Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Advanced Conducting Project, Todd Boden

Conducting Student Scholarship

• "Be Glad This Festive Day (A Winter Roundelay)" by Douglas E. Wagner
• "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind" by John Rutter
• "Bogoróditse Djévo" by Arvo Pärt
• "Christmas is... Love" by Don Besig
• "Come Away, Sweet Love" by Don Moore
• "Five Flower Songs" by Benjamin Britten
• "Have Mercy Upon Me, O God" by William Byrd
• "John The Revelator" by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory
• "Mary Had a Baby" by Bruce A. Thompson
• "Mele Kalikimaka" by R. Alex Anderson; arranged by Jay Althouse
• "Messe de minuit pour Noël by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• "Star in the East" by Malcolm Dalglish
• "Stars I Shall Find" by …

Advanced Conducting Project, Elizabeth M. Colpo

Conducting Student Scholarship

• "At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners" by Williametta Spencer
• "Credo in unum deum" (from "Great" Mass in C minor) by W.A. Mozart
• "We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace" (Traditional Spiritual), arranged by Moses Hogan
• "Ascribe to the Lord" by Rosephanye Powell
• "The Tiger" by Lauren Bernofsky
• "Laudate Dominum" by Dan Davison
• "Down to the River to Pray" (Traditional), arranged by Philip Lawson.

A Modest Proposal: A Chamber Opera In One Act, Kevin Morse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A Modest Proposal is a chamber opera in one act adapted from the 1729 satirical essay of the same name by Jonathan Swift. The opera’s narrative was developed in close partnership with Toronto-based Governor-General’s Literary Award-nominated playwright Lisa Codrington, whom I commissioned to write the libretto. Set in an unnamed city in the present day, the work explores themes of economic disparity, social class, political power and process, parents and children, love, anger, and revenge. I integrate musical quotations from (or references to) folk lullabies and the works of Mahler, Debussy, and Schoenberg to support and enhance the richness and …

"Rap Is Easy, Career Is The Hard Part:" Analyzing Success, Longevity And Failure Within The Framework Of The Hip-Hop Career, Christopher R. White

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Conceptualizing and analyzing the hip-hop career and the role of success therein allows us to investigate the long-term shifts in the economic and cultural capitals associated with the genre, and can help us better understand how hip-hop has achieved enduring success and respect. As hip-hop musicians continue to prosper financially and achieve unprecedented levels of success and longevity in the industry, understandings of the hip-hop career have shifted. Hip-hop musicians attempt to translate their cultural capital into financial profit by leveraging their respective personas into marketable brands and lifestyles that act as non-musical, career extending strategies. The thesis investigates how …

Advanced Conducting Project, Charles Bateman

Conducting Student Scholarship

• "El Grillo" by Josquin Desprez
• "If Ye Love Me" by Thomas Tallis
• "Jauchzet dem Herren" by Heinrich Schütz
• "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by J.S. Bach
• "Sanctus" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• "When Jesus Wept" by William Billings
• "He Watching Over Israel" by Felix Mendelssohn
• "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place" by Johannes Brahms
• "The Best of Rooms" by Randall Thompson
• "If Music be the Food of Love" by David Dickau
• "Amor de mi Alma" by Z. Randall Stroope
• "There Will Be Rest" by Frank Ticheli.

Suite For Chamber Orchestra, Liahna R. Guy

Masters Theses

Suite for Chamber Orchestra is a three-movement composition for an orchestra of reduced size. Over the course of the three movements, a variety of influences can be seen from the 19th and 20th centuries in regard to harmony and rhythmic practices. This Suite is scored for flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet in C, timpani, violin (I and II), viola, cello, and double bass, and utilizes a moderate level of dissonance, harmonies consisting of perfect fourths and fifths, as well as a high level rhythmic activity.

