Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Contemporary Music

The use of contemporary music in music teaching is no new topic, with the literature covering it dating back at least to 1950. Two important approaches available to piano teachers who wish to provide their students with a well-rounded education are assigning contemporary pieces to their students and commissioning pieces for them. While there is literature available detailing the benefits of each approach, there is a lack of scholarly works that investigate how the experience of learning commissioned pieces affects students' perception of contemporary music in comparison to that of learning published contemporary works. The purpose of the research conducted for this document was to investigate how learning newly commissioned pieces affects collegiate piano students' perception of contemporary music. To accomplish this, three pieces were commissioned for three undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. The students participating in this study also learned selections from Lera Auerbach's Twenty-four Preludes for Piano, Op. 41. These are contemporary pieces published in 2006 by Musikverlag Hans Sikorski GmbH and Company, with difficulty levels ranging from easy to difficult. The students and their piano Teacher were interviewed regarding their experiences learning and performing both sets of pieces. The analysis of the interview responses showed that the students' perception of contemporary music changed after learning pieces composed for them. At the beginning of this research, they perceived that all contemporary music is confusing and distant, but after learning the commissioned pieces, they perceived that some of it can be enjoyable and accessible. They also perceived the commissioned contemporary pieces to be more enjoyable than the published ones, resulting in increased enthusiasm for contemporary music. In addition, two of the three students perceived that the benefits of learning commissioned pieces are greater than those of learning published cont (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Solungga Liu D.M.A. (Advisor); Elizabeth Menard Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ryan Ebright Ph.D. (Committee Member); Steven Cady Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Music

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2021, Music

Piano instruction is often conducted as an isolated practice. Most pre-college pianists attend regular private lessons, practice their repertoire at home, and occasionally partake in competitions and recitals. On rare occasions, piano students have access to collaborative environments, such as studio classes, chamber music, or other ensembles. Due to the segregated nature of private music instruction, pianists are often deprived of collaborative or interdisciplinary creative opportunities, which can lead to limited self-expression and perspectives on how music relates to other art forms and to society. Unless pianists are presented with practical instruction and examples of how different art forms intersect with each other, many immersive opportunities can go undiscovered. This thesis explores the applications of the arts in comprehensive, pre-college piano instruction. An experiential program was implemented for young pianists to interact and collaborate with four different art forms: dance, literature, theatre, and visual art. This project observed how interdisciplinary experiential learning affects piano students' interpretations of music as well as how it encourages confidence and liberty in musical improvisation, collaboration, and performance.

Committee: Florence Mak DMA (Advisor) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art Education; Art History; Education; Fine Arts; Music; Music Education; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Teaching; Theater; Theater History; Theater Studies

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2021, College-Conservatory of Music: Composition

Figuration for piano and electronic sounds, which consists of ten movements, is basically focused on two things:

Committee: Mara (Margaret) Helmuth D.M.A. (Committee Chair); Michael Fiday Ph.D. (Committee Member); Douglas Knehans D.M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Music

ADHD has become increasingly prevalent over the past few decades. ADHD affects the executive functions of those who have it, in varying degrees of complexity. Researchers have studied its sources, finding biological and environmental causes. Key executive function deficits associated with ADHD have been identified to involve attention, working memory, processing, inhibition, preparation, and organization. Evidence-based treatments include medicinal, behavioral, and academic interventions. While research in academic classroom settings is abundant, research in music classes has been much less, and research in private lesson settings has been virtually non-existent when compared with the amount of literature in other areas. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of piano teachers who teach students with ADHD. Factors investigated included teacher training and professional development, interventions used during lessons and while students practice at home, difficulties experienced by students throughout lessons and/or practicing, and barriers that students or their teachers faced. The results of the questionnaire give insight into the world of piano teachers who teach students with ADHD and other disabilities. Responses indicated that teacher success stems from knowledge and use of evidence-based interventions, and that students' difficulties in private piano study are similar to those seen in academic classroom settings.

