Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Event Of Blues Music And The Effects Of Technology On The Artistic Event, Adam Rejak

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The goal of this dissertation is to find out whether or not blues music is an event. I explore what constitutes a musical or artistic event in modern times and to see how this has changed in relation to earlier periods. I also identify its essential formal elements. I divide blues music into two categories, namely, its technical playing qualities (the micro) and its historical changes (the macro). This division frames the entire project and illustrates that in order to discuss an artistic event, we must account for both its technical and historical aspects. I examine several theories of the …

The Art Songs Of Kyrylo Stetsenko: Ukrainian Lyric Diction Guide, Olena Bratishko

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The genre of Ukrainian art song represents a significant body of work to be discovered. Yet, in the twenty-first century the Ukrainian art song repertoire still remains one of the less explored genres of the Eastern European music, mainly due to the political factors playing a significant role in the history of Ukraine.

The present monograph serves a purpose of a reference guide for singers interested in performing Ukrainian art song. A brief history of Ukrainian art song will explore the development of song as a vocal genre at a certain period in time: the importance of folk song tradition …

1981: One Or Several Aesthetics?, Jacob Norris

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gilles Deleuze’s monograph on Francis Bacon, The Logic of Sensation (1981), proposes a theory of aesthetic experience that prioritizes the material depths of sensation over stable, identifiable forms. Deleuze’s key references in The Logic of Sensation to playwright Antonin Artaud arouse the suspicion that Artaud’s schizophrenic experience of language, wherein words are reduced to phonetic ramblings, illuminates how Deleuze interprets this chaos of sensation in Bacon’s art. My work therefore calls back to The Logic of Sense (1969) and the first section of his book on Masochism (1967) to explore the waves of consistency between Deleuze’s understanding of language and …

The Effects Of Infertility On Female Vocalist Identity, Laura Curtis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This phenomenological research study explores the impact on female singers’ musical and gender identities when confronted with the socially stigmatized issue of infertility. Participants include women actively involved in singing (N=2), who have experienced the phenomenon of infertility. Participants were recruited primarily through the social media platform of Facebook and participated in three one-hour personal, semi-structured interviews over the course of six weeks. Interview transcripts were analyzed to isolate recurring themes within the narratives. While each participant’s experience with infertility was unique, analysis revealed a common tendency for life course alteration due to their experiences with infertility. These …

The Political Power Of Carlos Chávez And His Influence Upon Silvestre Revueltas And Blas Galindo, Yolanda Tapia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This monograph examines the political power of Mexican composer Carlos Chávez (1899–1978) during the first half of the twentieth century in Mexico, and his influence upon the careers and lives of composers Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940) and Blas Galindo (1910–1993). I show how Carlos Chávez acquired institutional power through various cultural organizations such as the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, the Conservatorio Nacional, Departamento de Bellas Artes, and the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, and how his desire to bind music and culture with politics positioned him as the head of the cultural committee of Miguel Aleman’s presidential campaign of 1945. Chávez’s …

Toward A Pedagogical Guide To Argentine Art Song, Matthew B. Pauls

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Argentine art song is a branch of the art song genre that is virtually unknown to Canadian academics and performers. Although there are numerous composers who have contributed songs to this genre, these composers and their contributions to the body of art song repertoire remain virtually unknown. The illusion of their non-existence is perpetuated by a cycle of factors. Publishers, not interested in publishing a product for which there is limited interest, print very little Argentine music. The lack of musical scores makes it difficult for performers to program and record this music. Thus, very few people are exposed to …

Rachmaninoff's Piano Works And Diasporic Identity 1890-1945: Compositional Revision And Discourse, Renee Mackenzie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This monograph examines the post-exile, multi-version works of Sergei Rachmaninoff with a view to unravelling the sophisticated web of meanings and values attached to them. Compositional revision is an important and complex aspect of creating musical meaning. Considering revision offers an important perspective on the construction and circulation of meanings and discourses attending Rachmaninoff’s music.

While Rachmaninoff achieved international recognition during the 1890s as a distinctively Russian musician, I argue that Rachmaninoff’s return to certain compositions through revision played a crucial role in the creation of a narrative and set of tropes representing “Russian diaspora” following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. …

...And The Songs Of Another... For Six Voices & Live Electronics, Matthew David Becker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

…and the songs of another… is a composition of five songs for six voices and live electronics. Voice is the principal tool of sound generation, and the sounds produced by voice are transformed using extended and non-conventional vocal techniques plus electronics. I hence use voice in this manner with electronics to create unique sound development in a new work.

The text in the composition is generated using phonemes through which syllabic sounds are constructed. The electronics are pre-installed modules that come with the software Max/MSP, and each of the five songs applies different processing. These modules are: a spectral harmonizer, …

Teaching Prospective Verdi Baritones: A Repertoire-Based Approach, Andrew Rethazi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Verdi baritone is one of the most sought-after voice types in the professional operatic sphere due to its leading presence in the Verdi repertoire. However, there exists a gap in the published scholarship about the introduction of the repertoire to younger baritones as a means of teaching the style and performance practice while still in the shelter of the post-secondary environment. This introduction to the repertoire can be a valuable tool in training potential Verdi baritones. The research goals of this monograph are threefold: 1) to establish prerequisite criteria of technical proficiency for young baritones to begin limited study …

Why You Can Actually Sing: A Study Of Human Evolution And Culture As Influenced By Music, Cassandra E. Haley

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

Cassandra's Community Engaged learning course took her outside of her home faculties of Science and Arts & Humanities to study with Professor S. Wei in the Faculty of Music. For her course, Cassandra became a member of the Viola Studio, and conducted extensive research on music history, aesthetics of music, and human evolution of music to combine her studies in music, SASAH, and genetics.

