistic Determinant

Description: The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the determination of compositional styles in terms of manners of employing monadic and dyadic intervals in the music of the common practice period. An aspect for determining style is proposed by way of comparing the frequency of occurrence of dyads and monads in selected musical examples from the baroque, classical, and romantic periods. Chapter I is a discussion of the problem and methodology of the study. Chapters II, III, and IV prese… more
Date: May 1981
Creator: Turner, Michael W.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Seven Early Songs of Arnold Schoenberg from the Nachod Collection

Description: Arnold Schoenberg viewed himself as an extension of the German Romantic tradition. Schoenberg's early unpublished songs prove his indebtedness to nineteenth century music, but they also show a great deal that is strictly Schoenbergian. This paper investigates the musical elements that Schoenberg assimilated from tradition, especially from the great Lied tradition of the nineteenth century. lements that may be associated with his later works are also investigated, namely the 2rundgestalt princip… more
Date: December 1980
Creator: Russom, Philip Wade
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Messiaen's Influence on Post-War Serialism

Description: The objective of this paper is to show how Olivier Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensites influenced the development of postwar serialism. Written at Darmstadt in 1949, Mode de valeurs is considered the first European work to organize systematically all the major musical parameters: pitch, duration, dynamics, articulation, and register. This work was a natural step in Messiaen's growth toward complete or nearly complete systemization of musical parameters, which he had begun working towards… more
Date: August 1984
Creator: Muncy, Thomas R.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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An Analysis of Dominick Argento's "Peter Quince at the Clavier": the Music and Its Relationship to the Text

Description: Dominick Argento (b. 1927) occupies an important position among American composers. This thesis discusses his 1980 choral work Peter Quince at the Clavier: Sonatina for Mixed Chorus and Piano Concertante. On the surface, the choral and piano parts of this four movement work often sound dissimilar. To create unity within this composition, Argento utilizes a small number of generative elements that govern the pitch, intervallic, and rhythmic dimensions of the composition. This thesis also discuss… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Gonzales, Cynthia I. (Cynthia Inez)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Harry Partch: And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell on Petaluma

Description: Harry Partch's tuning system is an important contribution to tuning theory, and his music is original and significant. Part One of this study presents a brief biography of Partch, a discussion of his musical aesthetics (Monophony and Corporeality), and a technical summary of his tuning system. These elements are placed in historical perspective. Part Two presents a comprehensive analysis of "And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell on Petaluma," discussing the organization of formal, textural, rhythm… more
Date: August 1982
Creator: Nicholl, Matthew James
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Béla Bartók's "Four Dirges" for Piano, Op. 9a: A Complete Analysis

Description: The study of Bela Bartok's Four Dirges for piano (1909- 1910) is significant in that this period of 1908 to 1910 was particularly experimental and formative for Bartók, especially in tonal aspects of his compositional style. Furthermore, very little research and analysis has been done on these smaller works. This thesis contributes an analytical study of this early style and also shows its influence on larger mature works in subsequent years. A complete analysis on each dirge contains graphs of… more
Date: August 1980
Creator: Terrell, John W.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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History and Development of Theory of Lü: A Translation of Selected Chapters of Huang Ti-Pei's Perspectives of Chinese Music

Description: This study first narrates on the importance of theory of lü-lü (theory of tone generation) in the history of Chinese music from the Chou Dynasty (ca. 400 B.C.) to the Chin Dynasty (ca. end of 19th century), its symbolism and ramification. The main body of this study is devoted to critical translation of Huang Ti-Pei's Perspectives of Chinese Music, particularly those sections which give chronological narratives and comparative critiques of major theories of lü-lü, in order to provide the wester… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Chen, Whey-Fen
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Heroes Are Born Then Made

Description: Heroes Are Born Then Made is a theatre piece involving live actors on stage, and live music originating from an orchestra pit. The script and music is original. The music is meant to literally depict actions and emotions on stage whether the actors are present or not. The duration of the entire production is about two and one-half hours long. Six main actors are used with additional walk-ons. Sixteen musicians are required to make up the orchestra which is organized into a woodwind quartet, a b… more
Date: May 1987
Creator: Miesak, Edward
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Debussy's Use of the Motive in Thematic Construction as Found in "Images I" for Piano

Description: This study seeks to discover the extent and manner of Debussy's use of the motive in thematic material. A total of 40 melodic examples were analyzed in order to show their relationship to a single motive, a three-note figure having a step-leap relationship. Using eighty-four series of examples, the study shows the melodies analyzed to be 85% motive-derived. The study concludes, therefore, that Images I is a remarkably economical work, using a single three-note motive as a unifying and developme… more
Date: May 1977
Creator: Sheridan, John F.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Study of Part Forms in the Selected Intermezzi (opp, 116-119) of Johannes Brahms

Description: This study is an attempt to investigate part form structures in Brahms' Intermezzi, Opp. 116-119. Chapter One deals with the stylistic perspective in Brahms' piano writing in general as compared to his late works. Chapter Two concerns three aspects: 1) structural norms in part forms which are presented in many currently available textbooks on musical forms, 2) application of selected Brahms Intermezzi to above norms, and 3) the role of cadential types in part forms. Chapter Three analyzes struc… more
Date: August 1979
Creator: Yang, Byung H.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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