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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8615-6868

Date Available

4-3-2027

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College

Fine Arts

Department/School/Program

Music

Faculty

Kevin Holm-Hudson

Martina Vasil

Abstract

This thesis investigates the development of Bruce Hornsby’s compositional style from 1986 through 2000, arguing that his late-twentieth-century output moves from commercially successful, piano-centered popular music toward an increasingly complex and stylistically pluralistic musical language. Framed by scholarship on popular-music analysis, style, intertextuality, borrowing, and improvisation, the study examines Hornsby’s first two creative periods: the albums recorded with The Range, from The Way It Is through A Night on the Town, and his early solo albums, from Harbor Lights through Spirit Trail.

Close analyses identify recurring first-period features, including mixolydian inflections, mode mixture, quartal and quintal voicings, extended harmonic sonorities, gospel-derived piano gestures, and extended right-hand solos that challenge late-1980s pop conventions. Hornsby’s second period intensifies these traits through explicit genre synthesis, heightened chromaticism, expanded formal procedures, and virtuosic two-hand independence. Drawing on published scholarship, journalism, and original interview material, this study positions Hornsby as a significant yet underexamined figure whose work challenges distinctions between commercial accessibility, instrumental virtuosity, and experimental musical thought.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.461

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