Latest content added for UNT Digital Library Collection: UNT Theses and Dissertationshttps://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/?sort=added_d&fq=dc_rights_access:public&fq=str_degree_discipline:Music+Theory2019-08-29T10:25:12-05:00UNT LibrariesThis is a custom feed for browsing UNT Digital Library Collection: UNT Theses and DissertationsContinuous Harmonic Structure in J.S. Bach's Triple Fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier and Art of Fugue2019-08-29T10:25:12-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538652/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538652/"><img alt="Continuous Harmonic Structure in J.S. Bach's Triple Fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier and Art of Fugue" title="Continuous Harmonic Structure in J.S. Bach's Triple Fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier and Art of Fugue" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538652/small/"/></a></p><p>This thesis explores how the harmonic structures of J.S. Bach's triple fugues interact with their formal, contrapuntal designs. It attempts to explain how each of these elaborate fugues is supported by a single, uninterrupted structure that holds the entire work together. In Bach's fugues one generally encounters large-scale goal-directed motion towards the concluding tonic; this continuous harmonic motion towards the final tonic is consistent with the aesthetics of the Baroque style, which valorizes constant motion or dynamism.</p>Igor Stravinsky: An Analytical Study of Programmatic Design of His Symphony in Three Movements2019-08-29T10:25:12-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538789/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538789/"><img alt="Igor Stravinsky: An Analytical Study of Programmatic Design of His Symphony in Three Movements" title="Igor Stravinsky: An Analytical Study of Programmatic Design of His Symphony in Three Movements" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538789/small/"/></a></p><p>Stravinsky seldom explained the intended theme of his works; however, he chose to do so with his Symphony in Three Movements. Stravinsky describes the first movement as a reflection on war films documenting scorched-earth tactics in China. He also states that the third movement is a reflection on the newsreels of goose-stepping soldiers, depicting the plot of the war in its entirety. In his descriptions, Stravinsky left out the second movement of the work. However, the movement already had a life of its own. The second movement expands a theme Stravinsky originally wrote for the movie The Song of Bernadette. The author, Franz Werfel, asked Stravinsky to compose music for the film when the two discussed the work and its central ideas. Although it did not appear in the film, Stravinsky recycled the music for the Symphony in Three Movements. In my opinion, the ideas of hope depicted in Werfel's novel are used by Stravinsky to evoke ideas of the importance of faith in the fallen world. My analysis aims to show the musical means used by Stravinsky to allow the central ideas from The Song of Bernadette to pervade the entirety of the Symphony in Three Movements.</p>Two-Dimensional Sonata Form as Methodology: Understanding Sonata-Variation Hybrids through a Two-Dimensional Lens2019-06-09T21:09:49-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505161/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505161/"><img alt="Two-Dimensional Sonata Form as Methodology: Understanding Sonata-Variation Hybrids through a Two-Dimensional Lens" title="Two-Dimensional Sonata Form as Methodology: Understanding Sonata-Variation Hybrids through a Two-Dimensional Lens" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505161/small/"/></a></p><p>One of the difficulties of nineteenth-century form studies is ambiguity in ascertaining which formal types are at work and in what ways. This can be an especially difficult problem when multiple formal types seem to influence the construction of a single composition. Drawing on some recent innovations in form studies proposed by Steven Vande Moortele, Janet Schmalfeldt, and Caitlin Martinkus, I first develop a set of analytical tools specifically made for the analysis of sonata/variation formal hybrids. I then refine these tools by applying them to the analysis of two pieces. Chopin's Fourth Piano Ballade can be understood from this perspective as primarily following the broad outlines of a sonata form, but with important influences from the recursive structures of variation forms; Franck's Symphonic Variations, on the other hand, are better viewed as engaging most of all with multiple variation-form paradigms and overlaying them with some of the rhetorical and formal structures of sonata forms. I conclude with a brief speculation on some further, more general applications of my methodology.</p>Multidimensional Musical Objects in Mahler's Seventh Symphony2019-06-09T21:09:49-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505248/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505248/"><img alt="Multidimensional Musical Objects in Mahler's Seventh Symphony" title="Multidimensional Musical Objects in Mahler's Seventh Symphony" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505248/small/"/></a></p><p>Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony seems to belie traditional notions of symphonic unity in that it progresses from E minor in the first movement to C major in the Finale. The repertoire of eighteenth and nineteenth century composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms indicates that tonal holism is a significant factor for the symphonic genre. In order to reconcile Mahler's adventurous key scheme, this dissertation explores a multidimensional harmonic model that expands upon other concepts like Robert Bailey's double-tonic complex and transformation theory. A multidimensional musical object is a nexus of several interconnected chords that occupy the same functional space (tonic, dominant, or subdominant) and can be integrated into a Schenkerian reading. Mahler's Seventh is governed by a three-dimensional tonic object that encompasses the major and minor versions of C, E, and A-flat and the augmented triad that is formed between them. The nature of this multidimensional harmony allows unusual formal procedures to unfold, most notably in the first movement's sonata form. To navigate this particular sonata design, I have incorporated my own analytical terminology, the identity narrative, to track the background harmonic events. The location of these events (identity schism, identity crisis, and identity reclamation) is critical to the entire structure of the Seventh.</p>Composing-Out Notre-Dame: How Louise Bertin Expresses the Hugolian Themes of Fate and Decay in La Esmeralda2018-09-26T18:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248448/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248448/"><img alt="Composing-Out Notre-Dame: How Louise Bertin Expresses the Hugolian Themes of Fate and Decay in La Esmeralda" title="Composing-Out Notre-Dame: How Louise Bertin Expresses the Hugolian Themes of Fate and Decay in La Esmeralda" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248448/small/"/></a></p><p>From 1831 to 1836, Victor Hugo and Louise Bertin collaborated on an opera titled La Esmeralda. For Hugo, it would be the only opera libretto he would ever write, a mere footnote to his collection of widely admired novels, plays, and poetry; for Bertin, however, it would become her most important work, yet seemingly destined to fade into obscurity like so many great pieces of art. Using Schenkerian analysis, this thesis uncovers the tonal and voice-leading structure of the first act of La Esmeralda. A study of this nature, which operates from the premise that forms as large and complex as opera can be examined in terms of a large-scale structure, is valuable because it sheds new light on the correlation of tonal structure and dramatic organization. Through these methods, Act I of La Esmeralda is read as a background progression from D major (with F# kopfton) to F major, composing-out an F#/F♮ dichotomy introduced in the overture. With reference to several musical-symbolic ideas - including the representation of virtue through the pitch F#, the key of Notre-dame's bells - it is shown how the musical structure of Act I expresses the Hugolian themes of fate and decay.</p>Metric Dissonance in Non-Isochronous Meters2018-09-26T18:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248499/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248499/"><img alt="Metric Dissonance in Non-Isochronous Meters" title="Metric Dissonance in Non-Isochronous Meters" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248499/small/"/></a></p><p>Although music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries makes frequent use of non-isochronous meter (meters involving beats of different length, such as 5/4 and 7/8), most studies on meter and metric dissonance focus on isochronous meters (meters involving beats of the same length, such as 4/4 and 9/8). This dissertation bridges this gap by developing two methodologies to account for metric dissonance involving non-isochronous pulses: modified ski-hill graphs and the composite beat attack point system. Modified ski-hill graphs, adapted from Richard Cohn's ski-hill graphs, illustrate metric states involving non-isochronous pulses and reveal degrees of dissonance in musical passages that share time spans, as in 5/4 grouped 3+2 vs. 5/4 grouped 2+3. The composite beat attack point system uses rhythmic notation to illustrate metric states involving any pulse duration or time span, revealing specific points of dissonance and consonance, relative strength of dissonance and consonance, and patterns of dissonance and consonance. The methodology is used to closely examine the treatment of metric dissonance in Holst's "Mars," from The Planets, Ligeti's Hungarian Rock (Chaconne), and Ligeti's Désordre. The analyses focus on passages where the metric dissonance becomes ever more pronounced and ends up obliterating any sense of meter.