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Sounds Themselves: Intersections of Serialism and Musique Concrète in Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Elektronische Studie I"

In the summer of 1953, Karlheinz Stockhausen began composing his first piece of elektronische Musik at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne. Up to that point, Stockhausen's only experience with electroacoustic music was his time spent at the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française the previous year, where he assisted Pierre Schaeffer and composed a piece of musique concrète. An early case study in the marriage of serial aesthetics and electroacoustic techniques, Studie … more

Date: August 2020

Creator: Huff, David, 1976-

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Jasmine's Secret: Narrative Cantata for Five Solo Voices, Narrator, and Orchestra

Since Jasmine's Secret contains elements of cantata and follows a dramatic story or program, the work may be classified as a narrative or dramatic story or program, the work may be classified as a narrative or dramatic cantata employing five solo voices, narrator and orchestra. This work attempts a revival of these two genres as a combined entity due to the decreased popularity of both cantata and programmatic music in the 20th century.

Date: December 1994

Creator: Alley, Candace P.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Tonality and Harmonic Motion in Copland's Appalachian Spring

In Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland creates a unique tonal environment. Although often considered a tonal work, it contains many non-functional progressions and techniques that belie common-practice norms. The entire first movement, and sections of other movements contain no harmonic motion, in part because tonic and dominant chords sound together as a single sonority. In other movements, harmonic motion, in part because tonic and dominant chords sound together as a single sonority. In other m… more

Date: December 1993

Creator: Rober, Russell Todd

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Ode to the Ninth: the Poetic and Musical Tradition Behind the Finale of Beethoven's Choral Symphony

This study examines the finale of Beethoven's choral symphony and focuses on its inspirations and aims to invoke critical theories involving genre, namely genre's "horizon of expectation", and lead to an enriched perspective that points toward a number of compelling aspects of the Choral Finale overlooked by previous commentators.

Date: May 1992

Creator: Parsons, James, 1956-

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Mahler's Tristan, A Documentary Study of Reception

Conductors are oftern associated with a specific body of work in their repertoy. Gustav Mahler's conducting repertory contained some major Wagnerian works, including Tristan und Isolde. Mahler's first performance of Tristan took place during his tenure at the Stadttheater in Hamburg (1891-1897). It remained an integral part of his repertory through his tenure at the Vienna Hofoper (1897-1907), and was one of eight works he conducted at New York's Metropolitan Opera (1907-1910). This study inclu… more

Date: August 1994

Creator: Stauffer, Kristen K.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Te Deum

Te Deum is a single movement work for chorus and orchestra. It employs an ensemble comprising the complement of string, woodwind, and brass instruments typically available in a small symphony orchestra with an expanded percussion section. The choral forces are in proportional relation to the instrumental forces are in proportional relation to the instrumental forces and it is sung in the original Latin. The intended performance time is approximately 18 minutes. Temporal aspects of the work are … more

Date: May 1994

Creator: Piekarski, James

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Form in Popular Song, 1990-2009

Through an examination of 402 songs that charted in the top 20 of the Billboard year-end charts between the years 1990 and 2009, this dissertation builds upon previous research in form of popular song by addressing the following questions: 1) How might formal sections be identified through melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and text? 2) How do these sections function and relate to one another and to the song as a whole? 3) How do these sections, and the resulting formal structures, relat… more

Date: December 2015

Creator: Ensign, Jeffrey S.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Václav Philomathes’ Musicorum Libri Quattuor (1512): Translation, Commentary, and Contextualization

The Czech-born music theorist, Václav Philomathes, wrote the Musicorum libri quattuor in 1512 while attending the University of Vienna. This didactic treatise became one of the most widely published theory treatise of its time with 26 copies of five editions remaining today and covers the topics of Gregorian chant practice, Solmization, Mensural Notation, Choir Practice and Conducting, and Four-voice Counterpoint. Of particular note, is the section on choir practice and conducting, of which the… more

Date: December 2015

Creator: Iler, Devin

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Algorithmic Music Analysis: a Case Study of a Prelude From David Cope’s “From Darkness, Light”

