Barry Lieberman & Friends present Maria Larionoff, violin and Robin McCabe, piano April 11, 2010

Concert Program

Michael Partington with Guest Artists Ronald Patterson, violin Carole Terry, harpsichord Donna Shin, flute Kevin Callahan, guitar February 28, 2010

Concert Program

Violoncello recital

Program: Passacaglia for Violin and Cello ........... Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 .............. Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 38 .......... Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Formless being for flute, clarinet, bassoon, french horn, percussion, piano and string quartet

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Contrasts: Quartets and Art Songs of the Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth-century Romantic era saw the development and expansion of many vocal and instrumental forms that had originated in the Classical era. In particular, the German lied and French mélodie matured as art forms, and they found a kind of equilibrium between piano and vocal lines. Similarly, the nineteenth-century piano quartet came into its own as a form of true chamber music in which all instruments participated equally in the texture. Composers such as Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Gabriel Fauré offer particularly successful examples of both art song and piano quartets that represent these genres at their highest level of artistic complexity. Their works have become the cornerstones of the modern collaborative pianist’s repertoire. My dissertation explored both the art songs and the piano quartets of these three composers and studied the different skills needed by a pianist performing both types of works. This project included the following art song cycles: Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Gabriel Fauré’s Poème d’un Jour, and Johannes Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder. I also performed Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47, Fauré’s Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25. My collaborators included: Zachariah Matteson, violin and viola; Kristin Bakkegard, violin; Molly Jones, cello; Geoffrey Manyin, cello; Karl Mitze, viola; Emily Riggs, soprano, and Matthew Hill, tenor. This repertoire was presented over the course of three recitals on February 13, 2015, December 11, 2015, March 25, 2016 at the University of Maryland’s Gildenhorn Recital Hall. These recitals can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

STUDENT'S-t MIXTURE MODEL BASED MULTI-INSTRUMENT RECOGNITION IN POLYPHONIC MUSIC

We address the problem of multi-instrument recognition in polyphonic music signals. Individual instruments are modeled within a stochastic framework using Student's-t Mixture Models (tMMs). We impose a mixture of these instrument models on the polyphonic signal model. No a priori knowledge is assumed about the number of instruments in the polyphony. The mixture weights are estimated in a latent variable framework from the polyphonic data using an Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm, derived for the proposed approach. The weights are shown to indicate instrument activity. The output of the algorithm is an Instrument Activity Graph (IAG), using which, it is possible to find out the instruments that are active at a given time. An average F-ratio of 0 : 7 5 is obtained for polyphonies containing 2-5 instruments, on a experimental test set of 8 instruments: clarinet, flute, guitar, harp, mandolin, piano, trombone and violin.

TRADITION AND INNOVATION: ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED COMPOSITIONS FOR VIOLONCELLO BY HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) began his musical career as a cellist. When he was only twelve years old, it became imperativeupon the sudden and untimely death of his fatherthat the young Villa-Lobos earn money as a cellist to provide financial support for his mother and sisters. Villa-Lobos's intimate relationship with the cello eventually inspired him to compose great music for this instrument. This dissertation explores both the diversity of compositional technique and the evolution of style found in the music for cello written by Villa-Lobos. The project consists of two recorded recital performances and a written document exploring and analyzing those pieces. In the study of the music of Villa-Lobos, it is of great interest to consider the music's traditional European elements in combination (or even juxtaposition) with its imaginative and sometimes wildly innovative Brazilian character. His early works were greatly influenced by European Romantic composers such as Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, and the virtuoso cellist/composer David Popper (whom Villa-Lobos idolized). Later, Villa-Lobos flourished in a newfound compositional independence and moved away from Euro-romanticism and toward the folk music of his Brazilian homeland. It is intriguing to experience this transition through an exploration of his cello compositions. The works examined and performed in this dissertation project are chosen from among the extensive number of Villa-Lobos's cello compositions and are his most important works for cello with piano, cello with another instrument, and cello with orchestra. The chosen works demonstrate the evolving range and combination of characteristic elements found in Villa-Lobos's compositional repertoire.

