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The Modern Trombone in the African American Church: Shout Bands and the African American Preacher in the United House of Prayer

Description: The United House of Prayer was established by Marcelino Manuel da Graça (1881-1960), who is also known as Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace, or “Daddy” Grace. He founded and developed the use of the shout bands which are charismatic gospel trombone ensembles within this church. This study explores the importance of shout bands and examines them from multiple perspectives focusing in particular on worship practices. Additionally, it examines rhythmic elements as the most important characteristi… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Block, Tyrone J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Motives, Allusions, and Eclecticism: A Panametric Analysis of the First Movement of Christian Lindberg's Mandrake in the Corner Based on the Method of Jan LaRue

Description: For more than 20 years, Christian Lindberg has been internationally recognized as the premiere trombone soloist of our time. Few, however, are familiar with his compositions. For over ten years, he has composed many solo and ensemble works for trombone. Many prominent musical organizations in the world have performed Lindberg's music, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the University of North Texas Wind Ensemble. Today, Christian Lindberg has commissio… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Underwood, Michael
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Motivic Analysis and Performance Practices of "Akrodha" (1998) by Kevin Volans, including Comparative Analyses of "She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket" (1985) and "Asanga" (1997)

Description: This dissertation presents an analysis of Akrodha (1998), a multiple percussion solo in two movements, composed by Kevin Volans. The analysis is focused on the motivic content and subsequent iterations written within the tempos that provide the structural form of the piece. The structural tempos are supported by the presence of various motifs that serve as the tempos' characteristic traits, thereby giving the tempos more tangibility. As the work develops, these motifs reappear either as note-fo… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Feerst, Timothy A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Motivic and Voice-Leading Coherence in the Improvisations of Saxophonist Chris Cheek

Description: Saxophonist Chris Cheek has been a reference for his work as a sideman with some of the most established jazz artists in the international jazz scene of the last twenty-five years. Despite his importance, there is lack of detail in the available publications about Cheek. The short length and journalistic character of the publications only produce surface descriptions of Cheek's style. There is a need to further describe the melodic elements present in Chris Cheek's style in order to have a bett… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Fraile, Alex
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Motivic development in the piano music of Karl Weigl (1881-1949).

Description: In discussing the music of Karl Weigl (1881-1949), it is essential to estimate the state of research regarding the composer and his professional life. Although a copious account and collection of Weigl's papers exists at Yale University, much contribution in the form of editions, recordings, and scholarly texts is needed. Schooled by Adler, Schoenberg, and Zemlinsky, Weigl graduated from the Musikacademie of Vienna in 1899 with high honors, with later employment in the Vienna Opera as a vocal… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Gray, Justin
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Mozart Flute: Old and New Transcriptions of KV. 10-15

Description: My lecture serves as a critical examination of the Six Sonatas Op. 3, KV. 10-15 by W.A. Mozart. I will engage the variances between the first edition of Op. 3 and those by Joseph Bopp and Louis Moyse edited specifically for the flute in hopes of providing another perspective for students, performers, and pedagogues alike. This study will (1) provide background information regarding the creation of KV. 10-15, (2) include a brief analysis of each sonata, (3) compare adaptions between the first ed… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Potts, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Ann)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Mozartean Gesture and Rhetoric in Hummel's Concerto for Trumpet

Description: Hummel's Concerto for Trumpet (Concerto a Tromba principale) is overtly operatic and is stylistically reminiscent of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Using the methodology of Leonard Ratner and Wye J. Allanbrook, it is possible to explore gesture and rhetoric in Hummel's Concerto for Trumpet and Mozart's Don Giovanni, and achieve a deeper understanding of the stylistic similarities shared between the two works. In the third movement, dance is the most significant link to Don Giovanni. In the second move… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Phillips, Edward
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Multi-percussion Writing of William Kraft in his Encounters Series With Three Recitals of Selected Works of Erb, Ptaszynska, Redel, Serry, and Others

Description: The paper is divided into six chapters. The first two provide a brief summary of the evolution of multiple percussion and biographical information about Kraft. The remaining chapters are an examination of the origin, sound sources, compositional style, and performance problems of the ten Encounters pieces. The paper concludes with several appendices, including a chronological listing of Kraft's compositions which use percussion, a list of percussion equipment and notational symbols used in the … more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Bridwell, Barry D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Multidimensional Polymetric Analysis of Excerpts from the Wind Band Music of Dan Welcher and Yo Gotō

