Identifier

etd-04292011-030741

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Music

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation is in two parts. The first part is an original composition, “Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.” The second part is a comparison of two major works of the twentieth century: Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók and Concerto for Orchestra by Witold Lutosławski.

“Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Wind Ensemble” is a work in four movements. The first movement is in an incomplete sonata form, as the second theme group does not appear in the recapitulation. The second movement has a traditional tertiary form, with the middle section comprised of a brass chorale. The third movement is a loose melodic retrograde. Within this context, the instrumentation and harmonization are not bound to the retrograde principles that are applied to the melodic material. The second theme group from the first movement returns in the fourth movement, and completes an interrupted recapitulation. The overall form of the fourth movement is tertiary, and the soloist takes a cadenza before the return of the opening material. The primary scalar material for the first three movements is derived from the set C-C#-D-D#-E-F#-G-A-Bb. This scale is modified in the last movement to C-(C#/D)-Eb-E-F-G-(Ab/A)-Bb, where the pitches inside the parentheses are freely substituted.

The Concerti for Orchestra of Béla Bartók and Witold Lutosławski were written within ten years of each other, but at very different points within the careers of their respective composers. Comparisons are made in three areas: how each work fits within the twentieth-century genre of a Concerto for Orchestra; how each composer used external musical sources for compositional material, focusing specifically on folk music; and the forms and techniques used in both works.

Date

2011

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Beck, Stephen D

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3459

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