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Volume 11, Number 3, September 2005
Copyright © 2005 Society for Music Theory

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Ricci, Adam. "A Theory of the Harmonic Sequence." Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, May 2004.

AUTHOR: Ricci, Adam

TITLE: A Theory of the Harmonic Sequence

INSTITUTION: Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

BEGUN: May 2000

COMPLETED: May 2004

ABSTRACT: The present study attempts to resolve inconsistencies found in previous discussions of the harmonic sequence by defining it as the pairing of a repeating series of root motions and a repeating series of voice-leading motions. The two components are first investigated separately. Building upon the work of John Clough, a classification scheme based upon the various ways of combining intervals of root motion is proposed. This scheme provides a framework for discussing unusual sequences that occur occasionally in music literature, including those whose patterns contain more than two chords. Methods for relating patterns of different cardinalities in the same scale and patterns of the same cardinality in scales of different sizes are developed. The distinction between sequences that begin and end with the same chord (prolongational) and those that begin and end with different chords (progressional) is generalized. An investigation into primitive types of voice-leading motion s leads to a grouping of sequences by degree of voice-leading smoothness, a grouping whose connection to compositional practice is explored. Taken as a whole, the classification scheme demonstrates that the most-used sequences in the literature possess a certain constellation of properties. Harmonic sequences in passages by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Chopin, Purcell, Schubert, Schumann and Wagner are examined.

KEYWORDS: harmonic sequence, voice leading, prolongation, voice-leading distance, Ich grolle nicht, Tristan und Isolde, Virga Jesse, reduction

TOC:
Chapter 1: Precedents
Chapter 2: Overview of Classification Scheme
Chapter 3: Pitch-class Space
Chapter 4: Pitch Space
Chapter 5: Analyses

CONTACT:
Adam Ricci
UNC Greensboro
School of Music
P.O. Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
adam_ricci@uncg.edu
336.334.3301 (office)
336.334.5497 (fax)

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Kizas, Andrew J. "From Octatonicism to Dodecaphony: A Study of Pitch Organization in Selected Works by Donald Martino." University of Western Ontario, December 2004.

AUTHOR: Kizas, Andrew J.

TITLE: From Octatonicism to Dodecaphony: A Study of Pitch Organization in Selected Works by Donald Martino

INSTITUTION: University of Western Ontario

BEGUN: September 2001

COMPLETED: December 2004

ABSTRACT: Donald Martino has received a significant amount of recognition for his work both as a composer and as a scholar. To date, however, a detailed theoretical-analytical study of Martino's music has yet to be presented. Moreover, while Martino's twelve-tone compositions have received attention in the literature, his pre-dodecaphonic works have not. This is unfortunate since, as this dissertation illustrates, Martino's pre-dodecaphonic works significantly inform his later compositions. Indeed, the present study, which traces the development of Martino's compositional technique and style from his initial experiments with octatonicism through to his mature dodecaphonic works, addresses this lacuna in the literature devoted to Martino.

Chapter 1 presents a literature review of existing theoretical-analytical studies of Martino's music. As described in chapter 2, pitch-class set theory and transformation theory form the theoretical basis for the present study. The transformational approach is based on the work of David Lewin and Henry Klumpenhouwer. In particular, the Klumpenhouwer network, or K-net, is employed along with its implications for atonal voice leading. These theoretical perspectives are combined in the dissertation in order to take advantage of two different, yet complementary, modes of analysis; that is, the static classification of sets and the dynamic process of transformations.

Chapter 3 examines selections from two of Martino's pre-dodecaphonic compositions, the second movement of the Sonata for Violin and Piano (1952) and the second movement of the String Trio (1954). Chapter 4 examines selections from two of Martino's dodecaphonic works, Piano Fantasy (1958) and String Quartet (1983). Taken together, chapters 3 and 4 lend support to the hypothesis that Martino's approach to dodecaphony is predicated on his early experiments with octatonicism. Specifically, it is Martino's preoccupation with symmetrical set classes that functions as a link in his compositional development from the octatonic to the chromatic. Indeed, as the analytical chapters attest, it seems that Martino was eventually drawn to the symmetrical pitch-class relations that result from the resources of the total chromatic?resources that are significantly greater in number than those of the octatonic collection. These relationships manifest themselves in Martino's particular form of twelve-tone serialism, finding their expression in the numerous combinatorial properties among the hexachordal set classes.

