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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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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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An Analysis of Growth in Karel Husa's Music for Prague, 1968

Description: The problem is to relate four parameters, thematic development, chord tension, tonality, and rhythm to musical Growth in Karel Husa's Music for Prague 1968. The analytical technique consists of determining a typology and relating that to Growth and is applied in small dimensions to the "Introduction" and in large dimensions to the whole composition. Movement in the composition is goal oriented, and each parameter contributes in different ways, one providing contrast, another continuity, and ano… more
Date: May 1976
Creator: Davidson, Richard C.
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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An Analytical Study of Prokofiev's Sonata, Opus 119, for Violoncello and Piano

Description: Sergei Prokofiev experimented with styles which shocked the public because his ideas were far ahead of his time. In the 1930's, the Soviet composer turned to a neoclassical style. His Sonata, Opus 119, for violoncello and piano, is a product of this final period of composition. The purpose of this study is to determine the stylistic characteristics of this sonata. This study includes a detailed description of the compositional techniques Prokofiev used in this work. These techniques are categor… more
Date: August 1972
Creator: Rietz, Marilyn June
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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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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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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A Comparative Analysis of the Expositions in the Fugues of J.S. Bach in the Well-Tempered Clavier and Those of Paul Hindemith in Ludus Tonalis

Description: The problem with, which this thesis is concerned is that of analyzing and comparing the fugal writing and contrapuntal style of J. S. Bach in the fugue expositions of The Well-Tempered Clavier and that of Paul Hindemith in the fugue expositions of the Ludus Tonalis. This comparison is made on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the fugal expositions both collections of fugues mentioned ( The Well-Tempered by Bach and the Ludus Tonalis by Hindemith). Chapter I includes a discussion of the c… more
Date: August 1973
Creator: Foster, Dorothy N. (Dorothy Nell)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Comparison of Sixteenth Century Polyphonic Devices Used by Pierluigi da Palestrina and William Byrd

Description: This thesis is a study of the usage of sixteenth-century polyphonic devices as employed by the English composer William Byrd and the Italian composer Pierluigi Palestrina. Both men represented a culmination of sixteenth-century contrapuntal composition in their respective school and period, Byrd of the Renaissance Tudor period, and Palestrina of the Roman school and Renaissance period. Palestrina's work became a pattern for sacred Roman music during the late Renaissance because of its consisten… more
Date: December 1972
Creator: Cheshier, Joanne Dallinger
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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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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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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Harmonic Organization in Aaron Copland's Piano Quartet

Description: This thesis presents an analysis of Copland's first major serial work, the Quartet for Piano and Strings (1950), using pitch-class set theory and tonal analytical techniques.
Date: August 1995
Creator: McGowan, James (James John)
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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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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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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Key Schemes and Modulation Techniques in the Development Sections of First Movements in Sonata-Allegro Form of Piano Sonatas by Haydn

Description: Sections of Haydn's piano sonatas chosen for study have been analyzed to determine the composer's technique in modulation and the key schemes resulting from these modulations, and to discover the consistent patterns and exceptional patterns in these sonata movements as a group. As revealed in this analysis, Haydn is consistent in that the key scheme patterns of several development sections are identical. Also modulations, as categorized according to key relationships, are often accomplished by … more
Date: August 1974
Creator: Phillips, Kathryn Elaine
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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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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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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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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