This paper provides an analysis of the Suite in terms of musical …

A Guide To Producing An A Cappella Cd And Development Of A Pitch Detection Program, Jacob Ray Stringfellow

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

An in-depth look at the steps required to produce a CD for an a cappella group. From what microphone and preamplifiers to use, to what steps to take during the editing, mixing, and mastering processes. Finished with a look at pitch detection algorithms and how they work, and a little bit of experimentation with my own algorithm and program.

Padmavati "She Possesses The Lotus" A Western Perspective On Indian Classical Music, Melanie Watman

Honors Theses

Padmavati is an original composition inspired by what I have learned about Indian Classical Music as a whole. It is by no means Indian music, but it contains fundamental elements of Indian music. The piece is written for flute and viola, which have been instructed to play as if they were Indian instruments, as well as the doumbek, a Middle Eastern hand drum that has been instructed to imitate the sound of a tabla, the traditional North-Indian hand drum. This past fall I did an Independent Study where I read about the different elements of Indian Classical music, including the …

An Investigation Of Melodic Musical Modeling Using Homogeneous And Non-Homogeneous Markov Chains, Eric Robert Sherman Buenger

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As an actuarial science student, my observations have a different focus than the other composers. In the industry, actuaries aren't interested in a probability model for its own sake. Rather, they "want to use the model to analyze the ... impact of the events being modeled" [Da]. This analysis focuses equally on the generation of the model as well as the results of the model. While other researchers have investigated many topics in the field of musical generation through mathematical means, no one has yet explored non-homogeneous and homogeneous models simultaneously. This study compares melodic material generated from both homogeneous …

White Sands, Laura Vitale

Theses and Dissertations

I’ve constructed a narrative thread that connects experiences, events, and artworks made during my time in graduate school. This narrative, which has the perspective of time, betrays the firsthand experience of wayfaring through the projects and places I describe. The narrative loosens as it approaches the present moment. Rather than to arrive at any conclusions, my goal for creating this narrative is to understand a tension between expectations: of systematic rationality and subjective knowledge, of play and display. I understand that my work productively fails to r-r-resolve contradictions about the way things are.

Inside The Score In The 21st Century: Techniques For Contemporary Large Jazz Ensemble Composition, Tyler Dennis

Honors Theses

This study will attempt to de-mystify some of the techniques utilized in contemporary large ensemble jazz arranging. Large ensemble writing has morphed drastically from its earlier, more well-known inceptions, and yet there is no academic literature out there to explain exactly what this change entails. Through this study, I will attempt to break down the components of this music in order to provide insight for the non-musician and inspiration for the aspiring jazz composer. There is a wealth of knowledge to be found in the large ensemble music of the past decade, and I will attempt to systematically break this …

Preparation And Performance Of William Bolcom’S Cabaret Songs, Sara Linger

Honors Theses

The Cabaret Songs Complete by William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein are true gems amongst the vast genre of twentieth century American art song. These songs are particularly unique because they meld the world of classical singing with modern styles, such as jazz, pop, and blues, as only William Bolcom can do. The songs are musically and dramatically challenging, making them less common in the traditional college student repertoire. Studying and performing these pieces has been a challenging and rewarding experience for me.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a resource for the preparation of a cabaret show, specifically …

Student Teaching Band Arrangement, Whitney Mensink

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

As a future music educator, I have learned how to teach students through various courses and instruction. During the last semester of my undergraduate, I am required to student teach. This gives me an opportunity to apply everything I’ve learned to see if it really works, and what my particular teaching style and philosophy is. At Sky View High School, I had the opportunity to teach the Sophomore Concert Band. For my thesis project, I decided to arrange a piece just for them – to rehearse with them and to score it to the strengths of the ensemble. Since I …

“Next Year In Jerusalem”: The Trials And Triumphs Of Music In The Schools Of Preston, Idaho, 1888-1995, Jill Durrant

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Throughout time, music has played a pivotal role in the lives of people. In every country, among every ethnicity, and as part of every culture, music has a presence. Music often acts as a mirror, reflecting aspects of society and history in ways that even the ordinary person can understand. No matter what the form—religious, popular, classical, folk—music has the ability to reveal something about the people who created it, performed it, and enjoyed it. Because of this overarching presence of music in the structure of almost every civilization, it is no surprise that music has always had some part …

Electromyography (Emg) Biofeedback Training In Music Performance: Preventing And Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain In Musicians, Carolyn Yarbrough

Scripps Senior Theses

Musicians are a high-risk occupational group for musculoskeletal disorders. Often manifesting in muscle tension, pain and paresthesia, musculoskeletal disorders can drastically affect comfort, mentality and endurance while performing. This study sought to examine the effects of electromyography (EMG) biofeedback training in reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in music performance. The subjects were university-level violinists and cellists. Over a period of 2-4 weeks, all participants underwent EMG biofeedback training while performing their instrument using audio feedback. No significant results were found, but patterns of decreased muscle tension and increased performance comfort and endurance were observed.

Dawn: A Symphonic Sketch For Orchestra, Jeff Mcclellan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dawn was written as a tribute to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, and, more particularly, its author, Elaine Morgan, who has been a restless proponent of the hypothesis for more than three decades. The evolutionary theory explains the anatomical differences between modern humans and apes by proposing that hominids lived through a semi-aquatic phase at some time in their development, providing reason for many of the aquatic characteristics & impulses that humans have and experience today.

My composition aims to capture the magic of this divergence of the genus homo over several million years. The music is programmatic, meaning an …

Canciones Del Movimiento Chicano/Songs Of The Chicano Movement: The Impact Of Musical Traditions On The 1960s Chicano Civil Rights Movement, Marisa B. Mendoza

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes resistance songs as key representations of the identity and political formation that took place during the 1960s Chicano movement. Examining particular musical traditions, this thesis highlights the value of placing songs of the Chicano struggle in national narratives of history as well as in the context of an enduring and thriving legacy of political and social activism that continues to allow the Chicano community to recognize and validate their current social realities.

Riffs On Riffs, Steven Lighty

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

A collection of original poetry written by Steven Lighty that examines the way music is created.

Collaborative Composition Of Impressionist Music By 19th-Century French Composers, Rebecca Levy

Senior Theses and Projects

Throughout the nineteenth century in Paris, various philosophers, authors, musicians, and other thinkers often met together in Montmartre to discuss their innovative ideas. These artists worked in an unorthodox atmosphere and defied the expectations of artistic conventions. In this Bohemian atmosphere, composers freely experimented with harmonies, rhythms, scales, and instrumental color that had never been heard before. This eventually led to the development of Impressionist Music. Composers such as Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, and Maurice Ravel led this new musical movement. Some of them collaborated and were inspired by other artists of the century. For example, Debussy worked closely with …

Rehearsing, Arranging, And Drill Writing For Bands Of Any Size, Alison Heleen

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper uses personal experiences and interviews to analyze the best ways to rehearse, arrange for, and write drill for bands ranging in size. Bands of 15-20 and bands of 100+ are considered.

Steel Pan's Heart, Chioma Viola Ozuzu

Senior Theses and Projects

Even though mostly Afro-Trinidadians play pan, the Steel Pan instills national identity and pride because Pan has become internationally popular and the proliferation of so many steel drum events before carnival, including Panorama-the world largest Steel Pan competition.The purpose of this paper looks the hybridization and Creolization of the music culture of the nation, in regards to the major ethnic groups, especially Indo-Trinidadian.

The Power Of Music: Song Serves As An Effective Recall Cue In Children, Tanisha Dews

McCabe Thesis Collection

Song, in some cases, can facilitate learning and recall. The experiments in this thesis demonstrate that information is better recalled when it is heard as a song rather than as speech or through lecture. This study further proves that when a combination of song and speech are taught to children, the retrieval of information is even greater. When the group of the second condition was tested, they were more successful in recalling the information learned. This study also recognizes that song can infuse difficulty due to music's rich structure and makeup of rhythm, tempo, and stress patterns. The overall paper …

This Is The Art Form: Examining Concept Albums' Methods Of Constructing Meaning In The Digital Age, Mario Alonzo Dozal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined how the communicative characteristics of concept albums (music albums that center on a specific theme) have been adapted from a traditional physical form to exist in the digital age. Using three rock concept albums, this study examined how three different formats (vinyl, audio compact disc, and digital download) of the same concept album communicated the overall theme of the album to listeners, and also examined the advantages and disadvantages of each format. Additionally, using discursive analysis, this study sought to expand the academic literature on concept albums by examining the role that supplementary material plays in helping …

Advanced Conducting Project, Nathan Carns

Conducting Student Scholarship

"Hodie Christus Natus Est" by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
"Cum Sancto Spiritu" (from Gloria in D Major RV 589) by Antonio Vivaldi
"And the Glory of the Lord" (from Messiah, HWV 56) by George Frideric Handel, adapted by Roger Emerson
"Credo" (from C Minor Mass, K427) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"The Heavens are Telling" (from The Creation) by Joseph Haydn
"He, Watching Over Israel" (from Elijah Op. 70) by Felix Mendelssohn
"Mon Coeur Se Recommande à Vous" by Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin, arranged by Russell Robinson
"Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Peter Wilhousky
"Ubi Caritas" (from Quatre Motets sur des themes Grégorians …

If There's No "Fat Lady," When Is The Opera Over? An Exploration Of Changing Physical Image Standards In Present-Day Opera, Emily L. Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though present-day American society generally assumes opera is one of the few remaining entertainment fields where talent matters more than physical appearance, as the 2004 firing of Deborah Voigt demonstrates, present-day opera singers are increasingly being held to stricter image standards. In 2004, Covent Garden dismissed Voigt from their production of Ariadne auf Naxos, in which Voigt was supposed to reprise her critically acclaimed interpretation of the title role. According to Voigt, Covent Garden's casting director Peter Katona felt that she was too large to fit into the black dress the new production required of the character. Voigt's removal …

Oíche Nollag, Solomon Fenton-Miller

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

“Oíche Nollag” is an original composition for orchestra of approximately 6 minutes and 10 seconds in length. It is based on a traditional Irish jig tune of the same name, meaning “Christmas Eve” in Irish Gaelic. The piece is through-composed and follows a basic ternary form (fast-slow-fast). The folk tune is easily recognizable in its initial form but becomes transformed through a series of continuous variations. These variations increase in complexity and energy before reaching a high point and transitioning into a slower, middle section with the brass. The music gains energy again with the addition of the winds and …

Mississippi Breakdown: A New Look At The Mississippi Old Time Fiddle Music Traditions, Joseph Jamison Hollister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a cultural study that focuses on the fiddle music of Mississippi. It includes both Anglo and African American roots. Also, the white blues fiddle traditions of Mississippi are examined and analyzed.

A Historical Analysis Of Living Blues Magazine, Melanie Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Living Blues magazine and its history through its stated cultural focus on African American music.

Running Barefoot, Benjamin Marx

Senior Projects Spring 2012

I have been required by the registrar to submit an artist statement, and to be honest I do not know what I am supposed to say. If I am expected to explain a deep profound message about my music, I have none. And if I should to discuss the pieces in my concert, I would rather leave it up to the audience to figure out what the pieces mean to them. Now I am only on the cusp of my musical exploration. I have just this year glimpsed the vast world of music and begun to understand its endlessness. While …

Program Notes For A Graduate Recital In Piano, Amy Jun Ming Chin

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to offer a biographical background of the composers, and historical and theoretical analysis of the works performed in my Master's recital. This will assist the listener to better understand the music performed.