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 …

Make War To Make Peace: Themes Of War In Trombone Solo Literature, Ian Rutherford

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

The trombone has a relatively small amount of solo literature, especially for how long it has existed. Many professors only teach and perform an even smaller number of those pieces. Some works are compelling and captivating but rarely performed. The purpose of this document is to explore two lesser-known works that have an exciting connection; they are both works about war. I Was Like Wow for Tenor Trombone and Boombox by Jacob Ter Veldhuis (JacobTV) and Encounters IV for Tenor Trombone and Multi-Percussion by William Kraft are two original works for trombone that explore themes of war.

The pieces were …

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. …

Blurred Lines: An Analysis Of Karel Husa's Music For Prague, 1968 Using Fuzzy Serialism, Sydney Wilson

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

The wind band work Music for Prague, 1968 by Karel Husa is a well-respected work that has withstood the test of time. Husa, a native of then-Czechoslovakia, composed the piece in less than a year from the United States. The piece serves as a method of expressing his feelings regarding the invasion of his homeland where his family was still residing. Husa accomplished this expression through the use of a nationalistic theme, the Hussite War Song, and his own integration of twelve-tone serialism.

This study looks at pre-existing literature surrounding Husa’s use of serialism, including an analysis by Husa himself. …

Perceptual And Conceptual Structures In Thea Musgrave's Green, Isabel Bohrer

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

Green, by Thea Musgrave, traces the interaction between two contrasting musical ideas. The opening of the piece presents the first idea: a lyrical section that highlights the importance of the pitch class E within the idea. This is interrupted by the second, discordant, idea which initially presents as a low F tremolo. Throughout the first half of the work, these ideas interact. The second half of the work further explores the melodies developed from the more discordant ideas, completely omitting the lyrical theme.

Within this piece there is a framework based upon the use of octatonic collections and modified …

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 Romantic Style In The Piano Works Of Manuel M. Ponce, Oscar Vazquez Medrano

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

Manuel M. Ponce is one of the most recognized Mexican composers of the twentieth century. He is known for his contributions to the guitar and piano literature, but more importantly, for his efforts to introduce musical nationalism in a world where Romantic opera and salon music dominated Mexico’s music scene.

This document has an introduction, six chapters, a conclusion, a bibliography, and three appendixes. The introduction includes pertinent background on Ponce’s music and the types of research dedicated to him, as well as the stylistic division of his music by Ponce scholars.

Chapter one explains the historical context in Mexico …

A Comparison Of Nebraska Urban, Rural, And Reservation Schools' Readiness To Achieve Nebraska State Music Standards, Amber E. Knight

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

Every person has a unique perspective through which the concept of music education is filtered, and for good reason: music classrooms and programs across the United States are very different. Programs are dissimilar in everything from tangible items, such as facilities and available teaching materials, to foundational frameworks, including curriculum and program philosophy. Local geographical and cultural contexts contribute to the dissimilarity of music programs across the United States, and even those within the same region or state. The purpose of this study was to examine the commonalities and differences in school climate and access to resources among urban, rural, …

Teaching Music Theory Through Covid-19, Donna Deloy

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

This thesis surveyed music theory instructors throughout the United States. Throughout the interviews, instructors shared their insights during COVID-19 as a college instructor. This thesis seeks to describe and inform college instructors of the changes made to the undergraduate curriculum and classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic; as a result, instructors found and created new ways to engage students in a classroom through an online format. While creating an online music theory course is challenging, instructors share their experiences navigating this temporary shift beginning in March 2020. A suggestion of implementing more technology into the music theory core could create a …

The Bleached Bones Of A Story, Coral Douglas

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

All ideas stored in our heads are simplistic in nature, or relational to others, which allows for the production of more complex ideas. As is such, small memories supplement beautifully full, yet inherently relational concepts. Small scale ideas are useful to performers (and to audiences), as it is difficult to handle brain capacity overload; it's impossible to multi-task, let alone keep multiple ideas going at once to their fullest, especially when presented with dense new materials. In composing with mental participation for audience members and performers in mind, I propose that composers should create clear formal devices, intend their materials …

Esther's Rise, John David Cope

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

Two of the most important parts of my life are my faith and my love of writing music. To conclude my time in Nebraska, I wanted to combine these two facets of my life to create something inspiring and beautiful. To that end, I composed “Esther’s Rise,” a six-movement work that programmatically retells the book of Esther from the Old Testament. To further enhance the story, I commissioned Vera Eva, an international freelance artist, to create a collection of eighteen digital illustrations that help audiences imagine the story unfold. Furthermore, I also paraphrased the biblical text to accompany the illustrations …

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 …

Stories Retold: Exploring Real-Life Stories Through An Analysis Of William Vollinger's Art Songs For Lyric Soprano And Piano, Katie Mersch

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

This document explores the art songs for lyric soprano and piano of contemporary composer William Vollinger (b. 1945). Vollinger’s penchant for storytelling inspires his song compositions and the myriad of different stories he relays. In the majority of Vollinger’s art songs for voice and piano, he features the real-life stories of ordinary people and interweaves moral messages. Moreover, all song texts analyzed appear in prose rather than metered poetry, follow the linear narrative structure of short stories, and originate from a variety of unconventional sources.

