847 resultados para Orchestral music, Arranged.


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This dissertation project explores some of the technical and musical challenges that face pianists in a collaborative role—specifically, those challenges that may be considered virtuosic in nature. The material was chosen from the works of Rachmaninoff and Ravel because of the technically and musically demanding yet idiomatic piano writing. This virtuosic piano writing also extends into the collaborative repertoire. The pieces were also chosen to demonstrate these virtuosic elements in a wide variety of settings. Solo piano pieces were chosen to provide a point of departure, and the programmed works ranged from vocal to two-piano, to sonatas and a piano trio. The recitals were arranged to demonstrate as much contrast as possible, while being grouped by composer. The first recital was performed on April 24, 2009. This recital featured five songs of Rachmaninoff, as well as three solo piano preludes and his Suite No. 2 for two pianos. The second recital occurred on November 16, 2010. This recital featured the music of both Rachmaninoff and Ravel, as well as a short lecture introducing the solo work “Ondine” from Gaspard de la nuit by Ravel. Following the lecture were the Cinq mélodies populaires grecques and the program closed with the substantial Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello and Piano. The final program was given on October 10, 2011. This recital featured the music of Ravel, and it included his Sonata for Violin and Piano, the Debussy Nocturnes transcribed for two pianos by Ravel, and the Piano Trio. The inclusion of a transcription of a work by another composer highlights Ravel’s particular style of writing for the piano. All of these recitals were performed at the Gildenhorn Recital Hall in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. The recitals are recorded on compact discs, which can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

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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.

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At the beginning of the twentieth century, composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály collected thousands of folksongs from the rural regions of Hungary. In an effort to preserve a part of their culture that they feared would be lost, they not only transcribed and catalogued these folksongs, but also incorporated the folk traditions they encountered into their own compositional style. This dissertation deals with violin music written by Bartók, Kodály and their Hungarian contemporaries that have in common the use of rhythms, modes, melodies, figurations and playing techniques sourced in folk traditions. The use of the Hungarian folk idiom in classical music was not exclusive to the twentieth century. From the late eighteenth century until the first decades of the twentieth century, composers utilized aspects of a popular eighteenth-century form of Hungarian folk music called verbunkos. What makes the use of folk music unique in the twentieth century is that, thanks to the work of Bartók and Kodály, composers found inspiration in the more authentic “peasant music.” Unlike the popular, urban verbunkos music, peasant music was the product of the more secluded village-music tradition, largely untouched by the influences of city life. In addition to stimulating a new focus on peasant music, Bartók and Kodály fully assimilated the folk idiom into their compositional toolkits, creating a new style of folk-inspired art music that influenced a generation of Hungarian composers. The new style included characteristic elements of both peasant music and the verbunkos tradition, such as ancient modes and scales, accompanimental and melodic rhythmic patterns, ornamentation, and phrase structures sourced in folk song. To demonstrate the implementation of the folk idiom by twentieth-century Hungarian composers, three recital programs were given at the University of Maryland that included works by Béla Bartók, Sándor Veress, Leo Weiner, Zoltán Kodály, Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Székely and György Kurtág. The works can be divided into two main categories: settings or transcriptions of folk material (e.g. Bartók’s Hungarian Folksongs) and compositions using classical forms that include the Hungarian folk idiom (e.g. Bartók’s Contrasts). Recital collaborators include Li-Tan Hsu, Evelyn Elsing, Elizabeth Brown, Shelby Sender and Samantha Angelo.

