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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

And Drops of Rain Fall Like Tears: A Composition for Electroacoustic Music and Video

Description: And Drops of Rain Fall Like Tears is a composition for electroacoustic music with an optional ambient video component. The composition consists of a single movement electroacoustic work twenty-two minutes in duration. The piece creates an immersive sonic environment within the confines of a typical concert space, thereby recreating the powerful temper and subtle beauty of nature from different sonic perspectives. The paper is divided into four chapters, each discussing an element of the piece … more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Thompson, Michael Allen
open access

Augeries, for Flute, Clarinet, Percussion and Tape: Aesthetic Discussion and Theoretical Analysis

Description: Augeries is a multi-channel electro-acoustic composition for flute, clarinet, percussion, and tape. It is intended to be diffused through an 8-channnel playback system. Inspired by the first four lines of William Blake's Augeries of Innocence, Augeries captures the qualitative aspects of Blake's poetry by presenting the listener with an equally aperspectival aesthetic experience. The small-scale structure reflected on the large-scale form - the infusion of vastness and expansiveness into the fr… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Gedosh, David
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-
open access

Breakdown

Description: Breakdown is a 17 minute, single movement work for orchestra in five sections. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 Bb trumpets, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, piano, and strings. The percussion consists of a tam-tam, 5 break drums, 4 timbales, 2 gourds, chimes, marimba, vibraphone, snare drum, 2 field drums, bass drum and tympani. The inspiration for this work is the poetry of Bruce Weigl which deals with many facets of the Vietnam experience. One par… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Kappaz, Philip C., 1956-
open access

Capriccio: A Composition for Symphonic Orchestra

Description: A body of works titled 'capriccio' have existed for over four hundred years. Most of these works are characterized by a composers abandonment of expected stylistic norms. Guided only by the fanciful whim of the composer, a capriccio exhibits extreme contrasts in the various parameters of a musical composition including melody, harmony, counterpoint, mood and texture. The composition embedded in these compositional parameters as its point of departure and development.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Walczyk, Kevin, 1964-
open access

Cenotaph: A Composition for Computer-Generated Sound

Description: Cenotaph is a work of fifteen minutes duration for solo tape realized on the Synclavier Digital Music System at the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia. All of the sound materials in the work consist of resynthesized timbres derived from the analysis of digital recordings of seven different human voices, each speaking the last name of one of the Challenger astronauts. The work's harmonic resources are derived in a unique way involving partitioning of the octave by powers of the Golden … more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Rogers, Rowell S. (Rowell Seldon)
open access

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
open access

Concertino for Orchestra

Description: Concertino consists of two movements, Paean and Dithyramb, either of which may be performed independently. Paean, a work of calm and majestic intensity, is characterized by a rhythmic pulse which is more consistently regular than that of the Dithyramb. Its three major sections form an arch, the final measures (mm. 87-95) returning to the material of the opening (mm. 1-14). The first section begins quietly, Maestoso ma sostenuto, in a very slow tempo. The activity and intensity increase until a … more
Date: August 1984
Creator: Schimmel, David M.
open access

The Creative Process in Cross-Influential Composition

Description: This dissertation describes a compositional model rooted in cross-influential methodology between complementary musical compositions that share generative source material. In their simultaneous construction, two composition pairs presented challenges that influenced and mediated the other's development with respect to timbre, transposition, pitch material, effects processing, and form. A working prototype first provides a model that is later developed. The first work Thema is for piano alone, a… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Anderson, Jonathan Douglas
open access

Cultural and Technical Perspectives on Winter Landscape

Description: Winter Landscape is an interactive composition for erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle), flute, piano, and Max/MSP interactive computer music system. The total duration of the piece is approximately 15 minutes. Winter Landscape serves to demonstrate one particular approach to exploring the possibilities afforded in an interactive paradigm within a cross-cultural context. The work is intended to convey my personality and identity as a contemporary Chinese composer through diverse cultural and musi… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Wang, Jing

