Dimitar Nenov: Form and Content of His Works for Solo Piano
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The piano works of Bulgarian composer Dimitar Nenov have been largely unknown in the West. While Nenov did not make his name known during his lifetime, his music contains depth and nuance which are well-worth exploring. In the present document I aim at shedding light on a few compositions from the 1930’s and 1940’s, where my main concern is the elucidation of his forms, compositional techniques, and pianism. Using the analyses of Etude N.1, Variations in F-sharp Major, and Miniatures (1945), I follow his compositional development as it unfolds through a tireless experimentation with various styles and aesthetics. In the search for his personal voice, Nenov tended to employ certain organizational procedures regardless of the surface harmonic layout of a particular piece. Every piece under discussion here is partially or entirely based on a simple bass formula which acts as a unifying force in holding the form together. Although Nenov completely avoids the use of internal cadences, this underlying bass movement shapes each individual piece as an uninterrupted harmonic progression.
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Valkov, Viktor. "Dimitar Nenov: Form and Content of His Works for Solo Piano." (2017) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105593.