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Opera in America: Music of, by, and for the people is a study of the relationship between American popular culture and opera in the United States. Four performance projects demonstrate the on-going exchange between the operatic community-including its composer, singers, and patrons-and the country's popular entertainment industry with its broad audience base. Numerous examples of artistic cross pollination between lowbrow and highbrow music will illustrate the artistic and social consequences created by this artistic amalgamation. Program #1, By George! By Ira! By Gershwin!, is a retrospective of Gershwin's vocal music representing a blending of popular and serious music in both style and form. The concert includes selections from Porgy and Bess, a work considered by many musicologists as the first American opera. Program #2, Shadowboxer, is a premiere performance of an opera by Frank Proto and John Chenault. For this newly commissioned work, I serve as Assistant Director to Leon Major. Shadowboxer provides a clear example of opera utilizing popular culture both musically and dramatically to tell the true story of American hero and legendary boxer, Joe Louis. Program #3, Just a Song at Twilight, is an original theatrical music piece featuring music, letters, diaries, and journals of the Gilded Age, an era when opera was synonymous with popular entertainment. Special attention is focused on tum-of­ the-century singers who performed in both opera and vaudeville. Program #4 is a presentation of Dominick Argento's Miss Manners on Music and illustrates the strong relationship that can exist between opera and American popular entertainment. Originally conceived as a song cycle, I have staged the work as a one-act opera sung and acted by soprano Carmen Balthrop. This piece is based on the writings of pop icon and newspaper columnist Judith Martin, otherwise known as Miss Manners. All four performances are recorded in audio and video formats.

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A cursory glance at cello works by English composers during the twentieth- century yields an unexpected relationship to Russian musicians, history, culture, and religion. One must wonder how this connection or "Russian thread" came to be. When considering the working relationship of Benjamin Britten and Mstislav Rostropovich, the likelihood of such a connection is tangible, since their deeply personal friendship influenced Britten's music for cello. However, what is perhaps more interesting is the emergence of connections to Russia in the works of other English composers of the twentieth-century, featuring works from 1913-1996. This project was conceived after close study and analysis of Benjamin Britten's Third Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 87 (1971). Britten's inclusion of Russian folk tunes and an Orthodox Church hymn signaled the penetrating presence of Russian elements in his works. Britten's First Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 72, Third Suite for Cello, Op. 87, and Sonata for Piano and Cello in C, Op. 65 are presented in this project. Further exploration of works for cello by English composers unveiled similar connections to Russia. The Sonata for Cello and Piano of Frank Bridge is likened to Russian romanticism and the Cello Sonata of Sergei Rachmaninoff. William Walton's Cello Concerto was written for the Russian-American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Wake Up ...and die is John Tavener's deeply spiritual work, which is rooted in his Russian Orthodoxy. John Ireland, influenced by models of French and Russian Impressionism, contributed works colored with Russian folk influences, of which his Piano Trio No. 2 is an example. Finally, Arnold Bax traveled to Russia as a young man and his Folk Tale and Legend Sonata are imbued with the spirit of Russian folk music and architecture. This dissertation project is comprised of three recitals featuring English works for cello connected by a "Russian Thread." All events took place on the campus of University of Maryland, College Park: Recital #1 on December 4, 2011 in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Recital #2 on February 11,2012, and Recital #3 on April 15, 2012, both in the Ulrich Recital Hall.

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This dissertation explores a method of teaching the history of Civil War music and musicians through modern full-band editions of original brass band music. In the study of music history the period of the Civil War is rarely discussed, or at best, mentioned only if a student takes a specific course on the history of bands and happens to look deeply into the background of some of the early band pioneers such as Patrick Gilmore, who served in the Union Army as a bandmaster. The history of the musicians, bands, and music performed during the Civil War deserves study to provide a way for students and audiences to learn this history. This project includes lesson plans that can be used with the arrangements of the period music as well as select published music that is also representative of the period. Included with the historical information are four arrangements of original brass band music now scored for full concert band. Each arrangement includes a section scored for brass only with optional brass band parts. Historical information is provided on the Civil War period bands and how each side used them, on the composers of the music, and also on the individual compositions. The historical information can be used to supplement the lesson plans to teach the history, as well as for program notes for audiences. The research involved locating information on both Union and Confederate bands available in books, other dissertations, articles, and interviews with Civil War music historians. The original brass band music is scored for full band. This method will allow teachers and conductors to highlight this period of wind band history and to share it with both students and audiences. Included with this project are photos and video footage taken during a visit with the 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, Wisconsin, an historical organization dedicated to recreating the music and performances of an actual Civil War era band.