</p>Crisis and Catharsis: Linear Analysis and the Interpretation of Herbert Howells' "Requiem" and "Hymnus Paradisi"2018-09-26T18:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248387/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248387/"><img alt="Crisis and Catharsis: Linear Analysis and the Interpretation of Herbert Howells' "Requiem" and "Hymnus Paradisi"" title="Crisis and Catharsis: Linear Analysis and the Interpretation of Herbert Howells' "Requiem" and "Hymnus Paradisi"" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248387/small/"/></a></p><p>Hymnus Paradisi (1938), a large-scale choral and orchestral work, is well-known as an elegiac masterpiece written by Herbert Howells in response to the sudden loss of his young son in 1935. The composition of this work, as noted by the composer himself and those close to him, successfully served as a means of working through his grief during the difficult years that followed Michael's death. In this dissertation, I provide linear analyses for Howells' Hymnus Paradisi as well as its predecessor, Howells' Requiem (1932), which was adapted and greatly expanded in the creation of Hymnus Paradisi. These analyses and accompanying explanations are intended to provide insight into the intricate contrapuntal style in which Howells writes, showing that an often complex musical surface is underpinned by traditional linear and harmonic patterns on the deeper structural levels. In addition to examining the middleground and background structural levels within each movement, I also demonstrate how Howells creates large-scale musical continuity and shapes the overall composition through the use of large-scale linear connections, shown through the meta-Ursatz (an Ursatz which extends across multiple movements creating multi-movement unity). Finally, in my interpretation of these analyses, I discuss specific motives in Hymnus Paradisi which, I hypothesize, musically represent the crisis of Michael's death. These motives are initially introduced in the "Preludio," composed out on multiple structural levels as Hymnus Paradisi unfolds, and, finally, I argue, are transformed as a representation of the process of healing, and ultimately, catharsis.</p>Developing Variation and Melodic Contour Analysis: A New Look at the Music of Max Reger2018-09-26T18:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248493/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248493/"><img alt="Developing Variation and Melodic Contour Analysis: A New Look at the Music of Max Reger" title="Developing Variation and Melodic Contour Analysis: A New Look at the Music of Max Reger" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248493/small/"/></a></p><p>Max Reger was a prolific composer on the threshold of modernism. The style of his extensive musical output was polarizing among his contemporaries. A criticism of Reger's music is its complex and dense musical structure. Despite writing tonal music, Reger often pushes the boundaries of tonality so far that all sense of formal organization is seemingly imperceptible. In this dissertation, I offer what I observed to be a new way of discerning Reger's motivic relationships and formal structures within and between movements. There are three primary tools and methods I incorporated to make these observations: Schoenberg's developing variation; melodic contour analysis as discussed by Elizabeth West-Marvin and Diana Deutsch; and Janet Schmalfeldt's motivic cyclicism stemming from internal themes. In this dissertation I examine five different musical works by Reger: D minor Piano Quartet, Clarinet Quintet, Piano Concerto, String Quartet, op. 121 and E minor Piano Trio, op. 102. My analysis shows how Reger relies on melodic contours of his motives to connect musical moments across entire movements and entire works with multiple movements. These motives are developed and often mark structurally significant moments providing the organization often perceived as missing in Reger's music.</p>Tonal Enigmas: A Study of Problematic Openings and Endings2018-09-26T18:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248491/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248491/"><img alt="Tonal Enigmas: A Study of Problematic Openings and Endings" title="Tonal Enigmas: A Study of Problematic Openings and Endings" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248491/small/"/></a></p><p>When talking about tonal music, we sometimes tend to take for granted the idea that the tonic should always be clearly established either at the beginning or the end. However, there are composers who sometimes deviate from the normal path by creating different types of riddles or tonal enigmas in their works. Some of these riddles can be solved later on as the piece progresses; yet others may need to bexplained with the help of some external references. This thesis examines three such examples, each of which poses its unique enigma. The second movement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 presents a dualism between Ab and F (paralleled by their dominants Eb and C); Brahms's Alto Rhapsody involves an enormous auxiliary cadence spanning 2/3 of the piece and a seemingly plagal cadence which turns out to be authentic with the V suppressed; and eventually, Grieg's setting of Dereinst, dereinst, Gedanke mein provides a paradoxical ending which may be understood as incorporating the composer's attitude towards the text.</p>Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 2]2016-11-15T10:54:02-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935697/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935697/"><img alt="Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 2]" title="Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 2]" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935697/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study is to provide a practical English translation of Vincenzo Galilei's significant treatise on ancient and modern music (1581). In spite of the important place this work holds in the history of music, it has never before been made available in its entirety in any language other than the original Italian. This volume includes chapters 4-6, with an index and bibliography for the entire dissertation.</p>An Analytical Study of Paradox and Structural Dualism in the Music of Ludwig van Beethoven2016-06-28T16:28:55-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849697/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849697/"><img alt="An Analytical Study of Paradox and Structural Dualism in the Music of Ludwig van Beethoven" title="An Analytical Study of Paradox and Structural Dualism in the Music of Ludwig van Beethoven" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849697/small/"/></a></p><p>Beethoven's rich compositional language evokes unique problems that have fueled scholarly dialogue for many years. My analyses focus on two types of paradoxes as central compositional problems in some of Beethoven's symphonic pieces and piano sonatas. My readings of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 27 (Op. 90), Symphony No. 4 (Op. 60), and Symphony No. 8 (Op. 93) explore the nature and significance of paradoxical unresolved six-four chords and their impact on tonal structure. I consider formal-tonal paradoxes in Beethoven's Tempest Sonata (Op. 31, No. 2), Ninth Symphony (Op. 125), and Overture die Weihe des Hauses (Op. 124). Movements that evoke formal-tonal paradoxes retain the structural framework of a paradigmatic interrupted structure, but contain unique voice-leading features that superimpose an undivided structure on top of the "residual" interrupted structure.
Carl Schachter's observations about "genuine double meaning" and his arguments about the interplay between design and tonal structure in "Either/Or" establish the foundation for my analytical approach to paradox. Timothy Jackson's reading of Brahms' "Immer leiser word meine Schlummer" (Op. 105, No. 2) and Stephen Slottow's "Von einem Kunstler: Shapes in the Clouds" both clarify the methodology employed here. My interpretation of paradox involves more than just a slight contradiction between two Schenkerian readings; it involves fundamentally opposed readings, that both result from valid, logical lines of analytical reasoning.
In my view, paradoxes could be considered a central part of Beethoven's persona and philosophy. Beethoven's romantic endeavors and his relationships with mentors suggest that paradoxes might have been central to his bravura. Furthermore, Beethoven's familiarity with the politics of the French Revolution and Shakespearean literature suggest that paradoxes in some pieces (including the Ninth Symphony) could be metaphorical representations of his ideology. However, I do not attempt to explicitly link specific style features to extra-musical ideas.
