Eastern Washington University Music Department Presents A Graduate Lecture Recital Davis Hill, piano Fun and Finney Games for the Intermediate Piano Student Friday, May 10, 2019 5:00pm Eastern Washington University Music Recital Hall Student from the Studio of Dr. Jody Graves This recital is presented as partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts Degree in Music-Piano Brief Biography of Ross Lee Finney: Ross Lee Finney was a prolific voice in American music for over fifty years. In her book, Ross Lee Finney: A Bio-Bibliography, Hitchens puts Finney's catalogue at 100 over completed works, including four symphonies; concerti for piano, saxophone, and violin; electronic works for tape (musique concrète); many chamber, choral, and solo piano works; and three volumes of pedagogical piano music dedicated to contemporary notation and techniques, the second of which, 32 Piano Games, is the object of this study. Ross Lee Finney lived from 1906 to 1997 and was born in Wells, Minnesota. His early training was at Carleton College and the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Donald Ferguson. Principal teachers later in life include Nadia Boulanger in France, Alban Berg in Austria, Edward Burlinghame-Hill at Harvard University, and Roger Sessions. Brief Description of 32 Piano Games: The current study is an in-depth analysis of composer Ross Lee Finney's 1969 work, 32 Piano Games. 32 Piano Games comprises thirty-two short pieces intended for beginning and intermediate piano students. The movements are roughly ordered by progressive difficulty and complexity, slowly adding new musical elements and redefining old ones introduced in previous movements. 32 Piano Games is a fun, engaging collection of pieces for the beginner- intermediate student, that, as Sooyun Kim notes in her DMA dissertation, is [a] “valuable teaching [tool], especially at a time when most instructors focus solely on the standard repertoire from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.” The present study presents a template for organizing and introducing the musical concepts of 32 Piano Games to the student. List of Techniques Used in 32 Piano Games: - Aleatory/Indeterminacy and Improvisation ◦ Aleatoric Pitches ◦ Aleatoric Durations - Harmonic and Compositional Techniques ◦ Atonality and Extended Tonality ◦ Quartal Harmony ◦ Twelve-Tone Serialism - Melodic Techniques ◦ Cells ◦ Parallelism ◦ Mirroring - Rhythm and Meter ◦ Meter ◦ Unmeasured Notation - Extended Techniques and Notations ◦ Clusters ◦ Extremes and Leaps ◦ Glissando ◦ Hand Crossing ◦ Spatial Notation ◦ Symbols Table of Elements in Each Movement Name of Movement Techniques Used I. Middle, Bottom, and Top Extremes/Leaps, Meter, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation II. Five Fingers Hand Crossing, Mirroring III. Thirds Hand Crossing, Mirroring IV. 3 White-Note Clusters Clusters, Hand Crossing, Mirroring, Symbols V. Melody Atonality/Extended Tonality, Clusters, Hand Crossing, Twelve-Tone Serialism VI. Moving 3 White-Note Clusters Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Parallelism, Symbols VII. Broken Thirds and 3 White-Note Clusters Clusters, Extremes, Mirroring, Parallelism, Symbols VIII. Everything Everywhere Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Meter, Mirroring, Parallelism, Symbols IX. 5 White-Note Clusters Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Symbols X. Two Handed Duet Atonality/Extended Tonality, Hand Crossing, Mirroring, Twelve-Tone Serialism XI. 3 White-Note Clusters, High and Low Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Meter, Rhythm, Symbols XII. Seashore Atonality/Extended Tonality, Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Symbols XIII. Mirror Mimic Atonality/Extended Tonality, Improvisation, Mirroring XIV. Tightrope Walker Cells, Clusters, Hand Crossing XV. Confused Atonality/Extended Tonality, Hand Crossing, Meter, Quartal Harmony, Symbols XVI. Going Anywhere? Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Quartal Harmony XVII. Up and Down Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Glissando, Hand Crossing, Symbols XVIII. Happy Dance Clusters, Hand Crossing XIX. Berceuse Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Quartal Harmony XX. Argument Aleatoric Durations, Atonality/Extended Tonality, Hand Crossing, Symbols XXI. Thumb Tricks Atonality/Extended Tonality, Cells, Hand Crossing XXII. Black Notes and White Notes Aleatoric Pitches, Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Glissando, Meter, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation XXIII. Converging Atonality/Extended Tonality, Mirroring XXIV. Running Cells, Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Parallelism, Twelve-Tone Serialism XXV. Going Places Meter XXVI. Playing Games Atonality/Extended Tonality, Meter, Mirroring, Twelve-Tone Serialism XXVII. Mirror Waltz Atonality/Extended Tonality, Clusters, Mirroring, Rhythm XXVIII. Mountains Aleatoric Durations, Clusters, Hand Crossing, Meter, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation XXIX. Windows Atonality/Extended Tonality, Meter, Parallelism, Twelve-Tone Serialism, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation XXX. Mobile Aleatoric Pitches, Atonality/Extended Tonality, Meter, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation XXXI. Arapaho Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Hand Crossing, Meter, Symbols XXXII. Winter Aleatoric Durations, Clusters, Extremes/Leaps, Glissando, Meter, Twelve-Tone Serialism, Spatial Notation, Symbols, Unmeasured Notation .