A Different Drummer: A Chamber Opera

Description: A Different Drummer is a chamber opera adaptation of Donald Davis's story "A Different Drummer" from his collection Listening for the Crack of Dawn, published by August House. The opera lasts about seventy minutes, and calls for a cast of three and an orchestra of sixteen players. It contains a prologue, epilogue and four scenes in a single act. The score is prefaced by a paper describing the musical strategies employed in setting the story as an opera. Three chapters describe the adaptation f… more
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Date: May 1999
Creator: Friedman, Arnold Jacob
open access

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
open access

Earth Ascending: A Composition in Three Movements for Female Voice, Electroacoustic Music, and Video

Description: Earth Ascending is a composition in three movements scored for female voice, electroacoustic music, and video. Composed in the Year 2000, Earth Ascending lasts approximately sixteen minutes and was created specifically for live performance in which all three elements combine to create a sonic and visual environment. As such, no single element has greater importance than any other, with each of the three performing forces assuming a foreground role at various times throughout the work. Earth Asc… more
Date: August 2000
Creator: Lillios, Elainie
open access

Elatio: Praises and Prophecies

Description: ELATIO: Praises and Prophecies is an allegorical composition based upon a collection of carols, poetry and prose in selected verses, phrases and fragments from medieval Christian liturgy, the canonical Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament, and portions of various non-canonical Dead Sea Scroll texts. The languages used in the selections presented here are English, Medieval Latin, and transliterated Biblical Hebrew.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Job, Lynn R. (Lynn Renee)
open access

Fidget, Sway, and Swerve: Three Works Inspired By Movement From the Intricate Maneuvers Series

Description: Intricate Maneuvers is a series of musical works that were composed using movement as a model for compositional processes and forms. This essay presents in-depth analyses of three works from the series; Fidget, Sway: The Mildest Form of Falling, and Swerve for Chamber Ensemble. The analysis of each work highlights correlations between the musical characteristics of that work and the temporal, spatial, contextual, and psychological implications of the motion after which it was modeled. The third… more
Date: December 2012
Creator: Summar, Sarah Page
open access

Five Soundscapes for Acoustic Instruments and Taped Computer Music

Description: Inspired by Chinese poems, the overall characteristics of the work reflect the assimilation of several non-Western musical and philosophical influences such as the use of pentatonic scale patterns, the principle of embellishing a single note, and the application of the I-Ching in dealing with active instrumental passages over a long-sustained computer music drone. Traditional Western compositional techniques such as aleatory counterpoint, serialism, and moment form are also employed in the trea… more
Date: August 1998
Creator: Tseng, Yu-Chung, 1960-
open access

Galileo's Eyeglass: An Orchestral Work Celebrating the Discovery of the Moons of Jupiter and the Rings of Saturn

Description: Galileo's Eyeglass is a celebratory work for full orchestra with standard instrumentation commemorating Galileo Galilei's discoveries of the four largest moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn in 1610. The composition is approximately 14 minutes in duration, and although divided thematically into four parts, the music is continuous. The work exhibits primarily a blend of contemporary styles and compositional elements, yet it is rooted in traditional tonality; furthermore, the piece is inter… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Walls, Jay Alan
open access

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
open access

The Heidegger Collection

Description: The dissertation consists of two parts: (1) the essay and (2) the composition. The essay elucidates the composer's creative process of the orchestral works, The Heidegger Collection. The Heidegger Collection has five movements. The titles of each movement are derived from the key philosophical concepts from Heidegger's most significant writing, Being and Time: (1) State-of-Mind, (2) Idle-Talk, (3) Moment-of-Vision, (4) Dread, and (5) Being-towards-the-End. The essay discusses the meanings of t… more
Date: August 2000
Creator: Lin, Tung-Lung
open access

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)
open access

Images of Remembered Earth

Description: Images of Remembered Earth is a musical composition scored for full orchestra. The composition was inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's painting, Light Coming on the Plains I (1917), which depicts a sunrise over a flat and empty landscape. In the painting, the expanse of the sun's rays is expressed through an even-blended transformation of color from goldish-blue at the light's source to progressively darker shades of blue near the edges of the canvas. The progression of color is interrupted by thi… more
Date: May 2000
Creator: Floyd, James Michael
open access

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)
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