Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Music Of The Divine: Interweaving Threads Connecting Contemporary Chant-Based Piano Repertoire, Jeremy D. Duck

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The purpose of this document is to prove chant remains an important source of inspiration among living composers, and, despite the number of piano works already incorporating chant, composers today are still finding unique ways to include chant in their music. To achieve this objective, representative works have been selected for research and analysis for four of the major chant traditions. Connor Chee’s The Navajo Piano, Victoria Bond’s Illuminations on Byzantine Chant, and Hayes Biggs’ E.M. am Flügel: Poem-Étude for Piano Solo, though the chants from which they are inspired are diverse in concept and style, they …

New Paradigms In Band Performance: An Analysis Of Three Prototypes, Scott Walker-Parker

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This document seeks to propose new paradigms in band performance through inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinarity. Initial inspirations were drawn from performance innovations shaped by the new music theater which became popular in the 20^th century. Key concepts which were used throughout the creative, planning, logistic, rehearsal, and performance processes are analyzed in three recitals through prototypes of new paradigms in band performance. These concepts include accessibility and community, nonverbal/multimodal performance and instruction versus time, and nonverbal/multimodal communication.

The document has been organized in a manner which highlights successes and breakdowns of each process so future refinement can be made. …

Rediscovering Argentine Repertoire Written In The 1930s: A Performative Study Of Concert Piano Works By Lita Spena And Celia Torrá, Florencia Zuloaga

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

A survey of the piano repertoire written during the decade of 1930 in Argentina reveals the rising number of several works written by women composers. For the first time, the years that followed the inauguration of the National Conservatory of Music and Theater in 1924 witnessed a professionalization of women in the field of music composition, and two figures made great strides in this regard. Celia Torrá and Lita Spena stood out among the first female composition students at the National Conservatory and some of the first to succeed as professional composers. Furthermore, they were among the first women to …

The Muted Woman: A Lovey-Dovey Themed Recital, From A Man's Point Of View, Raven Williams

Honors Theses

This senior thesis consists of a vocal recital, accompanying program notes, and research regarding the struggles of women composers as music evolved through its Ancient, Baroque, Classic, Romantic and Contemporary periods. The recital includes a compilation of love songs by French, Italian, English, and German composers, in particular Gabriel Fauré, the often-forgotten Stefano Donaudy, Samuel Barber, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Joseph Haydn. This paper incorporates biographical information, analysis, performance history and cultural insights into the overshadowed women composers that prospered around the same time period as the men of the former. Specifically, Nadia Boulanger, Nannerl Mozart, Alice Mary …

Exploring The Eclectic Piano Works Of Mathew Fuerst, Seung Kyung Baek

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce its readers to contemporary classical composer Mathew Fuerst through an analysis of his five piano works: Three Etudes for Piano (1999), The Drift of Things (2009), Nocturne (Walking Along the Danube at Night in Budapest) for two pianos (2013). This resource provides Fuerst’s biography, his compositional style and briefly explores György Ligeti, one of the great influences on Fuerst’s compositional style. Each of his piano pieces is discussed in terms of genre, expressive issues and techniques, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, and texture. This study is a resource for pianists who consider analyzing …

The Gambler’S Son: A Performance Companion Guide Of Dr. Tyler Goodrich White’S Opera, Patrick Mcnally

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This document is intended to be a practical tool for anyone interested in performing or developing a deeper appreciation for the opera The Gambler’s Son by Tyler Goodrich White. Premiered and produced by UNL Opera in October, 2019, The Gambler's Son is based on Mari Sandoz’s Son of the Gamblin’ Man and Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit. The document presents brief biographies of the composer Tyler Goodrich White and his wife, the librettist, Laura White. A discussion of the work's inspiration and evolution includes a review of the process by which the two works of literature were melded into …

Chasing Expression: Tracing Notated And Performative Devices That Create A Bel Canto Style At The Piano, Paul Zeller

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Discussions of interpretation and performance practice often address specific historical periods, offering analyses of musical practices within a predetermined set of dates, such as ornamentation in the Baroque period, articulation as applied in the Classical era, and phrasing “the long line” in the Romantic era. Such a sectionalized approach yields many valuable insights on how to perform the music of specific composers, but it fails to consider the development of notational practices and performative idioms across different historical eras. Studying the ways in which musicians of different eras applied the same set of musical devices within a specific style could …

Invention Through The Harmonics Of Stefano Scodanibbio: A Method Of Creative Improvisation For The Contemporary Double Bassist, Christian Chesanek