The use of algorithms in compositional practice has been in use for centuries. With the advent of computers, formalized procedures have become an important part of computer music. David Cope is an American composer that has pioneered systems that make use of artificial intelligence programming techniques. In this dissertation one of David Cope’s compositions that was generated with one of his processes is examined in detail. A general timeline of algorithmic compositional practice is outlined f… more

Date: May 2015

Creator: Krämer, Reiner

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Sneetches

The Sneetches is a theater piece for children based on the Dr. Suess story The Sneetches (Random House, New York, 1961). It is scored for narrator, flute, B6 clarinet, bassoon, violins I & II, viola, and cello with optional staging. The staged version of The Sneetches requires two to six actors/dancers, appropriate scenery and props, and the active participation of children from the audience, preferably ages eight or under. The Sneetches is essentially through-composed. The overall form of the … more

Date: December 1990

Creator: Schneider, Gregory Alan

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Scriabin: A New Theory of Harmony and Structure

The thesis speculates upon the source of Scriabin's pitch selection in several of his atonal works, concluding that Scriabin's "principle" stems from his own "mystic chord," its inversion at the major third, and the transposition of these two chords at the tritone. These four chords share the same invariant harmonic basis, Scriabin's characteristic French-sixth sonority. The quartet of chords combine to form two nine-note scales, each containing as a subset the octatonic scale. The thesis demon… more

Date: December 1991

Creator: McVay, Michael (Michael Jones)

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Guilielmus Revealed: the Coherence, Dating, and Authorship of "De Preceptis Artis Musice"

De preceptis is considered a major source of information on the origins of fauxbourdon, despite its being regarded as a disorganized compilation of multiple authorship, uncertain date, and unknown provenance. Internal cross-reference and writing mannerisms, however, show it to be a compilation of a single author's writings. Comparison of its pedagogical content to that of other theory treatises suggests that it was written c. 1500, not the accepted c. 1480. Evidence also indicates that Guillaum… more

Date: December 1992

Creator: Hamrick, David (David Russell)

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

A.B. Marx's Concept of Rondo and Sonata: A Critical Evaluation of His Explanations of Musical Form

The third volume of A.B. Marx's theory treatise Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition is discussed. His definitions of rondo and sonata formal types are demonstrated in the first chapter in addition to the manner of their derivation through a developmental process originating in the Liedform. Musical examples chosen by Marx are examined in chapter two. These examples, taken from Mozart's and Beethoven's piano works, are evaluated in relation to Marx's definitions of the various types of f… more

Date: July 1993

Creator: Lang, Adelheid K.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Klangfarben, Rhythmic Displacement, and Economy of Means: A Theoretical Study of the Works of Thelonious Monk

The purpose of this study is to investigate the theoretical causes of the stylistic results of both compositions and spontaneous improvisations of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. The specific topics chosen for analysis include Klangfarben (sound colors), rhythmic displacement (the relocation or complete removal of expected rhythmic events), and economy of means (the judicious use of silence, simplicity, and economy). All of the above topics are addressed with regard to the composer's… more

Date: December 1990

Creator: Kteily-O'Sullivan, Laila Rose

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Hailstones and Birdcages for Wind Ensemble

Hailstones and Birdcages is a composition of approximately thirteen minutes' duration and is scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and english horn, three Eb clarinets, E clarinete, bass clarinet, two bassoons, two Eb alto saxophones, Bb tenor saxophone, three Bb trumpets, four F horns, three trombones, euphonium, two tubas, and three percussionists. Four instruments--one each of flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, and trombone--are used in concertante like fashion, and there are prominent solo pa… more

Date: August 1990

Creator: Anderson, Andrew E. (Andrew Edwin)

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Musica Practica of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia: A Critical Translation and Commentary

