Musicology Commons^™

Max Kowalski's Japanischer Frühling: A Song Collection From The Period Of The Jewish Cultural Alliance In Nazi Germany, Nils Neubert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The topic of this dissertation is the song composer Max Kowalski (1882-1956) and his song collection Japanischer Frühling (1934-1938). This dissertation presents a critical edition of this previously unpublished song collection, which sets adaptations of Japanese poetry by the German poet Hans Bethge (1876-1946). Aside from the edition and critical report, the dissertation includes chapters on the literature (Chapter One); the composer’s biography (Chapter Two); his output and reception (Chapter Three); Hans Bethge’s adaptations of the Japanese poetry that form the basis of the collection (Chapter Four); the genesis, performance history, and reception of the song collection (Chapter Five); and …

Heinrich Schenker’S Early Approach To Form, 1895–1921: Implications For His Late Work And Its Reception, Jason A. Hooper

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation constructs Heinrich Schenker’s early approach to form and traces its development as his organic theory of transformational voice leading emerged in the early 1920s. Schenker’s late approach to form is then briefly reconsidered from this newfound perspective.

Chapter 1 defines the nineteenth-century Formenlehre tradition established by A. B. Marx and passed down to Anton Bruckner through his studies in model composition, leading to Schenker himself. Chapter 2 presents Schenker’s early approach to form in a generative fashion, demonstrating how a single motive can grow into a large thematic group unified by a single key area or an economy …

The Analysis Of Musical Dramaturgy In Mozart's Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail, Danielle J. Bastone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It has long been recognized that the music of Mozart’s Singspiels bears more dramatic weight than that of most eighteenth-century German comic operas. Yet this view arises from a body of scholarship that heavily privileges Die Zauberflöte at the expense of Mozart’s other German-language operatic works, including Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), which constituted Mozart’s first big statement in Vienna and became easily the most popular of his operas during his lifetime. This is an analytical study of Mozart’s Entführung that examines form, phrase rhythm, and text-setting as agents of musical dramaturgy throughout the score. More specifically, it demonstrates …

Puccini’S Love Duets And The Unfolding Of Time, Kae Fujisawa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the twenty love duets of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). It analyzes the ways in which Puccini manipulates poetic-dramatic and musical elements to represent the naturalistic ebb and flow of emotions, reflecting changing cultural approaches to time and the closely related moral controversy between “respectability” and “free passion.” My analysis draws upon two models: the solita forma de’ duetti and Henri Bergson’s philosophy of time. The solita forma principles provide the structural framework for assessing Puccini’s creativity in historical context. Bergson’s philosophy of time provides an aesthetic and experiential framework for illuminating Puccini’s constant quest for a naturalistic emotional …

Ten Etudes For Solo Cello By Sofia Gubaidulina, Julia A. Biber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sofia Gubaidulina is regarded as one of the most original and highly respected voices in contemporary music today. Her use of the Fibonacci and its related series to structure her compositions has become a defining feature of her music and, therefore, most analysis has focused on pieces that incorporate this method, which she calls “rhythm of form.” Consequently, works written prior to her adoption of this method have garnered much less analytical attention. However, in her earlier works­––from the late 1960s through the early 80s––Gubaidulina not only explores new sounds and colors, but also found creative ways to structure these …

On The Appearance Of The Comedy Lp, 1957–1973, David Michael Mccarthy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Many observers of contemporary comedy in the United States during the 1960s referred to musical aspects of extra-musical performances. Comedy LP records furnish important artifacts for the study of the musical appearances these observers produced for themselves. Where contemporaries described appearances characterized by printable words and polemics as “satirical,” the musical appearances discussed in this dissertation can instead be described as “comic”: instead of mocking persons or ideas, they show people and things becoming involved with one another in absurdly triumphant ways. These two different sorts of appearances correspond to two different uses for comedy in a class society, one …

Edwin Fischer And Bach Performance Practice Of The Weimar Republic, Bradley V. Brookshire

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Edwin Fischer (1886-1960) provided a synthesis of approaches to Bach pianism that resolved dialectical tensions of long standing between schools that opposed one another throughout the nineteenth century. I argue that Fischer’s synthesis––which permits exegetical interpretation while maintaining a preservationist stance toward the integrity of the text––resembles both Felix Mendelssohn’s bifurcated approach to Bach’s music and Moses Mendelssohn’s description of a similar duality within modern Judaism. Such resemblance may not be coincidental or superficial, given that Fischer married into the Mendelssohn family at the height of its cultural influence in Weimar-Era Berlin. Although pieces of the Mendelssohnian construct were in …

