Doctoral Document Publishing

Unveiling Resolution: Cyclicism and Romantic Conception in the Chant-Inspired Piano Works of Victoria Bond

Now published and available on ProQuest, here’s the abstract to my 105-page doctoral document:

The purpose of this document is to present an analysis that provides a connection between the Romantic concept of cyclicism and selected chant-inspired piano pieces by Victoria Bond (b. 1945). Victoria Bond has a vast compositional output for piano, but this document will cover the two solo piano pieces based on Greek Orthodox chant, Potirion Sotiriu and Simeron Kremate, and the piano concerto based on a Jewish liturgical melody, Black Light. All three works utilize a Romantic conception of cyclic elements through the presentation of their prospective chant melodies, which will be highlighted throughout the document.

            While the main goal of the document is to present cyclic elements within the three selected works, other Romantic compositional characteristics will be highlighted to provide a well-rounded view of Victoria Bond’s Romantic approach. These features include three-hand texture, an organic approach to motive, pedal tones, dramatic conception of characters, and maintaining tonal polarity with a tonic to dominant relationship. Each piece will be discussed by providing background information regarding the composition and its liturgical source, an isolation and analysis of the cyclic element of interest in its original presentation and final recurrence, and a brief overview of other Romantic features within each piece.