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open access

"A Blossoming Tree": A Study and Interpretive Guide to the Songs of Nan-Chang Chien on Selected Poems of Muren Hsi

Description: According to a recent United Nations report, China's population of 1.4 billion represents 19% of the world's entire population of 7.6 billion. As the distance between east and west contracts in business, so too do the arts. This dissertation focuses on six selected contemporary Chinese art songs composed by Nan-Chang Chien. By providing the references of musical facts, synopsis of the poems, word-for-word translation, IPA transcription, poetic translation, and interpretive and performance guide… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Tsai, Wei-Shu
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"Seven Songs to Poems of James Joyce," op. 54 (1926) by Karol Szymaowski: A Historical Musicology Analysis and Performance Guide

Description: This research contributes valuable contextual information to the study of Karol Szymanowski's little-known song cycle Seven Songs to Poems of James Joyce, op. 54 (1926), providing a reliable, comprehensive reference for singers and scholars. In this research, I establish separate historical contexts for James Joyce's Chamber Music and Szymanowski's settings of the poems in op. 54. Using these established historical contexts, I then analyze Joyce's poems and Szymanowski's text settings, focusing… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Wan, Fujia
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Performance Guide for Five Mezzo-Soprano Arias from Chinese Operas

Description: In the West, operas in Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian are the best known in collegiate and professional classical music settings. Given the changes in social climate in recent decades, however, attention is being given to the study and performance of under-represented minorities. There have been operas composed in the West on Asian topics, but one does not yet hear operas in Asian languages programmed as part of a regular season in major opera houses in the United… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Xu, Jingye
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Ideal of Moral Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights in Edward Manukyan's "A World Without War"

Description: The cantata A World Without War (2009), by Armenian-born composer Edward Manukyan (b. 1981), was written, in part, to support increased awareness of human rights issues. Based on a quote from linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky (b. 1928), the narrative of the cantata states: "We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without war or there won't be a world." In addition to Chomsky's words, the cantata excerpts quotes of two additional literary giants advocating … more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Williams Krause, Lyndi
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Brazilian Art Song and the Non-Brazilian Portuguese Singer: A Performance Guide to Nine Songs by Alberto Nepomuceno

Description: Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920) is considered to be the father of the Brazilian art song. With a total of seventy songs, Nepomuceno revolutionized and established a new path to the Brazilian art song. His songs were innovative because they: (1) incorporated folk elements in his songs, (2) introduced Portuguese as a language acceptable in bel canto style and (3) established Brazilian songs in the tradition of the European vanguard. His approach influenced several composers including his young stu… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Riggs, Rawlianne
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Modern Performance Edition of Nina D'Aubigny Von Engelbrunner's Deutsche, Italienische und Französische Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte

Description: This dissertation examines the work of German composer and vocal pedagogue Nina d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner through her collection of songs entitled "Deutsche, Italienische und Französische Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte," published in 1797. A brief overview of the life and works of Ms. d'Aubigny is provided, followed by a discussion about the "woman question" as it relates to Ms. d'Aubigny's works. The second part of this project includes a new, modern performance edition of the collecti… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Scaggs, Leanne
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"Para qué recorder": Preserving the Legacy of María Grever through Selected Vocal Compositions for Study and Performance

Description: María Grever (1885-1951) overcame racism and gender bias during a pivotal era in American music history to become the first commercially successful Mexican female composer and more specifically, a pioneer of popular music during the first half of the 20th century. Though named the "Madonna of song," her legacy is largely overshadowed by other compositional giants of the era, such as the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Grever's music is sophisticated, heartfelt, and worthy of … more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Canchola, Amy
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Distance Learning in Singing Education: An Overview of Historical and Modern Approaches and Future Trends

Description: This research of distance learning in singing study provides some historical framework of long-distance singing study, including research on three former distance singing courses, which exemplify the "best practices" of their time: Siegel-Myers Correspondence School of Music, the Perfect Voice Institute, and the Hermann Klein Phono-Vocal Method: Based Upon the Famous School of Manuel Garcia. I also discuss current trends in long-distance singing study, including interviews and insights from cur… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Wood, Samantha (Soprano)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"A Balloon Flower": A Study and Interpretive Guide to the Gagok of Jihoon Park

