Date of Award

5-2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

School

Music

Committee Chair

Dr. Alexander Russakovsky

Committee Chair School

Music

Committee Member 2

Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo

Committee Member 2 School

Music

Committee Member 3

Dr. Hsiaopei Lee

Committee Member 3 School

Music

Committee Member 4

Dr. Joseph Brumbeloe

Committee Member 4 School

Music

Committee Member 5

Dr. Edward Hafer

Committee Member 5 School

Music

Abstract

The music of American composer Vivian Fine (1913-2000) has fallen into obscurity despite its high quality. Her musical career has led her from being a child-prodigy at the piano to being a part of the elite inner circle of avant-garde composers in New York in the early 1930s, and ultimately to a faculty position at Bennington College in the 1960s. Due to the stability and job security that the academic world brought to Fine, she was able to dedicate most of her time to composition. The Chamber Concerto for Cello and Six Instruments belongs to this fruitful period in her life.

While some research on Vivian Fine has been made in recent years, especially about her mentee/friend relationship to Ruth Crawford, her music is still not performed across American stages. One factor in this equation could be that most of her works are in manuscript form, which can deter young musicians from choosing to perform her compositions. This document aims to change this by providing not only a biography and analysis of the piece, but an engraved version of the piece with recommended bowings and fingerings for the solo cello part, in addition to an urtext version.

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