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Sources Of Thirteenth-Century English Polyphony: Catalogue With Descriptions, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This document catalogues the thirteenth-century English sources of thirteenth-century English polyphony, with brief mention of non-insular sources and later sources of this repertoire. Bibliographic information on each source takes RISM B/IV/1 as a point of departure, citing earlier material directly in only a few instances, while mainly attempting a full report of later, i.e., more recent, literature. All the sources using the so-called English Mensural Notation are described here, and a fresh effort is made to coherently lay out the sources associated with Worcester Cathedral, including the incorporation of new fragments found there during the recataloguing undertaken during the 1990s.

Black Us Army Bands And Their Bandmasters In World War I, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This essay sketches the story of the bands and bandmasters of the twenty seven new black army regiments which served in the U.S. Army in World War I. They underwent rapid mobilization and demobilization over 1917-1919, and were for the most part unconnected by personnel or traditions to the long-established bands of the four black regular U.S. Army regiments that preceded them and continued to serve after them. Pressed to find sufficient numbers of willing and able black band leaders, the army turned to schools and the entertainment industry for the necessary talent. The newly formed bands entertained servicemen and …

England [Medieval Music], Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

English musical life in the Middle Ages is often treated in standard textbook surveys as peripheral to that of France and Italy. This approach has several causes, but is rooted especially in musicology's preoccupation over the past 150 years of scholarship with medieval France. Noteworthy also in this negligence is the pairing of France and Italy late in the era in the emergence of polyphonic refrain songs as the chief new artefacts of secular high music culture in the 1300s, an attractive trend with no contemporary English-language counterpart. Musicology's paradigmatic narrative of English entrance onto the international stage, through its …

Compositional Trajectories [Medieval Music], Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Here, to illuminate a small set of issues in respect to style and compositional practice, we will approach the medieval composer via specific repertory, namely, some sacred chants and some two-voice polyphony.

A persistent conviction of many relative newcomers to medieval music is that all chant sounds the same - melodically vague, un differentiable, hypnotic and slightly 'New Age' - and that it is governed by a universal, monolithic, standard medieval 'theory of the modes'. Neither of these points is true, but one needs to gain a broad familiarity with some very large bodies of melodies, and the histories of …

The Structure And Genesis Of Copland's Quiet City, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Aaron Copland’s Quiet City (1940), a one-movement work for trumpet, cor anglais, and strings, derives from incidental music the composer wrote for an unsuccessful and now forgotten Irwin Shaw play. This essay explores in detail the pitch structure of the concert work, suggesting dramatic parallels between the music and Shaw’s play.

The opening of the piece hinges on an anhemitonic pentatonic collection, which becomes the source of significant pitch centres for the whole composition, in that the most prominent pitch classes of each section, when taken together, replicate the collection governing the music’s first and last bars. Both this principle …

Reconsidering Pitch Centricity, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Analysts commonly describe the musical focus upon a particular pitch class above centricity. But this seemingly simple concept is complicated by a range of factors. can be understood variously as a compositional feature, a perceptual effect arising from or listening strategies, or some complex combination thereof. Second, the relation the theoretical construct of tonality (in any of its myriad conceptions) is often not consistently theorized. Finally, various musical contexts manifest or evoke pitch centricity in seemingly and to differing degrees. This essay examines a range of compositions by Ligeti, Carter, and others to arrive at a more nuanced perspective of …

Revealing Robert Owens: A Study Of Compositional Style And Performance Practice In The Song Cycle Heart On The Wall, Jamie M. Reimer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The songs of ROBERT OWENS (b. 1925) constitute a relatively unknown body of twentieth century American music. Born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Berkeley, California, Owens has written the majority of his vocal music since moving to Munich, Germany in 1958. His work appears in anthologies of songs of African American composers, but has not yet been widely recorded or performed. The material presented in this article results from interviews conducted by the author during a residency and subsequent performances with Mr. Owens in 2007.

