Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Psalmodia Project, Saulo Moura

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Psalmodia Project is a set of twelve compositions based on the text of preselected psalms from the Bible. The book of Psalms, part of the wisdom literature section of the Biblical Canon, is a kaleidoscope of human emotions with a total of 150 poems describing ancient Hebrew stories of faith full of plot nuances easily represented by musical expression. The compositions cover a large variety of musical genres, from Latin jazz to classical music, from small to large ensembles, with an instrumentation that employs sounds from all five different instrumental families: keyboards, strings, percussion (pitched and non-pitched), woodwinds, and …

The G7 Suite: Score And Analysis, Joseph C. Dunn

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The G7 Suite is a multi-movement chamber work that combines elements of European Art Music, Indigenous Music from Latin America, and various representations of American music. The melodic material is derived from the national anthems of the Great Seven nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each melody is re-set to new music genres and aligns itself to the rules and expectations within each idiom. This compilation is more than a series of arrangements or reharmonizations of the anthems; these are new compositions based on melodic elements from previous works.

This analysis of The …

Circuition: Concerto For Jazz Guitar And Orchestra, Richard Alan Robinson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Circuition: Concerto for Jazz Guitar and Orchestra is a programmatic musical composition which tells the story of the life cycle. Each part is designed to represent a particular time in life through age or set of events that relate to all people regardless of the specifics in one’s life. Although I disclose how the program of relates to specifics within my own life, the goal is that a listener will find resonance with their own. In this document I examine how the elements of form, harmony, melody, and rhythm shape the composition and inform its programmatic nature.

Topics are divided …

Meter, Phrase, And Form In The Compositions Of Maria Schneider, Benjamin M. Geyer

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The central claims of this study are that Maria Schneider relies on normative rhythmic structures from the jazz tradition, and that her expressive deviations from those norms are comprehensible to experienced listeners in real time. The study proposes a non-recursive model of hypermeter wherein the measure is formed through entrainment, the four-bar sub-unit is formed through recognizable qualia at the measure level, and the eight-bar level is formed through the expectation for sub-units to group into pairs. I introduce the “structural phrase” as a unit that, while normatively hypermetrical, is distinct from the issue of hypermeter in its formal aspects …

Little Eichmanns: A Composition For Chamber Octet, Benjamin D. Norton

Theses and Dissertations--Music

An original composition in one movement for a chamber octet comprised of a string quartet and a jazz piano quartet with tenor saxophone. The work develops an idée fixe, introduced in the opening bars, through a wide variety of transformations, textures, and styles. The two quartets begin in antiphonal alteration, united in thematic material, yet separated by style. A modern art music style contrasts with an improvisational jazz style. Gradually, the two quartets, and their concomitant musics, bleed into one another, breaking down stylistic boundaries. In the conclusion of the work, the idée fixe, the supplementary themes, and …

The Development Of Duke Ellington's Compositional Style: A Comparative Analysis Of Three Selected Works, Eric S. Strother

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Edward Kennedy Duke Ellingtons compositions are significant to the study of jazz and American music in general. This study examines his compositional style through a comparative analysis of three works from each of his main stylistic periods. The analyses focus on form, instrumentation, texture and harmony, melody, tonality, and rhythm. Each piece is examined on its own and their significant features are compared.