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Armenian folk elements in Arno Babajanian's Piano trio in f-sharp minor

Description

Armenian music has a rich history. It started as independent, monodic song, and succeeded in keeping its uniqueness from the influences of other countries' musical traditions. During the nineteenth century the great Armenian musicologist and composer Komitas started to travel and write down these songs from Armenian villages. Komitas, who…

Armenian music has a rich history. It started as independent, monodic song, and succeeded in keeping its uniqueness from the influences of other countries' musical traditions. During the nineteenth century the great Armenian musicologist and composer Komitas started to travel and write down these songs from Armenian villages. Komitas, who had higher education in Western classical music, was one of the first composers to harmonize Armenian songs and sacred music using Western classical techniques. This was a milestone in the development of Armenian music. Arno Babajanian was a Soviet Armenian composer who, like Komitas, was interested in the combinations of Armenian folk and Western classical traditions. This document provides a formal and harmonic analysis of his Piano Trio in F-Sharp Minor, written in 1952. By identifying Armenian folk tunes used in his trio, I will demonstrate that Babajanian achieved interesting results by inserting exotic Armenian folk melodies, harmonies, and other elements into the Western classical sonata form. This document also points out the influence of other composers of the Soviet era on Babajanian's music. By combining Armenian folk and western classical elements in his Piano Trio, Babajanian created a piece that resonates with native Armenians and classical music lovers and deserves a place in the violin repertoire.

ContributorsTumajyan, Artur (Author) / McLin, Katherine (Thesis advisor) / Carpenter, Ellon (Committee member) / Jiang, Danwen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2016

An Integration of Ancient Chinese Musical Traditions and Western Musical Styles: Secluded Orchid and Spirit of Chimes for Violin, Cello and Piano by Zhou Long

Description

Contemporary Chinese composers have a rich palette from which to draw inspirations of the distinctive timbres of ancient instruments, the diverse musical types, and the development of musical instruments. Zhou Long, an internationally recognized Chinese-American composer, has created a compositional style that transfers the sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese…

Contemporary Chinese composers have a rich palette from which to draw inspirations of the distinctive timbres of ancient instruments, the diverse musical types, and the development of musical instruments. Zhou Long, an internationally recognized Chinese-American composer, has created a compositional style that transfers the sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions to modern Western instruments. An examination of Zhou Long’s compositions Secluded Orchid and Spirit of Chimes demonstrates his synthesis of Chinese and Western techniques as well as cross-cultural integration. To gain a better understanding of the compositional process of these two piano trios, the author conducted a personal interview with Zhou Long on October 21, 2016, during which he provided unique insight into the influences and inspirations of these pieces. This document describes how the history of ancient Chinese music, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, as well as Zhou Long’s life and education, influenced Seclude Orchid and Spirit of Chimes. The inspirations, formal structures, harmonic language, and compositional techniques that are presented in these works are also discussed. Finally, other repertoires of Zhou Long that share similar ideas or inspirations are explored.

ContributorsLi, Xiaolin (Author) / Jiang, Danwen (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Swartz, Jonathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2017

In programming two trios by Haydn and the C minor trio of Mendelssohn, Trio du Soleil is celebrating the 200th anniversaries of Haydn's death and Mendelssohn's birth

ContributorsJiang, Danwen (Performer) / Landschoot, Thomas (Performer) / Hamilton, Robert, 1937- (Performer) / Trio du Soleil (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)

Created2009-02-15

Trio du Soleil

ContributorsHamilton, Robert, 1937- (Performer) / Jiang, Danwen (Performer) / Landschoot, Thomas (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)

Created2005-03-07

Folk & classic in romantic Europe: Trio du soleil