Committee: Kenneth Williams (Advisor); Jan Edwards (Committee Member); Margaret Young (Committee Member) Subjects: Music; Music Education; Pedagogy

Master of Music Education, University of Toledo, 2016, Music Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between Chinese and American parent, student, and teacher attitudes about perceived parental involvement in private piano lessons. The research questions were: (1) “What were the similarities and differences in private piano lessons regarding perceived parental involvement?” and (2) “What were teachers' recommendations about good parental involvement for children's piano learning?” Participants (N=118) were teachers, students, and parents in private piano lessons in both People's Republic of China and The United States of America. The subjects completed a paper-based survey about perceived parental involvement in private piano lessons. The results showed that teachers, parents and students agreed that parental involvement was beneficial in students' piano learning, but there was no statistical difference between Chinese and American subjects' attitudes regarding parental involvement. Chinese students received more practice supervision, while American students received more financial support. American parents tended to send their children to lessons, whereas Chinese parents did not attend their children's performances. American teachers tended to not welcome parental attendance in lessons like Chinese teachers. Teachers in both China and America did not believe that every aspect of parental involvement has the same benefits for students.

Committee: Pamela Stover (Committee Chair); Timothy Brakel (Committee Member); David Jex (Committee Member) Subjects: Music Education

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2006, College-Conservatory of Music : Piano

Akira Miyoshi's Miyoshi Piano Method was introduced to me by Dr. Bonnie Wade during her visit to the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Just as I was not aware of the existence of this method at the time, Miyoshi's method is not currently well known in the United States. However, Miyoshi was the president of the Preparatory School of Toho Gakuen in my childhood, and I was required to play his compositions for juries; therefore, I am familiar with the valuable features in Miyoshi's compositions. I will document and describe his pedagogical approach in Miyoshi Piano Method and introduce it as a worthy rival to the well-known method in the United States, Piano Adventures by Nancy and Randall Faber. This document concludes with the results of the comparison by analyzing strengths and weakness of both methods. Currently, a Japanese method, the Suzuki Method, is widely accepted as one of the most popular piano method in the United States. I hope to introduce another Japanese method, the Miyoshi Piano Method, to American readers.

Committee: Dr. Robert Zierolf (Advisor) Subjects: Music

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2006, College-Conservatory of Music : Piano

Prokofiev's output consists of a large quantity of transcriptions which are arranged from his own work. Particularly during his Soviet period (1936–1953), there are increasing numbers of transcriptions from his ballet, opera, and even film scores. Many have more than one transcription. Transcriptions make up one third of his piano works. Except for four sonatas, Prokofiev's original piano compositions were replaced by piano transcriptions completely in the Soviet period. This document discusses Prokofiev's motivations for creating piano transcriptions, categorizes these transcriptions, and analyzes his transcribing style and techniques. As a result of his compositional habit, many of Prokofiev's works have several versions: original full score, piano reduction score, and orchestral and instrumental transcriptions. The composer's transcribing techniques are analyzed and discussed in decoration, refinement, simplification, organization, and melodic treatment through the comparison of different versions of the work.

Committee: Dr. Mara Helmuth (Advisor) Subjects: Music

PHD, Kent State University, 2010, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser

The composition component of the dissertation will be a three-movement work for saxophone and piano, A Nighttime Trilogy for Saxophone and Piano. The three movements of this piece, “Midnight,” “Nightmares,” and “Dreams,” are unified by both programmatic and musical elements. As the titles indicate, each movement focuses on a different aspect of the nighttime. “Midnight” depicts an individual's struggle to stay awake for prayer and meditation late at night when his body and mind repeatedly drift toward sleep. “Nightmares” depicts three recurring nightmares from the composer's childhood. In “Dreams,” three types of dreams, floating dreams, pleasant dreams, and unpleasant dreams, are depicted in the music. The musical language includes triadic harmonies incorporating progressions derived from maximally smooth cycles and hexatonic systems, Messiaen's “effect of a stained glass window,” and quartal harmonies. Musical unification of the three movements is achieved through the use of the same material in different ways. Consonant harmonic material from the hexatonic system in the first movement is utilized as dissonant harmonic material and as melodic material in the second movement; melodic material in the second movement is reworked as harmonic material in the third movement. The topic for the theory portion of this dissertation is a Schenkerian analysis of Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello by J. S. Bach. The purpose of this project is two-fold. First, Schenkerian graphs and verbal explanation reveal the underlining structures of this suite. Second, these graphs are used to suggest performance decisions. Such a project is valuable because, while Bach's Six Suites for Violoncello without Bass Accompaniment hold a prominent role in the repertoire for violists, cellists, bassists, and several other instruments via transposition, very little literature is available that discusses performance decisions. A systematic approach that truly evaluates the musical events within (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ralph Lorenz (Advisor); Frank Wiley (Advisor); Thomas Janson (Committee Member); Mark Lewis (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Fine Arts; Music