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The study of a score by a serious performer is a fundamental step in the process of arriving at a knowledgeable and deeply informed approach to performing a piece of music. In order to obtain this knowledge numerous aspects of the score must be taken into consideration. It is the intent of this dissertation to gather and analyze the information concerning Naturale, a work written by Luciano Berio in 1985 for viola, percussion and recorded voice, based on Sicilian folk songs. All the aspects surrounding Naturale’s existence are taken into consideration in this study. First, it is important to reflect on Berio’s compositional style and traits, the manner in which he relates his works one to another, what he sees in folk music and his own personal desire to intertwine art music and folk music. For Berio Naturale is not an isolated venture into the realm of mixing folk music and his own avant-garde style; it is instead one of many works resulting from his long-standing relationship with folk music. Another essential aspect in this case is the study of Sicilian folk music itself, and the sources used by Berio to find the songs by which he was inspired. The work is examined section by section with figures showing both excerpts of Naturale as well as the original songs with their translations. An analysis containing harmonic, thematic and formal aspects of the score was developed in order to arrive at a better understanding of the structure and pacing of the piece. For this research the author went to Italy to conduct an interview with Maestro Aldo Bennici, the Sicilian violist for whom Naturale was composed. This interview helped in the discovery of two more songs used by Berio that have not to this point been identified in any other document. Bennici’s outstanding testimony portrayed the expressive character of this music and the evocative imagery behind this score. I hope to bring this knowledge to other performers, that they may fully understand and appreciate the unique beauty and power of Berio’s Naturale.

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During the second half of the nineteenth century, a series of remarkable advances in musical composition emerged in the works of such innovative spirits as Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner. Their pioneering works exerted an extraordinary impact on the music of the subsequent generation of composers--of disparate nationalities-who were active at the dawn of the 20th century: Including most notably Claude-Achille Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. These important musical figures, each one leaving an indelible and formative imprint on late-nineteenth century Romantic style, together launched the modern era in music. Scriabin stands alone as a transcendental visionary: His music, initiated in the fashion of Chopin and Liszt, wanders through the realms of Debussy and Wagner, and, ultimately abandoning late Romantic tradition, unlocks the heretofore unforeseen power of atonality, bitonality, polyrhythms and key-signature free compositions. Arguably, Scriabin's compositions count among the most innovative, idiosyncratic and bewitching of all time. The development of Scriabin's groundbreaking compositional style is best understood by means of his piano works, which comprise the majority of his oeuvre. Beyond the larger works-his twelve sonatas, a concerto and a fantasy-Scriabin's piano explorations are also represented by miniature gems: The mazurkas, impromptus, waltzes, poems, a polonaise, etudes, nocturnes, morceaux and, in particular, the preludes. Scriabin's 90 preludes for piano, arranged in several opus numbers, richly exemplify the striking evolution of his ingenious music, his idiosyncratic philosophy and his provocative personality.

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Chamber music repertoire featuring the piano blossomed from the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth century. The quantity of works increased greatly during this time and the quality of these works reached the highest level. Among the many symbolic works that were composed were sonatas for a single string instrument with piano, piano trios, quartets: and quintets as well as two-piano works and four-hand duets. Being able to study and perform many of these iconic works before I graduated was one of the major goals I set for myself as a collaborative pianist. The abundance of repertoire has made it easy to choose works considered "iconic" for my dissertation's three recitals. Iconic is defined as "very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time" in the online Cambridge Advanced Leamer's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University. The compositions featured in the recitals were composed from 1842 through 1941, including works by Schumann, Brahms, Faure, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, and Lutoslawski. Choosing the repertoire with my fellow performers in mind was an important part of this dissertation. In addition to trying to make balanced programs which include variety, working with different instruments and performers is one of the most fulfilling parts of the musical experience for me as a collaborative pianist. Joining me for the concerts were members of the Aeolus String Quartet (violinist Nicholas Tavani, violinist Rachel Shapiro, violist Greg Luce, and cellist Alan Richardson), pianist Hsiao-Ying Lin (a doctoral student from the Peabody Conservatory), and my colleagues from the Peabody Institute Preparatory Division (faculty violinist Dr. Christian Tremblay and cellist Alicia Ward), and Derek Smith, Associate Principal violist of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestras). The three recitals were performed in the Gildenhom and Ulrich Recital Halls at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. They are recorded on CD and available on compact discs, which can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

