Dimitris Dragatakis (1914-2001): Advancing his legacy and Concerto for Viola using twenty-first-century digital tools

<p>This project focuses on Dimitris Dragatakis (1914–2001), his legacy, and Concerto for Viola in the twenty-first century. The research examines the following overarching questions within interlaced scholarly and creative components of the dissertation: How can we use twenty-first-century digital tools to promote Dimitris Dragatakis, one of Greece’s most important modern composers, to advance his legacy including, importantly, his Concerto for Viola, and to assist future scholars and performers in accessing information about his life and music? This dissertation discusses the digital tools and processes used to advance the legacy of Dimitris Dragatakis and to promote his Concerto for Viola. These tools and processes include creating and publishing the Dragatakis Archive Digital Database website, recording interviews with the Dragatakis family and leading Dragatakis scholar, and using his Concerto for Viola (1992) as a digital case study. The digital case study demonstrates how twenty-first-century performers, scholars, and archivists might approach advancing the works of lesser-known composers through digital media. In this case study, a new viola and piano performance edition and percussion chamber music performance edition are offered, a new digital orchestra score along with complete orchestral parts is made available, interview material with the violist who premiered the work has been recorded, and the recently unearthed premiere performance recording of the work from the Dragatakis archive has been included in an interactive video created by the researcher. This project also aims to provide a model for future performers and scholars to use to assist future projects beyond this topic.</p>

Dimitris Dragatakis (1914-2001): Advancing his legacy and Concerto for Viola using twenty-first-century digital tools

<p>This project focuses on Dimitris Dragatakis (1914–2001), his legacy, and Concerto for Viola in the twenty-first century. The research examines the following overarching questions within interlaced scholarly and creative components of the dissertation: How can we use twenty-first-century digital tools to promote Dimitris Dragatakis, one of Greece’s most important modern composers, to advance his legacy including, importantly, his Concerto for Viola, and to assist future scholars and performers in accessing information about his life and music? This dissertation discusses the digital tools and processes used to advance the legacy of Dimitris Dragatakis and to promote his Concerto for Viola. These tools and processes include creating and publishing the Dragatakis Archive Digital Database website, recording interviews with the Dragatakis family and leading Dragatakis scholar, and using his Concerto for Viola (1992) as a digital case study. The digital case study demonstrates how twenty-first-century performers, scholars, and archivists might approach advancing the works of lesser-known composers through digital media. In this case study, a new viola and piano performance edition and percussion chamber music performance edition are offered, a new digital orchestra score along with complete orchestral parts is made available, interview material with the violist who premiered the work has been recorded, and the recently unearthed premiere performance recording of the work from the Dragatakis archive has been included in an interactive video created by the researcher. This project also aims to provide a model for future performers and scholars to use to assist future projects beyond this topic.</p>

The life and music of André Tchaikowsky: A series of performances, an analytical survey of his compositional style, and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano

<p>This thesis focuses on André Tchaikowsky (1935–82) – a Polish émigré musician who was mostly recognised as a brilliant pianist, even though he considered himself primarily a composer. His traumatic childhood spent in bombarded Warsaw during World War II, losing his mother along with almost his entire family due to the Holocaust, and being hidden in several places after escaping the Warsaw Ghetto, made a great impact on creating his eccentric and complex personality as well as his artistic outcome. Tchaikowsky’s legacy of seven published works, including compositions for piano, two string quartets, a piano trio, and an opera, as well as several unpublished works, is a small but very significant body of 20th-century music. This research explores the evolution of Tchaikowsky’s compositional style throughout his lifetime, based on selected works with piano, and investigates the elements of war stigma in his compositions. Significant contributions to the existing body of knowledge are the analysis of the selected works and a critical/performance edition of the unpublished Sonata for Piano, written in 1958 by the 33-year-old composer. Some answers can be provided to three main research questions through this analytical survey. The questions are: How did Tchaikowsky’s compositional style evolve over his life? Why does he remain largely unknown even in music circles? How did the Holocaust affect his life and work as a composer and pianist? This thesis consists of two parts, with the first presenting the result of research into the stylistic development of Tchaikowsky’s compositional language and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano, while the second is a performance component comprised of five recitals, which is the prevailing element of this degree. Each recital includes one of the analysed Tchaikowsky compositions, which are connected with other composers and their works in various ways, shaping five concerts of engaging and under-performed music.</p>

The life and music of André Tchaikowsky: A series of performances, an analytical survey of his compositional style, and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano

<p>This thesis focuses on André Tchaikowsky (1935–82) – a Polish émigré musician who was mostly recognised as a brilliant pianist, even though he considered himself primarily a composer. His traumatic childhood spent in bombarded Warsaw during World War II, losing his mother along with almost his entire family due to the Holocaust, and being hidden in several places after escaping the Warsaw Ghetto, made a great impact on creating his eccentric and complex personality as well as his artistic outcome. Tchaikowsky’s legacy of seven published works, including compositions for piano, two string quartets, a piano trio, and an opera, as well as several unpublished works, is a small but very significant body of 20th-century music. This research explores the evolution of Tchaikowsky’s compositional style throughout his lifetime, based on selected works with piano, and investigates the elements of war stigma in his compositions. Significant contributions to the existing body of knowledge are the analysis of the selected works and a critical/performance edition of the unpublished Sonata for Piano, written in 1958 by the 33-year-old composer. Some answers can be provided to three main research questions through this analytical survey. The questions are: How did Tchaikowsky’s compositional style evolve over his life? Why does he remain largely unknown even in music circles? How did the Holocaust affect his life and work as a composer and pianist? This thesis consists of two parts, with the first presenting the result of research into the stylistic development of Tchaikowsky’s compositional language and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano, while the second is a performance component comprised of five recitals, which is the prevailing element of this degree. Each recital includes one of the analysed Tchaikowsky compositions, which are connected with other composers and their works in various ways, shaping five concerts of engaging and under-performed music.</p>

