Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Event, Michael R. Ray Sr

Masters Theses

In completion of my thesis project for a master’s degree in music composition, I will be writing, recording, videoing, and editing an original 60-minute musical. The musical, entitled “The Event,” is a musical and philosophical exploration of humanity’s relationship with its home planet. Through a series of thematically related vignettes, the musical orbits a single question: if humans were trapped on Earth, would our behavior change?

Giving us a throughline in the discussion of the ensuing questions is our narrator, a kind of “every man” representing different facets of the human/planet relationship. Through his involvement in each song, we aim …

Horned & Hidden Child: The Minotaur & Modern Opera, Mikeila Ashley Mcqueston

Masters Theses

Picture a world in which stories never die. Just down the street is the Halfway House for the Mythically Challenged, where fairytale creatures learn how to prepare for job-interviews. This is the world of Pasiphae, a beautiful sorceress, queen, and former wife of the ancient King Minos. After millennia on her own, she enlists the help of her Greek Chorus to rescue her children from their respective prisons – first Ariadne from the island Naxos, and now the Minotaur from Daedalus’ labyrinth. Horned & Hidden Child is a contemporary opera with music by Mikeila McQueston and libretto by Nicole Yackley. …

Constructivist Peer Review In Music Theory And Composition Courses: Technologies And Practice, Brendan Mcconville

Journal of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction

This article considers the supporting technologies and practices for effective semi-anonymous peer review in traditional music theory and composition-related courses: orchestration, arranging, and composition. A coordinated approach probes two questions nested within one broad case study: (1) does the use of peer review in music theory and composition-related courses create meaningful, constructivist-inspired learning experiences, and (2) what web technologies can efficiently and effectively accomplish its activities? The article first provides a constructivist theoretical framework; next, it explains the methodologies, technologies, and resulting feedback from using peer review in a three-course study; and finally it provides concluding remarks on the many …

Symphony No. 1, Robert Alden Clark

Masters Theses

Symphony No. 1 is a three-movement composition for full orchestra. This piece is composed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Music with a concentration in Composition from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The symphony was composed during the 2015-2016 academic year and is roughly twenty-two minutes in length. The first movement is written in sonata form with prefacing material that encapsulates the essence of an Adagio as well. The second movement is a lighthearted scherzo and trio with elements of sonata form. The final movement is an Allegro in modified rondo form that recapitulates previous …

Augmentation Of Delusion, Christopher Lynn Adams

Masters Theses

Augmentation of Delusion is a single-movement piece for chamber orchestra composed by Chris L. Adams. The piece was originally written for a four-person percussion ensemble in 2013 and orchestrated in 2014. This document will analyze the major musical elements of form, harmony, melody, rhythm and meter, and genre of the piece, as well as compare and contrast these variables with other composers’ works.

Music theory terminology and figures will be applied in this document as follows:

1. Set theory functions will be expressed as:
a. Normal order indicated by brackets – [2367]
b. Prime form indicated by parentheses – (0145) …

The Wilderness For String Quartet, Samuel Moore Lewis

Masters Theses

The Wilderness is a single-movement work for string quartet with a performance time of approximately 14 minutes. This piece was completed in the spring of 2014.

The purpose of this paper is to place the composition within the context of concert music by analyzing its form, melody, harmony, rhythm, and meter and comparing those elements with those in similar examples by 20^th and 21^st century composers, in particular the post-Romantic string quartet literature.

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 …

Seasons For A Cynic: A Compositional Process Utilizable For A Program Symphony, David Anthony Pegel

Masters Theses

The technique of symphonic composition requires a deliberate and methodical process by the composer; when the symphony is intended to aesthetically convey a specific subject matter, the compositional process must become even more deliberate. First a subject must be chosen and examined in a contemporary standpoint. Then the composer must determine how to reflect this subject through his or her composing. Ideally, the end result of this composition should encompass the subject matter as thoroughly as possible.

While the great majority of textbooks on music theory and composition centralize themselves on elements of pitch in music, the composer has many …