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open access

161 Glass: Site Specific Music in an Artistic Context

Description: The composition 161 Glass is a 17-minute musical work with percussion, wind and brass instruments in which the intersection of mid-century architecture, and the art and culture of a dynamic city are inextricably linked. Through this paper, I explore the process of composing a musical work in relationship to the significance of site specific context. The paper begins by defining the concept of site specific art works; then reviews the discourse of the intersection of art, music and architecture.… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Rusnak, Christina S.
open access

The 1896 Vienna Tonkünstler-verein Competition: the Three Award-winning Works and Seven Anonymous Submissions with Clarinet

Description: The Vienna Tonkünstler-Verein (1885-1929) was established for the sole purpose of providing extensive support to the music and musicians of Vienna. The society became renowned in Vienna for its outstanding performances of chamber music and counted among its members many of the city’s foremost musicians and composers. Johannes Brahms had a significant influence on the society as its honorary president and assisted in establishing its composition competitions, aimed at promoting and reviving unde… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Harrell, Andrea
open access

The 1986 National Endowment for the Arts Commission: An Introspective Analysis of Two Marimba Works

Description: The marimba is rapidly achieving greater importance as a solo percussion instrument. Solo compositions for the marimba have been commissioned and performed only in the last sixty years. The 1986 National Endowment for the Arts Solo Marimba Commission is considered one of the most important commissioning projects in the history of marimba literature. Two compositions created through this project, Velocities by Joseph Schwantner and Reflections on the Nature of Water by Jacob Druckman have bec… more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Fang, I-Jen
open access

D. A. Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning: Implications for the Development of Music Theory Instructional Material

Description: This research project evaluates the effectiveness of specific music theory instructional strategies in terms of D. A. Kolb’s theory of experiential learning and Kolb’s typology of individual learning style. The project provides an original methodology for the adaptation of music theory instructional material to the individual learning style types described in Kolb’s typology. The study compares the relative effectiveness of two music theory instructional sequences, one of which is adapted for a… more
Date: August 2001
Creator: Lively, Michael
open access

Accessibility and Authenticity in Julia Smith's Cynthia Parker

Description: In 1939, composer Julia Smith's first opera Cynthia Parker dramatized the story of a Texas legend. Smith manipulated music, text, and visual images to make the opera accessible for the audience in accordance with compositional and institutional practices in American opera of the 1930s. Transparent musical themes and common Native Americans stereotypes are used to define characters. Folk music is presented as diegetic, creating a sense of authenticity that places the audience into the opera's We… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Buehner, Katie R.
open access

The Adagio of Mahler's Ninth Symphony: A Schenkerian Analysis and Examination of the Farewell Story

Description: Mahler's Ninth Symphony, since its premier in 1912, has sparked much debate about its programmatic meaning. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the Adagio and an examination of the controversy of the farewell story. In the process of the analysis I have compared my findings to some of the important authors in Mahler's field such as Vera Micznik, Henry-Louis de La Grange, and Christopher Orlo Lewis. Some of the conclusions are that a closer investigation of the music is necessary and th… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Patterson, Jason, 1982-
open access

Addition, Omission and Revision: the Stylistic Changes Made to Zehn Variationen über ein Präludium von Chopin by Ferruccio Busoni

Description: This study examines what Busoni meant by "formal deficiencies" when he described his 1884 version of Chopin Variations, and reveals that changes made to the 1884 version during its process of revision in 1922 correct the "formal deficiencies" and show a fundamental change in Busoni's compositional style and perception of musical motion. Including a detailed analysis of the modifications, omissions, and additions made to the 1922 version (including an examination of the Chopin Prelude in C minor… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Yoon, Soomee
open access

Aesthetic and Technical Analysis on Soar!

Description: Soar! is a musical composition written for wind ensemble and computer music. The total duration of the work is approximately 10 minutes. Flocking behavior of migratory birds serves as the most prominent influence on the imagery and local structure of the composition. The cyclical nature of the birds' journey inspires palindromic designs in the temporal domain. Aesthetically, Soar! portrays the fluid shapes of the flocks with numerous grains in the sounds. This effect is achieved by giving indiv… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Wang, Hsiao-Lan
open access

Aesthetic Models and Structural Features in Concerto for Solo Percussion and Concert Band

Description: Concerto for Solo Percussion and Concert Band was commissioned by Staff Sergeant Rone Sparrow, a percussionist with the West Point Military Academy Band. Funding for the project was provided by the Barlow Foundation. The piece was premiered April 13, 2005 in the Eisenhower Hall Theater at West Point, New York. Rone Sparrow performed with the USMA band, and Colonel Thomas Rotondi Jr., Commander/Conductor, conducted the piece. The concerto consists of three movements, and each movement featur… more
Date: December 2005
Creator: Anderson, Stephen Reg
open access

The Aesthetics of Minimalist Music and a Schenkerian-Oriented Analysis of the First Movement "Opening" of Philip Glass' Glassworks

Description: Philip Glass' Glassworks (1981) is a six-movement composition for two flutes, two soprano saxophones/clarinets, two tenor saxophones/bass clarinets, two French horns, violas, cellos, and the DX7 electric piano. Glassworks consists of six movements titled "Opening," "Floe," "Island," "Rubric," "Facades," and "Closing." This thesis covers the first movement "Opening." Repetition in musical minimalism confronts traditional prescriptive codes of tonal music and post-tonal music. While challenging… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Wu, Chia-Ying (Charles)
open access

Alberto Ginastera and the Guitar Chord: An Analytical Study

Description: The guitar chord (a sonority based on the open strings of the guitar) is one of Alberto Ginastera's compositional trademarks. The use of the guitar chord expands throughout forty years, creating a common link between different compositional stages and techniques. Chapters I and II provide the historical and technical background on Ginastera's life, oeuvre and scholar research. Chapter IV explores the origins of the guitar chord and compares it to similar specific sonorities used by different co… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Gaviria, Carlos A.
open access

Alberto Grau: The Composer, Selected Works, and Influence upon the Venezuelan and International Choral Community

Description: Alberto Grau is arguably one of the most influential contemporary Venezuelan choral composers and conductors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This thesis explores the synthesis of Venezuelan nationalism with global internationalism found within his works. As a student of the nationalistic generation of composers (Vicente Emilio Sojo, Juan Bautista Plaza, and Ángel Sauce) Grau's works display the distinct characteristics found in Venezuelan music. His output also exhibits internation… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Yu, Julie
open access

Alec Wilder's music for marimba: a performance guide, a lecture recital, together with three recitals of selected works of G. Stout, N. Zivkovic, D. Erb, W. Kraft, K. Abe, W. Penn and others

Description: The intent of this dissertation is to provide a reference guide for any prospective performer of Alec Wilder's four works for marimba: Suite for Solo Guitar (1976), Suite for Trumpet and Marimba (1977), Suite for Flute and Marimba (1977), and Sextet for Marimba and Wind Quintet (1977). The first part of the dissertation provides background information pertaining to Wilder himself, the works for marimba, and theoretical aspects of Wilder's music. The second part addresses specific performance pr… more
Date: May 1999
Creator: Waldrop, Michael Van

Alexander Johnson's Ni' Concerto (1994) - Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra: a Discussion of Influences from Africa, Eastern and Western Europe

Description: In the new generation of artists emerging in South Africa, Alexander Johnson is considered the most prolific young composer of his day. In a recent review in the Pretoria News, Johnson has been praised by eminent critic Paul Boekkooi as a composer who has “an ear for the exotic and knows exactly how to bring it off....” He continued by noting that his music is “mentally engrossing, pleasurable to the senses and seems refreshingly free from dogmatic formulas." Johnson writes for musicians and th… more
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Date: August 2001
Creator: Malan, Petronel
open access

Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915): Piano Miniature as Chronicle of his Creative Evolution; Complexity of Interpretive Approach and its Implications.

