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Diatonicism and chromaticism in Richard Strauss’ tone-poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche Mac Neil, Patrick

Abstract

In the first chapter of this thesis I introduce the diatonic-chromatic continuum. It is an analytical device useful in explaining music which exhibits much diversity. In the case of this tone-poem, it is useful to assimilate the many sections within it, those that are straightforwardly diatonic in a traditional sense, those that are so highly chromatic it is sometimes difficult to determine their main and subsidiary keys, as well as those that lie somewhere between these two extremes. As these three section-types are equally characteristic of the work, the diatonic-chromatic continuum serves as a valuable referential concept. In the second chapter I analyze the above sections noting their main keys, subsidiary keys, and the means by which these keys are established. In the third chapter I return to the concept of the diatonic-chromatic continuum and discuss several sections analyzed in the second chapter. I have collected my musical examples together in the Appendix for easier reference. These examples comprise reductions from the tone-poem, simplifications of these reductions I call sketches, and a major example which is a condensation of the entire work. Finally, my study of Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche concentrates on the purely musical and not on the programmatic.

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