Unifying Elements of Paul Lansky's Threads

This treatise focuses on Paul Lansky's percussion quartet Threads, a ten-movement work organized into three distinct movement families: Preludes and Arias, Recitatives, and Choruses. While the composer creates three distinct "threads" through formal naming, establishment of a specific instrumentation, and unique sound palettes, this treatise isolates and discusses salient musical elements throughout the work. This document presents a brief biographical overview of Lansky's career and an introduction to the inspiration and conception of the piece. Rhythmic and melodic motives, pitch centers, musical texture, and compositional techniques are all examined within each individual movement while specific examples are analyzed and displayed. Other performance aspects in each movement family are taken into consideration, such as fabrication of required instruments, optimal implement choice, and logistics of instrument set-up. Finally, unifying elements from different movement families are identified and discussed, including rhythmic motives, musical voices, and departures from the established sonic contents of each movement group.