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The musical period of Neoclassicism began in the 1920's, between the first and second world wars. It was initiated by French composers and eventually spread to other countries. One of the most important themes to emerge from the movement was to escape from the formless, rather emotional music of the Romantic era and instead, emphasize balance, order, objectivity and clarity in musical form. Many popular clarinet repertoires are enjoyed by performers and listeners because the music is enjoyable to play and easy to listen to. In particular, classically influenced clarinet music is quite interesting because it features musical elements from both the past and contemporary musical styles. For instance, some composers have integrated preexisting, more traditional styles of composition with lighter styles of modern culture such as popular music and Jazz. It is difficult to discover purely neoclassical clarinet repertoires even though many composers created their pieces during the neoclassical era. What we most commonly find are both neoclassical and non-neoclassical influences in compositions from that time period. Thus, I aim to trace the influence of neoclassicism in selected clarinet repertoires that exist today. It is my hope that increased awareness and knowledge about accessible clarinet music may encourage the general public to develop a deeper interest in a wider sphere of clarinet music, beyond what is considered popular today. The works performed and discussed in this dissertation are the following: (Recital I) Duo Concertante by Darius Milhaud; Sonata by Leonard Bernstein; Sonata for Two Clarinets by Francis Poulenc; Duos for Flute and Clarinet, Op. 34 by Robert Muczynski; Dance Preludes by Witold Lutoslawski, (Recital II) Sonatine by Arthur Honegger; Time pieces by Robert Muczynski; Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Darius Milhaud; Sonate for Clarinet, Flute and Piano by Maurice Emmanuel; Tarantelle for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Op. 6 by Camille Saint-Saëns, (Recital III) Sonatina by Joseph Horovitz; Suite from L'histoire du Soldat for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Igor Stravinsky; Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Béla Bartók The recitals that took place on December 1, 2012 and on April 25, 2013 were performed in the Ulrich Recital Hall of the Clarice Performing Arts Center in College Park, Maryland. The recital that took place on November 2, 2013 was performed at the Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the same performing arts center.

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African-American composers within the field of classical music have made very profound contributions to the literature. In the field of chamber music, Scott Joplin, William Grant Still, Adolphus Hailstork and other composers illustrious composers have created an established and well-documented body of repertoire for many orchestral wind instruments. The saxophone repertoire, however, has not been developed as fully due to its limited tradition as an orchestral instrument and its prominence in the tradition of jazz and popular music. African-American composers in particular appear to be significantly under-represented within the standard concert saxophone literature. My personal experiences with saxophone repertoire in academic settings, solo recitals, conferences and in surveys of standard repertoire from nationally-recognized saxophone teachers support this assertion. There are many African-American composers who have made substantial contributions to the body of repertoire for the concert saxophone. This dissertation examines the works of three prolific African-American composers for the concert saxophone; Dr. Yusef A. Lateef, Andrew N. White III, and Dr. David N. Baker. All have composed more than five separate works featuring the concert saxophone. This project comprises three recitals, each dedicated to one of the three composers selected for this dissertation. Each recital presented will present their compositions featuring the saxophone as a soloist with various types of accompaniment. The project also includes newly-created piano reductions of Dr. David Baker's works for saxophone and orchestra made collaboratively with Baker and arranger John Leszczynski.

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Lukas Foss's The Prairie, a seven-movement cantata for SATB soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra, is a well-crafted and audience-friendly setting of the poem of the same name by Carl Sandburg. Acclaimed at its 1944 premiere, The Prairie has not enjoyed a robust performance history due in large part to numerous inconsistencies between the score and parts which render the work challenging to perform. Heretofore, each conductor has individually located these inconsistencies and made the necessary adjustments for performances. In this document, resources have been assembled which identify and correct many of the inconsistencies, thus facilitating more performances in the future. The Prairie is an ideal vehicle for a project-based chorus, which is itself an opportunity to create a new community. A correlation may exist between "community" and "vulnerability;" that is, when a choral singer feels comfortably connected to fellow singers, he or she may be more likely to open up to new ways of making sounds for the ultimate service of the music. Results are inconclusive, but the project points to a successful strategy for creating an affirming new community and to positive musical and nonmusical results of intentional community-building.

