The Study Of Rochberg's Symphony No.2

This thesis takes George Rochberg's(1918-2005) Symphony No.2 as the project of study, analysing the twelve-tone idea and technique, and exploring Rochberg's practice of combining Twelve-tone with western musical tradition in this great composition.George Rochberg is a musical leader of American "Neo-romanticism" by his String quartet No.3 of 1972. Yet there are often inevitable gradual processes which hide behind the sudden moments of history. The persistence of tradition can be rooted in Rochberg's early works, and the cause of this persistence is complex and diverse. For this large-scale symphony which stands for the peak of Rochberg's twelve-tone composition, this thesis interprets the attention in various levels, such as the context of history and culture, the personal experience of the composer, and the empirical analysis of the work itself. Moreover, a systematic analysis of this composition is conducted with the theory of serial music, pitch-class set and traditional approaches of work.The thesis consists of an introduction, chapters One to Four, and a conclusion. The introduction part tries to justify the present research approach by telling the cause of this project, overviewing the related research both at home and abroad, and stating the aim of the study. Chapter One, from a perspective of history and culture, provides an overview of the twelve-tone music development in America in the 1950s, and discusses the context where the twelve-tone music developed.Chapter Two explores Rochberg's theory and technique of twelve-tone music, presenting an outline of his twelve-tone compositions and study of his twelve-tone theory.Chapters Three and Four, primarily in empirical analysis, discusses how Rochberg combined the twelve-tone technique with compositional thought of tradition, from both twelve-tone row's design and use, and composition's traditional thought. In the conclusion part, based on the comment on Rochberg's Symphony No.2 and his twelve-tone music, the thesis traces the cause of the composer's style by relating with his composition in the Neo-romanticism period, which lays a good foundation for the future study of Rochberg's post twelve-tone music composition.