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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Phoenix For Orchestra, Niloufar Iravani
Phoenix For Orchestra, Niloufar Iravani
LSU Master's Theses
Phoenix for Orchestra consists of three movements of Life, Death, and Rebirth each presenting specific thematic and rhythmic elements. A variety of modes and textures are presented to depict mythology of the legendary bird phoenix as a tone poem. The first movement, Life, comprises five sections labeled as Sky, Sun, Beauty, Dignity, and Immortality. Each section features specific motives, structures, and textures. The second movement, Death, consists of three sections labeled as Fire, Destruction, and Grief and is based on the twelve-tone and whole tone collections. The third movement, Rebirth, comprises three sections labeled as Transformation, Renewal, and Immortality. The …
Requiem For Orchestra And Choir, Luciano Vaz Correa
Requiem For Orchestra And Choir, Luciano Vaz Correa
LSU Master's Theses
Five Movements of a Requiem is a composition for orchestra, solo soprano, solo alto, solo tenor, solo bass and choir, and is approximately 20 minutes in length. To compose it, I’ve studied many different requiem masses from Renaissance polyphony to our days, works from Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Missa Pro Defunctis to Schnittke’s Requiem. In this study, I’ve tried to understand which techniques they used in their compositions, and how these techniques could be useful on helping me to express my own music. In Christian liturgy, Requiem masses are offered for the dead and the name is derived from the …
Character Studies Of Time: A Two Movement Work For Orchestra, Crystal Darcell Birdsong
Character Studies Of Time: A Two Movement Work For Orchestra, Crystal Darcell Birdsong
LSU Master's Theses
The idea behind The Character Studies of Time: A Two Movement Work for Orchestra should be reminiscent of, and is inspired by the character pieces of Robert Schumann’s Carnival. Although the works of Robert Schumann are originally short piano solos, the spirit of the character piece and all that it entails could be found throughout The Character Studies of Time. This symphony does not follow a strict form of 19th century writing, although the elements of romanticism can be found throughout the piece. The “characters” as they relate to time are quite literally “night” and “day.” The individual titles are …
Bratya, A Symphonic Poem, Tamyka Rochelle Jordon
Bratya, A Symphonic Poem, Tamyka Rochelle Jordon
LSU Master's Theses
Bratya, ‘brothers’ in Russian, is a tone poem inspired by characters in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. The novel is long, complex, and largely considered the author’s magnum opus. I focus on each brother: Dmitri, Ivan, Smerdyakov, and Alexei. Each movement attempts to capture the essence and personality of each brother. The first movement “Mitya”, a nickname for the eldest brother Dmitri, attempts to personify the character’s stormy, passionate nature. His strained relationship with his father, obsession with the siren-like Grushenka, and his general inability to control his emotions are largely to blame for Dmitri’s imprisonment. Specific traits and episodes that …
Symphony No. 1, William Earl Novak
Symphony No. 1, William Earl Novak
LSU Master's Theses
Symphony Number 1, the “Barthes Symphony,” was written in the Fall and Spring of 2014-2015. Symphony No. 1 is a five movement work written for full orchestra, additionally including saxophones and a larger than average percussion section (including a larger than average mallet percussion section). The piece is tonal, though it relies heavily on non-resolving dissonances. The piece is abstract or non-programmatic, although, at the time of its conception, its author was reading Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, and found several phrases in Barthes’ text intriguing and fitting with the nature of the five movements. The piece lasts 26’59” in duration. For …
High School Musicians' And Non-Musicians' Listening Preference For Authentic Versus Transcribed Musical Excerpts, Colin Douglas Caldarera
High School Musicians' And Non-Musicians' Listening Preference For Authentic Versus Transcribed Musical Excerpts, Colin Douglas Caldarera
LSU Master's Theses
The purpose of this study was to (a) determine high school musician’s and non-musician’s preference for authentic and transcribed orchestral and band recordings, and (b) examine participant perceptual responses regarding reasons for preference. Therefore, the following research questions guided this investigation: (a) To what extent do musicians’ and non-musicians’ preference ratings of paired musical selections (one played by band and one played by orchestra) differ when rated on a Likert scale after listening? and (b) What are the reasons for preferring one excerpt type over another? The participants were musicians (n = 40) and non-musicians (n = 40) in grades …
Moonlight Sprite, Sungho Kim
Moonlight Sprite, Sungho Kim
LSU Master's Theses
ABSTRACT Moonlight Sprite is a piece of orchestral music in a single movement. As a symphonic poem, this work describes the various landscapes of imaginary sprites in the moonlight in the huge mountain and forest. This imagination was inspired by composer’s overnight camping at Zion Canyon National Park in 2010. The composition is comprised of three main themes, which are developed and varied. The first theme describes the cheerful and playful aspects of sprites. The second theme describes elegant and mysterious character of sprites. The last theme describes grand and ancient sprites. At the end, all three themes come together. …
Homecoming At An Old Country Church, Lindsey M. Jacob
Homecoming At An Old Country Church, Lindsey M. Jacob
LSU Master's Theses
In numerous communities in the United States, church congregations gather once a year for a special homecoming service that includes food, fellowship, worship, and exceptional music. Homecomings at Cana Baptist Church, an old country church in rural Southern Illinois, hold some of my fondest childhood memories. The special musical performances were the highlight of the day’s festivities, and to this day remain an integral part of my musical identity.
This thesis exposes elements of southern gospel music, in particular bluegrass gospel. I explore stylistic tendencies of up-beat accents, prominent five-one bass progressions, and pitch bending. I also include several melodic …
Bioluminescence, Zachary Pfeifer
Bioluminescence, Zachary Pfeifer
LSU Master's Theses
The ability of certain animals to create natural light is called bioluminescence. This ability is found throughout the world in various biomes but is most common in the deep ocean, in layers of dark water that remain untouched by the sun’s rays. One way Bioluminescence attempts to convey light moving though the depths is by assigning bright passages to instruments that are easily heard over light accompanying textures or are sometimes featured in solos or duets. The soprano saxophone and vibraphone are the two most common examples of this. Bioluminescence is written in the tradition of an orchestral tone poem, …
The Direction We Grow, Reid Willis
The Direction We Grow, Reid Willis
LSU Master's Theses
The Direction We Grow is a composition for orchestra, solo soprano, and choir. It is a summation of the compositional knowledge I’ve accumulated throughout my undergraduate and graduate programs at LSU. The piece reflects my compositional style, which is characterized by rich melody and complex rhythm. With sweeping melodic motives, climactic builds, and percussive coloration, the piece incorporates characteristics of the Classical, Romantic, and Impressionistic musical periods. The piece is palindromic in structure. It builds upon a simple, celestial one-note motive and introduces new melodic patterns until it finally morphs into a steady, percussive section. The section builds to a …
Symphonic Revelations, Carlo Vincetti Frizzo
Symphonic Revelations, Carlo Vincetti Frizzo
LSU Master's Theses
Symphonic Revelations is scored for 3-3-3-3, 4-3-3-1, 1 timpani, 3 percussionists, harp, piano, and strings and is approximately 20 minutes in length. It is a single movement symphonic work that consists of three major sections and is built from the pitch class set [0, 1, 3]. The first section’s overall form resembles both a large crescendo and an accelerando. The music begins softly and slowly and over time gradually builds becoming louder and faster. Eventually in bars 225 to 229, the section comes to an end with a tutti passage that marks one of the loudest and fastest moments in …