Die Meistersinger, New York City, And The Metropolitan Opera: The Intersection Of Art And Politics During Two World Wars, Gwen L. D'Amico

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1945, after a five-year hiatus, the Metropolitan Opera returned Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg to its stage. It had been the only one of Wagner’s operas that had been banned during World War II, ostensibly because of its German nationalism and association with the Third Reich. But was it the German nationalism or Wagner’s own anti-Semitism that caused the unease? What resounded with the audiences? World War II stands at an historic cross roads in the reception of Die Meistersinger in America. This is where the present day “problem” with this work begins. The Metropolitan Opera’s decision created …

Searching For Sounds: Instrumental Agency And Modularity In Electroacoustic Improvisation, Stephen (Red) Wierenga

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In their radical departure from conventional instrumental technique and standardized instruments themselves, the practices of electroacoustic improvisation present a particular challenge to prevalent Western concepts of musical instruments. These concepts—which generally treat instruments as fixed objects—are ill-equipped to account for the ways in which electroacoustic improvisers foreground the agency of their instruments and abandon the quest for “mastery” typical especially of classical attitudes. Additionally, electroacoustic improvisers often approach instruments not as singular, self-contained, and static in their materiality, but rather as modular instrumentaria capable of myriad states and ever in flux, similarly problematizing conventional conceptions that view the physical constitutions …

Le Pianiste: Parisian Music Journalism And The Politics Of The Piano, 1833–35, Shaena B. Weitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the French music journal entitled Le Pianiste, published in Paris from 1833 to 1835. Through an analysis of the journal’s contents, it reconsiders the nature of music journalism and musical life in Paris at the time it was in print, focusing in particular on canon formation and the power of the press. Le Pianiste’s remarkably detailed descriptions and analysis of the French music world challenge long-held perceptions of the era about taste and reception history, yet it remains an unstudied document. While past work on the music press has focused on criticism and reception, this …

Issues Of Rhythm, Symmetry, And Style In Alfred Schnittke's Concerto For Piano And Strings, Ilya Mayzus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation takes as its subject of study Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings and seeks to examine several interconnected issues in Schnittke’s music: the problem of unification of disparate and conflicting forces that generally describe his style; the wave-like shape of intensification followed by a pullback that can be seen as acting on different temporal levels; and one of narrative meaning. Particular attention is given to symmetry in various manifestations, which the composer considered a necessary ingredient, comparing rhythmic regularity to periodicity found in nature, while at the same time undermining it through the use of asymmetries in order …

El Murciano's "Rondeña" And Early Flamenco Guitar Music: New Findings And Perspectives, Mª Luisa Martínez Martínez, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

The "Rondeña" of guitarist Francisco Rodríguez Murciano (El Murciano, 1795-1848) of Granada--as documented in a notation made by his son--has been a subject of considerable interest among scholars interested in the evolution of flamenco guitar playing (toque). Such authors as Eusebio Rioja (2008, 2013), Javier Suárez Pajares (2003), Guillermo Castro Buendía (2014), and Norberto Torres Cortés (2010) have recognized the importance of this piece in the attempted reconstruction, however hypothetical, of the development of the art of flamenco guitar. These authors have raised various questions about the piece, involving the date and circumstances of its preparation and the …

Aquell Estiu Del 66. L'Actuació De Merce Cunnigham A Sitges, Ara Fa 50 Anys, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

El desembarcament a Sitges de la MCDC ara fa cinquanta anys exactes, es considera un punt crucial en la cultura catalana i espanyola tant en art com en música. Carles Santos ha titllat aquella actuació de «traumàtica» pel que va suposar per a la música espanyola. I a més a més, molts estudis erudits recents sobre l’art conceptual, la música electrònica i la dansa experimental consideren l’actuació a Sitges com un dels inicis de tots aquests moviments a l’estat espanyol. Al final, Clive Barnes va acabar per tenir raó: al Departament d’Estat l’havia subvencionat un pintor europeu, almenys la gira …

The Feast Of Corpus Christi As A Site Of Struggle, Barbara R. Walters

Publications and Research

Multiple versions of the liturgy for the new fest of Corpus Christi provide evidence for changes in the theology of the Eucharist during the thirteenth century. These changes give pause in crediting the Miracle of Bolsena as the source of inspiration for the 1264 version of the liturgy by St. Thomas Aquinas. An earlier version of the "original office" with approbation from Liege Bishop Robert Thourotte in 1246 and a celebration of the feast by Hugh of St. Cher in 1252 weigh against the Bolsena Miracle as the source. Moreover, the idea of a corporeal presence with blood issuing from …