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This document is an inclusive method for the double bass and comprises etudes and exercises inspired by Sei Studi (1981/83) composed by the Italian double bass virtuoso Stefano Scodanibbio (1956-2012). The etudes and exercises in the method are based on the analysis of seven categories of harmonic gestures that exemplify Scodanibbio’s “Avant Garde” style. The seven categories, each with its own chapter, feature selected harmonic gestures extracted from the Sei Studi. The seven categories include: 1) natural harmonics, 2) trilled and tremolo harmonic gestures, 3) pizzicato/arco and normal note gestures, 4) mixed normal and harmonic note gestures, 5) artificial …

A Bright Size Transformation: Examining Pat Metheny's Improvisatory Evolution Through Select Original Compositions From The Album Bright Size Life (1976), Lee Heerspink

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Pat Metheny has consistently been one of the most widely celebrated and prominent jazz guitarists from the mid-1970s to present day. Over the course of Metheny’s 45-year career, he has accumulated 44 albums as a band leader, 20 Grammy awards, and numerous “Best Jazz Guitarist” awards from DownBeat and JazzTimes. Despite the general sources, articles and interviews conducted about Metheny’s life and music, there is a lack of scholarly research which addresses how Pat Metheny’s improvisatory approach has changed throughout the course of his career.

This document provides a better understanding of Pat Metheny’s improvisatory evolution with transcriptions, analyses, …

The Role Of The Piano In The 12 Poems Of Emily Dickinson By Aaron Copland, Krista Benesch

Honors Theses

In the song cycle 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson by Aaron Copland, one may observe the interplay between the piano and the narrator. Throughout all twelve songs, the piano plays different roles. In several songs, the piano plays a certain character: in “Nature, the gentlest mother,” the piano is personified as Nature, while in “Dear March, come in!” the piano is March. In other songs, the piano reacts to the narrator—for example, in “Going to Heaven!”, the narrator announces a statement, and the piano follows with fast, tumbling eighth notes that portray the narrator’s scattered thoughts. Every song in the …

Asian And European Musical Images Of Water: Exploring The Stylistic Evolution And Development Of Musical Language By Comparing Selected Water-Themed Piano Works From The Nineteenth Century To The Present, Chubing Wang

Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts: Student Research, Performance, and Creative Activity

This document aims to explore the stylistic evolution and development of musical language by comparing water-themed piano works selected from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The study first examines how water-related pieces were developed through the nineteenth to the twentieth century demonstrating the growth of compositional language on this particular theme. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the document focuses on the similarities and differences between Asian and European water pieces by Karen Tanaka and Andrea Granitzio. The goal of the study is to discuss how the previous generations influenced later composers’ works and how the current generation …

Transcribing Astor Piazzolla's Works To Maximize Stylistic Fidelity: An Examination Of Three Saxophone Quartets With A New Transcription, Sarah L. Cosano

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Astor Piazzolla is recognized as a pivotal figure who drew tango music onto an international stage. His output of written compositions and recordings provide a reference for studying tango. Though Piazzolla adapted a collection of flute etudes in 1988, he did not write specifically for saxophone during his lifetime. Saxophonists must instead rely on transcriptions of his music. Today, tango is a widely performed idiom for saxophone quartet.

Because of its tessitura, timbral variety, and flexibility, the saxophone is uniquely suited to perform tango music. This instrument has an expansive range when altissimo is included. Its written range spans from …

From Improvisation To Artistry: A Study Of The Piano’S 12 Sides By Carter Pann, Louis Claussen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Intended as a resource for pianists who may analyze or perform Carter Pann’s The Piano’s 12 Sides, this study provides biographical information on the composer and explores his professional relationship with the pianist for whom it was composed, Joel Hastings. Each piece from The Piano’s 12 Sides is discussed in terms of form, melody, harmony, texture and Pann’s approach to the pianistic compositional idiom. The composition is also examined with regard to extra-musical details and programmatic elements as well as inspiration and dedications that influenced Pann’s compositional process.

Correspondence and interviews with the composer reveal the motivation and inspiration behind …

State Of The Art: A Sampling Of Twenty-First-Century American Baroque Flute Pedagogy, Tamara Tanner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

During the Baroque flute revival in 1970s Europe, American modern flute instructors who were interested in studying Baroque flute traveled to Europe to work with professional instructors. They then transmitted that knowledge to their students upon returning to America, furthering the modern study of Baroque flute in America. Now, thanks to their efforts and those of academic institutions and professional organizations such as the National Flute Association, there are many opportunities in America to hear performances by dynamic Baroque flutists, to perform and compete on Baroque flute, and to learn from respected Baroque flute instructors. There are also numerous texts …

Hegemony, Randall Snyder

Randall Snyder Compositions

For piano and orchestra 1973 - revised 2018

Instrumentation: Flute 1, Flute 2 - Piccolo, Flute 3 - Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Bb Clarinet 1, Bb Clarinet 2 - Eb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone - Tenor Saxophone, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2 - Contrabassoon, Bb Trumpet, Horn, Tromsone, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Percussion 3, Percussion 4, Harp, Piano Solo, Violin 1, Violin 2, Violin 3, Violin 4, Viola 1, Viola 2, Cello 1, Cello 2, Double Bass 1, Double Bass 2

