Search Results

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.
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: August 2006
Creator: Adduci, Kathryn James
open access

An Analytical Study of the Variations on the Theme of Paganini's Twenty-Fourth Caprice, Op. 1 by Busoni, Friedman, and Muczynski

Description: The purpose of this study is to analyze sets of variations on Paganini's theme by three twentieth-century composers: Ferruccio Busoni, Ignaz Friedman, and Robert Muczynski, in order to examine, identify, and trace different variation techniques and their applications. Chapter 1 presents the purpose and scope of this study. Chapter 2 provides background information on the musical form "theme and variations" and the theme of Paganini's Twenty-fourth Caprice, Op. 1. Chapter 2 also deals with the q… more
Date: May 2000
Creator: Ahn, Kwang Sun
open access

The Russian trumpet sonata: a study of selected representative sonatas for trumpet and piano with an historical overview of the Russian trumpet school

Description: The impact of training on virtual team effectiveness was assessed in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. A 12-page survey was developed exploring all aspects of virtual teams. 180 surveys were distributed, 52 were returned representing 43 companies. Training led to higher effectiveness in planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, and conflic… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Akhmadullin, Iskander
open access

The Influence Of Jazz On Timbre In Selected Compositions For Solo Trombone

Description: A significant body of solo literature for the trombone has been written in the last fifty years that draws as much from the jazz tradition as from that of European classical music. While much attention has been paid to these works' use of characteristic jazz rhythms, harmonies and melodic inflections, there has been little focus on timbre, the musical element that perhaps most readily distinguishes jazz from other styles of Western music. This paper focuses on the important role jazz timbres sh… more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Aldag, Daniel J.
open access

Solo lyra viol music of Tobias Hume (c. 1579-1645): Historical context and transcription for modern guitar.

Description: The seventeenth century in England produced a large and historically significant body of music for the viola da gamba played "lyra-way." Broadly defined, playing "lyra-way" on the viol meant playing from tablature notation in a polyphonic style. Most players of plucked strings such as lute and guitar are familiar with tablature and, as a result, have a decisive advantage when attempting to explore this music. Other factors that make lyra viol repertory potentially attractive to the modern gui… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Amelkina-Vera, Olga
open access

The Influence of Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) on Pedro Valls (1869-1935): An Analysis of Homenaje à Bottesini (1906) by Pedro Valls

Description: This document traces a link between Pedro Valls and Giovanni Bottesini by identifying traits of Homenaje à Bottesini that resemble techniques and musical characteristics of Bottesini's music, through the comparison of Valls' Homenaje à Bottesini to Bottesini's Fantasia sur La Sonnambula, focusing on the works formal, musical and idiomatic characteristics. This is supported by documented evidence of Bottesini's presence in Spain during Valls's lifetime and Pedro Valls contact with the Italian ma… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Amorim, George
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

"Between the Staves" - Adaptations of Debussy's Six épigraphes antiques and Creative Tasks of the Performer

Description: The Six épigraphes antiques represent a cross-section of Debussy's creative output that traces the composer's germ-seed from his original setting of the work in 1901 as incidental music to accompany the recitation of several poems, to the four-hand piano version of 1914, and its consequent reduction for solo piano. What can be gleaned by the methods of derivation from his original sketches to the final, mature works is an understanding of Debussy's use of musical metaphor and his connection to … more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Astilla, Christopher
open access

Drafts, Page Proofs, and Revisions of Schenker's Der freie Satz: The Collection at the Austrian National Library and Schenker's Generative Process

Description: When Schenkerian theory began to influence scholarly circles in the United States, the primary - although not the only - work to which scholars had access was Schenker's last monograph, Der freie Satz. Reading textual passages and examining the many musical graphs in the companion volume of examples influenced their concept of the fundamental structure as Schenker understood it, as well as the relationship of the other levels (Schichten) to the larger structure. The problem is that most of th… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Auerbach, Jennifer Sadoff
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 Snare Drum as a Solo Concert Instrument: An In-Depth Study of Works by Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Dan Senn, and Stuart Saunders Smith, Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works by Keiko Abe, Daniel Levitan, Askell Masson, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Others

Description: This dissertation discusses the potential of the snare drum as a solo concert instrument. Four pieces from a collection entitled The Noble Snare are used for demonstration ("Homily" by Milton Babbitt, "Composed Improvisation for Snare Drum" by John Cage, "Peeping Tom" by Dan Senn, and "The Noble Snare" by Stuart Saunders Smith). In the absence of many traditional musical devices (i.e. melody and harmony), alternative means of expression are used by the composer. Each piece is discussed with re… more
Date: December 2004
Creator: Baker, Jason Colby
open access

The Effect of Three Different Levels of Skill Training in Musical Timbre Discrimination on Alphabet Sound Discrimination in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three different levels of skill training in musical timbre discrimination on alphabet sound discrimination in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. The findings of prior investigations indicated similarities between aural music and language perception. Psychoacoustic and neurological findings have reported the discrimination of alphabet quality and musical timbre to be similar perceptual functions and have provided, through imag… more
Date: May 2000
Creator: Battle, Julia Blair
open access

The influence of Sister Helen Prejean on the life and work of Jake Heggie as seen in the song cycle The Deepest Desire: Four Meditations on Love.