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Music for Three Stages: Performance Preparation for Opera, Operetta and Recital began as three stand-alone performances: two operas, Albert Herring and Die Fledermaus, as assigned by my opera program, and a recital of music by composers who wrote operas, art songs and non-operatic large-scale works, which I programmed. Upon starting the process of preparing for these three performances, I hypothesized that each would require unique preparation techniques. What I discovered, however, was that instead of each being unique and isolated in preparation, each performance, along with other performances that I had throughout the year, highly informed my approach to each piece. Through the preparation of program notes, included in this dissertation, as well as the musical preparation of each performance, I concluded that preparing for these performances was a long arc over the course of the year, with much give and take among the styles of music and an integrated style of preparation, instead of the individualized preparations that I expected.

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Robert Bloom (1908-1994) was legendary in the education and performance world. Often hailed as one of the last performers of the Golden Era of classical music and a favorite of conductors ranging from Stokowski to Stravinsky to Shaw, Bloom was an orchestral oboist and English hornist, oboe soloist, chamber musician, teacher (Eastman, Yale, Hartt, Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard and Philadelphia's University of the Arts), composer, conductor, editor of masterworks of the 18th century, and, as a founding member of the Bach Aria group, a seminal influence in the post-WWII revival of Baroque music in America. In The Robert Bloom Collection and the Art of Robert Bloom CD and video archives, we see what his musical ideals were in 1)18th-century performance practices, 2) writing new music for the instrument and commissioning new works, and 3) and transcribing music for the oboe and English horn. As an oboist, I believe it is important that Bloom's teachings, historical performance practices and ideas for expanding repertoire are propagated. Therefore, the works chosen for this dissertation illustrated this legacy. My recitals included 1) some of Bloom's published 18th-century baroque elaborations (his term for ornamentation), as well Baroque works which I have elaborated, 2) works written by him and by other oboists/composers (Labate, Roseman) as well as a flute/oboe duo that I commissioned by Dr. Marcus Maroney and 3) transcriptions by both Bloom and myself (Bach, Donizetti, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Telemann). In these three dissertation recitals, I hope to have illustrated some of Robert Bloom's lasting contributions and impact on the oboe world, and to have demonstrated the potential for carrying forward this legacy by studying his teaching and emulating his example.

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The purpose of this dissertation is to promote Polish violin music written in the 20th and 21st Century. My recitals included many lesser-known compositions and composers which I strongly believe deserve to be better known and more often performed. The search and preparation of those pieces, for which recordings and music scores are not easily found, was a very exciting and stimulating process. Much Polish music written in the 20th and 21st Century is interesting, expressive, beautiful, and deserves to be more often performed. Performing 20th and 21st Century music opens new perspectives in two directions: musically and technically. Performer and listener are, in many cases, unbound from tonality. Composers are looking for new sonorities and exploring such performing techniques as varieties of harmonics, quarter tones, extreme dynamics, complex rhythms, and usage of a wide range of registers. An important part of Polish music is Polish folklore. The little town of Zakopane is known for Polish traditional clothing, food, architecture, dance and music. Also, most prominent Polish luthiers including Wojciech Topa, whose instrument I am playing, have been making their instruments in Zakopane. This little town in the Tatras Mountain has been an inspiration for many Polish artists including Iwaszkiewicz, Witkacy, Karłowicz, and Szymanowski. Those composers used such folklore elements as folk scales, popular tunes, and imitations of the sound of the folk band with characteristic folk dance rhythms. Other musical genres where folk elements are strongly present are the compositions dedicated to young musicians, with a specifically educational purpose. Among composers who wrote educational music were Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski, and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. This approach makes the works more easily understood by young performers and, at the same time, broadens their understanding of Polish culture and prepares them for the challenges of contemporary music. This has been an exciting project for me because, on the one hand, it allowed me the challenge of performing compositions that are lesser-known and often consist of musical language new to me while, on the other, it brought me back to my roots and the country of my mother tongue.