Modern Schenkerian scholars continue to expand and refine Schenker's formal-tonal models as well as his concept of interruption. In my view, by considering paradox as a focal compositional problem, we can better understand some of the formal-tonal issues and shifting allegiances in Beethoven's music and take another step beyond the rigidity of some paradigmatic formal-tonal prototypes.</p>Musical and Dramatic Functions of Loops and Loop Breakers in Philip Glass's Opera The Voyage2016-06-28T16:28:55-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849734/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849734/"><img alt="Musical and Dramatic Functions of Loops and Loop Breakers in Philip Glass's Opera The Voyage" title="Musical and Dramatic Functions of Loops and Loop Breakers in Philip Glass's Opera The Voyage" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849734/small/"/></a></p><p>Philip Glass's minimalist opera The Voyage commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. In the opera, Philip Glass, like other composers, expresses singers' and non-singers' words and activities by means of melodies, rhythms, chords, textures, timbres, and dynamics. In addition to these traditional musical expressions, successions of reiterating materials (RMs, two or more iterations of materials) and non reiterating materials (NRMs) become new musical expressions. However, dividing materials into theses two categories only distinguishes NRMs from RMs without exploring relations among them in successions. For instance, a listener cannot perceive the functional relations between a partial iteration of the RM and the NRM following the partial RM because both the partial RM and the NRM are NRMs. As a result, a listener hears a succession of NRM followed by another NRM. When an analyst relabels the partial RM as partial loop, and the NRM following the partial RM as loop breaker, a listener hears the NRM as a loop breaker causing a partial loop. The musical functions of loops and loop breakers concern a listener's expectations of the creation, sustaining, departure, and return to the norm in successions of loops and loop breakers. When a listener associates the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of these expectations with dramatic devices such as incidents, words in dialogues and soliloquies, and activities by singers and non-singers, loops and loop breakers in successions become dramatically functional. This dissertation explores the relations among musical and dramatic functions of loops and loop breakers in Glass's musical commemoration of Columbus.</p>Form in Popular Song, 1990-20092016-03-20T10:34:12-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822808/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822808/"><img alt="Form in Popular Song, 1990-2009" title="Form in Popular Song, 1990-2009" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822808/small/"/></a></p><p>Through an examination of 402 songs that charted in the top 20 of the Billboard year-end charts between the years 1990 and 2009, this dissertation builds upon previous research in form of popular song by addressing the following questions: 1) How might formal sections be identified through melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and text? 2) How do these sections function and relate to one another and to the song as a whole? 3) How do these sections, and the resulting formal structures, relate to what has been described by previous theorists as normative? 4) What new norms and trends can be observed in popular song forms since 1990? Although many popular songs since 1990 do follow well-established forms, some songwriters and producers change and vary these forms. AAA strophic form, AABA form, Verse-Chorus form, Verse-Chorus with Prechorus and/or Postchorus sections, Verse-Chorus-Bridge form, “Other, with a Chorus” and “Other, without a Chorus” forms are addressed. An increasing number of the songs in each of the above listed forms are based on a repeating harmonic progression or no harmonic progression at all. In such songs, the traditional method of identifying sections and section-functions through harmonic analysis is less useful as an analytical tool, and other musical elements (melody, rhythm, instrumentation, and text) are as important, if not even more so, in determining the form of songs in the sample.</p>The Musical Language of Alberto Ginastera’s Panambí and the Influence of Claude Debussy’s La Mer and Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps2016-03-20T10:34:12-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822749/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822749/"><img alt="The Musical Language of Alberto Ginastera’s Panambí and the Influence of Claude Debussy’s La Mer and Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps" title="The Musical Language of Alberto Ginastera’s Panambí and the Influence of Claude Debussy’s La Mer and Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822749/small/"/></a></p><p>Alberto Ginastera completed his ballet Panambí in 1937. The ballet was arranged as a symphonic suite, and was performed the same year at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, conducted by Juan José Castro. Panambí marked the beginning of Alberto Ginastera’s long and successful career as an Argentine composer. Chapter I of this document provides a brief introduction into the history behind Alberto Ginastera’s Panambí suite, and includes a review of the research that is exclusively devoted to the suite, as well as documents that do not provide direct analyses of Panambí, but contain information that aid in a better understanding of the suite’s composition. Chapter II includes analyses of the suite that illustrate important elements that contribute to the structure and sound of the Panambí suite. These components include Ginastera’s construction of the La Noche theme found in the first movement and its use as a master set, his use of diatonic collections and pitch centricity, the importance of unordered pitch class intervals IC1 and IC6, his use of aggregate completion as a compositional method, and his use of local motives over larger spans of temporal space. Chapter III explores the possibility that many of these compositional methods are due to the influence of Claude Debussy’s La Mer and Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printmeps. The “guitar chord” may also be the result of the influence of Debussy’s La Mer.</p>Václav Philomathes’ Musicorum Libri Quattuor (1512): Translation, Commentary, and Contextualization2016-03-20T10:34:12-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822783/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822783/"><img alt="Václav Philomathes’ Musicorum Libri Quattuor (1512): Translation, Commentary, and Contextualization" title="Václav Philomathes’ Musicorum Libri Quattuor (1512): Translation, Commentary, and Contextualization" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822783/small/"/></a></p><p>The Czech-born music theorist, Václav Philomathes, wrote the Musicorum libri quattuor in 1512 while attending the University of Vienna. This didactic treatise became one of the most widely published theory treatise of its time with 26 copies of five editions remaining today and covers the topics of Gregorian chant practice, Solmization, Mensural Notation, Choir Practice and Conducting, and Four-voice Counterpoint. Of particular note, is the section on choir practice and conducting, of which there is no equivalent prior example extant today. This dissertation provides a Latin-English translation of Philomathes’s work, as well as produces a critical commentary and comparison of the five editions while positioning the editions within the context of the musico-theoretical background of early-to-mid-16th century scholarship in Central Europe.</p>Formal Organization in Ground-bass Compositions2016-03-04T16:14:01-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804844/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804844/"><img alt="Formal Organization in Ground-bass Compositions" title="Formal Organization in Ground-bass Compositions" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804844/small/"/></a></p><p>This thesis examines formal organization in ground-bass works. While it is true that many or even most works of the ground-bass repertoire are variation sets over a ground, there also exist many ground-bass works that are not in variation form. The primary goal of this thesis is to elucidate the various ways in which such non-variation formal organizations may be achieved. The first chapter of this work discusses the general properties of ground basses and various ways that individual phrases may be placed in relation to the statements of the ground. The second chapter considers phrases groupings, phrase rhythm, and the larger formal organizations that result. The third chapter concludes this study with complete analyses of Purcell’s “When I am laid in earth” from Dido and Aeneas and Delanade’s “Jerusalem, convertere ad dominum Deum tuum” from his setting of the Leçons de ténèbres.</p>A Seventeenth-century Musiklehrbuch in Context: Heinrich Baryphonus and Heinrich Grimm’s Pleiades Musicae2016-03-04T16:14:01-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804836/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804836/"><img alt="A Seventeenth-century Musiklehrbuch in Context: Heinrich Baryphonus and Heinrich Grimm’s Pleiades Musicae" title="A Seventeenth-century Musiklehrbuch in Context: Heinrich Baryphonus and Heinrich Grimm’s Pleiades Musicae" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804836/small/"/></a></p><p>Heinrich Baryphonus (1581-1655) and Heinrich Grimm’s (1592/3-1637) didactic treatise, Pleiades musicae (1615/1630), provides a vivid testimony to the state of music education and music theory pedagogy in Protestant Germany in the early seventeenth century. Published initially by Baryphonus for use at the Gymnasium in Quedlinburg and reissued in an expanded format by Grimm for use at the Gymnasium in Magdeburg, the text examines the fundamentals of pitch, intervals, counterpoint, and, in the second edition, triadic theory and composition. Throughout the remainder of the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century, music theorists including Johann Andreas Herbst (1588-1666), Otto Gibel (1612-1682), and Andreas Werckmeister (1645-1706), used the document as a source for their own musical writings, solidifying its status as a significant contribution to the field of music theory. Recently, scholars such as Carl Dahlhaus, Benito Rivera, and Joel Lester have found value in Pleiades musicae for its role in the early stages of the development of triadic theory and the emergence of harmonic tonality. However, with the exception of the passages on triadic theory, the treatise continues to be relatively unknown. In order to understand the full extent of Baryphonus and Grimm’s contributions to the history of music theory, and to provide a multifaceted context for situating Pleiades musicae in the culture of its time and place of origin, the present study examines both editions of the text from biographical, cultural, educational, philosophical, music-theoretical, and historical perspectives, and includes modern Latin editions and English translations of the two editions of the treatise.