Notes: This score is notated in concert pitch, all instruments sounding as written except piccolo, xylophone, …

The Iconic One-Hit Wonder: The History And Reception Of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria, Matthew Oltman

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria is one of the most well-known small-scale choral pieces written in the latter half of the twentieth century. Since its introduction to American choirs in 1970, it has become an important part of the standard choral repertoire and is often performed perennially, especially at Christmas. It was integral to the rise in popularity of Chanticleer, the American professional male chorus, and remains closely associated with the ensemble thanks to it being recorded and published in the United States under Chanticleer’s auspices. Despite these facts, very little has been written about the composer or his iconic setting …

A Study Of The Performance Requirements Found In The Sonata For Solo Violin Op 40 By Miklós Rózsa, James Moat

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Miklós Rózsa’s Sonata for Violin Solo, written in 1986, is his last work for violin and completes a collection of pieces written for the violin dating back to 1929. There have been various scholarly papers written about Rózsa’s violin works, including Nancy Jane McKenney’s dissertation: ‘The Chamber Music of Miklós Rózsa’, and the book written by one of Rózsa’s close friends, Christopher Palmer: ‘Miklós Rózsa, A Sketch of his Life and Work’. Neither of these works discusses the Solo Sonata; in fact, Christopher Palmer’s book was published in 1974, 12 years before the sonata was even composed.

This document discusses …

Original Clarinet Quartet Works Of Mike Curtis And Josh Spaulding: An Analysis And Performance Guide, Jennifer Reeves

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The clarinet quartet genre is a popular chamber ensemble for the instrument and is one that has little to no history available discussing its origins and development. Following a brief theoretical history of the clarinet quartet genre, the works of two 21st century composers are explored throughout the remainder of the document. Mike Curtis and Josh Spaulding’s compositions for clarinet quartet are extraordinary examples of the works that exist for this chamber ensemble.

A biography and compositional background is supplied for each composer, followed by individual chapters discussing the composers’ original works for clarinet quartet that utilize the instrumentation of …

Ascensions, Randall Snyder

Randall Snyder Compositions

For Flute, oboe, Clarinet in B♭, Horn in F, and Bassoon.

Ascensions, for woodwind quintet, was composed for Quintessential in conjunction with the Historical Society of Quincy (IL) and Adams County’s current WWI exhibit.

The work, in two parts, suggests two key moments in the life of Quincy balloonist Thomas Baldwin’s life. “1887” was the year of his first balloon ascent and parachute jump from Singleton Park in Quincy. “1917” represents the year of America’s entry into WW I and Baldwin’s contributions to the U.S. Signal Corp balloon division.

As parallel musical analogies, 1887, suggestive of the slow ascent of …

Curious, Collaborative Creativity: Applying Student-Centered Principles To Performing Ensembles, Danni Gilbert

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This article explores a comprehensive, student-centered alternative to traditional ensemble instruction with the goal of promoting better opportunities for musical independence and lifelong musicianship. Developed by Caron Collins from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York–Potsdam, the Curious, Collaborative Creativity (CCC) concept fosters student-centered learning and the promotion of 21st-century skills by encouraging students to select, arrange, and compose the repertoire to be studied; to work together in teams to equally contribute to the learning/understanding of music; and to share their work through informances to engage and enlighten community members. Examples from a current ensemble …

Pilot Study To Assess Breathing During Sight-Read Stringed Instrument Performance, Collin T. Erickson, Clark Potter Mm, Mfa, Gregory Bashford Ph.D

UCARE Research Products

For many musicians, one common occurrence during a performance is the presence of stage fright. Stage fright, though not always expressed can influence the confidence and self-esteem of a performer, and thus can affect the quality of the performance. Every day musicians are affected by stage fright, and there has been no exact solution as to how to lessen the feeling of anxiety musicians feel before performing. No data has been collected to find the correlation between the regularity of breathing and the level of stage fright that a person feels during their performance. A way to quantify regularity of …

A Study Of The Improvisational Style Of Theodore "Fats" Navarro, 1949-1950, Russell C. Zimmer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This study analyzes improvisatory techniques of Theodore “Fats” Navarro (1923-1950). Live improvised solos of the trumpeter from 1949-1950 were examined to better understand the improvisational style through the analysis of transcribed solos. Chapter one gives a brief overview of Navarro’s brief professional career and why he was chosen as the subject of this study. Chapter two sets out the methodology for this study and reviews related literature to the study of Fats Navarro. Chapter three provides a brief background of each performance from which the transcriptions were selected. Chapter four identifies those aspects of his improvisation that occur often harmonically, …

Leroi Moore: A Biography, Bob Fuson Ii

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Few artists thrive at the crossroads of musicality, originality, and popularity. Musicians and critics often laud the first two and neglect the latter. Any imbalance in ratios between them that tips toward popularity is balanced by diminishing the creative elements.