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, Music

Modern Chinese musicians and pianists, generally, are unfamiliar with Middle Eastern and Near Eastern music, and thus, the composer Paul Ben-Haim's works in particular. One of Ben-Haim's works for solo piano, Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 34, remains unknown to them because of their limited knowledge of Ben-Haim's background, cultural distinctiveness, musical influences. The purpose of this study is to introduce Ben-Haim's Five Pieces for Piano to a wider audience for the work and pointing out remarkable similarities of sound and technique to modern Chinese piano compositions. There are six chapters: Chapter 1 presents Paul Ben-Haim's biography. Chapter 2 contains a stylistic analysis of Five Pieces, which includes form, harmony, melody, rhythm, and folk elements. Chapter 3 presents briefly an introduction of selected Chinese piano music from Tan Dun and other Chinese composers, and modern Chinese students' approach to learning music. Chapter 4 provides a comparison between Five Pieces and those selected Chinese piano music. Chapter 5 is a performance guideline to the work, including performance and practice suggestions. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes with a summary of the discussion and makes suggestions for additional research. As a Chinese student with a background that has a strong East-Asian music elements, I found my own discovery of Middle Eastern music to be inspiring, and a delighted to introduce Ben-Haim's Five Pieces to other Chinese pianists at large. This study provides a guide from an East-Asian perspective, relating Ben Haim's work to Chinese music with similar characteristics. I hope thereby to provide others with a better understanding in learning and performing this work.

Committee: Steven Glaser (Advisor); Kenneth Williams (Committee Member); Graeme Boone (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, Music

Sergei Rachmaninoff was considered one of the last successors of Romanticism, and his compositional output, particularly his symphonic and piano works, featured his success as a well-known conductor and virtuosic pianist. Rachmaninoff's music remained in the romantic style, such as using the sonata form, which was favored by Romantic composers in 19th century. Rachmaninoff composed two piano sonatas, Op. 28 and Op. 36, in his life. Compared to the second piano sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 36, the first piano sonata in D Minor, Op. 28, was relatively ignored in the piano repertoire since its premiere. This author decided to explore the first sonata by studying and performing it as part of his doctoral recital. This document will discuss the reasons why the first sonata, unlike the second piano sonata, is infrequently performed by the pianists. Also, Rachmaninoff was famous for composing piano works with an expanded hand range. The writer will explain the performance style of the first sonata and approaches that could address some potential technical problems, particularly for pianists who have relatively small hands. This document consists of five chapters. Chapter one presents a historical overview of Rachmaninoff and the conception of his first piano sonata. Chapter two discusses the compositional details of the first piano sonata, including the unusual design of sonata form and musical material that features Rachmaninoff's general music style. Chapter three focuses on a performance approach to Piano Sonata No. 1 and discusses possible issues regarding technique that pianists may encounter. Based on this writer's experience of performing this work, some performance suggestions, particularly for pianists with small hands, will be provided in this chapter. Chapter four compares recordings of by Vadym Kholodenko, Alexandre Kantorow, and Santiago Rodriguez. The conclusion is stated in chapter five. The primary sources used for this document are Rachmaninoff's pers (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Caroline Hong (Committee Member); Steven Glaser (Advisor); Kenneth Williams (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, College-Conservatory of Music: Piano

