The Piano as an Orchestra: The Accompanist and the Twentieth-Century Orchestral Reduction

A Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, University of North Texas, August 2002. Victoria DiMaggio Lington, B.M., M.M.

Problems such as identifying the represented orchestral instruments, delineating importance of musical lines, and basic uses and misuses of pedal, articulation, and rubato are discussed. The pianist is led through ways of deciphering and negotiating specific passages, in order to guide the accompanist through the possible pitfalls and challenges unique to many orchestral reductions. By focusing on twentieth century reductions, providing examples of problems and discussing sways to solve them, the pianist will be able to apply these to any reduction encountered,  not just those specifically illustrated here.

These basic principles of discerning common problems and appropriately reconciling them are then applied in a more advanced form to Robert Nelson’s and a comparison of the orchestral score to the reduced piano score, the accompanist will explore detailed techniques of performing this work in a manner that upholds the original “orchestral” intent of the music.

Unbound thesis. Three holes punched for a binder. There is little to no wear. Clean text.

v1 bx-23