Digital Commons Network^™

Preserving The Historic And Cultural Music Of Louisiana Through School Music: An Ethnographic Case Study, Christopher S. Song

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to examine the lives of teachers, students, community members, and culture bearers within a musical community located in South Central Louisiana. The geographic area of focus in this research was Vermilion Parish and its surrounding area, known as Acadiana, the heart of Creole and Cajun culture where Traditional Louisiana Music finds its origins. Participants’ intrinsic cultural understandings of Louisiana’s music and impact on school music programs was examined through ethnographic interview and observation. A resource pedagogy known as funds of knowledge was used as a theoretical framework meant to maintain participants’ intrinsic …

An Analysis Of The Musical Gestures In Osvaldo Golijov’S The Dreams And Prayers Of Isaac The Blind And Their Relationship To The Kabbalah Sefirot, Jeremy Gdaniec

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Osvlado Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, scored for klezmer clarinet and string quartet, remains one of his most influential works since its premier in 1994. Inspiration for the work came from the writings of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, a prominent 13^th century figurehead in the branch of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah. In Kabbalah, symbols known as the sefirot are emanations of creation and the key to unlocking the divine secrets of the God-head. The analysis presented in this document combines musical gesture theory with Kabbalistic concepts for new perspectives on Golijov’s …

A Study Of Selected Vocal Works By Shande Ding: The Mysterious Sound Of Flute And Poems On Western Yunnan, Chuyan Luo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study aims to delve into and interpret “The Mysterious Sound of Flute” and “Poems on Western Yunnan” from a singer’s perspective while also providing guidance and recommendations for other performers. The research encompasses the history of Chinese art songs, a biography of Shande Ding, and an introduction to his compositional style. A comprehensive examination of each song includes background information, song analysis, translation, a Chinese lyric diction guide, and performance suggestions.

Art songs constitute a significant genre in music composition, and Chinese art songs have yielded numerous outstanding composers and captivating works over the years. Among these composers, Shande …

Introducing Chinese Folk Songs Through Arrangements For Trombone & Piano And Chamber Music, Tianyu Xue

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The scarcity of trombone in traditional Chinese music reflects the limited exposure and education for the trombone in China. Additionally, Chinese folk songs have minimal presence on the global stage. This project will bridge this gap by developing a series of trombone pieces that incorporate Chinese musical elements, explicitly focusing on elevating Chinese folk songs through trombone performance. This initiative offers an opportunity for trombonists worldwide to delve into the richness of Chinese folk music. The core of this work involves selecting Chinese folk songs that represent diverse historical contexts, regional characteristics, and emotional content and then arranging them for …

Maria Rosa Ribas Monné: A Case Study, Rebeca Lemos Gonzalez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the musical legacy of Catalan composer Maria Rosa Ribas Monné, emphasizing the influence of the Catalan context on her compositions and recognizing the contributions of Spanish women in music, particularly in cello music. Through an in-depth exploration of Maria Rosa's life, musical perspective, and analysis of her works "Faust", "Disperato,"and "Record d'una música," this study unveils pivotal insights into her artistic journey. Additionally, it includes a comprehensive catalogue of her compositions, providing a detailed overview of her musical output.

The dissertation begins by examining how M. Rosa Ribas' deep connection to Catalan culture, influenced by poet Màrius …

Effects Of Music Instruction For 3-4-Year-Old Children On Cognitive Development And Spatial Skills, Veronica Perez Espinosa

LSU Master's Theses

The impact of music instruction on child cognitive development has been examined by researchers in many contexts, but not as often in very young children. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of music instruction on the spatial and cognitive skills of preschool children ages 3-4. Participants in the study were 68 three- to four-year-old students who received weekly music instruction at a private school in South Louisiana. Of the 68 participants, and using a quasi-experimental design, 30 students in three intact classes were randomly assigned to receive a movement song treatment and the other 38 …

Reasoning The Voice: Toward A Diagnostic And Prescriptive Technique In The Teaching Of Singing, Carlos E. Santelli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Voice pedagogy literature often draws a parallel between a doctor’s ability to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment, and a voice teacher’s ability to identify vocal obstacles and design solutions. The core of these parallel procedures lies in an ability to utilize critical reasoning skills within highly specific contexts. Medical literature describes this as “clinical reasoning” and has studied it as a learned process. Voice pedagogy literature has traditionally described this as an innate process which is solely developed through experience. This document broadly examines the ways in which medical literature has broken down clinical reasoning into specific cognitive processes and …

'Space Is The Place:' Afrofuturism In Black Popular Music, Tamyka Jordon-Conlin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing a theory of Afrofuturist music. Afrofuturism is an umbrella term used to describe Black cultural productions that reflect on the African diasporic culture of the past while imagining potential futures, often while appropriating imagery of technology and science-fiction tropes. With the intent of redefining notions of blackness, Afrofuturist artists create alternative historical narratives and speculative future projections. These productions create space that allows the Afrofuturist to discorporately negotiate the limits of Black subjectivity. Poet, activist, and avant-garde musician Sun Ra is credited as the progenitor of Afrofuturism, and his model has since been adapted by …

Creating Musical Scores Inspired By The Intersection Of Human Speech And Music Through Model-Based Cross Synthesis, William Alexander Thompson Iv

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research addresses the development of machine learning techniques used to create musical scores and performances that are inspired by the intersection of speech and music. Machine learning models are created from MIDI files that are transcribed from datasets of musical audio recordings and human speech audio recordings. Through the creation of succinct models, model based cross synthesis is possible. Models trained on musical MIDI data are asked to replicate MIDI data that approximate human speech. Alternatively, models that have been trained on MIDI data that approximate speech are asked to replicate musical MIDI data. The product of these developed …

A Case Study Of Two Preservice Elementary Music Teachers As Culture-Bearers, Julius Kyakuwa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The integration of music from unfamiliar cultures in music classrooms is part of education curriculums around the world. International music education organizations also have goals for using a variety of musics in music education programs as one way of educating students to meet the 21st century global education targets. In the American education practice, the concept and principles of multiculturalism have been prominent in classroom subjects for over 50 years. In music education, multicultural approaches continue to be included in music standards and curriculum guides across the United States. Music educators, likewise, often use culture-bearers to expose their students to …

Schnittke, Gubaidulina, And Pärt: Religion And Spirituality During The Late Thaw And Early Perestroika, Aleksandra Drozzina

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation explores the music of three major Soviet composers—Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Arvo Pärt—against the backdrop of the ever-changing Soviet rule (after Stalin’s death in 1953). I reevaluate the composers’ religious and spiritual beliefs expressed in their works during the 1970s–1980s. Three works are presented as case studies and analyzed in-depth: Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir (1984–85), Gubaidulina’s Sieben Worte (1982), and Pärt’s Stabat Mater (1985). Although under Nikita Khrushchev’s rule (1953–64), governmental censorship began to slowly loosen, this particular group of composers continued to experience a considerable degree of oppression and censorship from the Soviet government until and …

Thelonious Monk's Prototypical Style: Close And Distant Readings Of Jazz Stylings, Connor Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thelonious Monk’s style has been considered non-conformist, modernist, technically stilted, intentionally unconventional, even incompetent. His performing is idiosyncratic, to say the least. However, by what metric is his performing idiosyncratic, or, framed another way, in what ways do Thelonious Monk’s performances deviate from the prototypical performance? Situated within family resemblance theories of prototypicality, I utilize supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches to categorize jazz solos based on their melodic usage of standard jazz language (novel corpus of 530 jazz solo improvisations). Using these distant readings to determine which solos are prototypical, I perform a close reading of these prototypical solos …

The Application Of Nonverbal Prosody In Scratches, An Original Composition For Trumpet And Chamber Ensemble, Shane Courville

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project uses research in prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in language) to inform the compositional process of an original piece of music for trumpet, piano, string quartet, and sign language entitled Scratches. In this this paper, I propose that both verbal and nonverbal prosody affects music across all cultures at both the subtle and overt levels consciousness. It shows up in chanting and rhythmic structures of folk music as well as composers who use the influence of language explicitly. In conjunction with this document, I will discuss and perform the piece I compose through the inspiration of …

Performers As Teachers: A Case Study On How Two El Sistema-Inspired Teaching Artists' Performance Identities Manifested During Instruction, Alicia J. Monroe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Kids’ Orchestra (KO) is an afterschool El Sistema-inspired program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a Title I school district, which employs a high percentage of musicians who identify strongly as performers. During the 2017-2018 school year, 52 of 59 KO teaching artists were considered professional musicians with training in music performance, with no educational background and/or prior experience in music education.

The recent development of ESI programs across the United States has fostered claims of using music education as a way to bring social change to the community it works in. Research exploring the specific nature of the pedagogy …

Carlos Puebla And The People's History Of The Cuban Revolution (1956-1980), Juan Rodríguez-Cepero

LSU Master's Theses

The Cuban Revolution was one of the most important events in 20th century Latin American history. The unlikely success of revolutionary heroes such as Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara inspired not only similar movements throughout the region, but an entire generation of artists and musicians. One such artist was Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Puebla. A long-time critic of Batista and his corrupt administration, Puebla set to music the ideals that the Revolution sought to build a new Cuba upon. In a country which

most of the population was illiterate until 1961, the music of artists such as Puebla served as …

A Performer’S Guide To Poema De Sete Faces, Song Cycle By Jeffrey Perry, Paulo Henrique Campos Silva