This dissertation contains the first complete Latin-English translation of one of the most controversial music theory treatises of the fifteenth-century: the Musica Practica (Bologna, 1942) of Bartolomeo Ramos de Pareia. its title as well as its content illustrate the Renaissance transformation from the abstract mathematical approach of "musica speculativa" to that of an emphasis upon the everyday demands of the practicing musician. Although Ramos provides traditional explanations of the modes,… more

Date: May 1992

Creator: Fose, Luanne Eris

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Andrejs Jurjāns as Symbol of Latvian Identity: Native Folk Songs in his Large-Scale Symphonic Works

This thesis presents a study of Andrejs Jurjāns' significant symphonic works as informed by a native musicologist, Professor Jānis Torgāns, and illuminates Jurjāns' role within the cosmopolitan framework of nationalism in music.

Date: December 1997

Creator: Švalbe, Erika Lynn

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Harmony and Structure in Richard Strauss's Macbeth

This study begins with a discussion of step theory. Included in this discussion is the basis of chord succession, the idea of fundamental representation, and the uses of reinterpretation technique. These concepts are then used to demonstrate the continuity and logic of the harmonic language found in Strauss's Macbeth.

Date: August 1996

Creator: Bills, Danny C.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Theory and Practice in the Traditional Chinese Music: Observations and Analysis

Chinese music has one of the longest histories of development of all music cultures of the world. A system of music (theory) was formulated, in its unique way, but is differed fundamentally from its occidental counterpart. The discussion of this thesis focuses on the following two aspects: (1) the observations on those musical and non-musical factors, which had conditioned the course of development of Chinese music and (2) the analysis of selected examples to summarize the tonal structures and … more

Date: December 1994

Creator: Huang, Hsun-Pin

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Paul Hindemith and Neue Sachlichkeit: Zeitoper in the Weimar Republic

The focus of this study will be the impact of Neue Sachlichkeit on Zeitoper, specifically its influence upon Hindemith's operatic output. The purpose of this paper is not to.subject these works to detailed musical analysis, but rather to place Hindemith's Zeitopern in historical perspective, examining how they were influenced by and mirrored the aesthetic atmosphere of the Weimar Republic.

Date: May 1992

Creator: Kresge, Kristine Helene

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Schoenberg, Polyphony, and Mode : A Reception of the Composer's Twelve-tone Method in American Publications, c. 1925-1950

Although Schoenberg viewed his twelve-tone method as an extension of the Germanic musical evolution from Bach to Brahms, one group of writers in America identified twelve-tone antecedents with Medieval and Renaissance polyphony. Such a correlation of Schoenberg's practice with this textural orientation of the past was part of a larger movement (what I term "neopolyphony") recognizing twentieth-century musical developments as the genesis of a polyphonic epoch reviving both the technical and aest… more

Date: August 1995

Creator: Finnegan, Sean Justin

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Harmonic Organization in Aaron Copland's Piano Quartet

This thesis presents an analysis of Copland's first major serial work, the Quartet for Piano and Strings (1950), using pitch-class set theory and tonal analytical techniques.

Date: August 1995

Creator: McGowan, James (James John)

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Tonal Perspectives in the Selected Piano Preludes of Shostakovich (Op.34: nos.1, 3, 6, 14, and 24): an Analytical Study

This study is an investigation of tonal structures in selected preludes of Shostakovich's Op.34. Explanations and analytic perspectives provide support of tonality oriented interpretation for the compositions which often appear to be "atonal." Chapter One is divided into (1) historical perspectives of the prelude as form, and (2) Summary of Shostakovich's life and work. Chapter Two contains a historical background of (1) the development of Shostakovich's compositional styles, emphasizing his ea… more

Date: August 1994

Creator: Lee, Tze Fung Alfred

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Loose Id for Orchestra

Loose Id, scored for orchestra (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, B-flat contrabass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 2 trombones, 1 bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 parts), violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello, and contrabass), is an abstract realization in sound of the energy of the Id. Unleashed, without the counterbalance of Ego or Superego, the Id generates unbridled instinctual energy, resulting in an orgiastic frenzy. … more

Date: August 1996

Creator: Bryant, Steven 1972-

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries