Composition Commons^™

Kontakt, Michael Lukaszuk

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Kontakt is a c. 14-minute composition for string orchestra and audio signal processing that deals with imitation and ensemble communication. The first and third section of the piece consist of a collection of sound objects. The second section uses one of these objects to form a collection of palindromic motives, phrases and subsections. The pitch material consists of a slowly evolving cell containing three intervals at a time. The piece uses Max/MSP software to create delay networks, for live recording and playback of audio material, harmonization of live material, and quadraphonic sound diffusion. In Kontakt, ensemble communication is explored ...

Symphony No. 1 For Double Wind Orchestra, Amanda Mccullough

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

This piece represents the splitting of the mind as well as the irrational and often violent thoughts that compete against each other in order to blur the line between the real and the imaginary. The piece culminates in the third movement into a sort of psychotic break and ends in the disquieting limbo between life and death represented by the solo piano.

This symphony also explores the sonic possibilities of creating a stereo effect by splitting the wind ensemble into two separate ensembles. This includes the resolution of dissonances on one side by the opposite side, the continuation of melodic ...

Green Glass For Orchestra, Carolann K. Deyoung

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My thesis work, Green Glass, is a single movement piece for orchestra lasting 10'30. The piece consists of three main sections and explores spectral harmonies in combination with my own pitch material.

A Survey Of Christian Cross-Over Songwriting: Core Principles And Potential For Impact, Paul Malhotra

Senior Honors Papers

A cross-over song has been defined as a song written by a Christian artist aimed at a mainstream audience. An understanding of the core principles of cross-over songs and their relevance in contemporary culture is essential for Christian songwriters. Six albums marked by spiritual overtones or undertones, representing a broad spectrum of contemporary cross-over music, were examined. Selected songs were critiqued by analyzing the album of origin, lyrical content, author’s expressed worldview, and level of commercial success. Renaissance art also provided a historical parallel to modern day songwriting. Recommendations were developed for Christian songwriters to craft songs with greater ...

Romantic Exoticism: The Music Of Elsewhere In The Nineteenth Century, Josiah Raiche

Senior Honors Papers

Western art music has drawn on many sources. One of these is non-western music, which can be integrated into European classical music tradition in the form of exoticism. This paper will highlight musical elements used by composers seeking to create exoticism, examine selected works, and note common elements of western music that have exotic roots. In the nineteenth century, there were three general trends in exoticism. The first, non-musical exoticism, utilizes conventional western music alongside extra-musical exotic elements. Romantic exoticism portrays distant lands using musical elements, drawing these from the audience’s perceptions of the music represented. Realistic exoticism attempts ...

A Chant From The Great Plains: An Analysis And Rationale For A Critical Edition, Raul G. Barcenes

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

This document explores A Chant from the Great Plains by Carl Busch. As the winner of American bandmaster Edwin Franko Goldman’s composition contest in 1919, this work helped launch the tradition of commissioning upon which the repertoire of the modern concert band medium relies. Inexplicably, Busch’s piece fell into obscurity and has become so rare that the primary researcher on Carl Busch, Dr. Donald Lowe, was not able to view any of the music while compiling his research with the exception of citations and articles. This document provides a rationale for the revival of the work in both ...

Violin Concerto #1, Matthew J. Holman

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

This piece is a violin concerto modeled after, but not explicitly quoting melodic material of, several pieces of music by composers Bear McCreary, and Martin O’Donnell. The first and third movements of my piece were each modeled after two of Bear McCreary’s pieces from the soundtrack to Battlestar Galactica Season 2 – Allegro, and Prelude to War, respectively. The second movement of my piece was modeled after Martin O’Donnell’s piece Ashes, from the soundtrack to Halo: Reach.

Although I model my piece on the formal structures and, occasionally, the chord progressions of McCreary’s and O’Donnell ...

Listen, Rebecca Green

Colby Magazine

When you think composer, do you think dead, white, male, with scary hair? Well, think again. Colby has fostered a number of composers who are neither dead nor exclusively white or male. They use the medium of music in a variety of ways to express their artistic ideas, and they want you to listen.

Colby alumni and faculty composers use the medium of music to express their artistic ideas.

Lawrence Pianist Michael Mizrahi Earns “Best Of 2012″ Honors For His Album “The Bright Motion”, Lawrence University

Press Releases

Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Music Michael Mizrahi ended the year in style. His album, “The Bright Motion”, was cited by both Time Out New York and Time Out Chicago on their annual list of best albums of 2012.

Released last May on New Amsterdam Records, “The Bright Motion” was listed eighth on Time Out New York’s 2012 list of the best opera and classical music of the past year, while Time Out Chicago included it on its year-end, non-numerical top-10 list of the year’s best opera and classical music albums.

The Bright Motion” features 10-tracks of newly ...

Voice Recitals At The Unl School Of Music: Compilation Study, Audrey M. Nicholson

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

An informative compilation of Voice Recitals at the UNL School of Music categorized by Masters, DMA, and Faculty recitals from 1988-2012. Information includes: composer, work title, song title, performer, performance date, instrumentation, audio availability, and online program link.

"Download" button links to pdf version of file. Spreadsheet version (.xls) is attached below as "Related file." ".xlr" files are spreadsheets and can be opened from MS Excel.

Suite For Chamber Orchestra, Liahna R. Guy

Masters Theses

Suite for Chamber Orchestra is a three-movement composition for an orchestra of reduced size. Over the course of the three movements, a variety of influences can be seen from the 19th and 20th centuries in regard to harmony and rhythmic practices. This Suite is scored for flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet in C, timpani, violin (I and II), viola, cello, and double bass, and utilizes a moderate level of dissonance, harmonies consisting of perfect fourths and fifths, as well as a high level rhythmic activity.

This paper provides an analysis of the Suite in terms of musical ...

The Choral Music Of Allen Henry Koepke (1939-2012) With A Conductor's Special Focus On The Preparation Of His Seminal Work, Missa Brevis, Keith J. Curington

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

Although American choirs have been performing Allen Koepke’s compositions since 1973 and his music is witnessing greater and greater international appeal, especially in Asia, academic writings about the composer and his contribution to the choral art have been absent. This document examines Missa Brevis, the seminal work by Allen Koepke, and serves as a conductor’s guide for score study and rehearsal preparation. It will address practical problems unique to the work and will suggest solutions that will ensure excellence in its performance. A biography, a complete catalogue of the composer’s large number of choral works in print ...

Makiko Kinoshita And Her 9 Preludes For Piano: The Amalgam Of American Jazz And European Tradition, Mai Nagatomo

Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music

Makiko Kinoshita is one of the leading contemporary composers in Japan. Kinoshita’s 9 Preludes (2001) is remarkable twenty-first century piano literature that provides abundant use of various musical styles. The most important style that Kinoshita combined with traditional Western writing is jazz; especially the rhythmic and harmonic language of Jazz music. This document provides a detailed analysis of Kinoshita’s unique treatments of form, tonality, harmony, rhythm, and motivic materials. The central section of this study employs musical examples in order to examine how Kinoshita fuses diverse elements of musical styles with modern musical language to create her own ...

Third Divergence: Representations And Reflections, Nathan Weaver

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper presents an exploration of the process of developing a music composition through various layers of interaction with ideas through the abstract and the real. The composition is the most significant component of the project as a whole, and this paper regards itself as a sort of artist's journal developed during creation of the composition, making some attempt to show the process of improvising through the project. The project as a whole explores the various conceptualizations of the idea, of the relationship between the abstract and the real, and representations of a work that cannot be fully known ...