Digital Commons Network^™

21st Century Choral Performance Practice: Presenting The Mash-Up With Practical Applications, Justin Xavier Carteret

Theses and Dissertations

Recent paradigm shifts in music production have generated a newly recognized texture formed by blending two or more pre-existent and pre-recorded songs together. Originating in pop culture, mash-ups often sample from genres and cultures otherwise not typically associated. This new form requires formal definition, codification, and application. Developments in digital coding and dissemination of the latter twentieth century expanded the diapason of music composition, revealing the mash-up as a naturally occurring product of harmonic evolution. A description of the computer software Audacity and its capabilities depicts an uncomplicated aural-based method for composition which generated the early mash-ups of the 2000’s. …

Music Majors And Meditation Practice: A Phenomenological Study, Travis N. Baird

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine undergraduate and graduate music majors’ perceived experiences while learning and practicing a meditation technique. Guiding research questions included: 1) How did meditation practice alter participants’ thoughts related to music performance? 2) How did meditation practice influence participants’ perceived Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) symptoms? 3) What aspects of meditation practice did participants find most/least helpful in perceived reduction of negative MPA symptoms? 4) How did meditation practice influence post-performance self-evaluation? 5) What influence does meditation practice have on participants during performance preparation? Six music majors were selected as participants and data was …

An Analysis Of Selected Art Songs For High Voice By Adolphus Hailstork, A Performer's Guide, Angela Renee Blalock

Theses and Dissertations

Adolphus Hailstork, one of the best-known African American composers of the latter half of the twentieth century, is an innovator of American art song literature. Hailstork issignificantly recognized as a composer of instrumental genres, and his songs represent an important contribution to this genre, his overall output, and are currently not well known. Songs of Love and Justice (1992) is a song cycle for voice and piano set to the writings of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. The texts are not poetic, and relate to a period of unrest in the United States of America referred to as …

The Wind Works Of Louis Andriessen: A History And Comparative Analysis, Paul Adam De Cinque

Theses and Dissertations

Louis Andriessen is the most important composer from the Dutch school of the late twentieth century, if not arguably the most important western art music composer from the Netherlands itself. He took a pioneering role in European minimalism, while also shunning the traditional orchestra and string based ensembles. Given his small catalogue of works for traditional orchestra, many of his major works have had limited performances. This is disappointing, especially since pieces such as De Staat are considered cornerstone works in the post-modernist period.

Andriessen wrote many of his wind pieces for Orkest de Volharding, an ensemble whose instrumentation can …

The Guitar And Hausmusik In The Late 18th And Early 19th Centuries, Jeremy Polley

Theses and Dissertations

While being one of the most popular instruments in Western culture, the guitar has received relatively little scholarly attention. Music historians particularly overlook the guitar and its impact upon the development of music. Writings about the Hausmusik tradition that existed around the turn of the nineteenth century, however, suggest that the guitar was an important part of amateur music making. Analysis of publisher’s catalogs from the period also indicate the existence of a thriving guitar culture at the time. By performing a comparative analysis on works based on a theme by Giovanni Paisello from Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani, a …

The Choral Music Of Daron Aric Hagen And A Conductor’S Analysis Of Flight Music, Jay B. Aiken

Theses and Dissertations

Daron Aric Hagen is an American composer, educator, pianist, conductor, librettist, and stage director of contemporary classical music and opera. He has written nine operas and is currently commissioned to produce a tenth. While he is most noted for his operas, he has composed numerous choral works. Flight Music, a six movement piece for treble chorus is the topic of this study. It is about the ultimate flight of Amelia Earhart. This document will provide a conductor’s analysis of Flight Music and show how Hagen used this choral piece as a precursor to his opera Amelia. A biography of …