Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie: An Analysis of Origins, Topics, and Symphonic Characteristics

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Last Modified
  • May 6, 2020
Creator
  • Minnick, Jonathan
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Music
Abstract
  • This thesis addresses Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie’s unsettled program and assesses multiple accounts of the portrayal of the program and the evidence provided by each. In addition, I explore the ideas of landscape in relation to Eine Alpensinfonie and how Strauss manages the alpine landscape as played out through his music. This exploration is substantiated by a thorough melodic analysis of the piece, which has organized themes hierarchically and given them titles based on their arrangement, style, and position within the piece. There are multiple questions that this thesis addresses in relation to the program and the thematic material of Eine Alpensinfonie. Numerous Strauss scholars have provided suggestions on how the program could be interpreted, though there has not been a definite answer to the question of what the program is for this piece of music. The question that I ask is what are some of the different assertions made about the program of Eine Alpensinfonie and do they hold up to critical analysis of other evidence found throughout my own research. The thematic material in the piece has been analyzed thoroughly by Rainer Bayreuther in his comprehensive work on Eine Alpensinfonie, though I am adding to what he has already generated. The central questions related to the thematic material are, do the themes and motives match or shape the program of the piece and how do ideas on topic theory interact with the structure and how does the thematic material relate to the ideas on topic theory in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Note
  • Funding: None
Advisor
  • Bohlman, Andrea
Degree
  • Bachelor of Arts
Honors level
  • Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2016
Language
  • English
Extent
  • 70

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