Saxophonist LeRoi Moore (1961-2008) of the Dave Matthews Band was one artist who balanced all three. While his musical output was prodigious very little is known about him. He was a reclusive figure onstage and in public, shunning interviews and at times literally the spotlight, despite being a founding member of one of the most commercially successful bands of the …

An Underestimated Master: A Critical Analysis Of Carl Czerny's Eleven Piano Sonatas And His Contribution To The Genre, Levi Keith Larson

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Carl Czerny is unquestionably a well-known figure in the history of nineteenth-century pianism. He was a pupil of the great Beethoven, and later taught young Franz Liszt, thereby initiating a pedagogical lineage that continues to this day. Czerny’s pedagogical material is still relevant to contemporary piano education, and many of his treatises are valuable resources for understanding Classical and early Romantic musical culture. Although Czerny is known for being an accomplished piano teacher, he was also a highly prolific composer. His oeuvre totals 861 opus numbers, many of which contain multiple pieces. Czerny also penned a variety of compositions that …

Tracing Josef Suk’S Stylistic Development In His Piano Works: A Composer’S Personal Journey From Romanticism To Czech Modernism, Jana K. Manning

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The purpose of this document is to trace the stylistic development in the piano works of the Czech composer, violinist, and pedagogue, Josef Suk (1874-1935). Suk’s piano music is largely unknown in the United States and, unfortunately, neglected in his homeland. Because the majority of research about Josef Suk is in the Czech language, this work is intended to be the first English language document pertaining to Suk’s piano works. The three chapters synthesize information from both primary and secondary sources, including the composer’s first biography, collection of his letters and speeches, musical scores, dissertations, thematic catalogue of his works, …

A Performance Guide For The Unaccompanied Cello Compositions By Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Elizabeth A. Grunin

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The purpose of this study is to discuss the influences, structure, characteristics, and techniques of performance, encountered in the solo works for cello, composed by Mieczysław Weinberg. To do this it is necessary to learn about the rich life experiences and the musical training Weinberg received: specifically, his Jewish heritage and the escape of the Nazis, his traditional training in composition, exposure to foreign cultures, the influences of his environment in post-World War II Soviet Union, and finally his close and personal friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich. This project analyzes the solo works to understand their construction and to observe external …

Guy Woolfenden: A Composer's Musical Dna, James A. Dreiling

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Guy Woolfenden is a British composer who has made a name for himself in England as the composer of over 150 scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as music for numerous ballet and opera companies. In addition, he has composed fifteen pieces for wind band and eleven pieces for various wind chamber ensembles. While his wind music is well known throughout England, his name and his music are not as well known throughout the rest of the world. Those few conductors outside of England who are aware of his work tend to know only one or two of …

Virtuoso Violinist Maud Powell: Enduring Champion For American Women In Professional Music, Sarah Joy Pizzichemi

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Maud Powell, the first great American virtuoso violinist, sparked a change in the spirit of the advancement of classical music throughout North America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This document addresses gender inequality present in the classical music profession during Powell’s lifetime. It also explores the roles women occupied in the public and private spheres in Western art music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. More specifically, it investigates the life of virtuoso violinist Maud Powell through her activism and interest in American women in professional music.

The document is divided into three parts. After a …

Love's Austere And Lonely Offices: An Analysis Of Tom Cipullo's America 1968, Joshua Zink

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

My study reveals how the music of Tom Cipullo’s America 1968 mirrors the theme of adversity leading to resolution as found in the poetry of Robert Hayden. This study should serve the purposes of investigating Cipullo’s music in relationship to Hayden’s poetry, and be a practical tool for anyone interested in performing these marvelous pieces. This study contains an introduction, a systematic look at each poem and song, and a conclusion reflecting upon my findings.

Advisor: William Shomos

A Performance Guide And Comparison Of Three Works For Flute And Piano By David Maslanka: Duo, Songs Of My Nights, And "...And I Am A Child Before There Are Words...", Christa K. Krause

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Having written over forty works for wind ensemble, many of which have become part of the standard repertoire, David Maslanka (b. 1943) is known today as one of the leading wind band composers of our time. Maslanka’s compositional output also includes many solo and chamber works for wind and percussion instruments, and several orchestral and choral works. Although Maslanka’s solo and chamber works have become increasingly popular, his three works for flute and piano—Duo (1972), Songs of My Nights (2009), and “…and I am a child before there are words…” (2011), are still relatively unknown to flutists. …