Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Sealing Practices: Impressions Of The Past And Their Contemporary Significance, Lana Grace Rose

Honors Theses

If you take a walk around London's Bloomsbury Park, you will come upon a bronze stature of Charles James Fox. Fox was the Secretary of State in Britain three times in the later part of the 18th century. He fought for a stronger Parliament that would support the constitution and introduced the bill that became the Slave Trade Act, abolishing slavery in the British Empire. The persona of Fox memorialized in the statue is a testimony to his years of service to Britain. A curious curator from the British Museum came upon the statue one day and noticed something strange. …

Radio's Influence On Music From 1919 To 1926, Aaron Hawley

Honors Theses

Advances in technology have dramatically changed the lives of Americans throughout the twentieth century. Many of these advancements have become commonplace. For instance, the words "airplane," "computer," "radio," and "television" were not common a hundred years ago. Today, even small children know the definitions of these words. In addition, as new technologies develop, methods of accomplishing tasks change. These changes are then incorporated into our normal way of life. This gradual development causes many people to fail to consider the true implications of the technology on their way of life. Aspects of American's lives that used to be considered luxuries …

An Analysis Of Success And Failure: The Manhattan Project And German Nuclear Research During The Third Reich, Jon Tate Self

Honors Theses

Without doubt, the years since World War II have seen a new player on the international scene. Not a person, yet to many, it personifies man's inhumanity to man. Neither is it a nation, yet it wields more power than the most powerful empire or state. Nor is it good or evil in and of itself, but like all fruit of knowledge, it defers to man in its use. The new player is the atom by virtue of its awesome explosive power.

The atom did not burst onto the scene in our context until 1939. That year saw the discovery …

The Harpsichord, Gay Gladden

Honors Theses

One of the most fascinating keyboard instruments which precedes the pianoforte is the harpsichord. The harpsichord played a primary role in eighteenth century music. It assumed a position similar to that of the concert grand piano during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Yet, today the harpsichord is not considered an obsolete instrument. It has undergone an unprecedented revival during the present century, and the harpsichord presently enjoys a unique popularity.

A Short Summary Of The History Of The Flute, Juanita Nicholson

Honors Theses

The birth of the woodwinds as we know them today came in the time of Lully with the invention of the oboe in France. The woodwinds developed mainly as a means of producing a variety of contrasting tone colors. The four main woodwinds--flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon--produce four very different sounds, yet blend perfectly well.

In the early days of the orchestra the woodwind section consisted of a pair of oboes, usually playing a melody in thirds. Sometimes the performers would lay down their oboes and play flutes or recorders. Later two bassoonists were added, mainly to provide an independent bass …

A History Of Brass Instruments, Mary Beth Mangrum

Honors Theses

The wind instruments--instruments in which the sound results from vibrations of a column of air produced either mechanically or by the human breath--are usually divided into the woodwinds and the brasses. The brasses include the French horn, cornet, trumpet, tuba, and trombone, all of which, except the last, are fixed-tone instruments, producing only one sound at a time and not able to play in perfect tune.

Musical instruments were not "invented." They developed slowly and comparatively late. They developed from stamping feet and slapping hands. A prehistoric forerunner of ancient brass instruments was the hollow stick without a mouthpiece, used …

A History Of The Bassoon, Marilyn Rauch

Honors Theses

The earliest ancestor of the bassoon was the bass pommer, bombard, or bass shawm. The instrument was long and perfectly straight with a metal crook fitted in the small end.

In the early part of the sixteenth century, Canon Alfranio was making instruments called phagotum, in which a long tube was bent back on itself several times. This idea, when applied to the bombard, produced the curtal--the direct ancestor of the bassoon. The phagotum itself was no relation to the bassoon, it being a form of bagpipe, but in it, Afranio was responsible for the idea used in bassoon construction. …