A Study On The First Modern Piano Suite Of McDowell 's Piano Suite

Both at home and aboard, Edward Alexander MacDowell (1861-1908) was anAmerican composer, pianist and educator of the Romantic period in the latter half of19thcentury. One of his earlier piano works, Erste modern Sudium (1880-1881) wasconsidered as his most important one. According to his life experiences, historicalbackground and artistic achievement, this thesis will analyze this very work anddiscuss the features of his early music, in order that the players after him can give aninstrumental performance of this work with more accuracy.This thesis will do researches on four chapters, The first one is the introductionof MacDowell, including his profile, position in the history of American music andthe characteristics of his creations. The second one is the analysis of Erste modernSudium, which will discuss this work on its musical form, melody, harmony, textureand rhythm. And the third chapter is the analysis of playing technique, includingtreatment of force, key-touching and tone, usage of footboard and ornament of thiswork. Then the last one is the significance of Erste modern Sudium in education. In aword, the purpose of this thesis is that players can grasp the style of romantic music,perform this work with more accuracy and present a splendid performance during thisstudy.