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- All Subjects: Music
- Creators: Campbell, Andrew
- Status: Published
Description
This paper provides an in-depth examination of Sergei Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, Op. 63. Closer study of the full score supports the need for a new piano reduction. Composed in 1935, this concerto occupies an important place within Soviet music, and is a staple in solo violin repertoire. Its orchestration is distinguished by a Neo-classical style with a modern sensibility. A notable aspect of this orchestration is the absence of timpani in the percussion section. Instead, Prokofiev selected snare drum, bass drum, castanets, suspended cymbal, and triangle, which contribute to the unique character of this concerto. Prior to this reduction, pianists faced unplayable and cumbersome passages, a direct result of including too many disparate elements from the orchestration. Additionally in piano reductions to date, there is a conspicuous absence of vital percussive and instrumental parts that are crucial elements of the full orchestral score. These shortcomings not only present considerable challenges to pianists, who are then tasked with further reducing and arranging of the piano part, but also compromise the composer’s intended musical expression. Consequently, this paper advocates for the critical necessity of a new piano reduction of Prokofiev’s Op. 63 Violin Concerto. This new piano reduction rectifies existing deficiencies and discrepancies, thereby enhancing practical playability. Most significantly, this revision offers a more faithful representation of Prokofiev’s original orchestration and artistic vision. Furthermore, it provides insights into the complexities involved in adapting orchestral compositions, underscoring the need for thoughtful reinterpretation in the transcription process. These insights may be applied to other concerto reductions.
ContributorsHsieh, Alison (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Ryan, Russell R (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
The Studio Ghibli animated films have achieved international recognition for their cinematic quality and original soundtracks composed by Joe Hisaishi. The music from these films is so celebrated it is performed by symphony orchestras without the movie animations in concert halls worldwide. Film music originally scored for full-size orchestras can be arranged for smaller chamber ensembles and is a popular genre that makes performing these works more accessible. Arranging and rewriting orchestral reductions are skills collaborative pianists use every day when dealing with concertos or arias, and applying these skills to the music of Hisaishi was the foundation of this research. For this project, I created a medley of musical themes from three Studio Ghibli films: My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. The medley is written for traditional piano trio: violin, cello, and piano. This paper includes a brief history of the relationship between composer Joe Hisaishi and film director Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, and explains the methods of creating this arrangement without access to the original orchestral score. Methods for creating transitions between different film themes, creation of countermelodies, and nuances of voicing are also presented, along with the score of the medley. I hope this project and these methods will inspire other collaborative pianists and musicians to create their own arrangements and medleys.
ContributorsTelling, Emily (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Aoki, Miki (Committee member) / Reymore, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Video conferencing applications, such as Skype, have long been used in classroom settings. Although musicians have been conducting online lessons for years, and institutions such as the Berklee School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music offer online music classes, scholarly research concerning online video conferencing music lessons is limited. Most studies of video conferencing lessons are based on subjective answers, making it difficult to yield conclusive results. As such, the only basis to evaluate the efficacy of video conferencing lessons are those from opinions. This study offers quantitative research on online video conferencing lessons. Between September and December 2017, 22 cello students from Muscatine High School received weekly private online lessons. Students filled out surveys using a Likert scale to rate these lessons and how they felt video and audio quality affected them. Students also received in-person lessons during October 23 or 24 to compare this experience to online lessons. The responses collected throughout the semester were compiled and sorted to reveal data trends. Using information derived from the data, this study concludes that online video conferencing lessons were less productive than in-person lessons but were still effective. In addition, average lesson ratings improved significantly after meeting in-person. In conclusion, this study found that online private lessons are feasible for high school students.
ContributorsPark, Yeil (Author) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Caslor, Jason (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Yuko Uébayashi is a composer who was born in Japan and presently resides in France. She composed Misericordia for Flute and String Quartet for Carol Wincenc in 2013. The National Flute Association (NFA), the most active flute society in America, hosted the Misericordia performance during its annual convention in Chicago in 2014. Uébayashi’s flute works have not only been frequently performed at NFA conventions, but also at other well-known flute festivals since 2006, the year of her U.S. debut. Many current flutists are motivated to learn and play her compositions; however, there is little published literature about her works. Understanding her unique compositional style and obtaining a better knowledge of her music and compositional practices will help flutists and other musicians better perform and enjoy her music. With a performance guide and a detailed discussion of Misericordia, flutists and other musicians will understand why Uébayashi’s music is unique and why it is increasingly well-loved by so many players. This research paper will explore Uébayashi’s life, musical friendships, and most specifically, Misericordia.
