La Promenade, la femme a l'ombrelle — An Artwork of Claude Monet, is a composition written by a young but prominent Japanese composer named Satoshi Yagisawa. La Promenade was intended to reflect Mr. Yagisawa's reaction to a group of paintings by the artist Claude Monet, as well as the biographical context in which they were created.

Such a composition, not only communicating one art form by using another, but also conveying a narrative, presents a unique set of questions and challenges to the conductor. Can music directly reflect visual art? Can a personal story be conveyed through music? What emotions are accessible in both visual and musical art? How might different interpretations of Monet's work affect the impact of the music? Could the integration of visual media enhance a musical performance?

This dissertation explores the connections between visual art and music in Yagisawa's, La Promende, and offers ideas to the conductor regarding ways to express these parallels musically. In addition, this paper attempts to clarify ways in which the music can enhance the paintings by adding dramatic elements. Not only can music evoke emotion from a listener, but it can also place that emotion within a framework of time. This level of understanding and depth of experience might be missed when observing the paintings by themselves. This paper also addresses technical performance practice issues in La Promenade, which must be considered in order to give a lucid presentation. Of particular interest are Mr. Yagisawa's use of rhythm, orchestration, tone color, and the human voice.

Mr. Yagisawa himself played an important role in the shaping of this dissertation. Communications including an in-person interview as well as email exchanges provided much insight into the composition. Although he has composed many popular works and is regularly commissioned across Asia and in the United States, very little information is available in English about Mr. Yagisawa. Using interviews and by compiling the few facts already available, a section of this dissertation is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive profile of the composer in the English language, in order to assist all future performers of his music.