An analysis of Ulvi Cemal Erkin's piano concerto with a generative theory of tonal music approach

The aim of this dissertation is to examine Ulvi Cemal Erkin's esthetic of harmony through the example of Piano Concerto. In this context, it will be tried to determine the harmonic path, the tension-relaxtion regions and points in the melodic and harmonic progression that the composer constructed in this work. According to Çalgan and Aydın, the first movement of Erkin's Piano Concerto was composed in the sonata allegro and the fourth part in the rondo form. Although there are some exceptions in the common practice of the sonata allegro or rondo form in the classical period, there is a systematic in the harmonic progression. Our main problem will be what kind of tonal/modal construct Erkin setup while handling these forms. In this context, our sub-problem is, whether there is a systematic relationship between sections or sections in the context of tonal/modal construct in Erkin's Piano Concerto, and while Erkin was handling the sonata allegro and the rondo form; whether he remain adhere to the harmonic progression that was generally applied in the Classical period; if not, what kind of tonal/modal setup he did. In this dissertation, answers will be sought to the questions of what are the qualities of the scales as the sound material used. Literature research and musical analysis method will be applied in this dissertation. A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (GTTM) will be used as a musical analysis method. A literature review was carried out in the context of studies such as thesis, article, review and biography publications about Erkin's works and Piano Concerto, as well as papers, articles and theses related to GTTM. As a result of the dissertation, harmonic progression that we defined in global regions in U. C. Erkin's Piano Concerto coincide with strong prolongation and weak prolongation patterns, except for two regions and repetitions of regions. In this direction, we consider that while composing this work, Erkin adhered to the tonal harmonic progression, and composing the first part of the work in the form of sonata allegro form and the fourth part in the rondo-chain form. However, a specific harmonic construct was designed in both sections. In this dissertation, it has been observed that Erkin used tetratonic, pentatonic and heptatonic scales, which are sound materials used in Turkish Maqam Music and Western music in the 20th century. In our dissertation, four rule proposals and one rule revision were made for GTTM in the context of Erkin's Piano Concerto.