Ida Gotkovsky’s saxophone works: A comparative study of Brillance, Variations Pathetiques, and Incandescence

Augustine, Scott Patrick

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120028 Copy

Description

Title

Ida Gotkovsky’s saxophone works: A comparative study of Brillance, Variations Pathetiques, and Incandescence

Author(s)

Augustine, Scott Patrick

Issue Date

2023

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Takao, Makoto Harris

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Richtmeyer, Debra

Committee Member(s)

• Peterson, Elizabeth
• Lund, Emeritus Erik
• Reagan, Maureen

Department of Study

School of Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

A.Mus.D. (doctoral)

Keyword(s)

• Gotkovsky
• Brillance
• Variations Pathetiques
• Incandescence
• Intertextuality
• self-borrowing
• Credo
• saxophone

Language

en

Abstract

French composer Ida Gotkovsky has written prolifically for the saxophone. Born in 1933, she attended the Paris Conservatory and studied with two of the most celebrated composer- pedagogues of the twentieth century, Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) and Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979). Gotkovsky became an ambassador of French music across the world and is most recognized for her music for wind band and wind instruments. While many saxophonists know of her music, research on her compositions for the instrument is scarce despite the extensive number of these works written during the late twentieth century. Gotkovsky represents a synthesis of her teachers’ approach to composition and the compositional traditions of the Paris Conservatory in the formation of her unique musical language and handling of melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, and style. By observing these musical properties and qualities found within Gotkovsky’s music, the compositional influence of her teachers at the Paris Conservatory, and musical attributes within the French tradition, this paper offers a comparative study of her compositional style for the saxophone across her works Brillance (1974), Variations Pathétiques (1980), and Incandescence (2011). Additionally, an intertextual method will be used to identify and connect instances whereby Gotkovsky borrows materials from her previous pieces and places them within new contexts. This project thus provides a clearer understanding of her approach to composing for the saxophone for the benefit of both the performer and the listener.

Type of Resource

• text
• still image

Copyright and License Information

© 2022 Scott Patrick Augustine

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