ANALYSIS OF MACHINE AVAILABILITY AT SURFACE-MOUNT TECHNOLOGY (SMT) LINE USING WITNESS SIMULATION

In the competition to excel in the Industrial 4.0 race, companies especially in Semiconductor Industry, strive to attain efficiency by removing process bottlenecks, improving productivity and increasing machine availability during operation. As so, this research was conducted to analyze the machine’s availability based on various preventive maintenance (PM) scheduling. A model was developed in WITNESS 14 Manufacturing Performance Edition software to imitate the Surface-mount Technology (SMT) line in a manufacturing system. The model was build based on a serial layout of five machines which are a screen printer, glue dispenser, chip shooter, pick and place and reflow oven. Then, the simulation was run to study the availability of each machine with relation to different stoppages intervals and duration based on the selected PM schedule. The findings of this project show that PM for an SMT line should be carried out every week with 30 minutes PM duration to achieve high machine availability and minimal machine downtime.

The Three Piano Sonatas by José de Almeida Penalva

This research project discusses the three piano sonatas by José de Almeida Penalva (1924-2002), a priest and composer from the southern region of Brazil, who lived most of his life in the city of Curitiba, in Paraná state. Along with overall information about the composer’s life and general output, the reader will find brief discussions of Penalva’s keyboard works, along with comprehensive formal analyses of his three piano sonatas. Sonata no. 1 (1970, chronologically the second to be written) appears in one large movement that reveals two distinct sections. Its language is atonal and its first section displays sonata-allegro form. The work employs twelve-tone technique along with folklore elements from the Brazilian genres seresta and desafio. Sonata no. 2 (1960, chronologically the first to be written) employs free modal language in each of its three contrasting movements. According to Penalva’s own indications, the first movement draws on the styles of George Gershwin and Béla Bartók, the second movement refers to Camargo Guarnieri (Brazilian composer who lived from 1907-1993), and the third evokes Anton Webern. Although no material from these composers is directly quoted, it is possible to recognize their stylistic traits within the respective movements. Sonata no. 3 (1991) is the most complex and technically demanding among the three sonatas. It employs free atonal language and displays three highly contrasting movements. Some folk elements also appear, as for example the third movement's energetic rhythm, which clearly suggests the Brazilian popular genre baião. This research project is the first part of a larger undertaking that the author hopes will eventually include a commercial recording of all three sonatas, along with preparing a new performance edition that takes into account the many discrepancies among the composer’s manuscripts and the currently available editions. It is the author’s sincere hope that this research can help to popularize this repertoire, which is colorful and satisfying, but remains relatively unknown, both in Brazil and beyond.

Guerra-Peixe’s Symphony No. 2 Brasília (Part 2)

The present article presents a broad musical analysis of the Symphony No. 2 Brasília by Brazilian composer César Guerra-Peixe, covering formal, melodic, motivic and harmonic aspects. The terminology of the analytical terms was the same used by Peter Brown in his five volume series of all representative symphonies of the symphonic literature. These terms came from Guidelines to Style Analysis by Jan LaRue. The Symphony Brasília was subject of my doctoral project in three principal fronts: production of a performance edition of the full score and parts; performance of the work in the US and Brazil, aiming to correct eventual mistakes and spread the music; and a production of historical and analytical texts. The present article will cover the musical analysis. A previous article covered historical aspects of the work.

Guerra-Peixe’s Symphony No. 2 Brasília (Part 1)

This article investigates the historical circunstances that led to the composition of Symphony No. 2 Brasília, by César Guerra-Peixe, written for symphony orchestra, mixed choir and an optional narrator. The piece was originally composed for a competition organized by the Radio Station of Ministry of Education in 1960 to celebrate the inauguration of the new Brazilian capitol, originating substantial controversy, hence the first prize was not awarded and a tie was registered between three candidates in second place: Guerra-Peixe, Guerra-Vicente, and Claudio Santoro – all of them became renowned composers of Brazilian music. The Symphony Brasília by Guerra-Peixe was subject of my doctoral project in three principal fronts: production of a performance edition of the full score and parts; performance of the work in the US and Brazil, aiming to correct eventual mistakes and spread the music; and a production of historical and analytical texts.

Musical Complexity and "Embodied Notation": A Study of the Opus Clavicembalisticum (K. S. Sorabji)

Scores of complex, 20th century, solo piano pieces can be difficult to perform and may even include elements that are physically impossible to play. This article investigates the role of music notation in the Opus Clavicembalisticum of Sorabji, which is a rather extreme case in terms of virtuosity and length. To analyze the effect of score notation on learning and performing, 9 pianists were asked to practice music fragments in 3 different score editions, namely the original Urtext edition (a 4-staff score), performance edition (same notes but organized according to an "embodied" performance viewpoint), and study edition (further simplified and with added analytical reading aids). The hypothesis was that the "embodied notation" would have an effect on study time (shorter study time) and errors (fewer errors). Objective features of the study process and performance, such as study time, error ratio and markings on the score (fingerings, hand distribution, synchronization) were compared. Subjective remarks the performers made about the scores were also analyzed. Findings indicate a significant positive influence of the score type on the study time. These results suggest that players draw on ideomotor principles, which include processes based on learned and "embodied" associations between perceived images of the scores and the motor activity that is directly associated with it.