Search Results

open access

An Analysis of Joe Lovano's Tenor Saxophone Improvisation on "Misterioso" by Thelonius Monk: An Exercise in Multi-Dimensional Thematicism

Description: The dissertation focuses on Joe Lovano's utilization of thematic material in relation to "Misterioso" by Thelonius Monk. Thematicism is defined more broadly in this study to include reference to the form, phrase structure, and harmony of "Misterioso". Methodological models provided by Gary Potter, Henry Martin, and Paul Hindemith serve as points of departure for this study which focuses on four areas: 1) phrasing, 2) step progression, 3) motives and formulas, and 4) harmonic implications. Thema… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Dahlke, Andrew Richard
open access

An Analysis of Selected Choral Works by Kirke Mechem: Music-Textual Relationships in Settings of Poetry of Sara Teasdale

Description: Kirke Mechem (b. 1925), American composer, has a musical output which includes a variety of genres, the most prolific being choral music. This document examines selected choral works by Mechem that are set to the poetry of Sara Teasdale (b. 1884, d. 1933). Included are biographical sketches of Mechem and Teasdale. Selected choral works examined include Christmas Carol (1969) SATB and guitar, The Winds of May, five movement choral cycle (1965) SATB, Birds at Dusk, from the choral cycle Wing… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Bierschenk, Jerome Michael
open access

An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Chamber Music For Saxophone, Winds and Percussion with Analyses Of Danses Exotiques by Jean Françaix, and Nonet by Fisher Tull

Description: An expansive repertoire of original chamber works is available for ensembles comprised of saxophone, wind and percussion instruments. Many musicians, including saxophonists and conductors, are unaware of this enormous body of literature. This produces a compelling need for sources of identification available to conductors, performers and teachers. This study begins to provide such a source through the presentation of selected works and the accompanying annotated bibliography. The lack of awaren… more
Date: December 2003
Creator: Fryer, Cheryl A.
open access

An Approach to the Critical Evaluation of Settings of the Poetry of Walt Whitman: Lowell Liebermann's Symphony No. 2

Description: Walt Whitman's poetry continues to inspire composers of choral music, and the growing collection of musical settings necessitates development of a standard evaluative tool. Critical evaluation of the musical settings of Whitman's work is difficult because the extensive body of verse is complex and of uneven quality, and lack of common text among compositions makes comparison problematical. The diversity of musical styles involved further complicates the issue. Previous studies have focused on e… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Kenaston, Karen S.
open access

Cyclic Patterns in John Coltrane's Melodic Vocabulary as Influenced by Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns: An Analysis of Selected Improvisations

Description: This study documents and analyzes cyclic patterns used as melodic vocabulary in John Coltrane's improvisations from compositions of 1965 to 1967. The analysis is categorized in two distinct sections. The first section analyzes melodic vocabulary that is derived from the cycle of descending major thirds progressions found in the compositions of 1959 to 1960. The second section analyzes melodic vocabulary that is derived from Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns using the… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Bair, Jeff
open access

The Early Music Ensemble in 21st Century America

Description: The early music ensemble has evolved from a counterculture to a mainstream musical genre. Because of this early music is having to learn arts management. Once a unique force it now competes with other arts organizations for funding and audience. Unlike other arts groups, early music has little help from within to clarify non-profit management. Through three types of surveys that were e-mailed to 239 early music organizations and 20 early music societies, an assessment of what is currently happe… more
Date: December 2003
Creator: Assid, Tonya

Form, Style, Function and Rhetoric in Gottlob Harrer's Sinfonias: A Case Study in the Early History of the Symphony

Description: Gottlob Harrer (1703-1755) composed at least twenty-seven sinfonias for his patron Count Heinrich von Bruhl in Dresden from 1731-1747, placing them among the earliest concert symphonies written. Harrer's mostly autograph sinfonia manuscripts are significant documents that provide us with a more thorough understanding of musical activities in and around Dresden. Several of the works indicate topical references, including dance, march, and hunt allusions, that comment on the Dresden social occasi… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Rober, Russell Todd
open access

High school string orchestra teacher as a career choice: A survey of 11th- and 12th-grade high school string orchestra students in Texas.

