As a pioneer viola virtuoso of the 20th century, Emanuel “Manny” Vardi (c. 1915-2011) is most widely recognized as the first violist to record all of Paganini’s Caprices. As a passionate advocate for the viola as a solo ...

Computer-assisted algorithmic music composition has achieved great success in the past few decades. Composing this kind of music makes the composers think about music in a new way. Research on applying artificial intelligence ...

The musical language spoken by jazz musicians during the hard bop era (circa 1954-1965) evolved because of the influence of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. Their albums Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, and The ...

This dissertation concerns itself with the impact that spectral music had on my musical thought. It begins by examining classic French spectral music of the 1970s and 1980s as developed by the group of composers known ...

This project provides a comprehensive pedagogical guide for teachers and intermediate to advanced students who wish to explore Mompou’s piano repertoire but are unfamiliar with it. Chapter 1 briefly explores ...

Italian composer Francesco Paolo Tosti produced a large number of well-crafted songs in Italian, French and English, many of which (especially the Italian songs) are staple repertoire choices for undergraduate ...

This document looks at selected percussion works of Spanish composer and violinist Igmar Alderete. The focus of this document is to examine five separate works and to provide suggestions that will guide a performer during ...

This paper examines the trombone and piano works of Anthony Plog, including 3 Miniatures (1994), 4 Themes on Paintings of Goya (2001), Divergent Roads (2014), Initiatives (2014) and Interplay (2014). In it, I provide an ...

Stephen Heller composed many works for piano including études, preludes, character pieces, sonatas, and themes and variations. He also transcribed many works for piano by other composers such as Mendelssohn, Schumann, ...

Many violists live with the notion that the instrument causes pain. Using the second movement (Lebhaft) of Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) for Viola and Piano, Op. 113 as its center, this project ...