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) was a twentieth-century Soviet female composer who has been neglected despite her idiosyncratic musical language. Ustvolskaya writes in a firmly modern sound; she presents musical material in many variations while also integrating compositional procedures from different eras ranging from 18th-century counterpoint to atonality and other modern music idioms that are not derived from other twentieth-century trends or serialism. Due to her complex and distinctive compositional language, analytical scholarship of her works is scarce. The lack of analytical tools and research makes her works less approachable to performers and scholars. Therefore, I propose a more original yet comprehensive way to analyze her works – in particular, her piano sonatas. I argue that her piano sonatas challenge traditional compositional ideas and the conventional ideas of unity by continuously diversifying small, fragmented melodies while maintaining the general contour and thus their connection to each other. In this DMA document, I provide an analysis of form, tonal organization, motives, and rhythm combined with my original pitch melodic shape analysis. This document also includes brief tips for performers. This document should provide guidance in order for performers and audiences to find her sonatas more comprehensible and enjoyable as recital repertoire.

Committee: Christopher Segall Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ran Dank (Committee Member); Michael Chertock M.M. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Music Composition

Stuck in My Head is a short, one-act comedic opera composed for the BGSU College of Musical Arts' annual MicroOpera workshop. The opera is scored for piano and three vocalists (soprano, mezzo soprano, and unspecified voice type). The libretto was written by Case Kellum of Atlanta, Georgia. The opera is presented in three scenes. In Scene I, a college student named Madison (soprano), wakes up to find she cannot speak without singing and that her bedroom furniture has been replaced by stage blocks. In a frantic sense of hurry, Madison leaves her room to learn more about her situation. In Scene II, Madison stumbles into a park where she finds her friend, Dana (unspecified voice type). Madison explains her situation to Dana, who does not notice anything is out of the ordinary, or that they cannot speak without singing. Dana then suggests going to one of their teachers, Professor Callas, to get help. Madison and Dana enter Professor Callas' office in Scene III. After being filled-in on the situation, Professor Callas arrives at the conclusion that the three of them are stuck in an opera. In an effort to make the opera come to an end, Professor Callas suggests performing some famous opera endings, such as the seppuku-style suicide from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. In a campy ending reminiscent of a lesson learned in a television show for kids, Madison discovers all she needed to do was learn to express herself. The libretto is set in a manner that intertwines music and dialogue in a through-composed style. The characters engage primarily in sung conversational dialogue that moves the plot forward in short musical fragments for the majority of the opera. The composed lines are melodically and rhythmically very similar to spoken speech in an effort to both mimic the real world and give the opera an appearance akin to a comedy sketch. There are occasional moments where the characters sing longer, more melodic passages. These usually occur when a character is expressing (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mikel Kuehn Ph.D. (Advisor); Elainie Lillios DMA (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Music; Performing Arts

MA, Kent State University, 0, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser

The concept of key characteristics, in other word, every individual key has its own character has long been a controversial issue. The first document about these arguments dates back to the late 1600s, when music quickly moved from the modal to the tonal, with a mixture of meantone and well-tempered temperament. Meanwhile, the idea of key characteristics continued to be passed on to later generations during the settlement of tonal music, and through the process, it became a kind of “collective unconscious.” In the process of cultural transmission, each impression was preserved intact and learned, added to new impressions, changed disposition, or reproduced with past impressions. The composer's keys in his/her work are not just individual tendencies in each piece but may be due to the consequences of social learning. Chopin's piano music is very useful for examining key characteristics, which were still recognized in the nineteenth century. In particular, the fact that he was a very good pianistcomposer and that the piano of his time had reached a high mechanical level of perfection makes it very advantageous to look at the connection between the key and the traditional character in Chopin's work, making it more understandable to his personal conception of the key.