KEYWORDS: pitch-class set theory, transformation theory, hexachordal combinatoriality, trichordal generators, derivation, rotation, aggregate structuring, symmetry, atonal voice leading, Klumpenhouwer Networks

TOC:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Background
Existing theoretical-analytical studies of Martino's Music
Summary Observations

CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The four types of hexachordal combinatoriality
Martino's contribution to pitch-class set theory and hexachordal combinatoriality
Martino's technique of deriving hexachords through rotation
Octatonicism and the chromatic aggregate as structural principles in Martino's music
Transformation theory and Klumpenhouwer networks in Martino's music
Methodology

CHAPTER 3: THE OCTATONIC PERIOD
Introduction
Bartók, Martino, and octatonicism
Martino's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 16
Forms of the octatonic, extreme chromaticism, and the String Trio, Op. 24 (1954): On the path to dodecaphony
Summary Observations

CHAPTER 4: THE TWELVE-TONE PERIOD
Introduction
The Piano Fantasy (1958)
The first movement of the String Quartet (1983)
Summary Observations

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS

CONTACT:
Andrew Kizas
33 Sanderling Place
Toronto, ON
M3C 2J2
E-mail: andrew.kizas@rogers.com
Phone: 416-391-3691

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Hibberd, Kristian P. G. "Shostakovich and Bakhtin: A Critical Investigation of the Late Works (1974-1975)." Goldsmiths College, University of London, June 2005.

AUTHOR: Hibberd, Kristian P. G.

TITLE: Shostakovich and Bakhtin: A Critical Investigation of the Late Works (1974-1975)

INSTITUTION: Goldsmiths College, University of London

BEGUN: October 1999

COMPLETED: June 2005

ABSTRACT:
Shostakovich's late music (from the late 1960s to 1975) has attracted comparatively little Western scholarly attention, perhaps because it seems "reduced" and introverted when compared with the earlier, more overtly expressive works, which continue to attract often vitriolic and polemical debate. The first intention of this thesis is to redress this imbalance in Shostakovich studies by means of close analysis of three late works: String Quartet No. 15 (Op. 144), the Viola Sonata (Op. 147) and Four Verses of Captain Lebiadkin (Op. 146) (all 1974-5). The second intention is to contribute to the development of the interdisciplinary, hermeneutic study of Shostakovich, by returning predominantly to sources contemporaneous with his Soviet Russian context. Thirdly, this thesis engages with the increasingly influential work of Mikhail Bakhtin, representing the first large-scale development of Bakhtinian thought for the study of music in general, and for the study of the music of Shostakovich in particular.

KEYWORDS:
Shostakovich, Mikhail Bakhtin, Boleslav Yavorsky, musical utterance, quotation, allusion, DSCH monogram, linear analysis, interdisciplinary studies

TOC:
PART 1 – BAKHTIN AND THE MUSIC OF SHOSTAKOVICH Ch 1. The Musical Utterance Ch 2. Quotation and Allusion in the Music of Shostakovich Ch 3. DSCH: Shostakovich as Composer and Character

PART 2 – AN ANALYTICAL STRATEGY
Ch 4. Schenker and Yavorsky: An Analytical Strategy for the Late Music of Shostakovich

PART 3 – SHOSTAKOVICH: 1974-1975
Ch 5. A Composer’s Personal Requiem? Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15: An Introductory Study Ch 6. The Final Requiem: In Memory of ‘A Great Composer’
Ch 7. Four Verses of Captain Lebiadkin: Shostakovich’s ‘Exit Into Immortality’

Postscript
Appendix: Analytical Graphs

CONTACT:
Address: 4 Braxfield Road, London SE4 2AN, United Kingdom
E-mail: k.hibberd@gold.ac.uk
Phone: 07980 889537

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Updated 31 August 2005