A Father's Role in the Development of Compositional Technique: A Study of Two Concertos
Open Access
Author:
Janser, Emily Anne
Area of Honors:
Music
Degree:
Bachelor of Music Education
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Marie Sumner Lott, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Marie Sumner Lott, Thesis Supervisor Joanne Rutkowski, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Mozart Strauss father paternal influence
Abstract:
This thesis investigates paternal influence in the compositional techniques of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Although the two composers lived a century apart, similarities in their relationship with their fathers, Leopold Mozart and Franz Strauss are apparent. In Part One, research demonstrates paternal involvement in both composers’ upbringing and education. Part Two of this thesis will analyze two concertos, one by each composer: Wolfgang Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Major, K. 207 (1773) and Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 11 (1883). In each concerto, similarities between the compositional techniques of the composer and his respective father show the extent of paternal influence in composition. Finally, comparisons examine the similarities and differences between the two father-son relationships. Through the investigation of these relationships, we may acquire a clearer understanding of their music, making performance and listening more meaningful and personable.
