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The Stabat Mater of Herbert Howells: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Description: Herbert Howells composed three large works for chorus and orchestra: a requiem (Hymnus Paradisi), Latin mass (Missa Sabrinensis) and finally a Stabat Mater. Writings, performances and recordings of the Stabat Mater, however, have been few. As the Stabat Mater is believed to be the culmination of his musical prowess, it is important to bring this major work to light. Chapter 1 begins with a brief introduction to Herbert Howells, then continues as a brief biographical sketch. Howells's life is… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Childs, Kim J.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Extemporizing Reawakened: Saxophonist Branford Marsalis's Approach to the Cadenza for Concertino da Camera for Alto Saxophone and Eleven Instruments by Jacques Ibert

Description: Whether provided by a composer, written out by a performer or completely improvised, the cadenza became a vehicle for performers' creativity, lyricism and technical prowess in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The debate about whether to notate or improvise cadenzas, a question as old as the cadenza itself, continues today. Saxophonists have not been involved in this debate, since the instrument is a product of the mid-nineteenth century and was in its infancy just as the practice of imp… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: James, Matthew T.
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Critical Study of Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Transcription of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde

Description: Toward the end of his life, from 1908 to 1909, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) composed Das Lied von der Erde (The song of the earth). This piece is a cycle of six song movements based on seven poems selected from Die chinesische Flötem - Nachdichtungen chinesischer Lyrik (The Chinese flute - free adaptation of Chinese lyric poetry) by Hans Bethge. The Chinese verse was written by Li-Po (numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5), Tchang-Tsi (number 2), and Mong-Kao-Jen and Wang-Wei (combined in number 6). Subsequent… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Sun, Ai-Kuang
Partner: UNT Libraries

An Overview and Performance Guide to Manuel Ponce's Sonata III for Solo Guitar

Description: Composed in 1927 and dedicated to Segovia, Ponce's Sonata III, one of the staples of the classical guitar repertoire, is the focus of this paper. To put this piece into proper perspective among Ponce's other works, biographical information leading up to the composition of the piece is presented first. Each of the three movements is then analyzed with regard to formal construction as well as harmonic and melodic language. Analysis is an important precursor to actually playing the piece, as So… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Smith, Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries

An analysis of the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Peter Maxwell Davies, identifying the use of historical forms, and the implications for performance.

Description: The Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Peter Maxwell Davies is one of his earliest works, and a notoriously difficult work to perform. While using serialism and other twentieth-century compositional techniques, this work also uses older historical forms, including sonata-allegro and sonata-rondo forms. An analysis of the work is presented, identifying the older historical forms, and considerations for performers when making decisions on how to perform the work are provided.
Date: August 2006
Creator: Adduci, Kathryn James
Partner: UNT Libraries

Stabat Mater by Frank Ferko, A Mosaic of Mourning: The Universality of Mothers' Grief, Ancient Texts Made Relevant by the Addition of English Interpolations

Description: This document examines Frank Ferko's unique setting of the ancient Latin sequence, Stabat Mater that incorporates five English interpolations dealing with the subject of parental grief over the loss of a child. The twenty Latin stanzas and five English interpolations are examined harmonically and philosophically, as two separate works. The tonal architecture of the work, outlined in two large arches built on key relationships, is explored in the body of the paper in addition to a graphic de… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Wilson, Barbara Sue Johnston
Partner: UNT Libraries

Still life in black and white: An intertextual interpretation of William Grant Still's "symphonic trilogy."

Description: William Grant Still's musical achievements are legion. Because he was the first African American to break the color line in America's concert halls, Still earned the sobriquet "Dean of Negro Composers." Paradoxically, Still's reception suffers from this list of "firsts." The unintended consequence of cataloging his achievements venerates his position as an iconoclast while detracting critical attention from his music. Conversely, if we ignore the social context in which Still produced his m… more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Lamb, Earnest
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Study of Breath Management as Treated by Four Major American Vocal Pedagogues: Appelman, Reid, Vennard, and Miller

Description: Trained musicians cannot use the same breath process in daily living as for singing. Also, the normal breath cycle applied to speech is not efficient. Therefore, students who are learning to sing need to know proper breathing techniques. In this thesis, I will describe the breathing process and the correct way to breathe while singing, based on studies of four American pedagogues; Appleman, Reid, Vennard and Miller. To understand the breathing process for singing, it is necessary to study and u… more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Kim, Jisuk
Partner: UNT Libraries

Reading Handel: A Textual and Musical Analysis of Handel's Acis and Galatea (1708, 1718)

Description: The purpose of this dissertation is two-fold: one is to analyze the narratives of Acis and Galatea written by Ovid, and the two libretti by Handel's librettists including Nicola Giuvo (1708) and John Gay (1718) with John Hughes and Alexander Pope; the other is to correlate this textual analysis within the musical languages. A 1732 pastiche version is excluded because its bilingual texts are not suitable for the study of relationships between meaning and words. For this purpose, the study uses … more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Chang, Young-Shim
Partner: UNT Libraries

Piano Concerto No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 70 by Anton Rubinstein: An analytical and historical study.

Description: Anton Rubinstein was primarily recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. However, Rubinstein yearned for recognition as a composer and worked prodigiously to realize that goal. Unfortunately, Rubinstein's works were virtually unknown today. One of Rubinstein's finest compositions, the Piano Concerto in D Minor, op. 70 has been the most frequently performed. It is one of the first "Russian" concertos that was written by a Russian composer, and was performed in Russian concert halls… more
Date: May 2005
Creator: Peevey, Pui-King Cecilia
Partner: UNT Libraries

Voci Lontani for flute, trumpet, percussion, piano, and string quartet: Critical essay and score.