Description: Jake Heggie, American art song and opera composer, began his association with Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ when he composed Dead Man Walking, an operatic adaptation of her memoirs. Though from two very different backgrounds, the two developed a deep friendship and spiritual bond that provided the impetus for further compositions dealing with spirituality. Heggie adapted Prejean's meditations as a text for his song cycle The Deepest Desire in 2002, producing what he considers to be his finest wor… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Beasley, Rebecca Choate
open access

The Songs of David Amram: A representative analysis and review of published vocal music for accompanied and unaccompanied voice

Description: David Werner Amram III, born in Philadelphia in 1930 is a celebrated American composer whose works have increasingly gained worldwide attention. His compositions embrace many genres including incidental music, film scores, symphonies, concertos, sonatas, instrumental trios, quartets, cantatas and operas as well as songs. One of Amram's earliest published songs, Pull My Daisy, is from his musical score for the experimental film of the same name. The song, text by Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady an… more
Date: August 2001
Creator: Bieritz, Gerald L.
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

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

Gunther Schuller and John Swallow: Collaboration, Composition, and Performance Practice in Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik, with Three Recitals of Selected Works by Berio, Bogle, Gregson, Pryor, Suderburg and Others

Description: Gunther Schuller is credited with coining the term Third Stream, meaning compositions where twentieth-century art music forms exist simultaneously with jazz. Furthermore, Schuller specifically states in the liner notes to the debut recording of Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik "The work is not a Third Stream piece." Yet the concerto alludes to jazz through a multitude of slide glissandi and plunger mute effects, Solotone mute passages, specific references to the jazz trombone styles of Tommy Dorsey an… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2000
Creator: Bogle, James Michael
open access

Georgy L'vovich Catoire: His Life and Music for Piano, with Special Emphasis on Poem: Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 20

Description: A Russian composer of French descent, Georgy L'vovich Catoire (also often spelled "Katuar") (1861-1926) is one of the most neglected composers of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Catoire composed a number of piano pieces, most of which are chamber and solo works. These pieces are rarely studied or performed in the West. This study makes an attempt to fill this void. It thoroughly investigates Catoire's life, as well as looks into his genealogy, since his family was influen… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Bolshakova, Natalia
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

Imagined Sounds: Their Role in the Strict and Free Compositional Practice of Anton Bruckner

Description: The present study develops a dynamic model of strict and free composition that views them as relative to a specific historical context. The dynamic view espoused here regards free embellishments of an earlier compositional generation as becoming the models for a strict compositional theory in a later one. From the newly established strict compositional models, succeeding generations of composers produce new free embellishments. The first part of the study develops the dynamic conception of a c… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Brooks, Jonathan
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

The Effects of Free Play As an Instructional Tool on the Quality of Improvisation of First, Second, and Third Grade Children

Description: To look at the effect of free play on the musical improvisations of first, second and third grade children, 108 children were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. Subjects were tested using a researcher-designed instrument to elicit an improvisatory response. The control group then received regular music instruction (120 minutes every 2 weeks) and the treatment group received regular music instruction in conjunction with musical free play (100 minutes of instruction and 20 … more
Date: December 2000
Creator: Burger, Tammie L.
open access

The improvisational language of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen: A performance study.

Description: Thirteen original transcriptions and subsequent analysis of improvised solos performed by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. The transcriptions are analyzed in three categories: harmonic vocabulary, technical devices, and motivic use. Pervasive harmonic and melodic themes are presented and compared with phrases from improvisers such as Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker, as well as compositions by J.S. Bach and Johannes Brahms. Observations from the transcriptions regarding performance practice and t… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Butterfield, Craig
open access

String student self-efficacy and deliberate music practice: Examining string students' musical background characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs and practice behaviors.

Description: This study examined the musical background characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, and practice behaviors of string students auditioning for an all-region orchestra in one large South-Central district. Purposes of the study were: (1) to describe the musical backgrounds and self-efficacy beliefs of high school string students, (2) to measure the relationship between self-efficacy scores and performance achievement, and (3) to describe the practice behaviors and thoughts of high and low self-effi… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Cahill Clark, Jennifer L.
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