Shiguang Cui, a Chinese composer, ingeniously combined western musical compositional techniques with Chinese traditional compositions. The purpose of this research is to uncover how his style changed from his earlier pieces, specifically the Shandong Folk Suite, to his later piece Pianofoster. There is no research or recordings of either works in the United States. In fact, the only research of Shiguang Cui’s piano works that can be found in the United States is his Piano Concerto No. 2. Most recorded research remains in China. Chunying Fu and Yanli Li contributed master’s dissertations on Shandong Folk Suite, but both of them lack a detailed analysis of Western compositional techniques. There are only a few research materials for Pianofoster, even in China. This paper will offer an in-depth study of both works with detailed analysis for both Chinese and Western compositional techniques, as well as how Cui’s style of composition changes between these two works. This research paper explores the musical elements, cultural influences, and evolving style in both Shandong Folk Suite and Pianofoster. Cui incorporates elements from both Western and Chinese traditional music, including imitations of Chinese traditional instruments, narrative and musical connections to Shandong folk songs and dance. This detailed discussion, along with provided examples of these two works from different periods of Cui’s compositional careers clearly demonstrates the path of his compositional development and his progressive incorporation of Chinese and Western elements. The paper presents detailed information about Shandong Folk Suite and Pianofoster in four chapters, in order for performers to have a more nuanced interpretation of the pieces. Chapter I introduces Cui’s career, including representative works from each period. Chapter II presents a stylistic analysis of Shandong Folk Suite with music examples. Chapter III gives a stylistic analysis of Pianofoster, exploring how the composer blends Eastern and Western compositional techniques. Chapter IV compares Shandong Folk Suite and Pianofoster to show how Cui’s compositional technique developed and changed. This project promotes the study of Cui’s works for pianists. His creative blend of Eastern and Western techniques for pianists should not be overlooked in the standard canon of contemporary repertoire.

The purpose of this project is to research the pedagogical, philosophical and compositional ideals of the renowned Chinese pedagogue Zhaoyi Dan and to provide performance and pedagogical suggestions for selected piano works. Zhaoyi Dan (b. 1940) is one of the leading piano educators of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in China. Over his sixty years of teaching, he has been given the nickname “Godfather of piano education”. He has taught many renowned concert pianists, including Yundi Li, Sa Chen, and Haochen Zhang. Twenty-nine of Dan’s students have collectively won sixty-three prizes at major international competitions. This paper will detail Zhaoyi Dan’s comprehensive teaching philosophy and methods by studying his published academic theses, piano compositions, and online master classes and seminars. The selected piano works composed by Zhaoyi Dan are presented with an introduction of each piece, brief musical description, and pedagogical suggestions. Through the study of Zhaoyi Dan’s pedagogical philosophies and selected piano works, I hope this paper will show his helpful teaching methods and add to the pedagogical piano repertoire for teachers and students.

Lowell Liebermann (b.1961) is one of America’s most frequently performed contemporary composers. He has written a large number of piano pieces and his works are often featured in major competitions and doctoral dissertations. Liebermann’s relationship with the piano began early in life and he considers it to be his principal instrument. His understanding of the strengths and limitations of the piano makes his keyboard creations powerful, expressive, and virtuosic. Although many of his pieces have been performed, his Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 82 has not yet found a large audience or used as the subject of in-depth discussion. It is the author’s hope to stimulate performances of this work through a descriptive analysis and performance guide. This research document begins with a concise biography of the composer, including the composer’s early musical experiences, his education in academia, and his composition career. The second chapter provides a review of the composer’s major works. The third chapter provides a descriptive analysis and performer’s guide, with insights into Liebermann’s expectations of the performer. The present study includes a lecture recital, found online at https://youtu.be/Uf-SpK8cIr0?si=usxy5_AaWu7VoKP4

This research paper explores the works of two contemporary Chinese composers: Shuai Zhang's "Three Preludes" and "The Joys and Sorrows of Love and Life," and Wanghua Chu's "Jasmine Flower Fantasia" and "Man Jiang Hong – Prelude for Left Hand." It introduces the composers with their personal and academic background, as well as the sources of influence to their compositions. A descriptive analysis of the composers’ selected works is provided and discussed in detail, examining formal structure, harmonic language, rhythmic and melodic characteristics, and other compositional elements of highlighted sections of the pieces. Finally, a performance guide for pianists is offered on noteworthy segments of each piece and provides detailed interpretations and suggestions of techniques and challenges.