Description: Scriabin's piano miniatures are ideal for the study of evolution of his style, which underwent an extreme transformation. They present heavily concentrated idioms and structural procedures within concise form, therefore making it more accessible to grasp the quintessence of the composer's thought. A plethora of studies often reviews isolated genres or periods of Scriabin's legacy, making it impossible to reveal important general tendencies and inner relationships between his pieces. While expa… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Sukhina, Nataliya
open access

Alfredo Casella's Serenata, op. 46, A Performance Guide for the Ensemble and Trumpet Part

Description: Alfredo Casella's Serenata, op. 46 for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin and cello is a composition that received great acclaim at the time of its conception, it is all but unknown to modern audiences and performers. The Serenata has several historical influences from the French and Italian Baroque and Classical periods. At present, there is limited scholarship regarding the Serenata op. 46. The first section of this study presents a survey of historical information, current literature and met… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Walker, Brian Matthew
open access

American Choral Music in Late 19th Century New Haven: The Gounod and New Haven Oratorio Societies

Description: This study examines two of the smaller American choral societies that together existed for just over 30 years, 1888 to 1919: The Gounod and New Haven Oratorio Societies of New Haven, Connecticut. These societies are important because, especially in the case of the New Haven Society, they were closely related to Yale University and the work of Horatio Parker. One must assume from the onset that the two choral groups examined in the following pages did not have the prominence of the many larger… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Clark, R. Andrew
open access

The American Trumpet Sonata in the 1950s: An Analytical and Sociohistorical Discussion of Trumpet Sonatas by George Antheil, Kent Kennan, Halsey Stevens, and Burnet Tuthill.

Description: The trumpet, or some ancestral form of the trumpet, has existed nearly as long as civilization itself. Despite its long history, however, the trumpet's solo repertoire remained limited and relatively unvaried until the second half of the twentieth century. Like most music, the American trumpet sonatas from the 1950s are a reflection of the culture and history surrounding their composition. The purpose of this research is to show how the trumpet sonatas by George Antheil, Kent Kennan, Halsey Ste… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Dearden, Jennifer Lorien
open access

An Analysis and Comparison of Four Rotations Pour Marimba, A Solo Marimba Suite, by Eric Sammut

Description: Four Rotations Pour Marimba (1996) by Eric Sammut has become one of the most important marimba compositions in serious concert solo marimba literature. Four Rotations Pour Marimba is a suite of four short pieces; each of them demonstrates a different musical character while incorporating similar compositional components and techniques. The goal of this thesis project is to create a stylistic analysis for providing the concert marimbist with insight into the interpretation of these four pieces … more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Suen, Ming-Jen
open access

An Analysis and Performance Guide to William Lovelock's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra

Description: This paper investigates the usage of traditional compositional techniques on Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by William Lovelock. (1899-1986) Like many other twentieth-century composers for trumpet Lovelock wrote in a romantic style using traditional forms. As a composer, Lovelock is largely under-appreciated. This paper explains Lovelock's compositional techniques and provides performers with a guide to help prepare the piece for performance.
Date: December 2008
Creator: Place, Logan
open access

An Analysis for Performance of Les Nuits d’été by Hector Berlioz, Opus 7

Description: This paper analyzes Hector Berlioz's song cycle Les Nuits d’été, Opus 7, for the purpose of performance. Along with musical analysis, Anna Ruth Stone also provides background about the poet Théophile Gautier and describes the appeal of the Berlioz's song cycle.
Date: August 1979
Creator: Stone, Anna Ruth
open access

Analysis for Performance of the Song Cycle Songs of Travel, by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Description: This paper analyzes Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel and asserts that the songs are a song cycle rather than just a collection of songs set to to the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson. Richard Porter Cole performs a musical and poetic analysis of the songs and makes suggestions to aid performers of the piece.
Date: May 1977
Creator: Cole, Richard Porter
open access

Analysis of Darius Milhaud's La Creation Du Monde

Description: Darius Milhaud was born on September 4, 1892, to a Jewish family in Aix-en-Provence in the South of France. This study provide analysis of Darius Milhaud's work, entitled La Creation Du Monde.
Date: December 1971
Creator: Salord, Yves C.
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