Freytag’s Pyramid, a diagram created to analyze dramatic structures, serves as a useful model for …

When Did You Stop Singing?: Elementary Boys' Attitudes And Self-Efficacy Toward The Act Of Singing, Eric D. Wyler

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

The “missing males” epidemic is one which has baffled music educators and researchers for decades. Many research studies have been conducted to explore why boys choose to not be involved in choral ensembles at their middle and high schools. These studies list numerous retention/recruitment strategies; however, the problem remains. Many boys decide before they reach middle school whether they like to sing. The purposes of this study are to examine elementary age boys’ attitudes toward singing and determine at what grade level, if any, there is a significant difference in boys’ attitudes, to search for a relationship between boys’ attitudes …

Prairie Land, Prairie Heart, And Prairie Spirit: An Introductory Analysis And Performance Guide Of Gwyneth Walker’S Prairie Songs, Kiya Fife

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

Largely known for her choral compositions, American composer Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) has composed hundreds of songs for solo voice. Walker’s songs demonstrate her unique compositional style which blends many characteristics of American music, including strong rhythms, open sonorities, and influences of rock, jazz, blues, and American folk music. With each work, Walker’s goal is not only to communicate to the audience, but for the music and poetry to deliver a specific musical imagery. Walker believes that the message of a song is not solely the poetry, but that the central images of the poem are the message. Walker believes …

Student Engagement In Higher Music Education With Online Learning Components: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Xinwei Liu

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

Higher education underwent an unprecedented transformation from conventional face-to-face education to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020-2021 academic year, most universities throughout the U.S. had moved educational programs online, so professors and instructors, with and without previous remote learning experience, were suddenly expected to shift to synchronous or asynchronous classroom settings. Facilitated through Learning Management Systems (LMS), many teaching and learning practices took place in web-based environments. Some schools allowed a combination of in-person or hybrid classes by complying with evolving COVID-19 protocols (e.g., use of hand sanitizer, social distancing, facial coverings). These novel implementations raised …

Mozart's Operas For Harmonie: Three Contemporary Arrangements Compared, Jacob R. Ludwig

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

This thesis examines three approaches to arranging Mozart's operas for Harmonie by Johann Nepomuk Went, Josef Triebensee, and Joseph Heidenreich through an analysis of selections from their arrangements. It consists of two chapters. Chapter One discusses the historical background of the Harmonie ensemble in Vienna and an introduction to the complicated publishing history of Mozart's original works for the Harmoniemusik ensemble. A summary of the scant biographical information about the three arrangers of the works to be studied concludes Chapter One. Chapter Two covers the arrangements of Mozart's operas by Johann Nepomuk Went, Josef Triebensee, and Joseph Heidenreich. The Harmonie …

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 …

A Contemporary Adaptation Of America’S Musical Heritage: The American Folk Set By Steven Mark Kohn, Trey Meyer

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

Steven Mark Kohn’s American Folk Set is comprised of contemporary arrangements of fifteen historic American folk songs, conceived as art songs for the vocal recital stage. This collection serves as a prime opportunity for performers to discover the expressive potential of the Art Song Repertory through folk settings that exude drama. Drawing from his background and experience as a composer, Kohn’s settings combine musical elements from classical Art Song, musical theatre, popular, and folk music. His settings musically depict tales from the lives of those who originally conceived the folk songs. This performance guide offers insights into Kohn as a …

Interpersonal Practices In Individualized Voice Teaching: A Mixed-Method Study Of Pedagogical Similarities And Differences Between Teachers Of Singing And Speech-Language Pathologists, Brianna Smith

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

The interpersonal teaching practices of teachers of singing and speech-language pathologists are examined in this mixed-method research study. The aim of this research is to identify common teaching themes and to determine how the disciplines of voice pedagogy and speech-language pathology agree and vary regarding interpersonal interactions with voice users (i.e., students, patients, and clients).