The word “nocturne” was first used to describe a piano work by the Irish composer John Field, who also established its basic framework. The genre was expanded and brought to its maturity by Chopin, who wrote twenty-one nocturnes for solo piano over his entire creative life. Among Chopin’s works, it is the nocturnes with their lyrical melodies and improvisational nature that especially provide flexibility and freedom for performers to express inner feelings and individual interpretations. The marked contrast between Chopin’s early and late nocturnes naturally leads to different interpretive results. Accordingly, this project investigates how the stylistic changes in Chopin’s early and late nocturnes are related to their performances. Taking Op. 9, No. 1 and Op. 62, No. 1 as examples of Chopin’s early and late nocturnes respectively, the project compares the recordings of Artur Rubinstein (1965) and Vladimir Ashkenazy (1981) through the lens of descriptive analyses. The introductory chapter covers the influences on Chopin’s nocturnes, Rubinstein’s and Ashkenazy’s playing styles of Chopin’s works, various editions of Chopin’s nocturnes, and the relation of analysis to performance. The main body of the paper alternates descriptive analysis of each section of Nocturnes Op. 9, No. 1 and Op. 62, No. 1 with comparisons between the two pianists’ recordings. The final chapter outlines how the two nocturnes from Chopin’s early and late creative periods differ from one another and how the changes in style affect the two pianists’ interpretations. The goal of this project is to aid in a better understanding of the interpretive choices made by Rubinstein and Ashkenazy in these two nocturnes.

The music of Claude Debussy has its own language. It is challenging for performers who are not familiar with Debussy’s musical style to produce the subtle tone colors or understand the proper atmosphere. There are many scholars, researchers, and pianists who have shown interest in Debussy’s piano music and who provided critical comments and interpretive suggestions. However, the work Pour le piano has varied interpretive suggestions given the consistent presence of the work in popular piano repertoire. This document creates a closer interpretation of Debussy’s piano music, specifically the three movements of Pour le piano, for enthusiastic music students and professionals. The focus of this work is to guide performance and interpretive aspects. A brief introduction of Debussy’s life reveals historical and contemporary influences on Pour le Piano. A closer look at compositional models which form the basis of Pour le piano, helps one recognize these compositional characteristics and correctly create a particular performance atmosphere. This analysis is followed by performance suggestions for fingerings, pedaling, how to isolate difficult passagework, and interpretive suggestions based on two recordings by Magda Tagliaferro and Caio Pagano. A more comprehensive understanding of Pour le piano not only leads to correct performances, but also wider proliferation and study of this piece among pianists

Alexina Louie (b. 1949) is a highly respected Canadian composer who has received numerous prestigious awards. The present study focuses on her pedagogical works for young pianists: Music for Piano (1982), Star Light, Star Bright (1995), and Small Beautiful Things (2016). All three sets, written in different periods of her compositional career, reveal Louie's highly artistic musical style adapted to her strong interest in piano pedagogy. Music for Piano, intended for intermediate-level pianists, has four individual pieces, taking two to three minutes each, representing Louie’s early compositional style. Star Light, Star Bright, for intermediate-level pianists at a slightly lower level than intended for Music for Piano, consists of nine short character pieces inspired by the stars and planets and other phenomena of the solar system. Small Beautiful Things is technically less challenging than the other works. It consists of eleven-character pieces with titles from everyday life that are designed to appeal to young musicians. The first chapter is an account of Louie's educational background and how mentors influenced her development as a pianist, composer, and teacher. The chapter also documents Louie's strong interest in teaching, which led her to compose piano music with pedagogical intent. The second chapter describes the compositional elements of Music for Piano, examining Louie's uses of various Asian elements, minimalism, notational innovations resulting in rhythmic freedom, and Impressionistic timbres and sonorities. The third chapter assesses Star Light, Star Bright, showing the overall palindromic structure of the set while discussing the content and pedagogical value of the individual pieces. The fourth chapter focuses on how the pieces of Small Beautiful Things help young pianists to develop basic techniques and musicianship. Overall, the discussion reveals not only the musical and expressive qualities of Louie's works for young pianists, but also their value for cultivating both technique and musicality.

This research project investigates the way in which Paul Hindemith expresses musical and extramusical ideas during his early compositional period through an analysis of the fourteen movements of his work for solo piano, In einer Nacht... Träume und Erlebnisse, op. 15 (In One Night… Dreams and Experiences). Op. 15 is a set of character movements composed in 1917-1919 and unified into a cohesive, singular work through extramusical connections and a common harmonic language. Hindemith depicted the night as a mystery unfolding in a series of descriptive and untitled miniatures displaying a thrilling journey into the unknown. The set reflects Hindemith’s unique chromatic compositional language in the late 1910s, and his interests in Expressionism, early forms, and popular elements such as jazz. However, due to its delayed publication, op. 15 remains an underestimated work and deserves closer attention.This paper describes the work’s creation, problems it faced in its reception and dissemination, and offers a brief literature review related to the set. The second chapter places op. 15 in the context of Hindemith’s early development as a composer (up to 1920) and his hallmark compositional styles. The most substantial portion of the research is an analytical description of the fourteen movements. Each chapter offers an overview of a movement’s general character followed by detailed depictions of musical or extramusical elements. It is hoped that this text will ultimately aid performers in creating a more accurate and musically cohesive performance. In a brief conclusion, the common elements between movements are reemphasized, again drawing the performer’s attention to each movement as a part of the longer narrative. Scholarship on this set provides opportunities for a better understanding of Hindemith’s early music.