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Student Perceptions of Contemporary Music: Learning and Performing Commissioned Piano Works

de Oliveira, Jonathan Taylor
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4369-946X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647721036460736

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, Contemporary Music.
The use of contemporary music in music teaching is no new topic, with the literature covering it dating back at least to 1950. Two important approaches available to piano teachers who wish to provide their students with a well-rounded education are assigning contemporary pieces to their students and commissioning pieces for them. While there is literature available detailing the benefits of each approach, there is a lack of scholarly works that investigate how the experience of learning commissioned pieces affects students’ perception of contemporary music in comparison to that of learning published contemporary works. The purpose of the research conducted for this document was to investigate how learning newly commissioned pieces affects collegiate piano students’ perception of contemporary music. To accomplish this, three pieces were commissioned for three undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. The students participating in this study also learned selections from Lera Auerbach’s Twenty-four Preludes for Piano, Op. 41. These are contemporary pieces published in 2006 by Musikverlag Hans Sikorski GmbH and Company, with difficulty levels ranging from easy to difficult. The students and their piano Teacher were interviewed regarding their experiences learning and performing both sets of pieces. The analysis of the interview responses showed that the students’ perception of contemporary music changed after learning pieces composed for them. At the beginning of this research, they perceived that all contemporary music is confusing and distant, but after learning the commissioned pieces, they perceived that some of it can be enjoyable and accessible. They also perceived the commissioned contemporary pieces to be more enjoyable than the published ones, resulting in increased enthusiasm for contemporary music. In addition, two of the three students perceived that the benefits of learning commissioned pieces are greater than those of learning published contemporary works, making commissioned compositions uniquely suited for introducing piano students to contemporary music. Such benefits included the possibility of having a piece tailored to students’ needs and skills, the opportunity of preparing an original performance of a piece free from any preconceptions, and the opportunity to communicate closely with the composer. As a result of these benefits, they perceived commissioning new works as an efficient tool for introducing piano students to contemporary music.
Solungga Liu, D.M.A. (Advisor)
Elizabeth Menard, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ryan Ebright, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Steven Cady, Ph.D. (Other)
129 p.
Music
Contemporary Music; Contemporary Piano Music; Piano Teaching; Piano Pedagogy; Teaching Contemporary Music; Commissioned Music; Commissioned Piano Music; Perceptions; Perceptions of Contemporary Music

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • de Oliveira, J. T. (2022). Student Perceptions of Contemporary Music: Learning and Performing Commissioned Piano Works [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647721036460736

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • de Oliveira, Jonathan. Student Perceptions of Contemporary Music: Learning and Performing Commissioned Piano Works. 2022. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647721036460736.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • de Oliveira, Jonathan. "Student Perceptions of Contemporary Music: Learning and Performing Commissioned Piano Works." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647721036460736

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1647721036460736
161
© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.