Date of Award

1-1-2010

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Department

School of Music

Sub-Department

Music Performance

First Advisor

Charles Fugo

Abstract

In the early Romantic period, mechanical improvements in the piano and the great popularity of opera inspired composers to write piano works based on opera themes. One of these compositions, Hexaméron, was collectively written by six eminent pianist-composers of that time, Franz Liszt, Sigismond Thalberg, Johann Peter Pixis, Henri Herz, Carl Czerny and Frédéric Chopin, fulfilling a commission by the Princess Christina Belgiojoso, hostess of a Parisian salon. The work took the form of a set of variations, with the theme selected from the duet "Suoni la tromba" from Vincenzo Bellini's opera I Puritani. Each composer contributed one variation and Liszt, serving as a coordinator, added an introduction, several interludes and a finale. This document consists of stylistic analyses and comparisons of the six composers's distinct keyboard styles, and includes a separate discussion of Liszt's contributions and the way that he succeeds in unifying the various elements into a cohesive work.

Rights

© 2010, Seung-Ah Kim

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