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Night Music: the Twentieth Century Nocturne in Piano Teaching Jessica L University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 12-1-2012 Night music: The twentieth century nocturne in piano teaching Jessica L. Murdock Follow this and additional works at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Murdock, Jessica L., "Night music: The twentieth century nocturne in piano teaching" (2012). Dissertations. Paper 218. This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © 2012 JESSICA L. MURDOCK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School NIGHT MUSIC: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY NOCTURNE IN PIANO TEACHING A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Arts Jessica L. Murdock College of Performing and Visual Arts School of Music Piano Performance/Pedagogy December 2012 This Dissertation by: Jessica L. Murdock Entitled: Night Music: The Twentieth Century Nocturne in Piano Teaching has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Arts in College of Performing and Visual Arts in School of Music, Program of Piano Performance/Pedagogy. Accepted by the Doctoral Committee ______________________________________________________ Caleb Harris, D.M.A., Chair ______________________________________________________ Robert Ehle, Ph.D., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Deborah Kauffman, D.M.A., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Ellen Gregg, Ph.D., Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense _________________________________________ Accepted by the Graduate School _________________________________________________________ Linda L. Black, Ed.D., LPC Acting Dean of the Graduate School and International Admissions ABSTRACT Murdock, Jessica L. Night Music: The Twentieth Century Nocturne in Piano Teaching. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2012. The solo piano repertoire contains numerous examples of nocturnes by a wide variety of composers. Chopin's nocturnes receive the most play time and are often used for pedagogical purposes. The purpose of this study is to explore the other piano nocturnes that could be used in piano pedagogy. The first chapter provides a discussion of the nocturne as a genre, including the definition of "nocturne" and the differences between the 19th and 20th Century conceptions of it. The second chapter lists nocturnes composed during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, as well as biographical and stylistic information of their composers. The remainder of the study focuses on individual nocturnes and their pedagogical value. Intermediate to advanced level nocturnes by a variety of composers, including Dave Brubeck, Benjamin Britten, Erik Satie, Francis Poulenc, Samuel Barber, Charles Griffes, and Lowell Liebermann, are examined. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The daunting task of writing a dissertation was not nearly as daunting as it might have been in my case, thanks to a number of people. First, I wish to express my undying gratitude to my family. My dear husband, Rob, has been a source of endless encouragement. I am forever grateful to my parents, who taught me my first piano lessons. They have supported me and believed in me throughout my entire journey to becoming a "doctor." I am thankful for my sisters and best friends, Lyndsi and Mikayla. I am especially grateful for Lyndsi's editing expertise and patience. I am grateful for the members of my Doctoral Committee, who sacrificed time to read this dissertation and provide comments and suggestions for its improvement. I am grateful for the mentoring of all my piano teachers: Dr. Caleb Harris, Dr. Errol Haun, Dr. Brent Jones, and Debbie Ellsworth. Each of them has inspired me to become a better pianist and person. Lastly, I express my appreciation to those music publishers who granted me permission to use the musical examples included in this dissertation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 The History of the Nocturne: An Overview .......................................................... 2 Nachtstück: The German Night Piece ................................................................... 7 Twentieth Century Piano Night Pieces ................................................................. 9 The Nineteenth Century Nocturne in Piano Pedagogy ........................................ 12 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................................................. 16 American Composers ......................................................................................... 16 Australian Composers ........................................................................................ 29 English Composers ............................................................................................ 30 French Composers ............................................................................................. 32 Hungarian Composers ........................................................................................ 36 Italian Composers .............................................................................................. 37 Russian/Eastern European Composers ................................................................ 37 III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 39 Selection Criteria ............................................................................................... 39 Analysis Method ............................................................................................... 41 Selected Nocturnes ............................................................................................ 42 IV. ANALYSIS OF NOCTURNES ......................................................................... 44 Intermediate Nocturnes ...................................................................................... 43 Early Advanced Nocturnes ................................................................................. 72 Advanced Nocturnes .......................................................................................... 90 V. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 124 Trends in the Twentieth Century Nocturne ....................................................... 124 Recommendations for Piano Teachers .............................................................. 131 v REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 134 APPENDIX A: LIST OF ADDITIONAL TWENTIETH TO TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SOLO PIANO NOCTURNES ...................................................... 139 APPENDIX B: PERMISSIONS .................................................................................. 147 vi TABLES Table 1: Selected Nocturnes .......................................................................................... 42 Table 2: Barber Tone Row Usage ................................................................................ 108 Table 3: Dynamics ....................................................................................................... 127 Table 4: Form Delineation ........................................................................................... 129 vii MUSICAL EXAMPLES Ex. 1. Catherine Rollin, Nocturne for the Left Hand, mm. 9-12...................................... 45 Ex. 2. Rollin, Moonlight Nocturne, mm. 1-4 .................................................................. 46 Ex. 3. Rollin, Moonlight Nocturne, mm. 5-12. ............................................................... 47 Ex. 4. Rollin, Moonlight Nocturne, mm. 21-24. ............................................................. 47 Ex. 5. Rollin, Moonlight Nocturne, mm. 5-8. ................................................................. 48 Ex. 6. William Gillock, Polynesian Nocturne, mm. 1-6.................................................. 49 Ex. 7. Gillock, Polynesian Nocturne, mm. 47-50. .......................................................... 50 Ex. 8. Gillock, Polynesian Nocturne, Pattern for mm. 41-46. ......................................... 50 Ex. 9. Gillock, Polynesian Nocturne, Pattern for mm. 47-50 .......................................... 51 Ex. 10. Robert Vandall, Summer Nocturne, mm. 1-4. ..................................................... 51 Ex. 11. Dave Brubeck, Lost Waltz (Edited Version), from Nocturnes, mm. 1-3. ............. 52 Ex. 12. Brubeck, I See Satie, from Nocturnes, mm. 27-30. ............................................. 53 Ex. 13. Brubeck, I See Satie, mm. 1-4. ........................................................................... 54 Ex. 14. Brubeck, Blue Lake Tahoe, from Nocturnes, mm. 5-8. ....................................... 55 Ex. 15. Brubeck, Looking at a Rainbow, from Nocturnes, m. 12. ................................... 56 Ex. 16. Brubeck, Looking at a Rainbow, mm. 35-37. ..................................................... 56 Ex. 17. Brubeck, Looking at a Rainbow, mm. 17-19.
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