STUDIES AND PERFORMANCES OF TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR CELLO FROM THE VIOLIN REPERTOIRE

The potential of the violoncello as a solo instrument was recognized and supported by cellists such as Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), Luis Duport (1749-1819), Auguste Franchomme (1808-1884), and Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901). These pioneers composed technically demanding etudes, exercises, and caprices for the cello that were comparable to those already present in the violin literature. Even so, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, considerably fewer substantial works were brought forth for the cello as compared with the violin. Consequently, many cellists such as Luigi Silva (1903-1961), Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976), Pierre Fournier (1906-1986), and Janos Starker (b. 1924) selected notable pieces from the violin repertoire and transcribed these for the cello. Some composers themselves actually adapted for the cello their own works originally written for the violin. Johannes Brahms with his Violin Sonata Op. 78, Igor Stravinsky with his Suite Italienne, and Béla Bartók with his First Rhapsody all belong to this category. Adaptations such as these further raised awareness among composers and performers of the possibilities of the cello as an independent and expressive instrument. Thus, many composers from the early 1900s to the present were encouraged to write increasing numbers of more soloistic and demanding works for cello. Herein, I explore the repertoire of cello transcriptions in order to analyze the differences between the original and transcribed versions and the challenges found therein. The performer may attempt to recreate the effect originally intended for the violin or, more daringly, may strive to search for alternate presentations of the music more suitable and expressive of the cello's own character. The project includes two recitals of the following transcribed works presented at the University of Maryland College Park, School of Music: Sonata in A by César Franck, transcribed by Jules Delsart, Variations on a Theme from Rossini by Nicolo Paganini, transcribed by Fournier, Suite Italienne by Igor Stravinsky, transcribed with the help of Piatigorsky, Sonatina Op. 137, No. 1 by Franz Schubert, transcribed by Starker, First Rhapsody by Béla Bartók and Sonata, Op. 108 by Johannes Brahms, transcribed by Hsiao-mei Sun.

AN EXAMINATION OF 19TH CENTURY AUSTROGERMAN VIOLIN SONATAS

For my dissertation recital project, I traced the course of the violin-piano sonata in Austro- German in the 19th century, after Beethoven. My project presented works in three general categories. First, I presented works that are frequently-played standards of the violin sonata repertoire, works by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Robert Schumann. The Second category is works by composers better known for their other compositions: Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss. Finally, I choose the works seldom played these days, but worth of consideration, by Carl Maria von Weber and Max Reger. For my first recital, I performed Schubert's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 137 in D major, Schumann's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 105 in a minor, and Brahms' Violin Sonata, No.3, Op. 108 in d minor, with Naoko Takao as pianist. My second recital included works of Weber's Sonata, No. 1, Op. lob, in F major, Mendelssohn's Sonata, in F major (1838), and Schumann's Sonata, No.Z,Op.121 in d minor with Grace Cho. I concluded my final recital with the works of Reger's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 1 in d minor and Strauss' Violin Sonata, Op. 18 in E flat major, Soo-Young Jung at the piano. All three programs are documented in a digital audio format available on compact disc, with accompanying programs also available in digital format.

VINTAGE MODERNISM: EARLY EXPERIMENTALIST MUSIC FOR VIOLIN IN THE UNITED STATES

The historical narrative of concert music in the early twentieth century has focused a great deal on the influence of European composers as well as the American composers who went to Europe to study. Often overlooked, however, is the influence of an entire generation of composers working in the United States during that time period. These artists experimented with polyrhythm, polytonality, dissonant counterpoint, and a whole host of other musical techniques in order to express their perceptions of a changing world. Over the years, the new techniques became associated with various movements including futurism, experimentalism and ultramodernism. Regardless of label, these composers were some of the first to introduce the new musical styles to the listening public.The recitals that make up this dissertation explore the sound world of experimentalist composers working in the United States during the early twentieth century. Serving as the foundation of these recitals are all four of the violin sonatas by Charles Ives, the “grandfather” of modernist music whose financial support helped to foster a whole generation of American composers. Also prominently featured is the music of Henry Cowell. His Suite for Violin and Piano, Mosaic Quartet (String Quartet No. 3), and Quartet Euphometric demonstrate the composer's use of cluster tones, dissonant counterpoint, polymeter, and indeterminate form. Additional works by George Antheil, Leo Ornstein, Wallingford Riegger, Dane Rudhyar, Carl Ruggles, and Ruth Crawford (Seeger) highlight other approaches taken by members of the ultra-modernist movement. Rounding out the repertoire for these recitals are works by Johanna Beyer and Conlon Nancarrow, both of whom either worked with or were influenced by Cowell in some way. All of the pieces selected date roughly from 1900 to the mid 1930's. Thus, the purpose of these recitals is not to provide a comprehensive overview of each composer's development, but rather to examine the influence and interconnections of a specific cross-section of the musical landscape.