Description: The purpose of this study was to describe 11th- and 12th-grade high school string orchestra students in Texas public schools in terms of their decision to enter the field of string orchestra teaching as a possible career choice or to pursue another field of study. Convenience sampling techniques were used to secure a study population of 1,683 high school string orchestra students. The Junior and Senior High School String Orchestra Student Survey (researcher designed) was used to gather demograp… more
Date: December 2003
Creator: Brumbaugh, Sherron M.
open access

Ignacy Jan Paderewski's Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 21: Insights into his compositional technique and performance style.

Description: The recordings of the legendary pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski are a valuable documentation of his piano performance style. Knowledge of late-Romantic performance practices gleaned from Paderewski's recordings suggest ways of approaching the performance of his Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 21. This Sonata, composed in 1903 near the end of his compositional career, is a work of the highest caliber, deserving a permanent place in the concert pianist's repertoire. The purpose of this paper is to prov… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Nelson, Anne Marie
open access

Jean-Georges Kastner's Traité general d'instrumentation: A Translation and Commentary

Description: Georges Kastner's (b Strasbourg 9 March 1810; d Paris 19 December 1867) Traite général d'instrumentation (1837), an important contribution to instrumentation study, is often overlooked because of its chronological proximity to Berlioz's Grand traité d'instrumentation (1843). Kastner's complete and concise treatise discusses the standard orchestral instruments and several obscure and ancient instruments. Intended principally for young composers, it provides the most detailed descriptions of th… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Woodward, Patricia Jovanna
open access

jn4.gesture: An interactive composition for dance.

Description: jn4.gesture is an interactive multimedia composition for dancer and computer designed to extend the possibilities of artistic expression through the use of contemporary technology. The software produces the audiovisual materials, which are controlled by the movement of the dancer on a custom rug sensor. The software that produces the graphic and sonic material is created using a modular design. During run-time, the software's modules are directed by a scripting language developed to control and… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Holmes, Douglas B.
open access

Journey for Jazz

Description: This written thesis accompanies a 32-minute documentary video, Journey for Jazz, which explores four Korean students who major in jazz at the University of North Texas in Denton. Detailed accounts of the pre-production, production, and post-production of the video guide the reader to understand the challenging and rewarding process of making this documentary. Theoretical issues are also discussed, including Bill Nichols's typology of documentary modes as a useful tool for analysis of hybrid doc… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Ahn, Byungkyu
open access

Latin Mass for Choir, Orchestra, Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano Soloists

Description: The Latin Mass is a musical composition in five movements, scored for large choir, standard orchestra, and two soloists. The movements are the standard parts of the Roman Catholic Mass Ordinary. The language is set mainly in Latin with two exceptions: the Kyrie movement is set in Greek (which is the standard Roman Catholic setting), and the Credo is simultaneously recited in English and sung in Latin. The work is scored using conventional notation techniques and employs rather conservative tech… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Bonneau, Paul G.
open access

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

The Nightingale in Poetry and Music

Description: This thesis surveys a variety of songs and arias for high soprano which feature the nightingale; examines the musical elements that symbolize, refer to, or imitate the nightingale; and compares these musical elements with transcriptions of the nightingale's song. The first chapter reviews the symbolic development of the nightingale and its role in poetry and literature. The interior chapters address a selection of musical compositions that feature the nightingale and its song. The final chapter… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Blizzard, Amy
open access

Now All the Fingers of This Tree

Description: Now All the Fingers of This Tree is a work in two movements based upon a poem of the same name by E. E. Cummings. It is divided into two movements: The first movement is scored for nine part solo soprano, where one performer records each of the nine vocal lines. The second movement is an electro-acoustic work derived from four phrases of the original recording of the first movement. Total duration of the work is approximately 19 minutes. The paper provides a detailed analysis of both movements … more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Wood, Kelly Thomas
open access

Octatonic Pitch Structure and Motivic Organization in George Walker's Canvas for Wind Ensemble, Voices, and Chorus

Description: Canvas was commissioned by the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Consortium in fall 1999 for the CBDNA Biennium National Conference to be held at the University of North Texas in February 2001. This substantial and profound three-movement work is Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker's first work for wind ensemble and is a milestone in wind composition at the turn of the millennium. This analysis considers Walker's sophisticated use of octatonic collections and their s… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Nelson, Ryan

The Piano Variations of Aaron Copland: An Analysis and Study for the Performer.

