Matching Items (8)
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- All Subjects: Piano
- All Subjects: Composers
- Creators: DeMars, James
Description
A systematic approach to composition has been used by a variety of composers to control an assortment of musical elements in their pieces. This paper begins with a brief survey of some of the important systematic approaches that composers have employed in their compositions, devoting particular attention to Pierre Boulez's Structures Ia . The purpose of this survey is to examine several systematic approaches to composition by prominent composers and their philosophy in adopting this type of approach. The next section of the paper introduces my own systematic approach to composition: the Take-Away System. The third provides several musical applications of the system, citing my work, Octulus for two pianos, as an example. The appendix details theorems and observations within the system for further study.
ContributorsHarbin, Doug (Author) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Etezady, Roshanne, 1973- (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This paper investigates the origins of the piano recital as invented by Franz Liszt, presents varying strategies for program design, and compares Liszt's application of the format with current trends. In addition it examines the concepts of program music, musical ekphrasis, and Gesamtkunstwerk and proposes a new multimedia piano concert format in which music combines with the mediums of literature and the visual arts; Picturing Rachmaninoff, and Picturing Ravel provide two recent examples of this format.
ContributorsCook, Stephen Barry (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Pagano, Caio (Committee member) / Cosand, Walter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Traditional consensus in duos with grand piano has been that issues of balance between piano and the other instrument can be corrected through lowering the lid on the piano, particularly when the other instrument has been thought of as less forceful. The perceived result of lowering the lid on the piano is to quiet the piano enough so as not to overwhelm the other instrument, though the physics of the piano and acoustics suggest that it is incorrect to expect this result. Due to the physics of the piano and natural laws such as the conservation of energy, as well as the intricacies of sound propagation, the author hypothesizes that lowering the lid on the piano does not have a significant effect on its sound output for the audience of a musical performance. Experimentation to determine empirically whether the lid has any significant effect on the piano's volume and tone for the audience seating area was undertaken, with equipment to objectively measure volume and tone quality produced by a mechanical set of arms that reproduces an F-major chord with consistent power. The chord was produced with a wooden frame that input consistent energy into the piano, with measurements taken from the audience seating area using a sound pressure level meter and recorded with a Zoom H4N digital recorder for analysis. The results suggested that lowering the lid has a small effect on sound pressure level, but not significant enough to overcome issues of overtone balance or individual pianists’ touch.
ContributorsLee, Paul Allen (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
As one of the composers living in an era filled with innovations, Anatol Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855-1914) has been relatively ignored by scholars and pianists to date. He is an unusual composer with multiple characteristics: solitary but expressive, talented but indolent. His compositional style never lacked critics—especially with respect to his persistent preference of miniatures. Nonetheless, his piano works embody the breathtaking beauty of the composer’s independent musical ideas and colorful musical language. Compared with the flourishing, dazzling, and nationalized music from other composers living in the same era, these light, flowing musical pieces from Lyadov have irreplaceable value.
Through the study of these small-scale piano works, one finds important connections with the music of other renowned composers (e.g. Chopin and Scriabin), and the employment of traditional aspects such as Russian folk tones and fairy tales. Stylistically, Lyadov was a representative of 19th-century Romanticism; however, his compositional style changed during his late period (after 1900), presenting a unique use of dissonance.
The scholarly research on Lyadov’s piano works remains limited. Most of the related resources can be found only in the Russian music literature. No in-depth study or dissertation on the complete piano works of Lyadov could be located, and therefore my research paper is intended to provide useful information to piano performers and teachers, hopefully encouraging more study and performance of Lyadov’s piano works. Despite their lyrical melodies and deep emotion, these works are thus far relatively unpopular and unknown, with only a few played occasionally as encore pieces.
Through the study of these small-scale piano works, one finds important connections with the music of other renowned composers (e.g. Chopin and Scriabin), and the employment of traditional aspects such as Russian folk tones and fairy tales. Stylistically, Lyadov was a representative of 19th-century Romanticism; however, his compositional style changed during his late period (after 1900), presenting a unique use of dissonance.
The scholarly research on Lyadov’s piano works remains limited. Most of the related resources can be found only in the Russian music literature. No in-depth study or dissertation on the complete piano works of Lyadov could be located, and therefore my research paper is intended to provide useful information to piano performers and teachers, hopefully encouraging more study and performance of Lyadov’s piano works. Despite their lyrical melodies and deep emotion, these works are thus far relatively unpopular and unknown, with only a few played occasionally as encore pieces.