</p>Tonality and the Extended Common Practice in the Music of Thad Jones2016-02-09T16:37:48-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801875/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801875/"><img alt="Tonality and the Extended Common Practice in the Music of Thad Jones" title="Tonality and the Extended Common Practice in the Music of Thad Jones" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801875/small/"/></a></p><p>Tonality is a term often used to describe the music of the common practice period (roughly 1600-1900). This study examines the music of mid twentieth-century jazz composer Thad Jones in light of an extended common practice, explicating ways in which this music might be best understood as tonal. Drawing from analyses of three of Jones’s big band compositions: To You, Three and One, and Cherry Juice, this study examines three primary elements in detail. First is Jones’s use of chord-scale application techniques in the orchestration over various chordal qualities represented by the symbols, revealing traditional as well as innovative methods by Jones. Second is Jones’s use of harmonic progressions, demonstrating his connection to past practice as well as modern jazz variations. Third is Jones’s use of contrapuntal connections and their traditional relationship to functional tonality, but in a chromatic scale-based environment. Jones’s music is presented in this study to demonstrate a tonal jazz common practice that represents an amalgamation of traditions including twentieth-century scale-based procedures, Renaissance and early twentieth-century modality, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century voice leading schemas, and Baroque and Classical descending-fifth progressions. Also included as an appendix is a list of possible note errors in the published scores of To You, Three and One, and Cherry Juice.</p>Algorithmic Music Analysis: a Case Study of a Prelude From David Cope’s “From Darkness, Light”2016-02-09T16:37:48-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801959/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801959/"><img alt="Algorithmic Music Analysis: a Case Study of a Prelude From David Cope’s “From Darkness, Light”" title="Algorithmic Music Analysis: a Case Study of a Prelude From David Cope’s “From Darkness, Light”" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801959/small/"/></a></p><p>The use of algorithms in compositional practice has been in use for centuries. With the advent of computers, formalized procedures have become an important part of computer music. David Cope is an American composer that has pioneered systems that make use of artificial intelligence programming techniques. In this dissertation one of David Cope’s compositions that was generated with one of his processes is examined in detail. A general timeline of algorithmic compositional practice is outlined from a historical perspective, and realized in the Common Lisp programming language as a musicological tool. David Cope’s compositional output is summarized with an explanation of what types of systems he has utilized in the analyses of other composers’ music, and the composition of his own music. Twentieth century analyses techniques are formalized within Common Lisp as algorithmic analyses tools. The tools are then combined with techniques developed within other computational music analyses tools, and applied toward the analysis of Cope’s prelude. A traditional music theory analysis of the composition is provided, and outcomes of computational analyses augment the traditional analysis. The outcome of the computational analyses, or algorithmic analyses, is represented in statistical data, and corresponding probabilities. From the resulting data sets part of a machine-learning technique algorithm devises semantic networks. The semantic networks represent chord succession and voice leading rules that underlie the framework of Cope’s prelude.</p>Ligeti’s Early Experiments in Compositional Process: Simple Structures in Musica Ricercata2015-08-21T05:42:39-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699913/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699913/"><img alt="Ligeti’s Early Experiments in Compositional Process: Simple Structures in Musica Ricercata" title="Ligeti’s Early Experiments in Compositional Process: Simple Structures in Musica Ricercata" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699913/small/"/></a></p><p>This study examines the formation of a unique chromatic and formal language in Musica Ricercata by György Ligeti. The study begins by examining statements from an interview with Ligeti conducted by Ove Nordwall in 1979. The interview discusses his compositional experiments from the early 1950s, the period in which Musica Ricercata was composed. Working from Ligeti’s words, “simple structures” are defined as repeating formations of rhythms and intervals with easily discernable features. These features must be salient such that when the structure is altered, it is still clearly and audibly recognizable. The musical and political environment in Hungary at the time is established, providing context for this early experimentation with compositional parameters. The analysis begins with an overview of the entire work, outlining developments of pitch-class density, symmetrical pitch-class structures, and notated accelerandi over the course of the multi-movement work. Analyses of simple structures in each movement elucidate both Ligeti’s experimental approaches to chromaticism, along with more traditional aspects, with special reference to Bartók’s compositional style.</p>Theorizing Atonality: Herbert Eimert’s and Jefim Golyscheff’s Contributions to Composing with Twelve Tones2015-08-21T05:42:39-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699926/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699926/"><img alt="Theorizing Atonality: Herbert Eimert’s and Jefim Golyscheff’s Contributions to Composing with Twelve Tones" title="Theorizing Atonality: Herbert Eimert’s and Jefim Golyscheff’s Contributions to Composing with Twelve Tones" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699926/small/"/></a></p><p>In 1924, Herbert Eimert’s Atonale Musiklehre was the first published text to describe a systematic approach to composing atonal music. It contains significant contributions to the discourse on the early development of twelve-tone composition. While Eimert uses the term “atonal” to describe his compositional approach, his definition of atonality demands that all twelve tones be present with none repeated, and that they present as complexes not ordered rows. Eimert’s discussion of atonality differs from others of the same period because he focuses on vertical sonorities and introduces “interlocking complexes”, wherein two separate statements of the aggregate can overlap by one pitch or by a set of pitches. Interlocking complexes are an important feature of Eimert’s string quartet Fünf Stücke für Streichquartett, which was published in 1925 and composed at the same time as Atonale Musiklehre was written. In the foreword to Atonale Musiklehre, Eimert clarifies that he is not the originator of the concept of atonality, rather that he absorbed the ideas of Josef Matthias Hauer and Jefim Golyscheff. Twelve-tone complexes appear first in Golyscheff’s 1914 String Trio. He refers to them as “twelve-tone duration complexes” and labels them in the score. As the name “duration complexes” implies, there are examples of serial rotation of rhythm in the Trio, a technique that is not developed further until the 1950s. Combined with the text of Atonale Musiklehre, the compositions of Golyscheff and Eimert from the year immediately following the book’s publication provide insight into the early development of “atonality” and twelve-tone compositional methods. Investigation of these documents that have not been thoroughly discussed in print provides a broader perspective of the development of these methods of composition.</p>A Survey of the Influence of Heinrich Schenker on American Music Theory and Its Pedagogy Since 19402015-06-24T09:39:17-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663421/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663421/"><img alt="A Survey of the Influence of Heinrich Schenker on American Music Theory and Its Pedagogy Since 1940" title="A Survey of the Influence of Heinrich Schenker on American Music Theory and Its Pedagogy Since 1940" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663421/small/"/></a></p><p>This study investigates the influence of the Austrian music theorist Heinrich Schenker on American music theory since 1940, including a survey of writings related to Schenker and theory textbooks displaying his influence.
The Schenker influence on American music theory includes many journal articles on Schenker and his principal students. His methods are employed often in analytical discussions of various issues. In addition to numerous dissertations and theses written about Schenker, a number of textbooks are now based wholly or in part on his approach to musical understanding. The current trend towards accepting Schenker's theories is likely to continue as more people are exposed to his teachings.</p>The Published Writings of Ernest McClain Through Spring, 19762015-06-24T09:39:17-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663466/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663466/"><img alt="The Published Writings of Ernest McClain Through Spring, 1976" title="The Published Writings of Ernest McClain Through Spring, 1976" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663466/small/"/></a></p><p>This thesis considers all of Ernest McClain's published writings, from March, 1970, to September, 1976, from the standpoint of their present-day acoustical significance. Although much of the material comes from McClain's writings, some is drawn from other related musical, mathematical, and philosophical works.
