DISSIMILAR CONTEMPORARIES: SELECTED PIANO MUSIC OF SERGEI RACHMANINOFF AND SERGEI PROKOFIEV

Virtual contemporaries, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev were pianists, steeped in the traditions of Russian pianism; recordings of both pianists-composers playing their own works are available. Although the composers can be perceived as having little in common, in fact both composed in classical forms, both had a strong lyrical sense and both had an unbreakable connection with their Russian heritage. Rachmaninoff was the last great representative of Russian late Romanticism as well as one of the finest pianists of his generation. He cultivated a sweepingly passionate and melodious idiom, with pronounced lyrical quality, expressive breath and structural ingenuity. Prokofiev, on the other hand, tried to push the Russian Romantic traditions to a point of exacerbation and caricature before experimenting with various kinds of modernism. Stressing simplicity, he helped invent Neo-Classicism. His melodies are essentially tonal with wide skips and sweeping long lines. Harmonically, he used triadic harmony full of dissonances, strange inversions, unusual spacings, and jarring juxtapositions. Writing in classical forms, he incorporated rhythmic vitality and lyrical elements into his music. I have chosen to perform five works by each composer, written in a variety of genres, including the sonata, the toccata, variations, the concerto. I also have divided the pieces into three recital programs to show the idiosyncratic characteristics of the composers. I have endeavored to select pieces based on the technical and artistic challenges that they offer, thereby allowing me to grow as a pianist and an artist. My goal is to gain a thorough understanding of not only the pieces but also the musical styles of both composers.

AMERICAN WOMEN COMPOSERS: SELECTED PUBLISHED WORKS FOR FLUTE AND PIANO AND FOR UNACCOMPANIED FLUTE COMPOSED BETWEEN 1930 AND 2008

The music of women composers often comprises only a small percentage of flutists‘ repertoire, yet there are actually many active women composers, many of whom have written for the flute. The aim of this dissertation is to chronicle a selection of works by several American women composers that have contributed to accessible flute repertoire. For the purpose of this dissertation, accessibility is described by the following parameters: works that limit the use of extended techniques, works that are suitable for performers from high school through a reasonably advanced level, works that are likely to elicit emotionally musical communication from the performer to the listener, and works that are reasonably available through music stores or outlets on the Internet that have a fairly comprehensive reach to the general public. My subjective judgment also played a role in the final selection of the 25 works included as part of this dissertation, and performed on three musically well-balanced recitals. A variety of resources were consulted for the repertoire, including Boenke‘s Flute Music by Women Composers: An Annotated Catalog, and the catalogs of publishers such as Arsis Press and Hildegard Publishing, both of which specialize in the music of women composers. The works performed and discussed are the following: Adrienne Albert – Sunswept; Marion Bauer – Prelude and Fugue, Op. 43.; Marilyn Bliss – Lament; Ann Callaway – Updraft; Ruth Crawford – Diaphonic Suite; Emma Lou Diemer – Sonata; Vivian Fine – Emily’s Images; Cynthia Folio – Arca Sacra; Nancy Galbraith – Atacama; Lita Grier – Sonata; Jennifer Higdon – The Jeffrey Mode; Edie Hill – This Floating World; Katherine Hoover – Masks; Mary Howe – Interlude between Two Pieces; Laura Kaminsky – Duo; Libby Larsen – Aubade; Alex Shapiro – Shiny Kiss; Judith Shatin – Coursing Through the Still Green; Faye-Ellen Silverman – Taming the Furies; Augusta Read Thomas – Euterpe’s Caprice; Joan Tower – Valentine Trills; Ludmila Ulehla – Capriccio; Elizabeth Vercoe – Kleemation; Gwyneth Walker – Sonata; and Judith Lang Zaimont – ‘Bubble-Up’ Rag. All of these works are worthy alternatives to the more frequently played flute repertoire, and they serve as a good starting point for anyone interested i n exploring the works of women composers.

