A study of selected piano works by Tobias Picker

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Amy M. Harris (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
John Salmon

Abstract: Since his birth on July 18, 1954, Tobias Picker was destined to be a musician and composer of the highest rank. He learned to garner the spurts of energy that come with his Tourette’s Syndrome into his piano compositions starting at the early age of eight, and since the age of twenty-three his compositions have been performed on the concert stage. His nearly lifelong friendship with pianist Ursula Oppens played a large role in the success of Picker’s piano works, as she performed and recorded all the pieces in the collection Picker: Collected Works for Solo Piano, published by Schott, on the album Keys to the City, produced by Wergo. Although Picker is known widely for his five operas to date, his piano works continue to appear on concert stages across this country and others. Picker studied composition with serialist composers Charles Wuorinen, Elliott Carter, and Milton Babbitt, and his early works for piano are similarly marked by 12-tone serialism. Around the same time that Picker began composing opera in 1994, he abandoned serialism altogether in favor of a neo-romantic tone in his piano compositions. An analytical look into selected piano works of Picker provides insight into his compositional development spanning over two decades. An interview with the composer confirmed many of my findings.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2019
Keywords
Piano Performance
Subjects
Picker, Tobias, ?d 1954- $x criticism and interpretation
Piano music $x Analysis, appreciation

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