Description: Jihoon Park (b.1973), a South Korean composer with over 500 compositions spanning multiple genres, is treasured in his motherland as the most noteworthy composer of his generation. This study provides an in-depth introduction of the gagok (Korean art songs) of Park to Western teachers and students of singing, discussing his compositional techniques and their application to the interpretation of his selected songs. Moreover, the introduction to International Korean Phonetic Alphabet (IKPA) to su… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Choe, Joanne
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of Emma Diruf Seiler's Teaching Philosophy and Contribution to Voice Pedagogy

Description: Emma Diruf Seiler (1821-1886) was a Bavarian-American voice teacher and scientist who wrote and published Altes und Neues über die Ausbildung des Gesangorganes mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die Frauenstimme (Old and New in the Art of Singing, with Special Attention to the Female Voice) in 1861 while working in Leipzig. It was translated by William Henry Furness and published in Philadelphia as The Voice in Singing in 1868. This pedagogue and her writings are largely unknown to those who study hi… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Sullivan, Kristen (Kristen Janell)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Historical and Pedagogical Significance of Excerpts by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741-1813)

Description: This collection of 9 vocal works, taken from the oœuvre of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741-1813), was chosen for their utility in teaching undergrad voice majors. This collection offers a group of songs that are attractive in their simplicity allowing the time in their lessons to be devoted to the instruction of French pronunciation. Grétry's attention to detail in the setting of French prosody provides undergraduate singers with a collection of songs that offer an immediate understanding as … more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Youngs, Jennifer (Soprano)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Survey of 21st Century Gay-Themed American Art Songs for Baritone

Description: The majority of repertoire catalogs for singers, printed and digital, often list works by voice type, language, and/or genre. The 21st century has seen an emergence of online classical music catalogs where the user can seek repertoire by searching composers from underrepresented communities (i.e., women, Black, LGBTQ, Latinx). What does not currently exist is a resource that catalogs songs for solo voice dealing specifically with gay subject matter. This dissertation surveys seventeen 21st cent… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Cardwell, Robert Ewell
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Vocal Pedagogy of the Behnke Family: The Behnke Method

Description: Emil Behnke was a highly esteemed vocal pedagogue of the late nineteenth century. Perhaps rare for the time, the art and science of teaching vocal methods of speech and singing was a Behnke family business, one that Emil shared with his wife and daughter, who were both named Kate. Indeed, Emil's daughter, Kate Emil Behnke, was equally regarded and valued in the field of vocal pedagogy, carrying her father's teachings into the twentieth century. Meanwhile, the elder Kate Behnke, wife to Emil and… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Stapleton, Megan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Use of Classic Musical Theatre Repertoire for Training Bel Canto Techniques in the Undergraduate Baritone Voice

Description: For applied teachers of the bel canto method of singing, classical musical theatre repertoire provides an abundant resource of material for teaching the undergraduate baritone voice. Select classic musical theatre repertoire, fitting within the parameters of suitable range, tessitura, duration, and thematic material for an undergraduate baritone, will be used to demonstrate the application of bel canto techniques such as: glottal onsets, the connection between the speaking voice and singing voi… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Johnson, Brock
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Recorded Legacy of Enrico Caruso and its Influence on the Italian Vocal Tradition

Description: This dissertation presents evidence for the influence which tenor Enrico Caruso had on the Italian Vocal Tradition. This impact was clearly boosted by the revolution realized in the fledgling recording industry, and the recordable disc. In the years of 1902-1920 gramophones became commonplace, and collecting recordings became an interest for many. This new technology required specialized skills, and was especially suited to certain qualities of voice. Caruso enjoyed immense success in this med… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Garst, John
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Spanish Diction in Latin American Art Song: Variant Lyric Pronunciations of (s), (ll), and (y)

Description: Latin American art song is a genre primarily of the first half of the twentieth-century, when popular folklore served as the voice and inspiration of many poets and musicians. The nationalist movement served as a means of expression, each Latin American country with its own identity. There is great benefit for singers to study Spanish diction at an academic level, since it is a language already familiar to most U.S.A residents. There is a significant amount of unknown repertoire that would be v… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Ortiz, Camille
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Do You Know the Storm?: The Forgotten Lieder of Franz Schreker

