Roger Sessions' Duo for violin and violoncello: An edition and an examination of the composition process.
Item
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Title
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Roger Sessions' Duo for violin and violoncello: An edition and an examination of the composition process.
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Identifier
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AAI9108074
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identifier
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9108074
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Creator
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Aldag, Richard J.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Henry Weinberg
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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Roger Sessions wrote one movement of a Duo for Violin and Violoncello in 1978. The work was set aside due to a commission from the Boston Symphony for the Concerto for Orchestra. He never returned to the Duo due to failing health.;Sketches, Preliminary Drafts, and a Final Draft of the Duo were in the composer's estate following his death in 1985. Notations made by Sessions in the Final Draft for rhythmic and melodic changes were the basis for an edition of the single completed movement. An examination of these notations in the manuscript, plus a comparison of segments of Sketches and Preliminary Drafts with the Final Draft, provide a glimpse into the evolution of the composition.;Sessions' use of the twelve-tone system is characterized by great freedom in the ordering of the row and the virtual abandonment of the use of the row for long passages. It is at important points within the composition that the original ordering of the row will re-emerge as a means of articulating an arrival within the formal structure.;While the work is analogous to a sonata-form, there are profound differences to the tonal concept of this type of structure, particularly in the recapitulation. Typical of Sessions' use of the twelve-tone system is to return to the original level of transposition of the row in retrograde at the end of a composition in order to create a sense of closure.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.