Principles of organization in piano etudes: An analytical study with application through original compositions

The Etude is a genre which has traditionally attempted to balance technical focus with musical mtegrity. Many etudes are built upon unifying features which are present in one form or another for the duration of the composition. This research focuses on figural, motivic, rhythmic, and technical unity in etudes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The document details types, roles, and settings of unifying features in the context of selected works.

In addition to addressing unifying features of etudes, the research examines the various compositional and musical devices which bring diversity to unified etudes. This is done primarily in the context of technically unified works in order to examine the impact of dynamics, articulations, tempo, range, register, and manipulation of figural or motivic material upon an uninterrupted piano technique.

The traditional research for this study is accompanied by creative work. The set of Eight Etudes written by the researcher, is designed to implement unifying and diversifying musical and technical features as traced in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century piano etude.

One of the appendixes for the document is an extensive compilation of technically unified etudes, arranged by categories of technical focus. Over seventy composers and 550 etudes are represented in this appendix.