The Music of Lee Hyla: An Analysis of the First Movement of Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra no. 2 and a Survey of Stylistic Elements in His Music, and an original composition, “Palindromic One: Number 31”, for seven players

Abstract

The first part of this dissertation is a detailed analysis of the first movement of Lee Hyla’s Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra no. 2 (1991). The second part documents stylistic elements over the course of his compositional output.

The Concerto will serve as the focal point of analysis for two reasons. First, Hyla uses a more surface-level and audible musical narrative, a type of narrative he began employing in his music between 1981 and 1983. The Concerto, coming eight to ten years later, is sufficiently removed from the initial works, allowing this technique time to further develop. By 1991, other important facets of his approach emerged, elements employed in many compositions that followed, including some of his most recent.

The second reason for the selection of the Concerto pertains to the exact type of narrative employed. In Hyla’s compositions, the musical narrative ranges from almost completely flowing, in which most sections seamlessly transition to the next, to almost completely juxtaposed, in which blocks of contrasting music are linked with little or no transition. In the middle, there is a large gray area representing a merger of the two, partially flowing and partially juxtaposed. This is where the Concerto is found.

The second part of this analysis will examine several stylistic elements of Hyla’s larger style. Through numerous examples, drawn from well over a dozen pieces composed from 1978 to present, further light will be shed on some of the consistent compositional techniques found in Hyla’s music.