Description: Franz Schreker (1878-1934) was a Jewish-Austrian composer of great success during the first decades of the twentieth century. Schreker’s reputation diminished after 1933 when Hitler came to power and, in 1938, his compositions were labeled Entartete Musik (“degenerate music”) by the Nazis in a public display in Düsseldorf. The Third Reich and post-war Germany saw Schreker as a decadent outcast, misunderstanding his unique style that combined elements of romanticism, expressionism, impressionism… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Wallace, Alicia
Partner: UNT Libraries

Czech Opera Arias: An Anthology for Soprano

Description: This anthology of late 19th- and early 20th-century Czech opera arias for soprano focuses on works that lack existing scholarship, bridging the language gap through translations and pronunciation materials for English-speaking singers. Its 24 arias supplement the works of Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček with those of contemporaneous composers Karel Bendl, Zdeněk Fibich, Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Karel Kovařovic, Vítězslav Novák, and Otakar Ostrčil. Its musicological scope provides vignettes of the … more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Nichols, Brittany "Bree"
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Performance Guide to Eight Chinese Songs and Arias: Selected Repertoire for Soprano Voice

Description: Over the past century, the widespread popularity of Western art music, in particular that of the standard operatic repertoire, has gradually expanded the development of opera in China. In order to bolster a broad range of classical music genres and help promote the development of Chinese opera, opera houses and opera companies have been built in several major Chinese cities. Moreover, a series of first-rate international vocal competitions have been established to promote original Chinese opera… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Wang, Yi
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Selected Art Songs of Chinese Composer Huang Zi: Music, Poetry, and Social-Historical Considerations

Description: This dissertation examines the contributions of the early twentieth-century Chinese composer Huang Zi to the genre of Chinese art songs. It discusses how he combined Western compositional techniques with traditional Chinese music and ancient or contemporary Chinese poetry, focusing on his works 花非花 Flowers in the Mist, 点绛唇, 赋登楼 Ode to Ascending the Tower, 思乡 Missing Homelands, and 春思曲 Spring Nostalgia. Huang's songs, which created a bridge between East and West, are still significant today in … more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Liu, Xiaoyue
Partner: UNT Libraries

Chinese Art Songs in the 1930s: An Analysis and Interpretive Guide of Six Selected Songs by Huang Zi (1904-1938)

Description: Chinese art songs—which are derived from over four thousand years of Chinese culture and combine unique Chinese literary and musical flavors with Western compositional techniques—remain largely unknown in the Western world. Chinese art song, a treasure of a genre, deserves more attention from Western singers and scholars. With a population of 1.41 billion, China has the largest potential market for bel canto singing. Not only will studying Chinese art songs enrich a singer's worldview and reper… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Peng, Bin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Perseverance in the Face of Totalitarianism: The Life and Legacy of Józef Zygmunt Szulc in Nazi Occupied France

Description: The Reichsleiter Rosenberg Task Force of 1940, initiated a systematic confiscation of items belonging to Jews throughout Europe. Because of this task force and Hitler's decrees, Jews across Europe were labeled as stateless, and were stripped of ownership and rights to property. Not only did these actions devastate Jews economically, but intellectually and artistically as well. In parts of occupied France, this task force was legitimized by Vichy laws under the label of the Commissariat Générale… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Mamola, Bethany Grace
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Naples and the Emergence of the Tenor as Hero in Italian Serious Opera

Description: The dwindling supply of castrati created a crisis in the opera world in the early 19th century. Castrati had dominated opera seria throughout the 18th century, but by the early 1800s their numbers were in decline. Impresarios and composers explored two voice types as substitutes for the castrato in male leading roles in serious operas: the contralto and the tenor. The study includes data from 242 serious operas that premiered in Italy between 1800 and 1840, noting the casting of the male leadin… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Ekstrum, Dave
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Shrinking Opera Diva: The Impact of Sociocultural Changes upon the Casting of Women in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Description: For most of the twentieth century, opera singers were not beholden to the ideal physical standard of women dictated by popular culture, but rather focused on serving the music and perfecting their artistry. Unprecedented sociocultural changes throughout the twentieth century exposed the shifting ideals of each generation and how they were promoted through mass media and advertising. This thesis surveys the time period of the 1890s to the present day for the purpose of analyzing cultural trends,… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: McNeese, Lauren
Partner: UNT Libraries
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