ContributorsHam, Na Young (Author) / Buck, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Heinrich Heine’s collection of poems, Lyrisches Intermezzo, is well-known in music circles, largely due to Robert Schumann’s settings of sixteen of these poems in his masterwork Dichterliebe. Because of Dichterliebe’s place of importance in art song literature, many other settings of Heine’s sixty-five poems are often overlooked. Breton-born composer Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz composed Quatre Poèmes d’après l’Intermezzo d’Henri Heine in 1899, after having collaborated on a new French translation of the entire Lyrisches Intermezzo in 1890. This cycle is rarely performed, largely due to Ropartz’s relative obscurity as a composer, as the focus of his career was administration of two regional conservatories in France. The Quatre Poèmes were written fairly early in Ropartz’s life, but feature many compositional techniques that remain staples of Ropartz’s work throughout his career. It is an accessible work to many singers and audience members already familiar with Heine. The texts of the four songs are not simply translations of Heine’s original, but altered to adhere to the rules of French poetry. Examining the changes made in the text, both in language and structure, reveals information that will aid performers’ understanding of the poetry and of Ropartz’s choices in musical setting. The music of the work is greatly dependent on a single motive, an idée fixe, and considering the role of this motive in its various appearances is illuminating to the narrative arc of the cycle. This study seeks to aid potential performers and listeners of the Quatre Poèmes by expanding their understanding of the artists responsible for creating it, and by exploring the textual and musical elements that are the building blocks of this work.
ContributorsHutchinson, Taylor Grace (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / DeMaris, Brian (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Between the years of 1818 and 1833 the Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist, Carl Czerny (1791–1857) wrote one of his greatest compositions, the f minor Grand Piano Sonata, Op.178 for piano four hands. Overshadowed by composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and possibly because of Czerny’s prolific pedagogical output, this work has received little scholarly attention and is rarely performed.
The aim of my paper is first to provide a concise background of the composer for better insight of his ideas and influences and, second to provide a theoretical framework and analysis of the composition to show how this piece is uniquely set in the musical backdrop among early nineteenth century piano music. Further, I will demonstrate performance concepts and ideas of the composition highlighting his instructional mastery. There are two components for this project including a research paper and a lecture recital.
I hope this project could bring more musicians and audiences to Carl Czerny’s serious and concert music as he categorized his music. He had been a great model of true artist, he composes, teaches and perhaps not the greatest promoter of his own music like the contemporaries. However, he devoted most of his life to development of music and the new generation of pianists, which is the most honorable of an individual.
The aim of my paper is first to provide a concise background of the composer for better insight of his ideas and influences and, second to provide a theoretical framework and analysis of the composition to show how this piece is uniquely set in the musical backdrop among early nineteenth century piano music. Further, I will demonstrate performance concepts and ideas of the composition highlighting his instructional mastery. There are two components for this project including a research paper and a lecture recital.
I hope this project could bring more musicians and audiences to Carl Czerny’s serious and concert music as he categorized his music. He had been a great model of true artist, he composes, teaches and perhaps not the greatest promoter of his own music like the contemporaries. However, he devoted most of his life to development of music and the new generation of pianists, which is the most honorable of an individual.
ContributorsShui, Ho Michael (Author) / Pagano, Caio (Thesis advisor) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Norby, Christopher (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This project details specific placement and usage of the Clara motive in Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe. The analysis categorizes the motive according to its different shapes and relationships to the poetry in Dichterliebe. Four main permutations of the motive are discussed in great detail: the original motive, inverted motive, retrograde motive, and retrograde inverted motive.
Schumann (1810–1856) composed more than 160 vocal works in 1840, commonly referred to as his Liederjahr. At the time, Schumann and Clara Wieck (1819–1896) were planning to marry, despite the objections of her father Friedrich Wieck (1785–1873). Robert was inspired to write Dichterliebe because of the happiness-and anxiety-surrounding his love for Clara, and the difficulties leading to their impending marriage. Schumann used the Clara motive (C-Bb-A-G#-A), which incorporates the letters of her name, throughout the song cycle in special moments as a tool of musical expression that alludes to his future wife.
Eric Sams (1926–2004), a specialist of German Lieder, has made significant contributions to the research of the Clara motive in Schumann’s music (through his book The Songs of Robert Schumann). However, research into specific locations and transformations of the Clara motive within the Dichterliebe are still insufficient. A further awareness of the Clara motive’s inner working is intended to help performers interpret this song cycle.