Committee: Joshua Albrecht (Advisor); Richard Devore (Committee Member); Hana Chu (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1987, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1980, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Music

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Music History

Although substantial research has been conducted on piano pedaling as it relates to certain works or composers, the sudden appearance of piano pedaling literature as a widespread pedagogical phenomenon has been given little consideration by scholars. During a relatively short period of time around the turn of the twentieth century, a significant amount of new literature on piano pedaling was written. This thesis focuses on pedaling treatises, articles, and exercises written from the 1890s to the 1930s and considers several important questions, including: what changes in the piano led to the sudden appearance of these sources, what the intended audience for this new literature was, what pedal techniques were being taught, and the forms of pedal notation that emerged from this literature. The appearance of technical literature for piano pedaling corresponds with what is now termed the “golden age” of the piano (because of the increasingly affordable mass produced piano) that reached its peak in 1909. As part of an exploration of the possible impetuses behind the appearance of this literature, the large-scale standardization of pedal mechanisms on modern grand pianos is detailed. I will examine four major treatises on piano pedaling. The first two, representing the beginning of this new pedagogical field in the late nineteenth century, are Hans Schmitt's The Pedals of the Piano-forte and Alexander Bukhovstev's Guide to the Proper Use of the Pianoforte Pedals. The other two twentieth-century treatises, representing the end of the corresponding “golden age” in piano pedaling literature, are Teresa Carreno's Possibilities of Tone Color By Artistic Use of Pedals and York Bowen's Pedalling the Modern Pianoforte. Articles on pedaling published from 1910 to 1930 in The Etude, the first music journal to focus on piano technique, are also considered, along with collections of piano literature created specifically for the purpose of teaching proper pedaling technique (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Natvig Ph.D. (Advisor); Eftychia Papanikolaou Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Satterlee D.M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2012, College-Conservatory of Music: Piano

This biographical doctoral document focuses on the pedagogical life of Louise Goss. While several dissertations have been devoted to the work of Frances Clark, Goss's long-time friend and business partner, none has been written about Louise Goss herself. This project presents Goss's biographical background, her involvement in the development of pedagogy programs leading to the creation of the New School for Music Study, and her role in the establishment and growth of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. This document also assesses Louise Goss's endeavors as a writer, including her ongoing Clavier Companion magazine column, “Questions and Answers.” Several of Goss's closest collaborators were interviewed and offered their recollections and views on her contributions to the field of piano pedagogy. The project ends with a portrayal of Louise Goss's thoughts on pedagogical topics, culminating with the eminent pedagogue's vision for the future of piano pedagogy.

Committee: Jane Conda PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Chertock MM (Committee Member); Miguel Roig-Francoli PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Art History

In this study, I examine Le Piano (1888) and Lucie Leon au Piano (1892) by Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) and the significant ways in which these two paintings depart from the established tradition of female piano portraiture in nineteenth-century France. Charlotte Eyerman has explored the importance of the “woman at the piano” theme and its role in the construction of femininity but limits her study to the work of male artists. Morisot's piano portraits offer an unusual female perspective on a theme primarily created and perpetuated by male artists. My analysis elucidates the manner in which these works drew upon the tradition of the woman at the piano motif and the specific ways in which the artist subverted the passivity and superficiality that characterized male-produced versions of the theme. Le Piano evokes the tradition of female bourgeois education in nineteenth-century France and the importance of the piano in the development of femininity. However, Morisot enriched the commonplace act of playing the piano with an intellectualism not part of the superficial, socially-ordained reasons for playing in a unique manner that was largely absent from its representations in visual tradition. In Le Piano, by painting the confident figure of her daughter, Julie, nonchalantly leaning on the piano and looking out at the viewer as her cousin, Jeannie Gobillard, plays, Morisot communicated the fulfilling and enjoyable role music-making played in these girls' lives. In Lucie Leon au Piano, the visual emphasis of the tensed musculature of Leon's hands and arms invites associations with the conventions of male piano portraiture. While female pianists were generally prized for their charm and delicacy, male pianists, especially the male virtuoso, were conceived of as powerful, insightful, and active musicians. Morisot departed from the static and amateurish qualities common in the woman at the piano motif to create images whose subjects are physically engaged with the act of maki (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Theresa Leininger-Miller PhD (Committee Chair); Julie Alane Aronson PhD (Committee Member); Morgan Thomas , (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History