In her capstone research, Cassandra explored how music has shaped narratives and likewise been controlled by political narratives, how it is different from other forms of communication, and if it is possible to express emotions musically. …

Six Blake Songs, Willyn Whiting

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Six Blake Songs is a song cycle for Soprano and mixed chamber ensemble (Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Violin and Viola). The work sets several texts by the English poet William Blake (1757-1827), which all share the central theme of Time. Nearly all of these texts are excerpts from larger works, with the exception of the poem Ah, Sunflower, which is presented at the work’s conclusion. Discrete collections of frequencies, which are derived from either the frequency modulation of two notes or from the overtones of a single fundamental, provide the pitch content for the entire piece. In addition, many of the …

Capriccio For Mixed Ensemble And Piano, André Mcevenue

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Capriccio is a 12 minute, single movement “mini concerto” for piano and small chamber ensemble. The music is of a virtuosic and capricious nature; at times it is dance-like and rhapsodic, at others, pensive and introspective. The formal construction concerns the techniques of fragmentation and pitch symmetry. My interest in these techniques is informed from the study of works by Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. Therefore, the title is reminiscent of Stravinsky’s own work, Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. In my piece, a symmetrical pitch collection is used as the main musical material. Small repeating fragments of this collection …

The Old House, Eric Swiatoschik

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Old House is a programmatic children's suite in four movements based on a short story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a young boy who befriends a man who lives in an old house on his street. The narrative of the music focuses on the beginning of the story when the boy enters the house for the first time with each movement musically depicting something the boy sees. The piece utilizes straightforward programmatic elements in conjunction with Neo-Romantic harmonic and melodic content to appeal to younger audiences (children), while still maintaining the same …

The Donnelly Opera, Joshua L. Richardson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Donnelly Opera is a one-act chamber opera based on an infamous Southwestern Ontario event: the murder of the Donnelly family in 1880. The libretto was written with the consultation of various historical sources. Modern text setting practices are utilized with careful attention to the use of perfect rhymes and natural syllabic emphasis to help maximize audience comprehension. The opera uses traditional vocal archetypes of aria, recitative, and ensemble singing. The focus of the opera is the dramatic portrayal of the events that took place leading up to the second murder trial. It is written for four vocalists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, …

Job: An Oratorio For Voices And Chamber Ensemble, Kevin Gibson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Job is a dramatic oratorio consisting of twelve individual movements, with an approximate duration of twenty minutes. It is a summarization of the plot and prose contained in the biblical book of Job (English Standard Version). The events of the oratorio depict Job, a devoted and prosperous man, being tested to the limits of his faith by acts of God, who was incited first by Satan. Throughout the oratorio, the philosophical and theological elements of humanity versus divinity are represented musically by intervallic relationships. Job is written for seven principle vocalists and a narrator, accompanied by an instrumental ensemble consisting …

Creative Subversion: Challenging Sociocultural Silencing In Schools, Kelly Bylica

Western Research Forum

Grounded in the goal of troubling the silence that often pervades spaces of inequality in schools, this action research pilot study examined the role soundscapes might play as a catalyst to open spaces for dialogue that recognizes and interrogates the injustices and oppressive structures present in many schools and communities (Gutstein, 2006). Soundscapes have become more common in music classrooms as a way to encourage students to compose without the restraints of standard notation. Originally intended to help “young children to listen to and use the sounds of their own lives and environments as the basis of what were called …

The Significance Of Aram Khachaturian And His Piano Concerto, Sarah M. Dardarian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Aram Khachaturian, a Soviet-era Armenian composer, wrote his Piano Concerto in D♭ major in 1936. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia to an Armenian family and moved to Moscow for his musical training at the age of nineteen. As a child, he was exposed to Eastern music of the Transcaucasus, which remained a lasting influence in his music. He created a unique musical sound that includes Eastern and Western elements. Khachaturian’s music achieved success early in his career. The Piano Concerto, written during his time as a post-graduate student under Myaskovsky, remains one of his best-known works.

Khachaturian is one …

Replacement Of The Recorder By The Transverse Flute During The Baroque And Classical Periods, Victoria Boerner

2018 Undergraduate Awards

While the recorder today is primarily an instrument performed by school children, this family of instruments has a long history, and was once more popular than the flute. This paper examines when, why, and how the Western transverse flute surpassed the recorder in popularity. After an explanation of the origins, history, and overlapping names for these various aerophones, this paper examines the social and cultural, technical, and musical reasons that contributed to the recorder’s decline. While all of these factors undoubtedly contributed to this transition, ultimately it appears that cultural, economic, and technical reasons were more important than musical ones, …