ContributorsZhang, Xiaoyu (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Creviston, Hannah (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Meir, Baruch (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
As with many concertante, Fantasy focuses on the interplay between the soloist and the orchestra. Contrast is a fundamental principle for creating the formal design of the composition. Adjacent sections are related to one another by the contrast of any or all of the following: register, timbre, and texture. Fantasy derives inspiration from the musical languages of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Moravec, and Debussy.
ContributorsKemp, Tyler (Author) / Rockmaker, Jody (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Major is a work for trumpet and piano. It is composed in the romantic tradition and is thirty minutes in length. Trumpet chamber repertoire has increased dramatically in the past century, but few new works are representative of the harmonic language or extended forms of the late romantic tradition.
The first movement, “Allegro con spirito,” is in sonata form with fantasy qualities allowing the exposition to meld with the development. The primary theme in 3/4 meter develops a neighbor-tone motive; in contrast, the second theme in 4/4 (in the same tempo) is more lyric in nature. In the development, the juxtaposition of these themes provides changing meters and opportunity for dramatic tension.
The bold and metric nature of the first movement is contrasted with the slow, more lyric second movement, “Dolce e sensibile,” (Sweet and sensitive, pg. 22). This movement in E-flat major is in sonata form and encourages a more expressive, rubato interpretation. The second theme of the first movement shares a similar falling gesture as the themes of the second movement, but are different in their expressive qualities.
The third movement (“Grave et lento”) is played attacca and begins with a transition from the ideas of the second movement (pg. 30). The dissonant harmonies and low register of the piano solo create an ominous atmosphere which mutates to the bold nature of the first movement. The remainder of the third movement is a seven-part Rondo. The primary theme (m. 20, pg. 31) is derived from a theme from the development of the first movement (m. 210, pg. 12). The C section of the rondo (m. 118, pg. 40) develops the opening theme of the third movement and leads to the primary theme in B-flat major. The final A section of the rondo is piu mosso with the primary theme in a compound meter providing a coda for the entire work.
The first movement, “Allegro con spirito,” is in sonata form with fantasy qualities allowing the exposition to meld with the development. The primary theme in 3/4 meter develops a neighbor-tone motive; in contrast, the second theme in 4/4 (in the same tempo) is more lyric in nature. In the development, the juxtaposition of these themes provides changing meters and opportunity for dramatic tension.
The bold and metric nature of the first movement is contrasted with the slow, more lyric second movement, “Dolce e sensibile,” (Sweet and sensitive, pg. 22). This movement in E-flat major is in sonata form and encourages a more expressive, rubato interpretation. The second theme of the first movement shares a similar falling gesture as the themes of the second movement, but are different in their expressive qualities.
The third movement (“Grave et lento”) is played attacca and begins with a transition from the ideas of the second movement (pg. 30). The dissonant harmonies and low register of the piano solo create an ominous atmosphere which mutates to the bold nature of the first movement. The remainder of the third movement is a seven-part Rondo. The primary theme (m. 20, pg. 31) is derived from a theme from the development of the first movement (m. 210, pg. 12). The C section of the rondo (m. 118, pg. 40) develops the opening theme of the third movement and leads to the primary theme in B-flat major. The final A section of the rondo is piu mosso with the primary theme in a compound meter providing a coda for the entire work.
ContributorsBrand, Spencer Paul (Author) / DeMars, James (Thesis advisor) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Rodney, Rogers (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
One of the most notable composers of the twentieth century, Krzysztof Penderecki played a vital role in the development of new sonorities and compositional movements in the latter half of the century. Penderecki wrote two sonatas for violin and piano, one in his student days in 1953 and the second in the twilight of his career in 1999. Given the almost fifty years that separate the two works, these sonatas provide valuable insight to Penderecki’s development as a composer over the course of his career as well as give evidence that his own unique compositional style was in place at a very early age. Despite the large span of time between the completions of these two great works, these sonatas share many commonalities. With regards to key aspects such as form, tonality, rhythm, texture, articulation, and more, this paper will analyze and compare the two works to define the ways in which they are similar as well as the ways in which they differ.
ContributorsRamchandani, Micah David (Author) / McLin, Katherine (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Landschoot, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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