Engaging With Research And Resources In Music History Courses, Jennifer Oates

Publications and Research

With the ever-expanding sea of resources available to students today, it is now more important than ever to teach students how to navigate, assess, and interpret resources. Given the ease of access to information, students tend to seek out the path of least resistance, most often a Google search and/or Wikipedia. Their unfamiliarity with print resources, such as thematic catalogues, means they are missing out on significant music scholarship that is not available online or through Google. Today’s students have grown up searching the internet. The single-search approach of a web search leaves many students confused by terms like …

The Choral Works Of Hamish Maccunn (1868–1916), Jennifer Oates

Publications and Research

This article provides an overview of the partsongs of Hamish MacCunn and places them within the context of British choral music in the nineteenth century. A complete list of MacCunn's partsongs are included. To access the embedded sound files, access the article via the American Choral Review homepage.

The Tardy Recognition Of J.S. Bach's Sonatas And Partitas For Violin Solo, Di Su

Publications and Research

J. S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo (BWV 1001-1006) are among the most important masterpieces in the literature of violin music. They are included in standard repertoire for serious violin students; they are frequently performed in solo recitals; they are recorded by numerous virtuosi; and they are required in major violin competitions. The vast amount of editions also indicates the importance of the works. In Edlund’s catalogue, one finds as many as seventy-seven editions ranging from Simrock (1802) to Henle (1987)

However, the Solos did not enjoy such a prominent status in Bach’s own time and even in …

Metrical Theory And Verdi's Midcentury Operas, William Rothstein

Publications and Research

Both historical and recent theories of meter have tended to assume that meter is a single phenomenon, definable in a single (though perhaps complex) way. Most U.S. theories of meter have been based on a limited repertoire: instrumental music by German composers. Examination of Verdi's mid-century operas, from Macbeth through La traviata (1846–53), suggests that different theoretical approaches may be appropriate for different repertoires. National traditions of composition, depending often on national poetic traditions, may require different ways of hearing and counting, and thus different ways of modeling meter. The metrical theories of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, David Temperley, …

Response To Rice, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Timothy Rice is concerned that ethnomusicology—field, discipline, area of study, constellation of diverse musico-intellectual pursuits—has some “serious problems.” It seems that we have either not been reading each other’s work, or not engaging with it sufficiently. Opportunities to develop some “theoretical muscle” have been missed. Specifically, some seventeen articles broaching the favorite theme of music and identity published in this journal between 1982 and 2005 failed to proceed in cumulative fashion. Rice wants to see ethnomusicology “grow in intellectual and explanatory power,” but this will not happen if subsequent writers refuse to engage their predecessors at a theoretical level. A …

La Vida Sexual De Chopin, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

El protagonista de La nàusea, Antoine Roquentin, té una existència grisa i soporífica a la provinciana i asfixiant ciutat de Bouville. Afortunadament té temps per redactar un diari en el qual anota les poques vicissituds de la seva vida. La falta d'activitats externes es compensa amb temps per reflexionar, rumiar i escriure. Antoine realment no riu sinó que únicament sobre in. Tot i que no li manquen conforts materials, la seva vida no té sentit. Així, anhela una vida amb una existència més plena, una vida que vagi més enllà de l'existència biològica quotidiana.

Las Ensaladas (Praga, 1581): Con Un Suplemento De Obras Del Género [Music Review], Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

This new publication consists of three parts: volume 1 comprises a critical study of the music and its composers; volume 2 is a modern transcription of the Prague publication with a supplement including works by Flecha and other composers; and volume 3 is a box set that includes facsimiles of the extant four partbooks (the newly-discovered tiple, alto, tenor, as well as the already-known baxo; the quintus, still missing, had to be reconstructed for the edition).

