Bach, Emmon, Introduction aux grammaires transformationnelles, traduction française de Robert Sctrick (ou Strick ?), Paris, Armand Colin, 1973, 218 pages

info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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.

TRANSCENDING FACH: A SEARCH FOR IDENTITY INSIDE AND OUT OF MEZZO-SOPRANO REPERTOIRE

The German Fach system is a tool to classify voices in classical singing. This dissertation comprises three different programs that reflect my search for identity as a mezzo-soprano and my desire to transcend the limitations of Fach. The three programs, all presented at The Clarice Performing Arts Center, contain repertoire written for male and female voices thus allowing me to explore areas outside of the mezzo-soprano Fach, gain a better understanding of the Fach system and guide me as I strive to become a more mature performer. In my first program, I sang the role of Sesto, a role that was composed originally for a castrate, in the opera La Clemenza di Tito by W.A. Mozart. The Maryland Opera Studio production took place April 30, May 2,4&6,2003. Performing this gender-bending role provided an experience of physical behavior from the male view point along with the demands of coloratura singing. Program two (November 30,2004) contained the song cycle Dichterliebe by Robert Schumann and songs by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, which are usually sung by male voices. This program experimented with extended range, tessitura and a gender-bending performance in the art song arena. 8 In program three (April 21 &23,2005), I sang the contralto role of Cornelia from Giulio Cesare in Egitto by George Frederic Handel. The role of Cornelia is psychologically complex, expressing emotions such as love, melancholy, rage, malice, joy and fear. To convey these emotions a voice needs warmth and darkness of quality. Although the range is close to that of the mezzo-soprano, Handel wrote Cornelia for contralto voice because he wanted a dark timbre and this role allowed me to develop my lower register and manage suitable ornamentations. The programs are documented in a digital format available on compact disc and are accompanied by the oral presentation at the defense of this dissertation.

TWENTIETH CENTURY VARIATIONS ON BORROWED THEMES

Mergers and acquisitions are words that are usually associated with the modern business world. Such joint efforts toward improvement, however, existed long before our time, in the form of musical partnerships. It was not unusual for composers to share in each other's works, borrowing themes and recreating them to generate new meanings; in the process, new masterpieces were often created. My performance project, Twentieth Century Variations on Borrowed Themes, explores the fruits of such labor. The main objective of this project is to demonstrate how certain composers of the twentieth century have taken famous themes and used them to create variations, imbuing their own creative ideas, musical styles and pianistic challenges. This objective was accomplished by performing three recorded public recitals. These programs consisted of early to late twentieth century pieces that are based on borrowed themes, either in theme and variations form, fantasia form, paraphrase form, or transformal variation form. I have selected the pieces based on their artistic merits and technical challenges, thus allowing me to grow as a pianist and artist. In addition, I wanted to choose some pieces that are rarely performed, as I believe the public delights in hearing unfamiliar gems. The first recital consisted of the music of two legendary pianists: Variations on a Theme of Chopin by Rachmaninoff and Goldberg Variations by BachIBusoni. The second program featured Grand Fantasy on Gershwin's Porgy and Bess by Earl Wild, Sonatina No. 6 (Fantasy on Bizet 's "Carmen") by Busoni, and Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, op.43 by Rachmaninoff. Some unusual and seldom-performed pieces, as well as a familiar favorite, were spotlighted in the third recital. The pieces performed on this program were John Rea's Twenty-one Transformal Variations on the "Kindersznen " by Robert Schumann (Las Meninas), Muczynski's Desperate Measures (Paganini Variations), Busoni's Elegie No. 3 (Turandot 's room), and Rhapsodie Espagnole by LisztIBuson. These composers artfully breathed new life into the material borrowed from others, and in the process, the "borrowed" themes became undoubtedly and uniquely their own music.

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.

RECORDING PROJECT: THE COMPLETE (PUBLISHED) PIANO WORKS OF ROBERT HELPS

This recording represents the complete solo piano works of Robert Helps (1928-2001). As of this writing (March, 2008), approx.120 minutes of Helps' solo piano music has been published, all of which is included on the Digital Media (CD). This project includes the following works: Trois Hommages, Quartet, Nocturne, Valse Mirage, In Retrospect, Three Etudes, Portrait, Three Etudes for the Left Hand, Starscape, Recollections, Shall We Dance and Image. (His few remaining pieces are officially "pending publication" and are therefore not included in this project.) Robert Helps, American pianist and composer, enjoyed a successful career on both fronts, teaching at such institutions as San Francisco Conservatory, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music and Princeton University. Helps, never the recipient of a university or conservatory degree, received private instruction from pianist Abby Whiteside and composer Roger Sessions. His recording of the Sessions' Sonatas is considered to be their benchmark performance. As a composer, he received commission and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Helps' compositions were anachronistic in style: his compositional style ranges from Post-Impressionism, Neo­ Romanticsim and early 20th century Atonalism, although he never engaged in serial practices. Since his death in 2001, the Robert Helps Trust has been established at the University of South Florida. Funds are being used to support the continued publishing of his scores. The Robert Helps International Composition Competition and Festival was established in 2005.