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 GREAT RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION: SELECTED REPERTOIRE BY TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF AND PROKOFIEV

This dissertation explores representative piano music by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. The areas of research include: 1) the short character piece; 2) the Russian piano transcription tradition; 3) the concerto and sonata cycle; 4) extra-musical imagery; 5) the influence of popular and dance music of the period. Perhaps the most important result of this research is learning how the art of incorporating a singing quality at the piano stands at the center of Russian pianistic heritage. The first recital features compositions by Sergei Prokofiev. The Seventh Sonata exhibits rebellious, uncompromisingly dissonant treatment of its musical content. Ten Pieces from “Cinderella” shows an ascetic approach to piano texture - a common characteristic in Prokofiev’s late works. The Third Concerto is Prokofiev’s masterpiece in the genre. One of the 20th century’s most performed concerti, it overflows with pianistic challenges. For my second dissertation recital, I have chosen Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. These short character pieces were inspired by literary sources. The text portrays Russian rural life, nature, moments of intimate reflection, and imaginary experiences and impressions. Tchaikovsky’s gift as a melodist and remarkable musical individualist is represented in his two Nocturnes as well as in the Nutcracker Suite, masterfully transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev. The final program features Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Ten Preludes, Op. 23, regarded as a culmination of the turn-of-the-century grand Russian pianistic style. The Fantasy Pieces helped establish Rachmaninoff’s reputation as a pianist-composer, a profoundly lyrical poet of the piano. The three Rachmaninoff transcriptions, the Minuet, the Hopak and the Polka de W.R. preserve the spirit of the Golden Era’s musical salon. These pieces were written to delight and dazzle audiences with their bold character, musical taste, virtuosic tricks and technical finesse. The three recitals comprising this dissertation were presented in Gildenhorn Recital at the University of Maryland School of Music on November 13, 2010, April 11, 2011 and February 27, 2012. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

THE GREAT RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION: SELECTED REPERTOIRE BY TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF AND PROKOFIEV

This dissertation explores representative piano music by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. The areas of research include: 1) the short character piece; 2) the Russian piano transcription tradition; 3) the concerto and sonata cycle; 4) extra-musical imagery; 5) the influence of popular and dance music of the period. Perhaps the most important result of this research is learning how the art of incorporating a singing quality at the piano stands at the center of Russian pianistic heritage. The first recital features compositions by Sergei Prokofiev. The Seventh Sonata exhibits rebellious, uncompromisingly dissonant treatment of its musical content. Ten Pieces from "Cinderella" shows an ascetic approach to piano texture - a common characteristic in Prokofiev's late works. The Third Concerto is Prokofiev's masterpiece in the genre. One of the 20th century's most performed concerti, it overflows with pianistic challenges. For my second dissertation recital, I have chosen Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. These short character pieces were inspired by literary sources. The text portrays Russian rural life, nature, moments of intimate reflection, and imaginary experiences and impressions. Tchaikovsky's gift as a melodist and remarkable musical individualist is represented in his two Nocturnes as well as in the Nutcracker Suite, masterfully transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev. The final program features Sergei Rachmaninoff's Ten Preludes, Op. 23, regarded as a culmination of the turn-of-the-century grand Russian pianistic style. The Fantasy Pieces helped establish Rachmaninoff's reputation as a pianist-composer, a profoundly lyrical poet of the piano. The three Rachmaninoff transcriptions, the Minuet, the Hopak and the Polka de W.R. preserve the spirit of the Golden Era's musical salon. These pieces were written to delight and dazzle audiences with their bold character, musical taste, virtuosic tricks and technical finesse. The three recitals comprising this dissertation were presented in Gildenhorn Recital at the University of Maryland School of Music on November 13, 2010, April 11, 2011 and February 27, 2012. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

Towards an intelligent score following system: Handling of mistakes and jumps encountered during piano practicing

Score following has been an important area of research in AI and music since the mid 80's. Various systems were developed, but they were predominantly for providing automated accompaniment to live concert performances, dealing mostly with issues relating to pitch detection and identification of embellished melodies. They have a big potential in the area of education where student performers benefit in practice situations. Current accompaniment systems are not designed to deal with errors that may occur during practising. In this paper we present a system developed to provide accompaniment for students practising at home. First a survey of score following will be given. Then the capabilities of the system will be explained, and the results from the first experiments of the monophonic score following system will be presented.