Description: Aaron Copland has been in the forefront of the American musical scene since the 1920s. He has been called an "American composer" for his ability to formulate the essence of American folk music into a wide variety of mediums. The variety and scope of his compositions encompass a diverse array of styles and techniques. From the jazz influenced works that dominated his early period to the works for Hollywood films, from the chamber music that was directly influenced by his Jewish background to the… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Saun, Rinna M.

Plays of Tennessee Williams as opera: An analysis of the elements of Williams's dramatic style in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke and André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire.

Description: There are two major, well-known operas based on plays of Tennessee Williams. He refused many times throughout his life to give permission for his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, to be set as an opera. It was not until the 1960s that he granted permission for Lee Hoiby to choose any of his plays as a basis for a new opera. Hoiby chose Summer and Smoke, a play which was written at approximately the same time as Streetcar. Lanford Wilson created the libretto for the opera which was given its pre… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: December 2003
Creator: Lee, Kenneth Oneal
open access

The Prayer of Daniel: for flute (with alto flute), clarinet (with bass clarinet), violin, cello, doumbek, percussion, piano, bass-baritone voice, and men's chorus

Description: The Prayer of Daniel is a chamber piece in the style of an oratorio for vocal bass-baritone soloist, flute doubling on alto flute, B flat clarinet doubling on bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion on vibraphone and marimba, doumbek (a middle eastern drum), and men's chorus (TTBB). The approximate duration is thirty minutes. The text comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel, Chapter 9 verses 4 through 19. In these passages the prophet Daniel rends from his heart a prayer of repenta… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Gutierrez, Jason
open access

Rediscovering Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem

Description: Several interpretations in performances, recordings, and publications of Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem raise issues concerning the relationship between these readings and the composer's intention. Understanding Verdi's tempo and phrasing in the Requiem is of crucial importance in rediscovering his intention. Knowing that Verdi's metronome markings were not merely performance suggestions but that they actually reflected his final decision is equally important. Unlike his operas, fast tempos… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Cho, Ick Hyun

Register Unification in Light of Twentieth-Century Vocal Pedagogy

Description: The registers of the singing voice, as commonly understood by singers, refer to the different vocal qualities induced by adjustments at the level of the larynx and of the vocal tract. This explains why register unification can be approached either one or a combination of the following procedures: (1) resonance alignment through vowel modification, (2) register alignment through intensity exercises. The wide-spread acceptance of vowel modification has made singers reluctant in exploring other av… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Tan, Haidee Lynn C.
open access

Robert Schumann's Symphony in D Minor, Op. 120: A Critical Study of Interpretation in the Nineteenth-Century German Symphony

Description: Robert Schumann's D-minor Symphony endured harsh criticism during the second half of the nineteenth century because of misunderstandings regarding his compositional approach to the genre of the symphony; changes in performance practices amplified the problems, leading to charges that Schumann was an inept orchestrator. Editions published by Clara Schumann and Alfred Dörffel as well as performing editions prepared by Woldemar Bargiel and Gustav Mahler reflect ideals of the late nineteenth centur… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Hellner, Jean Marie

Roger Reynolds' Variation (1988): New Concepts of Form and Sound

Description: American composer Roger Reynolds was born on July 18, 1934, in Detroit, Michigan. At age 14, he determined to study piano after hearing a recording of Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat major, Opus 53 played by Vladimir Horowitz. Even though his piano teacher Kenneth Aiken recommended that he continue his study at the Curtis Institute of Music, Reynolds followed the suggestion from his parents that a musical career was not practical. After receiving a bachelor degree of engineering physics at the Un… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: December 2003
Creator: Lee, JooHee
Back to Top of Screen