Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of Vocal Music By John Musto, Stephanie R. Thorpe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

John Musto, a contemporary composer based in New York, is known for his vocal, piano, and orchestral compositions. Musto is an active performer, who accompanies his own compositions in performance and on recordings. Several festivals and foundations have commissioned his compositions, many of them vocal works.

This document will examine a song set, a solo song and two song cycles by John Musto, which represent the composer's developing vocal compositional style from beginning to present. Equally informed by classical and jazz techniques, his style is comprised of popular idioms, ambiguous key structures, irregular rhythms and meters, unpredictable intervallic movements, and …

Ralph Vaughan William's The Pilgrim's Progress: Problems And Solutions For Future Performances, Richard Brandon Brunson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The 1951 premier of The Pilgrim's Progress by Ralph Vaughan Williams was not a success. Two years later, Vaughan Williams told Michael Kennedy that "the Pilgrim is dead."1 A handful of attempts have been made to revive the work in the last few years, and a second recording of the opera by Richard Hickox has revived some interest.

Despite this progress, three big problematic areas (outlined by contemporary critics and Vaughan Williams) continue to stand in the way of staging this work. These three areas are the Apollyon scene, the homogeneity of the tempi, and the lack of dramatic elements …

The Olympic Singer: Integrating Pilates Training Into The Voice Studio, Veera Khare Asher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objectives of the document are to define potential synergies and benefits in the application of Pilates method physical training to versatile and high-level voice performance, and to develop an integrated vocal pedagogy-Pilates method to improve voice performance.

"The Varied Carols I Hear": The Music Of The New Deal In The West, Peter L. Gough

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Federal Music Project and subsequent WPA Music Programs served as components of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" efforts to combat the economic devastation precipitated by the Great Depression. Operating during the years 1936 to 1943, these programs that engaged unemployed musicians mirrored similar efforts of the Federal Theatre, Art and Writers' Projects. Though the Federal Music Project proved to be the largest of the cultural programs in terms of both employment and attendance, to date it has received the least attention from scholars. This dissertation demonstrates that, given the societal landscape of 1930s America, a regional perspective is …

Justifications Of A 21st Century Wind Ensemble Transcription Of Mozart's "Overture To The Magic Flute" Based Upon Late Eighteenth Century Ideology, Teresa Corinne Stewart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

I will create a transcription for wind ensemble of the "Overture to The Magic Flute " by WA Mozart. By completing this transcription, a standard orchestral work will be available in comparable quality and difficulty for wind ensemble. Although several simplified and one large concert band transcriptions have been made available during the 20th century, these arrangements were not consistent with late 18th century ideals of size and balance. This transcription will remain loyal to the original work through embracing the ideology of the 18th century musical mind. Through treatises, period writings and performance practice of Mozart's time, I will …

Ernest Farrar, "English Pastoral Impressions", Op. 26: A Transcription For Wind Orchestra, William Wallace Woodworth Iv

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This document contains a transcription of Ernest Farrar's English Pastoral Impressions for the instrumentation of wind orchestra. The original setting of this work was for symphony orchestra. The document contains historical information relating to the work and composer, a thorough description of the actual transcription process for this project, and the finished transcription for wind orchestra.