Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

10-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.M.A.

Program

Music

Advisor

Philip Ewell

Advisor

L. P. Burstein

Subject Categories

Music

Keywords

Konius, Medtner, Metrotectonicism, Modes, Piano Concerto, Tiulin

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the work of the Russian-born composer Nikolaĭ Medtner, presenting an original analysis of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, op. 33. The analysis is preceded with an overview of Medtner's life and his entire body of music, and with a discussion of the composer's artistic beliefs and musical style. Medtner lived at a time when most composers searched for new paths, believing that nothing original could be produced unless there were drastic changes to musical language itself. Medtner was among the few composers who remained loyal to the Western classical tradition. Working within its limits, Medtner was able to find a distinctive and powerful voice. My analysis of Medtner's First Piano Concerto is based on the formal theories of the twentieth-century Russian music scholar Georgiĭ Konius--an approach called metrotectonicism. I also mention Medtner's subtle use of modality in a basically traditional tonal context, applying the theories of another twentieth-century Russian music scholar, Iuriĭ Tiulin. Prior to the analysis of the First Concerto, Konius's metrotectonic theory and Tiulin's theory of the natural and altered modes are both introduced, explained, and used for a sample analysis of a short work by Medtner--his Tale, op. 26, no. 3.

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