The four chapters begin with a biographical sketch of McClain, presenting his background which aided him in becoming a theoretical musicologist. The second chapter contains a chronological itemization of his writings and provides a synopsis of them in layman's terms. The following chapter offers an examination of some salient points of McClain's work. The final chapter briefly summarizes the findings and contains conclusions as to their germaneness to current music theory, thereby giving needed exposure to McClain's ideas.</p>Dmitri Shostakovich and the Fugues of Op. 87: A Bach Bicentennial Tribute2015-05-10T06:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504244/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504244/"><img alt="Dmitri Shostakovich and the Fugues of Op. 87: A Bach Bicentennial Tribute" title="Dmitri Shostakovich and the Fugues of Op. 87: A Bach Bicentennial Tribute" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504244/small/"/></a></p><p>In 1950-51, for the bicentennial of the death of J. S. Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his collection of Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. This thesis is a study of the fugal technique of Shostakovich as observed in Op. 87, in light of the fugal style of Bach as observed in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume One. Individual analyses of each of the twenty-four Shostakovich pieces yield the conclusion that Op. 87 is an emulation of Bachian fugal methods as observed in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume One.</p>An Analysis of Robert Nathaniel Dett's In the Bottoms2015-05-10T06:16:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504233/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504233/"><img alt="An Analysis of Robert Nathaniel Dett's In the Bottoms" title="An Analysis of Robert Nathaniel Dett's In the Bottoms" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504233/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of the thesis is to analyze formally, harmonically and melodically the five movements of the suite both as separate movements and inclusively as one cohesive unit. The thesis will be written in three parts: Part One will include a biographical sketch of the composer, a general discussion of his music, background information on the suite and Dett's antecedents and contemporaries influencing him. Part Two will discuss the following: A) Form, B) Harmonic Analysis, and C) Melodic Analysis and the influences of black folk idioms. Part Three will include the keyboard music of Dett's contemporaries as compared to his suite in terms of their contrasts and similarities.</p>Dissonance Treatment in Fuging Tunes by Daniel Read from The American Singing Book and The Columbian Harmonist2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501161/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501161/"><img alt="Dissonance Treatment in Fuging Tunes by Daniel Read from The American Singing Book and The Columbian Harmonist" title="Dissonance Treatment in Fuging Tunes by Daniel Read from The American Singing Book and The Columbian Harmonist" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501161/small/"/></a></p><p>This thesis treats Daniel Read's music analytically to establish style characteristics. Read's fuging tunes are examined for metric placement and structural occurrence of dissonance, and dissonance as text painting. Read's comments on dissonance are extracted from his tunebook introductions. A historical chapter includes the English origins of the fuging tune and its American heyday. The creative life of Daniel Read is discussed. This thesis contributes to knowledge of Read's role in the development of the New England Psalmody idiom. Specifically, this work illustrates the importance of understanding and analyzing Read's use of dissonance as a style determinant, showing that Read's dissonance treatment is an immediate and central characteristic of his compositional practice.</p>Martin Agricola's 'Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch': A Translation2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501174/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501174/"><img alt="Martin Agricola's 'Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch': A Translation" title="Martin Agricola's 'Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch': A Translation" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501174/small/"/></a></p><p>The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of presenting a concise English translation of the book which Martin Agricola wrote in 1528 in German on the musical instruments and practices of his time. In addition to the translation itself, there is a major section devoted to a comparison of the material of Musica instrumentalis deudsch with other books and treatises on the same and related subjects which were written at approximately the same time or within the next hundred years. Agricola states that the purpose of his book was to teach the playing of various instruments such as organs, lutes, harps, viols, and pipes. He also noted that the material was prepared expressly for young people to study. To facilitate the accomplishment of this purpose Agricola wrote the book in short, two-lined, rhymed couplets so that the youths might quickly memorize the material and thus retain the instructions better.</p>Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 1]2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500437/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500437/"><img alt="Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 1]" title="Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna of Vincenzo Galilei: Translation and Commentary. [Part 1]" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500437/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study is to provide a practical English translation of Vincenzo Galilei's significant treatise on ancient and modern music (1581). In spite of the important place this work holds in the history of music, it has never before been made available in its entirety in any language other than the original Italian. This volume includes the front matter and chapters 1-3.</p>A.B. Marx's Concept of Rondo and Sonata: A Critical Evaluation of His Explanations of Musical Form2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500789/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500789/"><img alt="A.B. Marx's Concept of Rondo and Sonata: A Critical Evaluation of His Explanations of Musical Form" title="A.B. Marx's Concept of Rondo and Sonata: A Critical Evaluation of His Explanations of Musical Form" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500789/small/"/></a></p><p>The third volume of A.B. Marx's theory treatise Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition is discussed. His definitions of rondo and sonata formal types are demonstrated in the first chapter in addition to the manner of their derivation through a developmental process originating in the Liedform. Musical examples chosen by Marx are examined in chapter two. These examples, taken from Mozart's and Beethoven's piano works, are evaluated in relation to Marx's definitions of the various types of form. The third chapter is concerned with the progression from microstructure to macrostructure and the functional interrelation of the parts to the whole. In addition, Marx's opinion on musical form is compared with perspectives of philosophers from his time period and the immediate past.</p>Klangfarben, Rhythmic Displacement, and Economy of Means: A Theoretical Study of the Works of Thelonious Monk2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501262/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501262/"><img alt="Klangfarben, Rhythmic Displacement, and Economy of Means: A Theoretical Study of the Works of Thelonious Monk" title="Klangfarben, Rhythmic Displacement, and Economy of Means: A Theoretical Study of the Works of Thelonious Monk" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501262/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study is to investigate the theoretical causes of the stylistic results of both compositions and spontaneous improvisations of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. The specific topics chosen for analysis include Klangfarben (sound colors), rhythmic displacement (the relocation or complete removal of expected rhythmic events), and economy of means (the judicious use of silence, simplicity, and economy). All of the above topics are addressed with regard to the composer's original works, his selected renditions of works by other composers, and his improvisations. The musical examples appear in transcription form, as some of them are unpublished. The topics are introduced in the first chapter, and individually addressed in subsequent chapters.