Brigadoon: Lerner And Loewe's Scotland, Jennifer Oates

Publications and Research

Since the 1950s, Brigadoon has been accepted as a representation of Scotland. Brigadoon’s Scotland consists of a highland landscape with lochs, mists, castles populated by fair maidens, warlike yet sensitive kilted men and bagpipers. Much of this comes from the invented traditions of Scotland, particularly kilts and clan tartans; late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Scottish literature; Scottish propaganda for tourism following WWII; and Scottish popular culture. In spite of Lerner’s well-written book, Loewe’s charming music, and Agnes De Mille’s exciting choreography, the Scottishness of the work received, and still receives, the most attention. Brigadoon’s inauthentic or dubious depiction of …

Rock Music Scholarship, Monica Berger

Publications and Research

My challenge is to take my master’s thesis, a lengthy annotated bibliography of academic monographs on rock in American culture, and make it come alive and, in the process, provide a sense of how the academic rock discourse has evolved.

Edward Said And The Study Of Music, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

My first encounter with Edward Said’s work was in the 1980s with the book, Beginnings: Intention and Method (1975). I was exploring a semiotic approach to late 18^th-century music, specifically, a beginning-middle-ending paradigm (an Aristotelian paradigm) that seemed to me to capture the rhetorical intentions of Classic composers. Said’s wide-ranging reflections and ruminations on beginnings – as inaugural moments, as sites for the establishment of difference, as authorially privileged moments, and as "first steps in the intentional production of meaning" – proved inspiring. My enduring impression of him at the time was that he was a very good …

To Cite Or Not To Cite? Confronting The Legacy Of (European) Writing On African Music, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

English Abstract:

The current citational practice in Western scholarship is ideologically loaded, being far more suited to a written economy than a primarily oral culture in which knowledge is preserved in memory and disseminated through repeated performance. The impact of orality on musical scholarship should be more closely investigated; African scholars have all too often become informants rather than theorists of their own traditions. It is therefore proposed that the routine citation of a body of scholarship developed without Africa's historically-specific intellectual needs and ambitions in mind should in fact be discouraged.

German Abstract:

Die heutige Zitierpraxis der westlichen Wissenschaft …

Structural Analysis Or Cultural Analysis? Competing Perspectives On The "Standard Pattern" Of West African Rhythm, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Polyrhythmic dance compositions from West Africa typically feature an ostinato bell pattern known as a time line. Timbrally distinct, asymmetrical in structure, and aurally prominent, time lines have drawn comment from scholars as keys to understanding African rhythm. This article focuses on the best known and most widely distributed of these, the so-called standard pattern, a seven-stroke figure spanning twelve eighth notes and disposed durationally as <2212221>. Observations about structure (including its internal dynamic, metrical potential, and rotational properties) are juxtaposed with a putative African-cultural understanding (inferred from the firm place of dance in the culture, patterns of verbal discourse, …

What Adorno Makes Possible For Music Analysis, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Conceived as a commentary on four responses to Adorno’s 1928 essay, “Schubert,” by Esteban Buch, Jonathan Dunsby, Scott Burnham, and Beate Perrey, this article explores some of the implications of Adorno’s essay as they center on notions of hybridity, the interstitial and especially the provisional. It urges a critical strategy that is self-critical, that seeks to name without naming, and that draws on rigorous formal analysis without presenting its outcomes as ends but as means toward various narrative ends.

Berlín Era Una Festa: Capllonch Vist Pels Seus Contemporanis A Alemanya, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

A principis del segle XX, Berlín i París eren, segons Joaquim Nin Castellanos, ciutats “a l’avantguarda dels països musicals”. Segons ell, les institucions culturals alemanyes eren admirables per la seva solidesa, però entenia i es resignava a acceptar que el futur de les arts passava per París. “París o Berlín?”, es devien demanar aleshores elsjoves artistes amb aspiracions mentre preparaven l’imprescindible viatge a l’estranger per conèixer aquesta “avantguarda”.

Oscar Esplá In Belgium (1936-1949) [Book Review], Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

In sum, one feels grateful that someone has taken up the task of debunking, one brick at a time, the vast amount of misinformation that exists about Esplá. De Kloe is a thorough, meticulous scholar whose work shows a masterly command of Spanish music history and its sources.

Review Of La Imagen De Nuestros Músicos: Del Siglo De Oro A Edad De Plata, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

La imagen de nuestros músicos: Del Siglo de Oro a la Edad de Plata is a hefty compilation of 681 portraits of Spanish composers from the Renaissance to the present. The illustrations are organized in four large chapters: "Del siglo de oro a la ilustración", covers the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries; "El primer romanticismo" and "El segundo romanticismo", deal with the first and second half of the 19th century; the final section, "Los músicos de nuestro siglo" focuses on the 20th century. If my numbers are correct, the earliest composer included in the study is the polyphonist Cristóbal de …