Description: Polymetric writing is an integral technique in contemporary compositional practice. Dan Welcher and Yo Goto are principal employers of this practice in the wind band medium. Their methods endure even the results of modern scholarship showing limited human perception of polyrhythmic events. This dissertation provides a comprehensive metric analysis of excerpts from the music of Welcher and Goto. Five examples are explored from major band works of each of the two composers. The analytical process… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Robinson, David D. (David DeWitt)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Music for Saxophone and Harp: An Investigation of the Development of the Genre with an Annotated Bibliography

Description: In 1937, Gustav Bumcke (1876-1963) composed the Scherzo, op. 67 for alto saxophone and double-action pedal harp. Since then, over 50 duos were written for various members of the saxophone family and the pedal harp, yet most of this repertoire is rarely performed and many artists are not yet aware of it. This document investigates works that are (1) composed for two musicians: a harpist and a saxophonist; (2) intended for the double-action pedal harp; and (3) originally composed for this instru… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Shner, Idit
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Music for Solo Bassoon and Bassoon Quartet by Pulitzer Prize Winners: A Guide to Performance

Description: The Pulitzer Prize in Music has been associated with excellence in American composition since 1943, when it first honored William Schuman for his Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song. In the years that followed, this award has recognized America's most eminent composers, placing many of their works in the standard orchestral, chamber and solo repertoire. Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Walter Piston and Elliott Carter are but a few of the composers who have been honored by this most prestigious … more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Worzbyt, Jason Walter
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Music for the Saxophone Duet Genre: an Annotated Bibliography of Selected Original Music

Description: In 1861, Jerôme Savari (1819-1870) composed Duo for Soprano Saxophone and Alto Saxophone. Since then, more than 400 duets were written, yet many musicians are not aware of this repertoire. The lack of recommended repertoire and insufficient information regarding this genre reduces the use of the saxophone duet in both pedagogical and concert settings. The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of the saxophone duet genre by identifying the standard repertoire and creating an annotat… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Chien, Wei-Lun
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Music of the Spheres: Astronomy and Shamanism in the Music of Urmas Sisask

Description: In 1619, Johannes Kepler published his magnum opus Harmonices mundi in which the astronomer derived distinct pitches and scales for each known planet in the solar system from calculations of various aspects of their orbital motions. This was the first theoretical realization of the ancient tradition of musica universalis (also called musica mundana), or music of the celestial bodies. It was not until the Estonian composer Urmas Sisask (b. 1960) began his compositional career by deriving his o… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Edmonds, David Michael
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Musical Borrowing in the Choral Music of Andrew Rindfleisch

Description: American composer Andrew Rindfleisch (b. 1963) has contributed twenty-one pieces to the repertoire of contemporary choral literature to date. His works have been commissioned, premiered, and recorded by notable choral ensembles and performed in significant venues around the country. Influenced by his own early choral singing experience in his native Wisconsin, much of Rindfleisch’s choral music is infused with influences of the music of earlier composers and choral idioms. With these works, … more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Glann, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Musical Language of Joan Tower: An Energy Line Analysis of Island Prelude for Oboe and Wind Quartet

Description: This dissertation provides an analysis of Island Prelude based on a method of analysis prescribed by the composer. The method, Energy Line Analysis, is essential to an enlightened performance. The content of this dissertation includes: biographical information, compositional influences, Joan Tower style periods, her works involving the oboe in a major role, and an Energy Line Analysis chart of Island Prelude. Island Prelude represents Joan Tower's musical language, the understanding of which … more
Date: December 2001
Creator: Shouha, Laura
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Musical Time and Memory: A Bergsonian Interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in B Minor

Description: This study uses Bergson's concepts of duration and spontaneous (now termed episodic) memory to reveal how musical material in Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in B Minor (1910) turns back on itself in recurring remembrances of its own past, bringing the listener out of ordinary time; a process that mirrors themes both from Rachmaninoff's life, and Arnold Böcklin's Die Heimkehr, the painting that inspired this piece. Time perception slows or even suspends when one reflects on the past, eithe… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Buxton, Robert S.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Musique Concrète Instrumentale in Helmut Lachenmann's "Child's Play" (1980): A Pedagogical Study for Late Intermediate Students

Description: Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann is a German composer of contemporary music. In his 1980 work for piano, Child's Play, Lachenmann develops one of his own signature concepts, musique concrète instrumentale, in which he uses the "standard" (not prepared) piano in non-conventional and innovative ways to explore new sounds and techniques. This dissertation is a pedagogical study that provides a teaching guide for educators who would like to use Child's Play as an introduction to some of the sounds and t… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Kong, Byung Sook
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Mystery of the “Althorn (Alto Horn) Sonata” (1943) by Paul Hindemith

Description: A unique and significant composition, the Althorn Sonata by Paul Hindemith contains several enigmas and anomalies: details about the premiere remain unknown; scored for the alto horn, a band instrument of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the piece seldom finds itself performed on that instrument; although Hindemith composed his instrumental sonatas as composition exercises, for the instruments he intended to use in his large-scale works, his sonata for alto horn marks an unusual… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Hemken, Jennifer Ann
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Mystery of the Chalumeau and Its Historical Significance as Revealed Through Selected Works for Chalumeau or Early Clarinet by Antonio Vivaldi: A Lecture

Description: Factual evidence concerning the ancestry of the clarinet has been a perpetual topic of debate among musicologists and organologists. Scholars have widely agreed that the clarinet, first documented in 1710, emerged from the baroque invention of the chalumeau (invented circa 1690), which in itself was an improvement upon the recorder. Considering the chalumeau's short lifespan as the predominant single reed instrument in the early eighteenth century, the chalumeau inspired a monumental amount of … more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Braun, Lindsay Taylor
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Naples and the Emergence of the Tenor as Hero in Italian Serious Opera

Description: The dwindling supply of castrati created a crisis in the opera world in the early 19th century. Castrati had dominated opera seria throughout the 18th century, but by the early 1800s their numbers were in decline. Impresarios and composers explored two voice types as substitutes for the castrato in male leading roles in serious operas: the contralto and the tenor. The study includes data from 242 serious operas that premiered in Italy between 1800 and 1840, noting the casting of the male leadin… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Ekstrum, Dave
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A National Idiom Universally Understood: Brazilian Tradition and Personal Evolution in Osvaldo Lacerda's "Variações e Fuga para quinteto de sopros"

Description: The career of Osvaldo Lacerda (1927-2011) spanned a critical time in the development of Brazilian nationalist music. Though he was an outspoken nationalist composer, he was also influenced by European trends and training. Even within his nationalist compositions, evidence of a shift in style that mirrors the European movements of Modernism and Postmodernism is found in his works. Among his thirty-six chamber works, three are wind quintets, written between 1962 and 1997. Although all three works… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Leffler, Hannah
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Native American Elements in Piano Repertoire by the Indianist and Present-Day Native American Composers

Description: My paper defines and analyzes the use of Native American elements in classical piano repertoire that has been composed based on Native American tribal melodies, rhythms, and motifs. First, a historical background and survey of scholarly transcriptions of many tribal melodies, in chapter 1, explains the interest generated in American indigenous music by music scholars and composers. Chapter 2 defines and illustrates prominent Native American musical elements. Chapter 3 outlines the timing of sev… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Thomas, Lisa Cheryl
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Navigating Musical Tensions: African American Themes against Western Structure in Florence B. Price's (1887-1953) Piano Sonata in E minor

Description: Florence Price (1887–1953) was one of the most important African American woman composers of the early twentieth century. Price's music is known for combining techniques of Western art music with elements of the African American musical heritage. Although Price composed many works for piano, from large virtuoso pieces to characteristic miniatures, this study will address only her Piano Sonata in E minor. The purpose of this study is to analyze this sonata and discuss her compositional technique… more
Date: December 2021
Creator: Chun, Yeo Hun
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Neglected Clarinet Concerto by Ludwig August Lebrun: A Performing Edition with Critical Commentary: A Lecture Recital, Together with Three Other Recitals

Description: The present study makes available a modern performing edition of an eighteenth-centyry clarinet concerto. Written by the Mannheim oboist and composer Ludwig August Lebrun, the Concerto in B-flat for solo clarinet and orchestra has existed solely as a set of manuscript parts for over 200 years. The following chapters present biographical information on Ludwig August Lebrun as an oboist and composer of the late eighteenth century, the historical background of Lebrun's Concerto in B-flat. a themat… more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Duhaime, Ricky Edward
Partner: UNT Libraries
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