Schumann (1810–1856) composed more than 160 vocal works in 1840, commonly referred to as his Liederjahr. At the time, Schumann and Clara Wieck (1819–1896) were planning to marry, despite the objections of her father Friedrich Wieck (1785–1873). Robert was inspired to write Dichterliebe because of the happiness-and anxiety-surrounding his love for Clara, and the difficulties leading to their impending marriage. Schumann used the Clara motive (C-Bb-A-G#-A), which incorporates the letters of her name, throughout the song cycle in special moments as a tool of musical expression that alludes to his future wife.
Eric Sams (1926–2004), a specialist of German Lieder, has made significant contributions to the research of the Clara motive in Schumann’s music (through his book The Songs of Robert Schumann). However, research into specific locations and transformations of the Clara motive within the Dichterliebe are still insufficient. A further awareness of the Clara motive’s inner working is intended to help performers interpret this song cycle.
ContributorsYoo, Jihye (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Every collaborative pianist encounters unrealistic and unsuccessful piano reductions of orchestral and operatic compositions on a regular basis. In some cases, the reductions were realized by the composers themselves, and therefore may contain all the notes from the full score, but might not be realistic piano reductions. Other times, the reductions may have been made by an editor who might arrange the piano part according to their own physical abilities, experience, or taste, but might ignore essential elements of the original orchestration. Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 82 is frequently performed by students and professional violinists alike. The existing piano reduction of the concerto was written by the composer himself. However, the reduction has various issues that make performing this composition challenging for pianists. The main purpose of this paper is not the simplification of the existing reduction, but the creation of a new reduction that is more pianistic and approachable, yet more true to Glazunov’s dynamic and expressive orchestration. The first chapter of this project is an introduction to and comparison of currently available editions. An overview of the composer’s biography and the historical background of the composition comprise the second chapter. Chapters three, four and five are dedicated to each respective movement of the concerto, with explanations and details about certain editorial decisions. The appendix features a new piano reduction of Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in its entirety.
ContributorsKim, Olga (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Schmelz, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano was composed by Paul Schoenfeld (b.1947) in 1990 as a showpiece, spotlighting the virtuosity of both the violin and piano in equal measure. Each movement is a modern interpretation of a folk or popular genre, re- envisioned over intricate jazz harmonies and rhythms. The work was commissioned by violinist Lev Polyakin, who specifically requested some short pieces that could be performed in a local jazz establishment named Night Town in Cleveland, Ohio. The result is a work that is approximately fifteen minutes in length. Schoenfeld is a respected composer in the contemporary classical music community, whose Café Music (1986) for piano trio has recently become a staple of the standard chamber music repertoire. Many of his other works, however, remain in relative obscurity. It is the focus of this document to shed light on at least one other notable composition; Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano. Among the topics to be discussed regarding this piece are a brief history behind the genesis of this composition, a structural summary of the entire work and each of its movements, and an appended practice guide based on interview and coaching sessions with the composer himself. With this project, I hope to provide a better understanding and appreciation of this work.
ContributorsJanczyk, Kristie Annette (Author) / Ryan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the brilliant swordsman, unequalled equestrian, athlete, dancer, violin virtuoso, composer and orchestral conductor is, and remains a singularly unique historical figure of the 18th century French Court of Louis XVI. Believed to be the first man of mixed race to compose classical music, Saint-Georges, who was frequently invited to the court at Versailles to make music with Marie Antoinette not only thrived, but excelled during the height of an appalling slave trade and one of the most explosive periods in European history: the French Revolution. Saint-Georges’ ever evolving talent, and without preamble composed six operas. This research document will introduce to the reader important milestones that influenced the direction of his life, as well as a survey of two arias and duet from the opera L’Amant Anonyme using the paradigm of dance metrics as described in “Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni,” by Wye Jamison Allanbrook and “Classical Music, Expression, Form and Style” by Leonard Ratner.
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the brilliant swordsman, unequalled equestrian, athlete, dancer, violin virtuoso, composer and orchestral conductor is, and remains a singularly unique historical figure of the 18th century French Court of Louis XVI. Believed to be the first man of mixed race to compose classical music, Saint-Georges, who was frequently invited to the court at Versailles to make music with Marie Antoinette not only thrived, but excelled during the height of an appalling slave trade and one of the most explosive periods in European history: the French Revolution. Saint-Georges’ ever evolving talent, and without preamble composed six operas. This research document will introduce to the reader important milestones that influenced the direction of his life, as well as a survey of two arias and duet from the opera L’Amant Anonyme using the paradigm of dance metrics as described in “Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni,” by Wye Jamison Allanbrook and “Classical Music, Expression, Form and Style” by Leonard Ratner.
ContributorsJones, Isola Charlayne (Author) / Britton, David (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016