SELECTED CHARACTER PIECES OF FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849), FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886) AND JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)

During the 19th century, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Franz Liszt (1811- 1886), and Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) were among the most recognized composers of character pieces. Their compositions have been considered a significant milestone in piano literature. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) did not give descriptive titles to his character pieces. He grouped them into several genres such as Mazurkas, Polonaises. His Mazurkas and Polonaises are influenced by Polish dance music and inspired by the polish national idiom. Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was influenced in many ways by Chopin, and adopted Chopin’s lyricism, melodic style, and tempo rubato. However, Liszt frequently drew on non-musical subjects (e.g., art, literature) for inspiration. “Harmonies poétiques et religieuses” and “Années de pèlerinage” are especially representative of character pieces in which poetic and pictorial imagination are reflected. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a conservative traditionalist, synthesizing Romantic expression and Classical tradition remarkably well. Like Chopin, Brahms avoided using programmatic titles for his works. The titles of Brahms’ short character pieces are often taken from traditional lyrical or dramatic genres such as ballade, rhapsody and scherzo. Because of his conservatism, Brahms was considered the main rival of Liszt in the Romantic Period. Brahms character pieces in his third period (e.g., Scherzo Op.4, Ballades of Op.10, and Rhapsodies of Op.79) are concise and focused. The form of Brahms’ character pieces is mostly simple ternary (ABA), and his style is introspective and lyrical. Through this recording project, I was able to get a better understanding of the styles of Chopin, Brahms and Liszt through their character pieces. This recording dissertation consists of two CDs recorded in the Dekelboum Concert Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park. These recordings are documented on compact disc recordings that are housed within the University of Maryland Library System.

Selected Piano Works by Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms Incorporating or Based on Pre-existing Music

This dissertation shows how Schumann, Liszt and Brahms composed piano works based in a variety of ways on other music that already existed. My idea to do this project came through my fascination with Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, which was the first piece selected. Brahms composed six sets of variations for solo piano, and I also chose Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel. Besides the variations, I included Brahms’s Ballade in D minor, Op. 10 No. 1, based on the Scottish ballad “Edward”. This piece demonstrates that Brahms applied pre-existing music not only in the form of variations, but also in other genres. Among Romantic composers, Schumann and Liszt are two others besides Brahms whose music frequently quotes pre-existing materials. In Schumann’s output, the inspiration from Clara Wieck is significant. The best examples may be the Impromptus Op. 5 and the third movement of the Grand Sonata No. 3, Op. 14, in which Schumann quotes the music by Clara Wieck as the theme of the variations and in the other movements as well to unify the entire piece. In addition, Schumann quotes the old German folk song “Grossvater Tanz” (Grandfather Dance) in the finale of Papillons. The same tune also appears in Carnaval for a programmatic purpose. These two pieces are a clear illustration that Schumann applies pre-existing music, and in addition they represent the spirit of literary reference. Liszt is well known for his superb transformations of other composers’ works into glorious piano compositions. Liszt drew his inspirations from different genres, including both vocal and instrumental music. His ability to turn earlier musical materials into virtuosic solo piano pieces that demonstrate his brilliance in creating imaginative keyboard sounds is remarkable. Among those pieces composed by Liszt, terms such paraphrase, reminiscence, or fantasy frequently appear as titles. I selected two such pieces: Rigoletto: Paraphrase de concert, S. 434 and Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol, S. 252. In addition, Liszt also uses variation form to explore the possibilities of pre-existing themes. The piece I chose to represent this is Variations on the Theme “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” and Crucifixus from the Mass in B minor by J.S Bach, S.180. This dissertation comprises three piano recitals that were performed in 2010 and 2011 in Ulrich Recital Hall and Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center of the University of Maryland. The recordings are documented on compact discs that are housed within the University of Maryland Library System.

The Many Faces of Paul Hindemith

The purpose of this project is to present selected violin pieces by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) against a backdrop of the diverse styles and traditions that he integrated in his music. For this dissertation project, selected violin sonatas by Hindemith were performed in three recitals alongside pieces by other German and Austro-German composers. These recitals were also recorded for archival purposes. The first recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on December 10, 2005, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park, included Violin Sonata Op.11, No. 1 (1918) by Paul Hindemith, Sonatina in D Major, Op. 137 (1816) by Franz Schubert, and Sonata in E-flat Major, Op.18 (1887) by Richard Strauss. The second recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on May 9, 2006, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Sonata in E Minor, KV 304 (1778) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in E (1935) by Paul Hindemith, Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.1 in G Major (1800-1802) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105 (1851) by Robert Schumann. The third recital, performed with David Ballena and Kai-Ching Chang on November 10, 2006 in Ulrich Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Violin Sonata Op.12 No.1 in D Major (1798) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.4 in C Minor BWV 1017 (1720) by J.S. Bach, and Violin Sonata Op.11 No.2 (1918) by Paul Hindemith. For each of my dissertation recitals, I picked a piece by Hindemith as the core of the program then picked pieces by other composers that have similar key, similar texture, same number of movements or similar feeling to complete my program. Although his pieces used some classical methods of composition, he added his own distinct style: extension of chromaticism; his prominent use of interval of the fourth; his chromatic alteration of diatonic scale degrees; and his non-traditional cadences. Hindemith left behind a legacy of multi-dimensional, and innovative music capable of expressing both the old and the new aesthetics.

[Book review] Reviews. [1] Nicholas Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet, London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 2002. [2] Stephen Inwood: The Man Who Knew Too Much: The Strange and Inventive Life of Robert Hooke (1635-1703), London: Macmillan, 2002

Book reviews of: [1] Nicholas Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet, London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 2002, £20, ISBN: 0297646656. [2] Stephen Inwood: The Man Who Knew Too Much: The Strange and Inventive Life of Robert Hooke (1635-1703), London: Macmillan, 2002, £18.99, ISBN: 0333782860.

Valor social de la fotografía de guerra: Robert Capa en la Guerra civil española

A partir del análisis de las relaciones entre sociología, fotografía y documentación se realiza un recorrido por algunas de las principales fotografías realizadas por Robert Capa durante la Guerra civil española.