</p>Syntactic Structures in Functional Tonality2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500265/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500265/"><img alt="Syntactic Structures in Functional Tonality" title="Syntactic Structures in Functional Tonality" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500265/small/"/></a></p><p>Chapter I examines linguistic structures fundamental to most tasks of comprehension performed by humans. Chapter II proposes musical elements to be linguistic structures functioning within a musical symbol system (syntax). In this chapter, functional tonality is explored for systemic elements and relationships among these elements that facilitate tonal understanding. It is postulated that the listener's comprehension of these tonal elements is dependent on cognitive tasks performed by virtue of linguistic competence. Chapter III examines human information processing systems that are applicable both generally to human cognition and specifically to tonal comprehension. A pedagogy for listening skills that facilitate tonal comprehension is proposed in the fourth and final chapter and is based on information presented in preceding chapters.</p>Thematic and Formal Narrative in Respighi’s Sinfonia Drammatica2015-03-08T17:44:37-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500165/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500165/"><img alt="Thematic and Formal Narrative in Respighi’s Sinfonia Drammatica" title="Thematic and Formal Narrative in Respighi’s Sinfonia Drammatica" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500165/small/"/></a></p><p>Respighi’s scarcely-known orchestral work Sinfonia Drammatica lives up to its title by evoking a narrative throughout the course of its three movements. In this dissertation, I argue how the work’s surface, subsurface, and formal elements suggest this narrative which emerges as a cycle of rising and falling dramatic tension. I explain how Respighi constructs the work’s narrative in the musical surface through a diverse body of themes that employ three motives of contour. The disposition and manipulation of these motives within the themes suggest frequent fluctuations of the level of conflict throughout the symphony as a whole. To show the involvement of musical forms in the work’s narrative, I employ an approach which integrates harmony and thematic behavior. I utilize analytical methods from the current Formenlehre, including terms from James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s sonata deformation theory and William Caplin’s theories of formal functions to elucidate ties between the forms of the Sinfonia Drammatica’s movements and those of conventional sonata forms of the late-eighteenth century. This dissertation also employs Heinrich Schenker’s theories of structures, voice leading, and reduction to illustrate large-scale aspects of the Sinfonia Drammatica’s narrative. The resulting analyses show Respighi’s elaborations of common structural paradigms which serve to heighten the articulation of the narrative.</p>Gualterio Armando's 34 Canciones Hispanoamericanas Para Canto Y Piano: a Comprehensive Edition and an Analytical Study of the Work’s Thematic Unity, Chromaticism, and Use of Musical Quotations2015-03-08T17:44:37-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500013/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500013/"><img alt="Gualterio Armando's 34 Canciones Hispanoamericanas Para Canto Y Piano: a Comprehensive Edition and an Analytical Study of the Work’s Thematic Unity, Chromaticism, and Use of Musical Quotations" title="Gualterio Armando's 34 Canciones Hispanoamericanas Para Canto Y Piano: a Comprehensive Edition and an Analytical Study of the Work’s Thematic Unity, Chromaticism, and Use of Musical Quotations" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500013/small/"/></a></p><p>During the 1930s, German-born music critic and composer Gualterio Armando (1887-1973), formerly known as Walter Dahms, set to music thirty-four poems by some of the most important Hispano-American poets from the latter part of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. In these songs, Armando tries to capture the spirit and idiosyncrasy of Hispano-American cultures while incorporating his own musical aesthetics. Armando’s 34 Canciones Hispanoamericanas para Canto y Piano (34 Hispano-American songs for voice and piano) display an original sound and style full of rhythms, shapes, colors, and textures found in the music of various Hispanic cultures. Nevertheless, the essence of these songs is deeply rooted in nineteenth-century German musical traditions. This eclecticism results in unique works that developed and evolved as reflections of their creator’s musical psyche. This dissertation presents an analytical study of selected songs from the 34 Canciones. The study focuses on three compositional aspects: unity within song cycles, chromaticism, and the use of pre-existing musical material. Since only one of the 34 Canciones has ever been published, this document also includes a complete edition of the thirty-four songs. Additionally, a significant part of the research incorporates a biographical sketch of the composer.</p>Redeeming the Betrayer: Elgar’s Portrayal of Judas in the Apostles2014-11-08T11:56:31-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc407739/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc407739/"><img alt="Redeeming the Betrayer: Elgar’s Portrayal of Judas in the Apostles" title="Redeeming the Betrayer: Elgar’s Portrayal of Judas in the Apostles" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc407739/small/"/></a></p><p>Despite its generally agreed importance, very little has been written about The Apostles. Even among the extant publications that address The Apostles, scholars have focused on its history and development, its reception, or analytical descriptions of its surface themes. The aim of this study will therefore be to provide neither a biography of Elgar, nor an account of the genesis of the work, but to analyze The Apostles in a manner that will achieve a deeper understanding of the oratorio. Chapter 1 explores the complexities that surround Judas and the different ways in which he was perceived throughout history. Then, through my analysis of the surface motives in Chapter 2 and their significance in relation to the large-scale harmonic structure in Chapter 3, I will suggest that Elgar does not denigrate Judas as the betrayer of Christ in The Apostles, but rather depicts him as a tragic yet crucial figure in achieving the redemption of mankind, and through this Judas himself is redeemed.</p>The Musica Practica of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia: A Critical Translation and Commentary2014-08-27T07:42:59-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332628/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332628/"><img alt="The Musica Practica of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia: A Critical Translation and Commentary" title="The Musica Practica of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia: A Critical Translation and Commentary" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332628/small/"/></a></p><p>This dissertation contains the first complete Latin-English translation of one of the most controversial music theory treatises of the fifteenth-century: the Musica Practica (Bologna, 1942) of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia. its title as well as its content illustrate the Renaissance transformation from the abstract mathematical approach of "musica speculativa" to that of an emphasis upon the everyday demands of the practicing musician. Although Ramos provides traditional explanations of the modes, counterpoint, "musica ficta," and white mensural notation, his innovations in temperament, solmization, mutation, and the gamut set this treatise apart from other ffifteenth-century music treatises. Ramos's rejection of traditional Pythagorean-Boethian-Guidonian explanations, coupled with his strong polemic criticisms of the auctoritas, resulted in a treatise that remained at the center of heated debate well into the sixteenth century.</p>A Study of the Relationship Between Motive and Structure in Brahms's op. 51 String Quartets2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332309/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332309/"><img alt="A Study of the Relationship Between Motive and Structure in Brahms's op. 51 String Quartets" title="A Study of the Relationship Between Motive and Structure in Brahms's op. 51 String Quartets" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332309/small/"/></a></p><p>In 1873, Brahms completed the two op. 51 quartets. These were not the first string quartets Brahms composed, hut they were the first that Brahms allowed to be published. He found the string quartet difficult; as he confided to his friend Alwin Cranz, he sketched out twenty string quartets before producing a pair he thought worthy of publishing. Questions arise: what aspect of the string quartet gave Brahms so much trouble, and what in the op. 51 quartets gave him the inclination to publish them for the first time in his career?
The op. 51 quartets are essential to understanding the evolution of Brahms's compositional technique. Brahms had difficulty limiting his massive harmony and polyphony to four solo strings. This difficulty was compounded by his insistence on deriving even the accompaniment from the opening main motivic material.