Orquesta de flautas traveseras : aprendizaje cooperativo.

Seleccionado en la convocatoria: Ayudas a la innovación e investigación educativa en centros docentes de niveles no universitarios, Gobierno de Aragón 2010-11

Prevalencia de síntomas osteomusculares en miembros superiores y los probables factores de riesgo asociados en los estudiantes de musica en una institución universitaria de Bogotá,Colombia, 2013

Los músicos por su práctica instrumental tienen una alta demanda de desempeño físico, especialmente de los miembros superiores y están expuestos a varios factores de riesgo biomecánico que pueden resultar en problemas de salud. Objetivo: determinar la prevalencia de sintomatología osteomuscular de miembros superiores y los probables factores de riesgo asociados, en los estudiantes expuestos a la actividad musical durante el segundo semestre del año 2013 en una institución universitaria de Bogotá, Colombia. Método: se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte trasversal en 134 estudiantes de todos los semestres de música en una institución universitaria. Se aplicó el Cuestionario nórdico estandarizado para análisis de síntomas músculo esqueléticos y una encuesta ad hoc que contemplaba aspectos sociodemográficos y antecedentes académicos, patológicos, factores de exposición y hábitos. Resultados: Las prevalencias generales encontradas en el estudio, son similares a las que refieren algunos estudios revisados que contemplan ciertas variables afines a las que se estudiaron. La prevalencia de síntomas osteomusculares cervico-braquial fue de 77.9%. La prevalencia de molestias en cuello fue mayor en las mujeres (64.3%) que en los hombres (37.4%) (OR=3.02, IC 95%=1.26, 7.18). La prevalencia de síntomas en manos/muñecas que le impidió hacer su trabajo en los últimos 12 meses fue mayor en los estudiantes que refirieron alguna enfermedad (29.4%) que en los que no la manifestaron (10.2%), (OR=3.69, IC 95%=1.34, 10.19). La prevalencia de molestias en cuello que les impidió hacer su trabajo en los últimos 12 meses fue mayor en los estudiantes que practicaron algún pasatiempo con sus brazos (10.4%) versus los que no lo practicaron, cuya frecuencia fue 0.0%. Los instrumentos musicales de mayor práctica fueron cuerda y percusión y se asociaron a prevalencia de síntomas osteomusculares cérvico-braquiales con una distribución por segmentos similar. Los tiempos de práctica semanales y la antigüedad en la práctica, conduce a síntomas cervico-braquiales. Conclusiones: Este estudio coincide con la distribución de las prevalencias encontradas en poblaciones de estudiantes de música revisadas, con respecto a la sintomatología, a los segmentos cervico-braquiales de mayor afectación, a la significancia del género femenino con respecto al masculino, al tipo de instrumentos y a los tiempos de práctica entre otros. Esto plantea la necesidad de educar a nuestros músicos en la detección temprana de síntomas desde su formación de pregrado o quizás mucho antes.

La Educación Musical en Infantil : un proceso de integración educativo y tecnológico.

