INNOVATION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN PIANO MUSIC

As traditional methods and goals of composition were challenged in the twentieth century, American composers played a critical role in the development of classical piano music. This dissertation focuses on the diversity of innovation that led to the evolution of classical music written for the piano. These innovations generally fall into two categories: musical construction and extended techniques of sound production. Charles Ives and George Gershwin successfully merged elements of American popular culture with classical music. Ives included American hymn tunes in his First Piano Sonata and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was one of the earliest attempts to fuse jazz and classical music. Similarly, the piano rags of William Bolcom paved the way for the acceptance of ragtime in the concert hall. In his Piano Sonata, Aaron Copland showcases his motivic method of composition. Each movement is largely composed of small motives that expand and create a larger shape. Leon Kirchner's Piano Sonata No. 3 is an example of idiomatic piano writing in the 21st century, recalling compositions of the late 19th century. Initiating the expansion of piano sonorities were American composers Henry Cowell and John Cage, who created what are now known as "extended techniques." Aeolian Harp was Cowell's first piece written exclusively for "string piano," a term which describes his technique of strumming and plucking the strings. Cowell's invention paved the way for the "prepared piano," an invention by John Cage that transforms the tonal range of the instrument. George Crumb's monumental two-volume work for amplified piano, Makrokosmos I & II, further expands the possibilities ofthe instrument to create an unprecedented sound world. Frederic Rzewski's set of folk-inspired pieces, North American Ballads, fuses American history, American folk music, and extended techniques with classical composition. This dissertation comprises three piano recitals that were performed from 2011 to 2013 in Gildenhorn Recital Hall ofthe Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center of the University ofMaryland. The recordings are documented on compact discs that are housed within the University of Maryland Library System

Baculovirus resistance in codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) caused by early block of virus replication

An up to 10,000-fold resistance against the biocontrol agent Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV) was observed in field populations of codling moth, C pomonella, in Europe. Following different experimental approaches, a modified peritrophic membrane, a modified midgut receptor, or a change of the innate immune response could be excluded as possible resistance mechanisms. When CpGV replication was traced by quantitative PCR in different tissues of susceptible and resistant insects after oral and intra-hemocoelic infection, no virus replication could be detected in any of the tissues of resistant insects, suggesting a systemic block prior to viral DNA replication. This conclusion was corroborated by fluorescence microscopy using a modified CpGV (bacCpGV(hsp-eGFP)) carrying enhanced green fluorescent gene (eGFP), which showed that infection in resistant insects did not spread. In conclusion, the different lines of evidence indicate that CpGV can enter but not replicate in the cells of resistant codling moth larvae. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved