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Three Ideas, a Collection of Three One-Act (Musical) Plays for Mixed Ensemble

Description: Three Ideas is a collection of three one-act (musical) plays intended to be performed either as a series or as separate pieces. In order for them to be performable in either of those ways, they need some sort of unifying fabric running throughout the collection, yet they must remain individually strong enough to stand alone outside the context of the series and still seem complete. The concepts Tonal and Nagual, Bell's Theorem, and Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind were chosen because of their th… more
Date: August 1986
Creator: Chapman, Davis Howard
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Snow Spell: An Interactive Composition for Erhu, Flute, Piano, Cello, and Max/MSP

Description: Snow Spell is an interactive composition for erhu, flute, cello, piano, and Max/MSP interactive computer music system. This one-movement piece, Snow Spell, is intended to depict the beauty of a snow scene by presenting four different impressions of snow envisioned by the composer through music. The definition, history, and significance of interactive music are explored. Various modes of interactivity to control signal processing modules, and technical considerations for signal routing and level… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Cheng, Chien-Wen
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Dream of a Thousand Keys: A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

Description: Dream of a Thousand Keys is a concerto for piano and orchestra, which consists of four movements presenting multiple dimensional meanings as suggested by the word "key." I trace the derivation of Korean traditional rhythmic cycles and numerical sequences, such as the Fibonacci series, that are used throughout the work, and explore the significant role of space between the soloist and piano that are emphasized in a theatrical aspect of the composition. The essay addresses the question of music… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Choi, Da Jeong
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Symphony No. 1

Description: Symphony No. 1 is an orchestral composition for twenty-four instrumental groups without percussion instruments. It was composed with Algorithmic Composition System software, which gives driving forces for composition to the composer through the diverse compositional methods largely based on physical phenomena. The symphony consists of three movements. It lasts about sixteen minutes and twenty-six seconds--five minutes and twenty-two seconds for the first movement, five minutes and forty seconds… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Choi, Jongmoon
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Last Seven Words

Description: The Last Seven Words is an orchestral piece with double woodwind, double brass, and two sets of timpani. The duration of the work is seventeen minutes. The forty-six pages which precede the musical score present a discussion and an analysis of the composition. The purpose of this project was to provide the composer an opportunity to write an orchestra piece with a single scale and seven rhythmic patterns.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Chong, Lok-Shing
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Wedding Ceremony: Processional, Kyrie, Alleluia!, Hosanna!, Recessional

Description: A Wedding Ceremony is a composition of approximately 17 minutes in duration and is scored for horn in F, two trumpets in B-flat, trombone, two percussionists (timpani, roto toms, chimes, snare, triangle, suspended cymbal), 2-part boys choir, female soprano, and organ. The work consists of five parts of a mass, the Processional, Kyrie, Alleluia!, Hosanna!, and Recessional, with texted sections being taken from the Latin mass. The work is intended for a sacred wedding service of any denomination.… more
Date: May 1998
Creator: Cieminski, Theresa
Partner: UNT Libraries
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RevealingReveilingReveling

Description: This thesis explores the possibilities of communication in the context of a sound composition. In RevealingReveilingReveling, a series of questions concerning communication posed by John Cage, coupled with an extension of those questions posed by myself, are set to recorded sounds-in-the-world. The intention is to create a greater awareness of that which there is to listen in our world. The first part of this essay discusses influences of philosophical thought during the process of composing … more
Date: May 2005
Creator: Colaruotolo, John
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

I, Blavatsky: A One-Act Opera

Description: I, Blavatsky is a one-act opera based on the life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a nineteenth-century Russian princess and co-founder of a religious organization called the Theosophical Society. The libretto, by the composer, involves a cast of three principal soloists and minor roles for six more singers who are also participants in a small chorus. The text format features free verse alternating with regular, rhymed strophes. Accompaniment is provided by a piano. Melodic structure combines some… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Cooper, Steve, 1951 Dec. 4-
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Cēgə Trouhèst

Description: Cēgə Trouhèst is a three-movement work of about thirteen minutes duration. The text by the composer provides a vehicle for aural stimulation only. Cēgə Trouhèst is a continuum of resonances embellished by melodic and rhythmic passages. These embellishments along with other devices and the choice of instrumentation all contribute to the development of the varied timbres. The first two movements introduce the material to be employed in the third, which continues the idea of change exhibited in th… more
Date: May 1976
Creator: Cox, Ronald Arnold
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Animations: A Composition for Percussion and Computer Music on Tape

Description: Animations is a composition in six movements (Fish, Seals, Birds, Cats, Zebras, Snakes) for percussion and computer music on tape. One percussionist performs on various percussion instruments: two suspended cymbals, crotales, triangle, vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, three bongos, snare drum, field drum, large tom-tom, bass drum, kettle drum, temple blocks and vibraslap. The computer music on tape employs sampled sounds in a MIDI sequencing environment. The melodic and harmonic materials for… more
Date: August 1993
Creator: Criswell, Madeleine L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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In Nomine Domini

Description: In Nomine Domini is an eighteen-minute composition for two chamber orchestras with two soloists using real-time interactive signal processing techniques. The first chamber orchestra is scored for flute (piccolo), English horn, trumpet in C, trombone, two percussionists (cowbells, wood blocks, tenor drum, suspended cymbal, gongs, tam-tam, temple blocks, tambourine, snare drum, timbales, and bass drum), horn in F (soloist), viola, and string bass. The second chamber orchestra is scored for oboe, … more
Date: August 1995
Creator: Crowley, Timothy R. (Timothy Robert)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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General Process in the Creation of Estruendos and Principal Structural Elements of the Composition

Description: My composition, Estruendos, is a work for large symphonic orchestra, guitar and computer-generated and processed sounds on CD. The work lasts 23 minutes and 45 seconds. My dissertation is composed of two parts: Part One comprises the analysis and Part Two comprises the score. Part One gives a brief background of my compositional dialect and aesthetics. It also includes a discussion of the compositional process and general overview of Estruendos. In addition, it illustrates the primary role the … more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Cuellar Camargo, Lucio Edilberto
Partner: UNT Libraries
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"Natural Disasters"

Description: "Natural Disasters" is a cycle of five extractable movements for septet, conductor and computer. Each movement in the cycle is inspired by the ways that humans are affected by and respond to five different classes or categories of natural disasters: meteorological, such as hurricanes, tornados, and haboobs; geological, like earthquakes and landslides; hydrological, including flooding and sea level rise; wildfires; and extra-planetary disasters such as meteors and solar flares. The disaster type… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Davidson, Clayton Simmons
Partner: UNT Libraries
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S'I' Fosse Foco, Arderei'l Mondo

Description: The dissertation is recorded computer music. It has a duration of fourteen minutes and fifty seven seconds. The source sound material is a reading of a sonnet of the same name by thirteenth century Sienese poet Cecco Angiolieri. It utilizes Linear Predictive Coding and Short-time-fourier synthesis in addition to postprocessing by spatialization and digital filtering. The discussion of the piece includes an explanation of the synthesis techniques, the pitch manipulation algorithms and the progra… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: De Lisa, Eugene, 1957-
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Cosmophonia: Musical Expressions of Astronomy and Cosmology

Description: Astronomy and music are both fundamental to cultural identity in the form of various musical styles and calendrical systems. However, since both are governed by incontrovertible laws of physics and therefore precede cultural interpretation, they are potentially useful for insight into the common ground of a shared humanity. This paper discusses three compositions inspired by different aspects of astronomy: Solstitium e Equinoctium, a site-specific composition for four voices and metal pipes inv… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: DiFalco, Elaine
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Violetting Through August’s End (Or the Sunset in Water, the Carillon-chime in Square): an Original Chamber Opera and a Critical Essay on the Trajectory of American Minimalist Opera

Description: When the dust settles, John Adams’s Nixon in China and Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach may stand as the most important operas of the latter twentieth century. The critical essay portion of this thesis examines the trajectory of minimalist opera, from its beginnings with Glass’s Einstein on the Beach through the more romantic operas of John Adams, Steve Reich’s multimedia opera The Cave, David Lang’s musical-influenced The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, and finally the post-minimalist oper… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Doyle, James Joseph
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Characterizing Noise and Harmonicity: The Structural Function of Contrasting Sonic Components in Electronic Composition

Description: This dissertation examines the role of noise in shaping the form of several recent musical compositions. This study demonstrates how the contrast of noisy sounds and harmonic sounds can impact the structure of compositions. Depending on context, however, the specific use and function of noise can vary substantially from one work to the next. The first portion of this paper describes methods for quantifying noise content using FFT analysis procedures. A number of tests on instrumental and synthe… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Dribus, John Alexander
Partner: UNT Libraries
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New York City: A Collage of Cultures

Description: New York City: A Collage of Cultures is a single-movement programmatic orchestral work that features polytonality, prallelism, sound-mass, micro-tones, polychordal rhythmic ostinato, neo-impressionism, and folk themes and anthems from sundry cultures and nationalities. The simultaneity of contextual material at one point necessitates the employment of three conductors. The composition portrays America as a "melting pot" through its busiest immigration center, itself a microcosm of diverse inter… more
Date: May 1977
Creator: Drozin, Garth M. (Garth Matthew).
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Iconographs For Microcomputer and Chamber Orchestra

Description: Iconographs is such a composition in which mathematical techniques are brought to bear. Nine separate number series have been generated and carried out to 1024 units. These series are combined by addition to calculate a single number by taking the remainder after dividing the sum of the series by nine. This mod 9 reduction is used to choose a set of pitches. Iconographs is a composition for microcomputer and chamber orchestra written in proportional notation with 1024 time segments grouped into… more
Date: May 1982
Creator: Elliott, Don A. (Don Allen)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Promulgation An Original Musical Composition for Chamber Orchestra and Computer

Description: Promulgation is an interactive composition in which the orchestra and computer communicate through musical motives contained in the Command Motive Score. The musical content as well as the highly organized aleatoric environment is controlled by a system of probabilities. The orchestra is divided into four ensembles of dissimilar instrumentation. The music consists of several scores that are performed different ways. The first score is the Command Motive Score performed by the computer. The seco… more
Date: August 1981
Creator: Ensey, Robert W. (Robert Walton)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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La Primavera: Concertino for English Horn and Chamber Orchestra

Description: La Primavera: Concertino for English Horn and Chamber Orchestra is a work in a traditional chamber orchestra instrumentation: single woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon), two French horns, trumpet, timpani and strings. A through-composed work of 14 minutes in duration, the Concertino is conceptually based on the idea that spring is not the first of the seasons, but rather the last. As a result, all of its motivic materials are organically linked to one another, and function as paired… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Esperilla Garcia, Efrain Ernesto
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Replenishment: A Musical Narrative Inspired by Sleep

Description: The Replenishment cycle contains five works that allude to the experience of sleep, beginning with awake drowsiness and ending with the piece inspired by rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, titled Conceiving Realities. This last piece is an intermedia work composed for chamber ensemble, live painting with biofeedback, computer, and audiovisual processing. This critical essay describes the composition of Conceiving Realities within the context of the Replenishment cycle, followed by a thorough analy… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Espinel, Miguel Angel
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Nothingness of Presence: Sound, Ritual, and Encounter in the Music of Into Your Hands

Description: The ritual music written for the Compline service of the Liturgy of the Hours, Into Your Hands, is analyzed using an ontological and phenomenological approach, which seeks to answer how such sound/musical phenomena wed to the specific ritual dynamics of Compline in their own right can create a potential for encounter with the Divine. The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber’s understanding of encounter is used to show that the sound/musical phenomena in itself bears similarities with the nature of t… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Evans, Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Light, for Two Narrators and Chamber Ensemble

Description: The Light is a twenty-four minute composition for two narrators and chamber orchestra. The two narrators perform the roles of the Apostle John and Moses. After an overview of the piece and a brief history of pieces incorporating narrators, the essay focuses on my compositional process, describing how orchestration, drama, motive, and structure work together in the piece. The Light is organized as a series of five related scenes. In the first scene, God creates light. In the second scene, God p… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Feezell, Mark Brandon
Partner: UNT Libraries
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