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The American composer Jeffrey Perry composed the song cycle Poema de sete faces (Poem of seven faces), for tenor or soprano and piano, based on the poem of the same name by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, one of the greatest Brazilian modernist poets of the 20th century. Both Drummond’s poem and Perry’s music were written to be open to multiple interpretations. Together, the possibilities for their interpretation are even broader. This dissertation discusses the art that emerges at the intersection of the poem and the music from the perspective of the singer. I present a biography and an overview of …

Perceptions Of Religious Music In A Southern U.S. Public Middle School: A Case Study, Emily Marie Mercado

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Intercultural experiences can result in increased knowledge of and positive attitudes towards unfamiliar cultural groups (Neto, Pinto, & Mullet, 2016; Vuoskoski, Clarke, & DeNora, 2017). Deardorff’s (2006) intercultural competence process framework provides a method for exploring and categorizing elements of intercultural competence including attitudes, knowledge/skills, internal outcomes, and external outcomes.

This narrative instrumental case study examined the perceptions of one middle school choir teacher, choir students, the student teacher, the parents, and the vice principal when implementing a researcher-designed unit titled: Religious Choral Music from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Worlds. The choir teacher offered a unique perspective as an …

A Performer's Guide To Joelle Wallach's A Revisitation Of Myth, Lauren Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to serve as a performance guide to Joelle Wallach’s A Revisitation of Myth, a song cycle containing four songs scored for viola, piano and medium voice. Discussed within this guide will be important characteristics found in the songs, overview and analysis of each song, as well as performance recommendations. According to Wallach, this cycle has never been successfully performed to completion. This document will include biographical information about the composer, Joelle Wallach, as well as commentary about the four poets, Luann Keener, Muriel Rukeyser, Denise Levertov, and Delmore Schwartz, whose texts are set in …

Symphony No. 1 And The Development Of New Techniques In Contemporary Music Composition, Eric Lacy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The initial part of this dissertation is a symphony. Symphony No. 1 consists of three movements. Each movement begins with a monumental gesture designed to make a bold and unforgettable statement. Within each movement, there is an interesting array of harmonic and rhythmic schemes. In Symphony No. 1, the diametrically opposed concepts of “simple” and “complex” are featured prominently. These concepts are contrasted thematically, rhythmically, and harmonically. The next part of this dissertation establishes the existence of certain obstacles facing contemporary composers and the benefits of developing new techniques in composition. The music of György Ligeti and Arvo Pärt are …

A Swann's Song In Middle-Earth: An Exploration Of Donald Swann's "The Road Goes Ever On" And The Development Of A System Of Lyric Diction For Tolkien's Constructed, Elvish Languages, Richard Garrett Leonberger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Donald Swann is best known for his long-time collaboration with lyricist and singer Michael Flanders, with whom he served as composer, pianist and fellow singer. He composed many other serious works beyond the Flanders and Swann collaboration, including song cycles, operas, masses and other choral repertoire. This study explores one example of Swann’s classical repertory: "The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle," a collection of nine musical settings of texts by J. R. R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings." Beginning with biographical and stylistic synopses of both the composer and the poet, subsequent chapters include: an …

On The Use And Development Of The Pentatonic Scale Through The Works Of Antonín Dvořák, Andrew W. Brinkman

LSU Master's Theses

Concepts related to style change have been discussed thoroughly by theorists such as Leonard Meyer and others. In the case of Czech scholar, Antonín Dvořák, this change relates directly to his pentatonic style. While many musicologists suggest that the composer's travels to the United States in the early 1890's had a profound effect on the birth of his pentatonic style, this thesis posits that Dvořák's pentatonicism is apparent from even his earliest works. In examining evidence of this pentatonicism it becomes clear that, for Dvořák, there are two types: thematic and cadential. Thematic pentatonicism arises from themes of works or …

Thomas Davis, The Nation, And Songs Of Irish Nationalism, Timothy Mason Love

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thomas Davis was a significant figure in the flourishing movement of cultural nationalism in mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. A cofounder of _The Nation_, Davis used the journal’s pages as a medium through which to promote a nationalist vision for Ireland distinctive for its nonsectarian appeal. Along with impassioned editorial prose, Davis employed poetry and song to carry his message to the public. “Young Ireland,” as Davis and his colleagues became known, focused their efforts especially on the traditional Irish song, elevating it as a symbol for their cultural heritage while harnessing its emotional power to strengthen their political cause. The songs printed …

Southeast Asian Youth Chamber Orchestra (Seayco): A Musical Bridge Within The Southeast Asian Region, Paraschos Paraschoudis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document is presented from the perspective of the project manager of the Southeast Asian Youth Chamber Orchestra (SEAYCO) and will analyze all the necessary steps from the initial idea to the selecting of the musicians, and through the rehearsal and preparation until its first performance. The College of Music, Mahidol University in Thailand and the Goethe-Institut network of Southeast Asia formed a partnership in order to make this project possible. The sponsor of this unique endeavor was Merck KGaA, a German multinational chemical, pharmaceutical, and life-sciences company that was generous enough to fund part of this project. The main …

