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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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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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