This research aims to identify the areas of overlap and disparity in the fields of voice pedagogy and speech-language pathology to determine where one field might positively influence the other. First, based upon standards set by speech-language pathologists and teachers of singing, this research identifies …

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 …

"Old Wine, New Bottles:" The Impact Of Schoenberg's Verein On The Arrangement Practice Of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 (Movement I), Rebecca Nederhiser

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

The purpose of this document is to provide historical and cultural context to the chamber arrangements formed in Arnold Schoenberg’s (1874-1951) Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances) and their impact on the orchestration practice of modern-day arrangers Iain Farrington and Peter Stangel. Using Gustav Mahler’s (1860-1911) Symphony No. 4 for comparison, the researcher will evaluate a reconstructed version of the work by Society member Erwin Stein, alongside two 21st century arrangements by Iain Farrington and Peter Stangel, who took creative inspiration from the Verein. From these versions, orchestration choices by each arranger will be compared …

A Performer’S Guide To The Unaccompanied Horn, Solo Horn And Fixed Media, And Horn And Piano Works Of James Naigus, Jordan Redd

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

The horn music of James Naigus is widely known in the horn community. Naigus’ ties to prolific horn composers Paul Basler and Jeff Agrell has placed him next in line to etch his name in horn history. James’ idiomatic melody and harmony has gained popularity at a rapid pace over the past ten years. The accessibility of his music for players of all ages has led to many commissions and performances of his work all over the world.

This writing summarizes the unaccompanied horn, solo horn and fixed media, and horn and piano works of James Naigus. Inside, the reader …

Effects Of The Met: Live In Hd On The Democratization Of Opera In America, Anna Wigtil

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

The Met: Live in HD satellite broadcasts of live opera performances began in 2006 and have since become popular with audiences around the world. While this could be an excellent avenue to democratize opera and make it available to new audiences, the available data indicates that most Live in HD viewers are already opera enthusiasts and have previously attended live opera performances. This thesis examines the history of the Metropolitan Opera’s broadcasting efforts, the demographics of American opera audiences, trends in Live in HD’s repertoire, and strategies to increase Live in HD’s appeal to a broader, more diverse …

A Musical Analysis Of The Improvisational Bebop Style Of Nat Adderley (1955-1964), Kyle Granville

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

Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley was an American jazz artist active in New York City, Florida and Europe throughout his extensive musical career. A prominent cornet player and composer, Adderley was highly respected by many of his peers in New York City, Florida, as well as all over Europe. He spent a lot of time during his career performing with and composing for many renowned jazz musicians: Horace Silver, Oscar Pettiford, Johnny Griffin, Yusef Lateef and most notably his older brother, Cannonball Adderley. Collaborations with these notable musicians and many others, help cement Nat Adderley a well deserving spot in the jazz …

“This Is How We Do It”: A Descriptive Analysis Of The Musical Elements And The Black Church Cultural Influences In Adolphus Hailstork’S I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes: A Cantata For Tenor, Choir, And Chamber Orchestra, Alfonzo Cooper Jr

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

This document analyzes Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, featuring text from Psalms 121, 13, and 23. The author contends that Hailstork uses cultural musical elements of the Black Church throughout the entire composition. Beginning with a brief biography of the composer, the author then provides a movement-by-movement examination of salient musical features and Black Church cultural traditions Hailstork employs to highlight the text of his selected psalms.

Advisor: William Shomos

Transcendentalist Sympathies: A Contextual Study Of The Wound-Dresser, Jared Hiscock

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

My document takes as its subject The Wound-Dresser by American composer John Coolidge Adams (b. 1947). Published in 1988, this twenty minute work for baritone voice and orchestra remains Adams’s sole contribution to the non-operatic solo voice repertoire.

In The Wound-Dresser Adams grapples with the historical churning of his own times by looking to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Charles Ives. A brief biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson begins the document in order to elucidate Emerson’s connection to Adams and Whitman. I then introduce Walt Whitman, the author of the text used in The Wound-Dresser and suggest that Whitman’s …

The Brass Music Of Gwyneth Walker: An Overview, Kevin Madden

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

Gwyneth Walker (b.1947) is an American composer known primarily for her choral music. Dr. Walker’s catalog contains over 350 works for all types of ensembles. Research exists about Dr. Walker’s music. It is in the form of reviews, notes, and journal articles. There have been three major research papers on her music. They are Carson Cooman’s 2005 essay “Defining a Personal American Quartet Tradition: The Four String Quartets of Gwyneth Walker”, Tana Rene Field-Bartholomew’s 2007 DMA dissertation “A Performer’s Guide to the Songs of Gwyneth Walker” focusing on her solo songs, and Vicki Lynne Burrichter’s 2003 DMA dissertation, “The Choral …

The Synthesis Of Jazz And Chinese Folk Songs As A Model For Jazz Pedagogy In China, Runkun Li

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

This document presents a method of jazz instruction that synthesizes elements of the jazz language with traditional Chinese folk songs. This research first analyzes the characteristics of Chinese folk songs, such as the melodies, rhythms, and pentatonic features. An overview of Chinese jazz history indicates that the lack of resources, educational opportunities, and differences in cultural music performance practice contribute to the stunted growth of jazz education in China. Since Chinese folk songs are pervasive in Chinese culture, they offer an appropriate source on which to apply idiomatic jazz elements, such as swing feel, chromaticism, enclosures, blue notes, syncopations, anticipations, …

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 …