Proyecto realizado en el CEIP Vicente Aleixandre de Valladolid por parte de los profesores de educación infantil y educación musical. Los objetivos del proyecto son: - Introducir la Educación Musical para todas las unidades de Educación Infantil. - Elaborar materiales educativos adaptados a los niveles de infantil con soporte multimedia e informático.- Desarrollar actividades educativas innovadoras que faciliten el aprendizaje y actualicen el curriculum. Colaborar en la creación de un espacio contextualizado para la formación inicial de maestros.- Conseguir la integración de un entorno colaborativo entre la educación infantil en el colegio y la formación universitaria. La metodología de trabajo se lleva a cabo por medio de actividades globalizadas para potenciar el aprendizaje significativo adaptando cada sesión al tema de la unidad didáctica. El marco de trabajo se desarrolla de manera colaborativa a través del Método aprender investigando que preside todo el proyecto del centro. La agrupación de los alumnos será flexible, dependiendo de la actividad. Se utiliza el marco telemático (BSCL-Synergeia) y los recursos informáticos para el desarrollo de las actividades. En la práctica se establecen dos planos para el desarrollo del proyecto: 1- En el colegio se desarrolla un proceso de creación de un grupo colaborativo que participa en el diseño de las diferentes actividades que se insertarán en las diferentes unidades telemáticas. Dicha programación se insertará en el BSCL-Synergeia. Posteriormente los recursos y los materiales generados en este espacio de trabajo compartido, serán utilizados en las clases. Finalmente el grupo evaluará cada una de las actividades y también será depositada en la red. 2- Paralelamente todo ello servirá de ejemplo en las asignaturas correspondientes en la Facultad de Educación , dónde se elaborarán materiales que serán colgados después en la red. La actividad se llevará a cabo durante la permanencia del especialista de música acompañado de las alumnas de magisterio. Se dedicarán dos sesiones de treinta minutos cada semana por clase. En las unidades temáticas se incluirán actividades como: canción alusiva a la unidad, ritmificación de las canciones con un desarrollo psicomotriz asociado a la música, materiales multimedia, recursos tecnológicos, uso de instrumentos musicales y elaboración de instrumentos musicales básicos centrados en la percusión. Ha incidido en el profesorado de infantil y de música del centro. Se han llevado a cabo dos sesiones para evaluación inicial del proyecto a las que asistieron todos los profesores del PIE y las personas implicadas de la Facultad. Además se ha realizado una evaluación continua a lo largo de todo el proyecto, y más concretamente se ha realizado una conjunta, con las personas colaboradoras de la Facultad en el PIE, al final de cada Trimestre. Como conclusión de esta evaluación el considerarla muy positiva para el centro, el alumnado y las familias.El trabajo que se ha realizado, consideran, va a ser de gran ayuda a la hora de llevarlo a cabo en el aula de infantil.Se han elaborado una serie de unidades didácticas de música para incluirlo dentro de la programación de infantil: la escuela, los frutos de otoño, el cuerpo, la Navidad, día de la Paz, los carnavales, el restaurante, los transportes, los oficios, semana cultural y los animales. Además se han elaborado materiales educativos multimedia, materiales en soporte papel y con el apoyo de las tecnologías de la comunicación y la información. Entre ellos se destacan los cuentos educativos y las fichas de trabajo elaborados igualmente por el centro y la Facultad. Se han utilizado los siguientes materiales: ordenador, teclado electrónico con pulsación piano fuerte y sensitiva, los programas musicales integrados en el ordenador Finale 2005, Sound Sorge 5, Encoré, Sony Acid Music, CDs , disquettes, papel, pinturas. Trabajo no publicado.

Los instrumentos de viento-madera y su acústica.

Resumen en inglés

Programación por contenidos en la enseñanza del piano.

Se reflexiona sobre cómo adaptar el concepto de programación a la enseñanza del piano y se ofrece una aportación práctica que documenta y avala que las programaciones con objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluación son factibles y necesarias en el aprendizaje de instrumentos.

Aportaciones e influencia francesa de Antonio Romero en la enseñanza del clarinete.

Resumen en inglés

Comentario histórico de una obra musical : 'La patética' de Beethoven.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación. Resumen en inglés

La improvisación al piano en el nivel inicial : la fragancia de la idea musical.

La publicación recoge resumen en Inglés