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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

"Between the Staves" - Adaptations of Debussy's Six épigraphes antiques and Creative Tasks of the Performer

Description: The Six épigraphes antiques represent a cross-section of Debussy's creative output that traces the composer's germ-seed from his original setting of the work in 1901 as incidental music to accompany the recitation of several poems, to the four-hand piano version of 1914, and its consequent reduction for solo piano. What can be gleaned by the methods of derivation from his original sketches to the final, mature works is an understanding of Debussy's use of musical metaphor and his connection to … more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Astilla, Christopher
open access

An examination of music for trumpet and marimba and the Wilder Duo with analyses of three selected works by Gordon Stout, Paul Turok, and Alec Wilder.

Description: This document discusses the relationship between trumpet and percussion over the past centuries, the development of music for trumpet and percussion ensembles, trumpet and percussion in twentieth-century chamber music and the creation of music for trumpet and marimba. A listing of all known trumpet and percussion duos is included. An exploration of the development of the Wilder Duo and a listing of all known trumpet and marimba duos is also included. There are analyses of works by Gordon Stout,… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Foster, Christopher C.
open access

Finding the "Indian" in Amy Beach's Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, op. 80.

Description: Music that is categorized as part of the Indianist movement in American music (ca. 1890-1925) typically evokes Native American culture, ritual, story, or song through compositional gestures. It may also incorporate Native American tunes. Amy Beach (1867-1944) is considered to have composed five Indianist works, but her Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, op. 80 has not been included as one of them. This thesis rethinks categorization of the piece, seeking the "Indian" in it throu… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Burgess, Stephanie J.
open access

The Influence of Jazz on the Solo Trumpet Compositions of Eugène Bozza

Description: This paper investigates the influence of jazz on the nine solo trumpet compositions of the French composer Eugène Bozza (1905-1991). Bozza, like many other French composers in the first half of the 20th century, combines traditional elements of western European art music with innovations of American popular music. While Bozza holds a prominent role as a composer of solo trumpet literature in the mid-20th century, little has been written about the influence of jazz in his works. This paper tra… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Dovel, Jason
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
open access

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
open access

"Schattenhaft" in Mahler's Seventh and Ninth Symphonies: An Examination of a Passage in Adorno's Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy

Description: The expressive marking "schattenhaft" appears twice in Gustav Mahler's symphonies: at the beginning of the scherzo in the Seventh and within the first movement of the Ninth. Theodor Adorno's observations regarding Mahler's use of this marking, which connect it to Schopenhauer and Romantic aesthetics, provide the framework for an examination of possible meanings of these two passages in Mahler. Drawing also on references elsewhere in Adorno's book to stylistic and formal features peculiar to Mah… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Houser, Krista Lea
open access

A Scientific Characterization of Trumpet Mouthpiece Forces in the Context of Pedagogical Brass Literature

Description: Embouchure dysfunctions, including those from acute injury to the obicularis oris muscle, represent potential and serious occupational health problems for trumpeters. Forces generated between the mouthpiece and lips, generally a result of how a trumpeter plays, are believed to be the origin for such problems. In response to insights gained from new technologies that are currently being used to measure mouthpiece forces, belief systems and teaching methodologies may need to change in order to re… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Ford, James
open access

Trios of Simon A. Sargon including horn.

Description: This document focuses on the formal structures and tonal language of four trios that include horn by American composer Simon A. Sargon: "Huntsman, What Quarry?" Two Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay for Soprano, Horn, and Piano (1990); Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano: "The Legacy" (1993); A Clear Midnight: Six Songs Set to Poems of Walt Whitman for Baritone, Horn, and Piano (1996); and Sonic Portals: Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano (2003). Comparisons with precedent works of like instrument… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Harcrow, Michael A.
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