Owens's songs reflect two major artistic influences in his life: live theater (he is …

An American Abroad: The Life And Career Of Robert Owens, Jamie M. Reimer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The life and career of African-American composer Robert Owens are a result of perseverance, creativity, and accidental opportunity. From his roots in Texas to his travels in France and his eventual settlement in Germany, Owens proves that if one believes in himself and his abilities, nearly any obstacle can be overcome. ... Owens' accomplishments as a composer have gained considerable recognition in the last five years, including the "Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship" at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2004) and The International Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Negro Musicians (2008). …

Review Of Peter Wright, Ed., Fifteenth-Century Liturgical Music, V: Settings Of The Sanctus And Agnus Dei., Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Peter Wright's edition of English settings of the Sanctus and Agnus from the second quarter of the fifteenth century is the latest addition to the Fifteenth-Century Liturgical Music subseries of Early English Church Music, and the second to adopt a new format for notation and editorial apparatus. ... A generous critical apparatus for each work is clearly laid out, with highly valuable commentary in the General Remarks for many items. The editor's introduction discusses the policy of selection of repertory, the styles of the works edited, their age, sources, and composer attributions, the kinds of distortions in transmission that these …

A Riddle And A Song: Playing With Signs In A Fourteenth-Century Ballade, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

In a rich and learned article, Lawrence Gushee explored the tabula monochordi of Magister Nicolaus de Luduno. The tabula, which was copied into a music theory manuscript of c. 1400 of southern Italian provenance (Rome/St. Paul), consists of three associated parts. The first and third I shall call, following Gushee, the tabula figurarum (an elaborate musical example) and the tabula numerorum (an extremely elaborate table of corresponding information). Between them lies the enigmatic text of a six-stanza musical puzzle poem, 'Ut pateat evidenter', with which Gushee wrestled inconclusively. A concordance to the poem unknown to Gushee in an English …

Assessment Of Muscle Activity And Joint Angles In Small-Handed Pianists:, Brenda Wristen, Myung-Chul Jung, A. K. G. Wismer, M. Susan Hallbeck

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This pilot study examined whether the use of a 7/8 keyboard contributed to the physical ease of small-handed pianists as compared with the conventional piano keyboard. A secondary research question focused on the progression of physical ease in pianists making the transition from one keyboard to the other. For the purposes of this study, a hand span of 8 inches or less was used to define a "small-handed" pianist. The goal was to measure muscle loading and hand span during performance of a specified musical excerpt. For data collection, each of the two participants was connected to an 8-channel electromyography …

Sight-Reading Versus Repertoire Performance On The Piano: A Case Study Using High-Speed Motion Analysis, Brenda Wristen, Sharon Evfans, Nikolaos Stergiou

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This study was intended to examine whether differences exist in the motions employed by pianists when they are sightreading versus performing repertoire and to determine whether these differences can be quantified using high-speed motion capture technology. A secondary question of interest was whether or not an improvement in the efficiency of motion could be observed between two sight-reading trials of the same musical excerpt. This case study employed one subject and a six-camera digital infrared camera system to capture the motion of the pianist playing two trials of a repertoire piece and two trials of a sight-reading excerpt. Angular displacements …

Demographics And Motivation Of Adult Group Piano Students, Brenda Wristen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Adults are continuing to pursue a greater quantity and variety of educational opportunities. As evidenced by this study, adults typically have compelling goals from the outset of piano study and maintain clear expectations regarding in¬struction. They found the group environment helpful, underscoring findings from aforementioned studies regarding the success of choir, band, and other group musical activities for adults. More research concerning the social motivation of group music participation is warranted. Further investigation into what factors motivate adults to seek out and continue to pursue music study would help teachers better address the needs and concerns of adult learners. Likewise, …

Cognition And Motor Execution In Piano Sight-Reading: A Review Of Literature, Brenda Wristen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Sight-reading is an integral part of the musical experience for all musicians. Pianists, in particular, often find themselves confronted with situations that necessitate adequate sightreading skills. The widespread need for sight-reading at the piano may be due to pianists’ widespread participation in collaborative music making. The size of the piano literature also contributes to this need, in that the repertoire is so voluminous that no one player can be familiar with all of the solo and collaborative pieces written for piano, nor do recordings of every piece in the literature exist. This is particularly the case with the pedagogical literature. …

Christian Creativity In A Post-Christian Ethos, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The ideas I want to explore in this essay begin with the experience of some works of art that have recently been created for St. Mark’s-on-the-Campus Episcopal Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, the church of which I’m a member. All of the art you will experience has been created by active and faithful members of this church. Let me hasten to say that although I’ve been involved in various ways in fostering this art, I’m in no way responsible for it. That responsibility lies primarily with an insightful priest, Father Donald Hanway, who has vigorously championed the cause of the arts …

On The Influence Of Jazz Rhythm In The Music Of Aaron Copland, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Surveys scholarly views of jazz's rhythmic and metrical structures in the 1920s (at the outset of Copland's career) focusing especially on Copland's own writings on the subject. Analyses of selected passages from Copland's piano concerto, the second piece of Four piano blues, the Piano variations, the piano sonata, the clarinet concerto, and Appalachian spring help to assess the ambiguity surrounding the identification of jazz-based rhythmic influences in Copland's music.

Review Of Gareth Curtis, Ed. Fifteenth-Century Liturgical Music, Iv: Early Masses And Mass-Pairs, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The volume under review is the latest entry in a slowly unfolding series, entitled Fifteenth-Century Liturgical Music, within the larger Early English Church Music (EECM) enterprise. It follows three previous volumes, namely I: Antiphons and Music for Holy Week and Easter (EECM 8, 1969, ed. Andrew Hughes), II: Four Anonymous Masses (EECM 22, 1979, ed. Margaret Bent) and III: The Brussels Masses (EECM 34, 1989, ed. Gareth Curtis). However, in his Foreword to the present volume, John Caldwell, General Editor of the Early English Church Music Committee of the British Academy, announces that this book heralds a new initiative, inaugurating …

Music As Concept And Practice In The Late Middle Ages (Review), Peter Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

A review of Music as Concept and Practice in the Late Middle Ages, edited by Reinhard Strohm and Bonnie J. Blackburn. The New Oxford History of Music, 2d Edition. Vol. 3, Pt. 1. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). xxxii, 460 p. ISBN 0-198-16205-7. $115. Music examples, illustrations, maps, bibliography, index.

This is a valuable book, in which senior scholars approach topics with which they have been closely associated for many years. While its essays vary in their mix of original material and synthesis--and achieve varied success at the subordination of fact to generalization--they are without a doubt the best …

What Are Some Of The Problems Faced By Small-Handed Pianists?, Lora Deahl, Brenda Wristen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Small handedness is a complex problem that cannot be solved in the space of a few paragraphs. Moreover, the severity of this problem has increased over time. Since the invention of the piano circa 1700, the keys have increased not only in width but also in length. The height of the ebonies over the whites and the depth of the keystroke have also increased, along with the heaviness of the action. Because these developments present formidable challenges for small-handed players, there is a need for heightened awareness concerning their specialized technical problems.

Most of the repertoire written for elementary and …

Metrical Issues In John Adams's Short Ride In A Fast Machine, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Employs several potential rebarrings of this fanfare's opening measures to represent the ways in which a listener might apprehend the music's complex metrical features. Meter is manipulated by this music in such a way as to make its very presence uncertain at best, though enough regularity (i.e., periodicity) is present at multiple hierarchical levels to tease the listener into making constant attempts to discover and latch on to a metered surface. The resulting aural sensation reflects that of wrestling to keep control over a powerful machine, as the work's title suggests. Concludes with a consideration of the music's potential metrical …

Deceptive Pivot Points In J.S. Bach’S Orgelbüchlein, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This brief essay is about “hitting the right notes.” Among the many technical difficulties players encounter in performing Bach’s organ music, some of the most treacherous are those passages that are very similar (sometimes almost identical) to each other. They may differ by only one note or one accidental, but that difference sends the music in an entirely new direction.

Avoiding Piano-Related Injury: A Proposed Theoretical Procedure For Biomechanical Analysis Of Piano Technique, Brenda Wristen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Several biomechanical studies have been done with regard to the fingertip, hand, wrist, and upper arm in pianists. However, these studies have generally focused either on one isolated part of the anatomy, or on one specific motion. It is notable that none of the studies conducted to date examines the execution of a technical skill at the piano, such as a scale or arpeggio, in terms of the cooperative work done by all involved parts of the anatomy. Drawing upon established quantitative data, this study took a qualitative approach in describing and analyzing the execution of selected piano technical tasks. …

Information Vs. Formation In The Training Of Church Musicians, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The inexorable erosion of purpose in the formation of United States clergy—which is of course a reflection of the current malaise in US religious life—is both well established and well-documented. An article by Paul Wilkes in The Atlantic Monthly reveals the uneasy situation in US seminaries of all denominational stripes:

The issue of personal spirituality of Protestant clergy has traditionally hardly ever been addressed in seminaries, and has not until recently been considered especially relevant. …faculty appointments are often made on the basis not only of scholarship but also of outlook. Religious beliefs are hardly considered. As for religious practice—attending …

Technical Exercises: Use Them Or Lose Them?, Brenda Wristen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Piano pedagogues disagree about whether piano technique should be developed through practicing exercises or by isolating a musical passage which requires that a select technical motion be employed. Exercises are purely mechanical note patterns of varying length, usually only a few measures long. They are divorced from any musical content, and are devoted to only one technical skill. Like exercises, etudes usually concentrate upon developing one technical skill. However, etudes are fully developed pieces of some length which allow the player to build skill within a musical context. The essential difference between the practice of exercises versus isolating and conquering …

Gothic Pillars And Blue Notes: Art As A Reflection Of The Conflict Of Religions, Part Iii, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

A number of years ago the BBC aired a series of television programs entitled Civilization, produced and narrated by the distinguished historian Kenneth Clark. Clark opened that series with a quote from John Ruskin:
Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others; but of the three, the only trustworthy one is the last.

The reason our society may find it difficult to understand fully what Ruskin meant may well …

Gothic Pillars And Blue Notes: Art As A Reflection Of The Conflict Of Religions, Part Ii, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The existence of an intense and vital artistic activity is the most unmistakable indicator of the new religion, but it is not the only one. Three of the most commonly identified manifestations of religion are cult (public worship), myth (salvation history, doctrine), and ethics (right behavior, morals). Secular culture exhibits each of these aspects of religion.

Cult is in some measure synonymous with public worship. (The modern English- language use of the term "cult" is a distortion that wholly obscures its original meaning.) The difference between the two is one of degree rather than kind. Cult in its fullest sense …

Gothic Pillars And Blue Notes: Art As A Reflection Of The Conflict Of Religions, Part I, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Candlelight reflecting off the clutter of wall plaques and massive Baroque monuments makes a feeble attempt to dispel the gloom of a late evening in December 1705. The light, radiating from the multiple galleries surrounding the great organ, reveals a large crowd, elegantly dressed, filling the vast nave and spilling over into the side aisles of St. Mary's Church in Lubeck, Germany. Most of these people have already endured the winter chill during three long hours of worship, but they are now eagerly anticipating the musical feast that will occupy the coming hour. Some 40 musicians, both singers and instrumentalists, …

Review Of Yolanda Plumley, The Grammar Of 14th Century Melody: Tonal Organization And Compositional Process In The Chansons Of Guillaume De Machaut And The Ars Subtilior., Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This book is a revised and retitled version of a doctoral thesis presented to Exeter University in 1991. It appears in the Garland series, Outstanding Dissertations in Music from British Universities. In reviewing it I must acknowledge that I am not a disinterested party. Work of my own from the mid-1980s, which Dr Plumley first encountered in the form of a conference paper read at Southampton University in 1987, and which in modified guise was only just recently published ('Signature-systems and tonal types in the fourteenth-century French chanson', Plainsong and Medieval Music 4/2 (1995), pp. 117-47), forms a central point …

Agincourt Carol, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The best known of all English carols (also called the Agincourt Song), this composition celebrates the victory of Henry V at Agincourt in 1415 and was probably written shortly thereafter. It survives in two of the most important collections of 15th-century carols, the Trinity Roll (Cambridge, Trinity College 0.3.58) and the Egerton Manuscript (BL Egerton 3307). Reference is made to the siege ofHarfleur, success on the field at Agincourt, and the return to London in triumph with hostages. As is often the case, this carol mixes two languages. The burden, or framing refrain, is in Latin ("Deo gratias Anglia, redde …

Alanus, J[Ohannes] (D. 1373), Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

John Aleyn, a musician and administrator in royal service, was from 1363 to 1373 a canon of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and from 1361 to 1373 a chaplain of the Royal Household Chapel of Edward III. The last decade of his career is well documented, and he enjoyed the frequent and lucrative patronage of Edward and Queen Philippa, holding numerous benefices. Upon his death he bequeathed a book of music to the chapel at Windsor. Though the surname is common, this individual is the strongest candidate for the J. Alanus who wrote the extraordinary musicians' motet Sub arturo plebs and …