Alexander Moyzes And His Piano Sonata In The Context Of Slovak Music Between The Wars, Ivan Koska

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this monograph is to introduce to the English-speaking public the Slovak twentieth-century composer Alexander Moyzes and his Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op. 2 (1942), virtually unknown outside Slovakia. The style of the Sonata represents a retreat from earlier, more experimental positions of its author; this shift can be explained by a closer look at historical and aesthetic circumstances surrounding its composition. The first chapter provides an essential biography of the composer with an emphasis on his life and works between 1925 and 1940. The second chapter compares single movements of the Sonata with earlier manuscripts and …

Analysis And Expressive Performance : Four Selected Works By Chopin, Timothy David Saeed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine four works by Chopin and address issues of expressive performance derived from principles of the nineteenth-century Swiss theorist, Mathis Lussy (1828-1910). Lussy’s systematic approach into the understanding and organization of the individual phrase in relation with performance practice resembles many recent theories of rhythm and performance methodologies. As have several recent theorists, Lussy sought the causes of expressive performance in the structure of the musical phrase, rather than a performer’s artistic intuition, and identified a tripartite classification of accent. The purpose of this study is to adapt and expand the application of Lussy’s theory of …

The Seven Last Words Of Christ : A Comparison Of Three French Romantic Musical Settings By Gounod, Franck, And Dubois, Vaughn Roste

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Seven Last Words of Christ—those sayings uttered by Jesus between his crucifixion and death as recorded in the Gospels—have long been of interest to liturgists and composers alike. Many composers have been inspired by these texts, and this study examines three settings, by Charles Gounod, César Franck, and Theodore Dubois. All were French composers who set this text in Latin during the Romantic era. Not only were these works composed in the same temporal vicinity, within twelve years, but they were also all composed within the same geographic vicinity, Paris. Franck and Dubois even worked together at the same …

Hidden Music: Vowel Formant Theory And The Languages Of Verdi's Don Carolos, Justin Andrew Owen

LSU Master's Theses

Don Carlos, Giuseppe Verdi’s third French opera, was first performed at the Paris Opéra in 1867; today, it is commonly performed in its Italian translation. This translation is problematic, however, because it departs from the original French in more than language: as a translation to be sung, it often conveys a different meaning, places key words on different sections of the melody, and consists of a different sound. This latter aspect and its relationship to notated melody is the focus of this study. For the purpose of this study, the sound of a language is defined by the overtones of …

Chinese Piano Music: An Approach To Performance, Xi Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Since the piano was introduced in China, in the nineteenth century, many Chinese composers have composed specifically for it. As a result of greater communication and cultural exchange between East and West, Western pianists have begun including Chinese piano pieces in their repertoire. This paper will suggest approaches for the pianist to gain a greater understanding of Chinese piano music. These approaches will include a detailed analysis of each piece, addressing cultural aspects pertinent to an understanding of the music, as well as compositional background, harmony, texture, and piano technique. In addition, each piece will be provided with suggestions intended …

A Performer's Interpretation Of David Del Tredici's Chana's Story: A Cycle Of Six Songs On Texts Of Chana Bloch, Shelly Lenn Buchanan-Garlotte

LSU Major Papers

The purpose of this document is to reveal a performer’s perspective on David Del Tredici’s Chana’s Story. This six-song cycle for mezzo-soprano chronicles the marriage of poet and translator, Chana Bloch, and is based on her translations and poetry. The first chapter of this document provides biographical data about David Del Tredici, which presents a view of his compositional development, and includes events and individuals of influence in the composer’s life, such as teachers and poets. The second chapter includes biographical data about the poet, Chana Bloch, which is provided to enhance the interpretation of the poetry and to facilitate …

A Survey Of Rudy Davenport's Byna: Life Songs Of A Southern Appalachian Woman Of Cherokee Indian Descent (A Chamber Work For Soprano, Piano, Oboe And Cello), Tiffany I. Bostic-Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Composer Rudy Davenport aims to create music that is more relatable than the atonal compositions often associated with 20th century composers. Inspired by his own Appalachian and Cherokee heritages, Davenport, in collaboration with librettist Delilah Elsen, developed his own musical genre called “Appalachian Romanticism”. This genre is evident in his work BYNA: Life Songs of a Southern Appalachian Woman of Cherokee Descent for Soprano, Piano, Oboe & Cello. The purpose of this study is to understand and describe Rudy Davenport’s view on 20th century composition. To obtain this information I interviewed Davenport posing questions about his biography and musical preferences, …