Description: This project consists of an original composition, Voci Lontani, and a critical essay about the composition. In this piece, the idea of musical simultaneity is explored. Therefore, the piece focuses on the idea of contrast: between measured rhythms and indeterminate rhythms, between tonality and atonality, and between musics in separate tempos. In order to explore the significance of musical simultaneity, four important compositional concepts-the simultaneous juxtaposition of different musics, … more
Date: August 2004
Creator: Goto, Yo
Partner: UNT Libraries

Richard Strauss's Duett-Concertino: A Study of the Programmatic Elements for the Performer

Description: Richard Strauss's Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon with Strings and Harp, AV 147 was one of the last works written by this celebrated composer. This double concerto has been largely unrecognized by performers and scholars until a recent surge in recorded performances. Some factors that hinder performances of the Duett-Concertino include unusual scoring and difficult rhythmic passages, as well as a lack of acknowledgement or understanding of the programmatic elements represented in th… more
Date: May 2004
Creator: Turley, Sarah Leigh
Partner: UNT Libraries

Supplemental Studies for Mastering Extended Techniques in Three Late Twentieth-Century Works for Solo Trombone: Luciano Berio's Sequenza V, Folke Rabe's Basta and Mark Phillips' T. Rex, Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works by Wagenseil, Grøndahl, Gotkovsky, and Others

Description: Many, if not most, student trombonists have perhaps had little or no previous experience with "extended techniques"-novel or unconventional modes of sound production. To address this deficiency of experience, this document sets forth a progressive sequence of descriptive explanations and supplementary studies, which are specifically designed to assist trombonists in mastering the particular extended techniques that will prepare them to perform three of the most popular late Twentieth-Century pi… more
Date: May 2004
Creator: Scott, Deb
Partner: UNT Libraries

Pedagogical style and influence of Nadia Boulanger on music for wind symphony, an analysis of three works by her students: Copland, Bassett, and Grantham.

Description: An examination of the influences on twentieth-century wind music would be incomplete without the consideration of composer, organist, pianist, conductor, teacher, and critic Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). Students from the United States began studying with Boulanger between World War I and World War II, and continued to travel to study with her for over fifty years. The respect awarded this legendary French woman was gained as a result of her effectiveness as a teacher, her influence on the devel… more
Date: May 2004
Creator: McCallum, Wendy M.
Partner: UNT Libraries

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
Date: December 2003
Creator: Lee, Kenneth Oneal
Partner: UNT Libraries

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
Date: December 2003
Creator: Lee, JooHee
Partner: UNT Libraries

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
Date: August 2003
Creator: Tan, Haidee Lynn C.
Partner: UNT Libraries

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
Date: August 2003
Creator: Rober, Russell Todd
Partner: UNT Libraries

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
Date: August 2003
Creator: Saun, Rinna M.
Partner: UNT Libraries

William Bolcom's Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (1989)

Description: Composer William Bolcom (1938-) has shown a remarkable capacity for incorporating disparate materials and combining them to create original compositions, while often using traditional genres and forms. This style has earned Bolcom the reputation as a leading composer of American postmodernism. This study provides a brief sketch of Bolcom's development as a postmodern composer, his repertoire for violoncello and piano, and it examines his compositional style as applied in his Sonata for Violonce… more
Date: August 2003
Creator: Janssen, Tido
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Tone Clock: Peter Schat's System and an Application to His Etudes for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 39

Description: The scope of this study includes relevant background information on Peter Schat and his compositions and process, an explanation of the Tone Clock system and a detailed analysis of one of his compositions, the Etudes for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 39. The intent is to demonstrate how the Tone Clock naturally evolved from the practices of the Second Viennese School and how it relates to both new and existing modern music. The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 presents a brief introdu… more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Petrella, Diane Helfers
Partner: UNT Libraries

East Meets West: Nationalistic Elements in Selected Piano Solo Works of Chen Yi

Description: Since the founding of "New China" in 1949, the musical culture has undergone numerous periods of identity crisis, particularly during the ten-year "Cultural Revolution," due to the fact that music had always been used to serve the needs of political propaganda. Even the development of a "National Style" encouraged by the central government was a political "brainchild" under the socialist ideology. Nevertheless, professional musicians struggled to create a new path in musical composition while w… more
Date: August 2001
Creator: Li, Songwen
Partner: UNT Libraries

Chen Yi and Her Choral Music: A Study of the Composer's Ideal of Fusing Chinese Music and Modern Western Choral Traditions

Description: Chen Yi's music is well accepted and recognized nationally and internationally through an increasing number of commissions and performances. Major symphony orchestras, choruses, institutions and companies request her compositions on many occasions in order to increase understanding and exploration of Chinese influences on western classical idioms. This study provides the first detailed discussion of her compositional mastery and her fusion of Chinese music with the language of western choral tr… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Yeung, Hin-Kei
Partner: UNT Libraries

Construction Applications, Practices, and Techniques of Natural Trumpets: A Comparative Analysis of Baroque and Modern Era Natural Trumpet Construction Methods

Description: This work discusses in detail the history of, and processes associated with the construction of baroque era trumpets then and now. The work addresses metallurgy, tools, construction methods, and playing characteristics of instruments built with old techniques and modern techniques.
Date: December 2006
Creator: Wells, Lawrence E.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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