Part I of the dissertation focuses on harmonic and melodic theory. A central claim is that voice-leading structure is intimately related to formal structure such that the two domains are mutually informing. In particular, it investigates ways in which the standard conceptions of voice leading, harmonic function, and counterpoint may be updated to better apply to this new repertoire. This dissertation situates itself in the middle of an ongoing debate about the applicability of Schenkerian analytical techniques to the analysis of pop and rock music. As this study demonstrates, Cui's primary operatic achievements lie in being the first member of the "mighty handful" to have an opera performed (William Ratcliff) being the first of them to have an opera performed in the West (Prisoner of the Caucasus) and the first Russian to premiere an opera in Paris (Le Flibustier) completion of Dargomyzhsky's Stone Guest (with Rimsky-Korsakov) and Musorgsky's Fair at Sorochintsy and his considerable contribution to the repertory of children's opera in Russia. These factors are intertwined with the shifting tastes of his Russian audience, for whom most of the operas were composed. The study uncovers, and at times reinterprets, the problematic and interesting aspects of Cui's musico-dramatic style - which incorporated certain stylistic features characteristic of Russian art music - in recognition of his avoidance of Russian subjects (except primarily Pushkin). His position is both enriched and complicated by his intense and polemical activity in music journalism, wherein among other things he promoted the esthetic ideals of his circle and advocated for the works of Russian composers. This study shows that Cui and his operas maintained a persistent, if not pervasive, position in the musical life of the era, and that to a certain extent his works bore relation to contemporaneous historical events and political circumstances. Several indications of likely influences from other models or genres have been posited or identified in such figures ranging from Meyerbeer to Balakirev, as have likely exchanges of musical ideas between Cui and other composers, especially Rimsky-Korsakov. These conditions include the reception accorded them and their relation to the works of Cui's contemporaries and to his own operatic ideals. Using evidence in printed sources, it examines their musico-dramatic features within the context of the conditions under which they were composed and performed. For the first time this study analyzes together Cui's six full-length operas (Prisoner of the Caucasus, William Ratcliff, Angelo, Le Flibustier, The Saracen, and The Captain's Daughter) and his shorter stage works (a comedy, one-act tragedies, and children's operas). The fifteen operas of Russian composer César Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) heretofore have never been addressed in a comprehensive fashion. This exegesis contains (1) descriptive analysis of improvisation contained within a broad cross-section of Mehldau’s music (2) definition of a new analytical lexicon derived from a holistic study of consonance, dissonance, and research into perceived motivation in music and (3) prescriptive musical tools relating to consonance and dissonance that have informed the researcher’s performance. Non-academically oriented jazz writers and fans have consistently assigned these works vanguard status, but Mehldau’s output has not yet been sufficiently examined to prescribe performance methods. Among the most recent examples of this evolution, the works of Brad Mehldau as a solo/ensemble pianist and as a composer arguably embody some of the most compelling innovations in the field. As is the case for other genres, musicological analytic research on jazz evolution has lagged behind its practice consequently, there is a paucity of in-depth descriptive and analytic research on the music of recent innovators. Jazz has steadily evolved from its inception in the late 19th century to the present.
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