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Áskell Másson’s Solos for Snare Drum: Maximizing Musical Expression Through Varying Compositional Techniques and Experimentation in Timbre

Description: This dissertation and accompanying lecture recital explores the musical elements present in Áskell Másson’s three solos for snare drum, PRÍM (1984), KÍM (2001) and B2B: Back to Basics (2010). Two of the primary challenges for the performer when playing solo literature on a non-pitch oriented instrument are identifying thematic structures and understanding how to interpret all innovative sound production techniques employed within the music. A thematic and compositional analysis, as well as an i… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: O’Neal, John Micheal
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The “Avant-pop” Style of Jacob Ter Veldhuis: Annotated Bibliography of Boombox Pieces with an Analysis of “Pimpin’” for Baritone Saxophone and Boombox

Description: JacobTV has spent over thirty years utilizing his interest in American pop culture as the muse upon which he creates his works. Sources of popular culture including commercials, television evangelists, political speeches, interviews, and urban pop songs have earned him the title of the “Andy Warhol of new music.” His contributions to classical music are significant and include works for solo instruments and voice, chamber ensembles, and large ensembles. This study serves as an annotated bibliog… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Roberts, Sarah L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Bass Clarinetist’s Pedagogical Guide to Excerpts From the Wind Band Literature

Description: Student clarinet performers often encounter bass clarinet for the first time in a high school or university wind ensemble, so it is logical for clarinet pedagogues to encourage and assist their students in learning this wind band literature. In addition to becoming familiar with this oft performed repertoire, students will develop a set of specialized bass clarinet skills that one cannot learn on soprano clarinet. These skills include increased air capacity and support, timbre consistency in di… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Bland, Britni Cheyenne
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Collaborative Crossover: Identifying Classical Vocal Collaborative Piano Practices in Jazz Vocal Accompanying

Description: Classical vocal collaborative piano and jazz vocal accompaniment are well-established fields with long-standing performance traditions. Classical collaborative performance practices have been researched and codified, but jazz accompanying practices largely remain in the domain of aural tradition. Both classical and jazz accompaniment share associated practices, such as rubato, transposition, and attention to lyric diction and inflection, but there is little previous investigation into the idea … more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Morgenroth, David Jonathan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Comparative Analysis of Slovakian Folk Elements From Béla Bartók’s for Children in Paul Schoenfield’s Slovakian Children’s Songs

Description: Paul Schoenfield’s Slovakian Children’s Songs for flute and piano is a unique work in the flute repertoire, incorporating Slovakian folk quotes from Béla Bartók’s For Children (Volume II, Based on Slovakian Folk Tunes) with layers of Slovakian folk elements used in the overall texture. The primary objective of this dissertation is to expand the limited resources available to flutists regarding Slovakian Children’s Songs. Detailed comparative analysis will demonstrate both Paul Schoenfield’s use… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Son, Kristyn Hyun
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Critical Study of Two Piano Transcriptions by August Stradal and the Transcriptions’ Sources: Alterations to the Score Based on Historical Evidence and Artistic Judgment

Description: The fact that a number of pianists of the past two centuries adapted, embellished, and rearranged piano works for performance, be these original works or transcriptions, has been well documented throughout history. This thought, in addition to the fact that Stradal’s scores needed revision, encouraged me to make alterations to Stradal’s transcriptions and served as a strong incentive to write the current study. In it, I will comment on the alterations performed to segments of Stradal’s piano tr… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Vizcarra, Juan Guillermo
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cross-culture Choral Music Education: Issues for Western Choral Conductors Related to the Performance of Arabic Choral Music

Description: The concept of choral music as defined by the Western world was foreign to Arab cultures until the colonization of the Arab world began in the seventeenth century when we began to see the Western choral style emerging in the churches of the Arab world. Group singing of traditional music was done in unison or heterophonic textures. Notated part-singing is a product of colonization, Westernization, Christianization, and now globalization. In recent years, singing music in mixed or multiple voi… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Earnhart, Cari L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Determining the Authenticity of the Concerto for Two Horns, Woo 19, Attributed to Ferdinand Ries