This study investigates the manner in which Brahms distributes the main motivic material to all four voices in these quartets, while at the same time highlighting each voice effectively in the dialogue.</p>Transposition and the Transposed Modes in Late-Baroque France2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331880/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331880/"><img alt="Transposition and the Transposed Modes in Late-Baroque France" title="Transposition and the Transposed Modes in Late-Baroque France" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331880/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of the study is the investigation of the topics of transposition and the transposed major and minor modes as discussed principally by selected French authors of the final twenty years of the seventeenth century and the first three decades of the eighteenth. The sources are relatively varied and include manuals for singers and instrumentalists, dictionaries, independent essays, and tracts which were published in scholarly journals; special emphasis is placed on the observation and attempted explanation of both irregular signatures and the signatures of the minor modes. The paper concerns the following areas: definitions and related concepts, methods for singers and Instrumentalists, and signatures for the tones which were identified by the authors. The topics are interdependent, for the signatures both effected transposition and indicated written-out transpositions. The late Baroque was characterized by much diversity with regard to definitions of the natural and transposed modes. At the close of the seventeenth century, two concurrent and yet diverse notions were in evidence: the most widespread associated "natural" with inclusion within the gamme; that is, the criterion for naturalness was total diatonic pitch content, as specified by the signature. When the scale was reduced from two columns to a single one, its total pitch content was diminished, and consequently the number of the natural modes found within the gamme was reduced. An apparently less popular view narrowed the focus of "natural tone" to a single diatonic pitch, the final of the tone or mode. A number of factors contributed to the disappearance of the long-held distinction between natural and transposed tones: the linking of the notion of "transposed" with the temperament, the establishment of two types of signatures for the minor tones (for tones with sharps and flats, respectively), the transition from a two-column scale to a single-column one, and the recognition of a unified system of major and minor keys.</p>The Missae De Beata Virgine C. 1500-1520: A Study of Transformation From Monophonic to Polyphonic Modality2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331202/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331202/"><img alt="The Missae De Beata Virgine C. 1500-1520: A Study of Transformation From Monophonic to Polyphonic Modality" title="The Missae De Beata Virgine C. 1500-1520: A Study of Transformation From Monophonic to Polyphonic Modality" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331202/small/"/></a></p><p>While musical sources and documents from throughout the Middle Ages reveal that mode was an enduring and consciously derived trait of monophonic chant, modality in later polyphony shares neither the historical span nor the theoretical clarity of its monophonic counterpart. Modern theorists are left with little more than circumstantial evidence of the early development of modality in polyphony. This study attempts to shed light on the problem by detailed analysis of a select body of paraphrase masses from the early sixteenth century. First, it correlates the correspondence between the paraphrased voice and the original chant, establishing points of observation that become the basis of melodic analysis. Then, these points are correlated with known rules of counterpoint. Exceptions are identified and examined for their potential to place emphasis on individual mode-defining pitches. A set of tools is derived for quantifying the relative strength of cadential actions. Levels of cadence are defined, ranging from full, structural cadences to surfacelevel accentuations of individual pitches by sixth-to-octave dyadic motions. These cadence levels are traced through the Missae de beata virqine repertoire from c. 1500-1520, a repertoire that includes masses of Josquin, Brumel, La Rue, Isaac, and Rener. While the Credos, based on two chant sources—one early (11th century) and one later (15th century)—showed little modal consistency, the Kyries show some suggestion of purposeful modal expression; and the Glorias show even greater implications. Results of the study have potential application in sixteenth-century music scholarship to such important issues as musica ficta, performance practice, text underlay, and form.</p>Music Theory in Mexico from 1776 To 1866: A Study of Four Treatises by Native Authors2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331988/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331988/"><img alt="Music Theory in Mexico from 1776 To 1866: A Study of Four Treatises by Native Authors" title="Music Theory in Mexico from 1776 To 1866: A Study of Four Treatises by Native Authors" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331988/small/"/></a></p><p>This investigation traces the history and development of music theory in Mexico from the date of the first Mexican treatise available (1776) to the early second half of the nineteenth century (1866). This period of ninety years represents an era of special importance in the development of music theory in Mexico. It was during this time that the old modal system was finally abandoned in favor of the new tonal system and that Mexican authors began to pen music treatises which could be favorably compared with the imported European treatises which were the only authoritative source of instruction for serious musicians in Mexico.</p>Harmony in the Songs of Hugo Wolf2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331583/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331583/"><img alt="Harmony in the Songs of Hugo Wolf" title="Harmony in the Songs of Hugo Wolf" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331583/small/"/></a></p><p>The songs of Hugo Wolf represent the culmination of the Romantic German Lied tradition. Wolf developed a personal chromatic harmonic style that allowed him to respond to every nuance of a poetic text, thereby stretching tonality to its limits. He was convinced, however, that despite its novel nature his music could be explained through the traditional theory of harmony. This study determines the degree to which Wolf's belief is true, and begins with an evaluation of the current state of research into Wolf's harmonic practice. An explanation of my analytical method and its underlying philosophy follows; historical perspective is provided by tracing the development of three major elements of traditional theory from their inception to the present day: fundamental bass, fundamental chords, and tonal function. The analytical method is then applied to the works of Wolf's predecessors in order to allow comparison with Wolf. In the investigation of Wolf's harmonic practice the individual elements of traditional functional tonality are examined, focusing on Wolf's use of traditional harmonic functions in both traditional and innovative ways. This is followed by an investigation of the manner in which Wolf assembles these traditional elements into larger harmonic units. Tonal instability, rapid key shifts, progressive tonality, tonal ambiguity, and transient keys are hallmarks of his style. He frequently alters the quality of chords while retaining the function of their scale-degree root. Such "color" chords are classified, and their effect on harmonic progression examined. Wolf's repetitive motivic style and the devices that he employs to provide motion in his music are also discussed. I conclude by examining Wolf's most adventuresome techniques—including parallel chords successions, chromatic harmonic and melodic sequences, and successions of augmented triads--and the suspension of tonality that they produce. This project encompasses all of Wolf's songs, and should be a useful tool for Wolf scholars and performers, students of late nineteenth-century music, the music theorist, and for anyone interested in the concept of harmony as a stylistic determinant.</p>J. F. Daube's "General-Bass in drey Accorden" (1756): A Translation and Commentary2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331115/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331115/"><img alt="J. F. Daube's "General-Bass in drey Accorden" (1756): A Translation and Commentary" title="J. F. Daube's "General-Bass in drey Accorden" (1756): A Translation and Commentary" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331115/small/"/></a></p><p>General-Bass in drey Accorden (1756), the first of Johann Friedrich Daube's theoretical works, is a practical instruction manual in thorough-bass accompaniment. It consists of a sixteen page preface followed by 215 pages of text and musical examples. The twelve chapters begin with a presentation of interval classification and a discussion of consonance and dissonance. Daube then explains a theory of harmony in which all "chords" are derived from three primary chords. These are illustrated with regard to their sequence in harmonic progressions, their resolutions—common and uncommon—, and their use in modulation. Seventy-two pages of musical examples of modulations from all major and minor keys to all other keys are included. Particular attention is given to the fully diminished seventh chord, which is illustrated in all inversions and in numerous modulatory progressions. Daube devotes one chapter to three methods of keyboard accompaniment. The subject matter includes textures, dynamics, proper doubling, the accompaniment of recitatives, full-voiced accompaniment, the use of arpeggiation, trills, running passages, and ornamentation in general.</p>Beethoven's Transcendence of the Additive Tendency in Opus 34, Opus 35, Werk ohne Opuszahl 80, and Opus 1202014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330709/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330709/"><img alt="Beethoven's Transcendence of the Additive Tendency in Opus 34, Opus 35, Werk ohne Opuszahl 80, and Opus 120" title="Beethoven's Transcendence of the Additive Tendency in Opus 34, Opus 35, Werk ohne Opuszahl 80, and Opus 120" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330709/small/"/></a></p><p>The internal unity of the themes in a sonata-allegro movement and the external unity of the movements in a sonata cycle are crucial elements of Beethoven's compositional aesthetic. Numerous theorists have explored these aspects in Beethoven's sonatas, symphonies, quartets, and concertos. Similar research into the independent variation sets for piano, excluding Opus 120, has been largely neglected as the result of three misconceptions: that the variation sets, many of which were based on popular melodies of Beethoven's time, are not as worthy of study as his other works; that the type of hidden internal relationships which pervade the sonata cycle are not relevant to the variation set since all variations are, by definition, related to the theme; and that variations were composed "additively," that is, one after another, without any particular regard for their order or relationship to one another.
The purpose of this study is to refute all three of these incorrect assumptions. Beethoven was concerned with the order of variations and their relationship to one another, and he was able to transcend the additive tendency in a number of ways. Some of his methods included registral connection, registral expansion, rhythmic acceleration, textural expansion, dynamics, articulation, and motivic similarities.
Chapter I contains a discussion of the role of the variation set in Beethoven's overall output. The teachers, composers, and works which may have influenced him are also discussed as well as his training in variation composition. Finally, those factors which Beethoven employed to unify his sets are listed and explained. Chapters II-V are devoted to detailed analyses of four striking variation sets: Opus 34, Opus 35, WoO 80, and Opus 120. Chapter VI presents a summary of the findings. It suggests that each of the sets investigated has a unique form and that each variation has a distinct place and purpose.</p>The Traité d'harmonie of Charles-Simon Catel2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330695/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330695/"><img alt="The Traité d'harmonie of Charles-Simon Catel" title="The Traité d'harmonie of Charles-Simon Catel" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330695/small/"/></a></p><p>With the founding of the Paris Conservatory in 1795, a diversity of instructional methods for the teaching of harmony were used. Each theory instructor insisted upon using his own system; some relied heavily upon the theories of Rameau, while others used ideas based on eighteenth century German or Italian theorists. The Conservatory administration, realizing the need to unify theoretical instruction into a single method, formed a committee to evaluate the different harmonic systems available. After considering several treatises, including the theories of Rameau, the committee chose the Traité d'harmonie of Catel as the work best suited for their purposes. This investigation deals with Catel's synthesis of various theoretical principles, concentrating on his concise, often simplistic approach to harmonic theory. The major contribution of the Traité is the classification of chords into two categories: "natural harmony" and "artificial harmony." Catel believed that only one chord exists in harmony, the dominant ninth chord, which he derived from the first nine partials of the overtone series. From this chord, he formed the basic triads of "natural harmony," describing these chords as suspensions ("prolongations") of "natural harmony."</p>Antoine Reicha's Theories of Musical Form2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330751/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330751/"><img alt="Antoine Reicha's Theories of Musical Form" title="Antoine Reicha's Theories of Musical Form" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330751/small/"/></a></p><p>Antoine Reicha stands as an important figure in the growing systematization of musical form. While Traite de melodie (1814) captures the essence of eighteenth-century concern with tonal movement and periodicity, Reicha's later ideas as represented in Traite de haute composition musicale (1824-26) anticipate descriptions of thematic organization characteristic of his nineteenth-century successors. Three important topics emerge as crucial elements: melody, thematic development, and schematic categorization of complete pieces.</p>The Aural Perception of Pitch-Class Set Relations: A Computer-Assisted Investigation2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330603/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330603/"><img alt="The Aural Perception of Pitch-Class Set Relations: A Computer-Assisted Investigation" title="The Aural Perception of Pitch-Class Set Relations: A Computer-Assisted Investigation" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc330603/small/"/></a></p><p>Allen Forte's theory of pitch-class set structure has provided useful tools for discovering structural relationships in atonal music. As valuable as set—theoretic procedures are for composers and analysts, the extent to which set relationships are perceptible by the listener largely remains to be investigated. This study addresses the need for aural-perceptual considerations in analysis, reviews related research in music perception, and poses questions concerning the aural perceptibility of set relationships. Specifically, it describes and presents the results of a computer-assisted experiment in testing the perceptibility of set-equivalency relationships.</p>A Study of Root Motion in Passages Leading to Final Cadences in Selected Masses of the Late Sixteenth Century2014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332191/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332191/"><img alt="A Study of Root Motion in Passages Leading to Final Cadences in Selected Masses of the Late Sixteenth Century" title="A Study of Root Motion in Passages Leading to Final Cadences in Selected Masses of the Late Sixteenth Century" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332191/small/"/></a></p><p>This study is concerned with the vertical combinations resulting from late sixteenth century cadential formulae and in passages immediately preceding these formulae. The investigation is limited to Masses dating from the last half of the sixteenth century and utilizes compositions from the following composers: Handl, Kerle, Lassus, Merulo, Monte, and Palestrina, Victoria. This study concludes that the progressions I-V-I and I-IV-I appear to be the only two root progressions receiving high enough percentages to be regarded as significant. These percentages are tempered by the fact that I-V-I and I-IV-I may be interpreted as repetitions of standardized cadential formulae found in the sixteenth century. The study also concludes that root motion by fifth accounts for no less than 67.35 per cent of the root movements analyzed during the investigation. The percentage differential between root movement by fifth and root movement by second (the interval receiving the next highest percentage) at no time drops below 40.41 per cent. The evidence indicates that root movement by fifth does account for the majority of the root motion analyzed in final cadential passages of Masses dating from the late sixteenth century. The percentage differential between root motion by second and root motion by third decreases as the chord progressions become longer. None of the differential percentages were judged to be high enough as to merit placing any significance of root motion by second over root motion by third.</p>The Harmonic Interval of the Seventh in the Works of Representative Composers of Italian Madrigals, 1542-16142014-08-22T18:00:56-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332245/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332245/"><img alt="The Harmonic Interval of the Seventh in the Works of Representative Composers of Italian Madrigals, 1542-1614" title="The Harmonic Interval of the Seventh in the Works of Representative Composers of Italian Madrigals, 1542-1614" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332245/small/"/></a></p><p>This study is an attempt to shed some light on the treatment of one dissonance—the seventh—in the works of the following composers: Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565); Philippe de Monte (1521-1603); Giaches de Wert (1535-1596); Luca Marenzio (1553-1599); Carlo Gesualdo (ca. 1560-1613); and Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). The purpose of this thesis is to discover (1) the frequency of occurrence of primary (relatively accented) sevenths and their inversions (^ chords, etc.) in a selection of each composer's madrigals; and (2) the methods of handling sevenths employed by each composer, with particular emphasis on the relationship between these methods and sixteenth century theory.</p>Deconstructing Webern's Op 25, Drei Lieder: a Multidimensional Assessment2014-04-23T20:20:45-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc283780/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc283780/"><img alt="Deconstructing Webern's Op 25, Drei Lieder: a Multidimensional Assessment" title="Deconstructing Webern's Op 25, Drei Lieder: a Multidimensional Assessment" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc283780/small/"/></a></p><p>Webern scholarship has not comprehensively examined op. 25, drei lieder. If the selection of text for op. 25 is viewed as one work in three movements they create a ternary form (A-B-A1). To show how this form is developed in the music the author creates a new analytical system based on Schoenberg's Grundgestalt which is defined by three basic ideas: symmetry, liquidation, and variation. The relationship between the voice and accompaniment and Webern's deliberate manipulation of the text is used to reveal the use of a program which is then tied to the numerical symbolism of 2 and 3.</p>Harmonic and Contrapuntal Techniques in the Late Keyboard Works of Cesar Franck2014-03-26T09:30:20-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279361/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279361/"><img alt="Harmonic and Contrapuntal Techniques in the Late Keyboard Works of Cesar Franck" title="Harmonic and Contrapuntal Techniques in the Late Keyboard Works of Cesar Franck" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279361/small/"/></a></p><p>This study examines the five late keyboard works of Cesar Franck: the Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue and the Prelude. Aria, and Finale for piano, and the three organ chorales. The study focuses on harmonic and contrapuntal techniques and their interrelationships, placing the discussion in the context of an analysis of the whole piece. The primary goal is to identify the salient characteristics of each piece; a secondary goal is to identify common harmonic and contrapuntal aspects of Franck's style.</p>An Application of Grundgestalt Theory in the Late Chromatic Music of Chopin: a Study of his Last Three Polonaises2014-03-26T09:30:20-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278707/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278707/"><img alt="An Application of Grundgestalt Theory in the Late Chromatic Music of Chopin: a Study of his Last Three Polonaises" title="An Application of Grundgestalt Theory in the Late Chromatic Music of Chopin: a Study of his Last Three Polonaises" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278707/small/"/></a></p><p>The late chromatic music of Chopin is often difficult to analyze, particularly with a system of Roman numerals. The study examines Schoenberg's Grundgestalt concept as a strategy for explaining Chopin's chromatic musical style. Two short Chopin works, Nocturne in E-flat major. Op. 9, No. 2, and Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3, serve as models in which the analytic method is formulated. Root analysis, in the manner of eighteenth-century theorist Simon Sechter, is utilized to facilitate harmonic analysis of chromatic passages. Based upon the analytic method developed, the study analyzes the last three polonaises of Chopin: Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44, Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, and Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat major, Op. 61. The Grundgestalt-based analysis shows harmonic, melodic and rhythmic connections in order to view Chopin's chromaticism and formal structure from a new perspective. With this approach, the chromaticism is viewed as essential to the larger form.</p>