AUSTRO-GERMAN VIOLIN REPERTORIE FROM BAROQUE THROUGH ROMANTIC PERIOD

At the end of the sixteenth century, Germany had become one of the most active centers of early Baroque music, and therefore Austro-German music came to dominate Western music. An investigation of violin works written during this period reveals the ways in which Austro-German compositions are extraordinary contributions to the violin repertoire. This research warranted further study and performance of these works in order to determine what influence these composers had on the violin repertoire as a whole. For my dissertation recital project, I trace the history of works for violin focusing the violin concerto repertoire in particular. A genre which remained popular throughout the century, the nineteenth-century concerto served primarily as a vehicle for virtuosic display of the violin and piano as never before. For my research I studied and performed works selected from the Baroque through the Romantic period in three recorded recitals with collaborative pianists Ilya Sinaisky, Sun-ha Yun, and Seyon Lee at the Gildenhorn Recital Hall, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. I selected particularly prominent pieces which represent the work of significant composers from each period. The composers discussed include Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), owing to the fact that his works are the culmination of the Baroque era during the first half of the eighteenth century; from the Classical period, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) all of whom emerged mixing German and Italian traditions into his own style, and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), the bridge composer between the Classical and the Romantic periods; Romantic composers, Franz Schubert (1979-1828), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), and Max Bruch (1838-1920), all who tended to mix Classic and Romantic elements. As a violinist, I learned that their own original sound, rich harmonies and unique expression made these works worthy of becoming masterpieces. I have relished the opportunity for musical and professional growth in exploring these substantial compositions.

FLUTE MUSIC FROM THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY BY THREE FRENCH COMPOSERS: JEAN-MICHEL DAMASE, ANDRE JOLIVET, AND HENRI TOMASI

Jean-Michel Damase (b.1928), Andre Jolivet (1905-1974), and Henri Tomasi (1901-1971) are three prominent French composers ofthe twentieth century. Tomasi won the Prix de Rome in 1927, and Damase won the Prix de Rome in 1947. All three composers were educated and lived in Paris around the same period; however, their musical styles are quite distinct. Most of Jolivet's compositions for flute are well known and are often selected as international competition repertoire. The compositions for flute by Damase and Tomasi are not as recognized as those of Jolivet, and most of their works for flute still have not been commercially recorded. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a more comprehensive guide to the compositions for flute by Damase, Jolivet and Tomasi, and, in addition, to make the works ofDamase and Tomasi familiar to flutists. This dissertation will focus on the compositions ofDamase, Jolivet, and Tomasi for flute alone and those for flute and piano, written between 1928 and 1971 (1928 is the year Damase was born, and 1971 is the year that Tomasi died). Damase continues French romanticism, and his music is always playful, elegant, and accessible with rhythmic and harmonic surprises, but with an underlying complexity. His compositions for flute include three concertos, two double concertos, one flute solo work, and nine works for flute and piano. Jolivet's compositions make use of ancient rituals, incantations, and spirituality, as well as repeated phrases and single notes, irregular rhythmic patterns, dissonant effects, and rhythmic drive. He composed one flute concerto, three works for flute solo, and four works for flute and piano. Tomasi's compositions also continue French romanticism and contain melodies which often seem to tell a story, and which are not only full of flourishes and vitality, but are also delicate, colorful, and romantic. Virtuosic technical demand is another characteristic of his style. Tomasi composed three flute concertos, three works for solo flute, and one work for flute and piano. Appendix I is a list of the compositions for flute by Damase, Jolivet, and Tomasi, and Appendix II is a discography of their works.