Description: Ferdinand Ries is credited as the composer of the Concerto for Two Horns, WoO. 19 preserved in the Berlin State Library. Dated 1811, ostensibly Ries wrote it in the same year as his Horn Sonata, Op. 34, yet the writing for the horns in the Concerto is significantly more demanding. Furthermore, Ries added to the mystery by not claiming the Concerto in his personal catalog of works or mentioning it in any surviving correspondence. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the authorship of … more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Laursen, Amy D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Devil and the Details: Negotiating Virtuosity, Agency, and Authenticity in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem for Solo Flute

Description: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem presents mental, physical, and musical challenges that go beyond the usual expectations of an instrumentalist, extending and redefining the traditional idea of virtuosity. Using firsthand performance experience, score and recording study, and flutist interviews, this document explores the effects of some of these heightened demands and argues that the particular performance situation presented by Kathinkas Gesang brings up critical q… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Chambo, Wayla Joy Ewart
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Evoking the Mystery: A Pedagogical Method to Enable an Advanced Violinist to Master George Crumb’s Four Nocturnes (Night Music II)

Description: For more than three centuries, violin pedagogical practices have been extensively developed towards music covering the common practice period. However, a problem arises when a violin student performing avant-garde music needs to find realistic solutions to problems that are not addressed in the standard repertoire. This critical essay offers a pedagogical approach to a work that fits well within this paradigm: Four Nocturnes (Night Music II), George Crumb’s only published work for violin and pi… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Homer, Scott Daniel
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Exploring the Integration of Thai Traditional Music in Chakra by Narong Prangchareon, with a Conductor’s Guide

Description: This dissertation explores the integration of Thai traditional music in Chakra, for wind band, by Narong Prangchareon. Nipat Kanchanahud explores how Narong, inspired by Eastern philosophy, integrates elements of Thai traditional music and the types, styles, scales, and dialects of Thai culture with the formal elements of Western music and the instrumentation of the Western wind band. Chakra uniquely spans Eastern and Western cultures, creating a new musical language for both worlds to apprecia… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Kanchanahud, Nipat
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

First Movement of the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto: An Argument for the Alkan Cadenza

Description: The goal of this dissertation is not only to introduce the unique cadenza by Alkan but also to offer an argument from the performer’s point of view, for why Alkan’s cadenza should be considered when there exists a cadenza by Beethoven himself, not to mention those by a number of other composers, both contemporaries of Beethoven and later. Information in reference to the brief history of the cadenza and the pianoforte in the time of Mozart and Beethoven is presented in Chapter 2. A brief bibliog… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Ding, Yang
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Guide to Arranging Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Harmoniemusik in an Historical Style

Description: The wind octet was a popular ensemble of the classical period. In 1782, the Viennese Emperor formed a wind octet which specialized in playing opera arrangements. This music was used primarily as a form of background entertainment for dinners. This guide analyzes and compares the works of several well-known arrangers from the classical period in order to demonstrate arranging styles of the time. The arrangers of the period were often the performers of these various wind octets who were writing s… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: April Marie Ross
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Hâfez and Betinis: a Conductor’s Approach to Ancient Persian Poetry As Voiced by a Twenty-first Century, Western Composer

Description: The choral music of Abbie Betinis is being widely performed and commissioned by prominent high school, university, and civic choruses. This study examines From Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez, a five-movement work by Betinis for women’s chorus, vielle, oud, and Persian percussion. Four ghazals by Hâfez of Shiraz, a fourteenth century Sufi poet, are used as the text for Betinis’s Caravan. When considering a performance of this work, a conductor must understand proper treatment of the text,… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Steenblik, Peter C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Instructional Guide to Teaching Kurtág’s Játékok Volume I to Beginning and Intermediate Piano Students

Description: Pedagogical methods in piano instruction are constantly evolving. Traditional approaches for beginning students typically focus on teaching music theory and developing the skills necessary to read music. Some contemporary methods, however, are centered on training students to use their whole body while playing the instrument. These more recent methodologies allow students to bond with the piano in a more personal manner, as if they were playing a game with a big toy. One of the most representat… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Jang, Jeongwook
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Learning From the Autograph: a New Critical Approach to Performing Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor

Description: The Sonata in B minor occupies a hallowed position in Liszt’s oeuvre, according to scholarly assessment. Despite the plethora of literature on this consummate work, the vast majority of writings on the sonata have focused almost exclusively on formal innovation, thematic transformation, and programmatic speculation, and there is a dearth of interpretative analysis of the sonata based on its fascinating autograph manuscript, even though it has been publicly accessible and widely available in fac… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Arjona, Alfredo
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Messiaen’s Musical Language: Technique and Theological Symbolism in Les Corps Glorieux, “Combat De La Mort Et De La Vie”

Description: One of the most important ways to understand Olivier Messiaen’s musical language is through the lens of the theological ideas that many of his works convey. He considers expressing his Christian faith to be the primary purpose in his music. Through his idiosyncratic technique, Messiaen gives power and life to his religious music that he combines with his interest in literature, musical analysis, poetic imagery and symbolism, his love for theatre, and his compositional and organ abilities. The a… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Dellosa, Lerie Grace
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Modern Forms of an Ancient Art: A Selection of Contemporary Fanfares for Multiple Trumpets Demonstrating Evolutionary Processes in the Fanfare Form

Description: The pieces discussed throughout this dissertation provide evidence of the evolution of the fanfare and the ability of the fanfare, as a form, to accept modern compositional techniques. While Britten’s Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury maintains the harmonic series, it does so by choice rather than by the necessity in earlier music played by the baroque trumpet. Stravinsky’s Fanfare from Agon applies set theory, modal harmonies, and open chords to blend modern techniques with medieval sounds. Satie’s … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Florek, Paul J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Modern Trombone in the African American Church: Shout Bands and the African American Preacher in the United House of Prayer

Description: The United House of Prayer was established by Marcelino Manuel da Graça (1881-1960), who is also known as Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace, or “Daddy” Grace. He founded and developed the use of the shout bands which are charismatic gospel trombone ensembles within this church. This study explores the importance of shout bands and examines them from multiple perspectives focusing in particular on worship practices. Additionally, it examines rhythmic elements as the most important characteristi… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Block, Tyrone J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Music for the Saxophone Duet Genre: an Annotated Bibliography of Selected Original Music

Description: In 1861, Jerôme Savari (1819-1870) composed Duo for Soprano Saxophone and Alto Saxophone. Since then, more than 400 duets were written, yet many musicians are not aware of this repertoire. The lack of recommended repertoire and insufficient information regarding this genre reduces the use of the saxophone duet in both pedagogical and concert settings. The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of the saxophone duet genre by identifying the standard repertoire and creating an annotat… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Chien, Wei-Lun
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Musical Borrowing in the Choral Music of Andrew Rindfleisch

Description: American composer Andrew Rindfleisch (b. 1963) has contributed twenty-one pieces to the repertoire of contemporary choral literature to date. His works have been commissioned, premiered, and recorded by notable choral ensembles and performed in significant venues around the country. Influenced by his own early choral singing experience in his native Wisconsin, much of Rindfleisch’s choral music is infused with influences of the music of earlier composers and choral idioms. With these works, … more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Glann, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Mystery of the “Althorn (Alto Horn) Sonata” (1943) by Paul Hindemith

Description: A unique and significant composition, the Althorn Sonata by Paul Hindemith contains several enigmas and anomalies: details about the premiere remain unknown; scored for the alto horn, a band instrument of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the piece seldom finds itself performed on that instrument; although Hindemith composed his instrumental sonatas as composition exercises, for the instruments he intended to use in his large-scale works, his sonata for alto horn marks an unusual… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Hemken, Jennifer Ann
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Physical Problems in Vibrato Amongst First-year College Violinists: a Descriptive Study

Description: The purpose of this descriptive study was to first identify to what extent first-year college violinists physically struggle with the vibrato motion, and further, to identify physical problems within the motion that are contributing to their challenges during the learning process. The 16 participants in this study were chosen randomly from the College Music Society Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities (2013-2014 edition). Participants completed a questionnaire of 32 quantit… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Manfredi, Zo Hurd
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Practical Edition of the Twenty-four Caprices for Solo Violin by Sir William Herschel

Description: Sir William Herschel (1738–1822) was a prominent musician and composer in the 18th century England. He worked as a concert director in several cities. In addition, he was a master of various instruments, and an active solo performer. Herschel composed numerous orchestral and solo works. His music, however, is hardly known today. Many of his compositions remained unpublished, among them the Twenty-Four Caprices for Solo Violin. These caprices are one of the earliest technical studies for the ins… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Vu, Chuong Viet
Partner: UNT Libraries
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