Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Rhapsody, Hannah Pennington

Masters Theses

This thesis delves into the topics of love, despair, and perseverance. Rhapsody balks at the cliche of "Love will find a way" and instead embraces the theme of "Love is not always enough." This paper aims to show how flawed characters can still be heroes in their own way, even if they do not receive their happy ending. It takes place in Italy during the late Renaissance and follows the life of a young man named Niccolo, who has just killed a man in the name of love. In an adaptation of Queen's song, Bohemian Rhapsody, Niccolo flees from his …

Broken Standards, The Muses Creative Artistry Project

Guest Artist Concert Performances, Programs, and Posters

This is the poster for the concert, "Broken Standards," by The Muses Creative Artistry Project, held on September 14, 2023, in the McBeth Recital Hall. The concert was provided in part by the Floyd E. and Dorothy G. Henley Fine Arts Endowment and the Arkadelphia Philharmonic Club.

Moctezuma Entre Bambalinas, Isabel Bargalló, Montserrat Bargalló

Tejiendo imágenes. Homenaje a Victòria Solanilla Demestre

Resumen: De los muchos personajes históricos y míticos que ha aportado América a la cultura, uno de los más conocidos y – al mismo tiempo – desconocidos es Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, el tlatoani reinante en México-Tenochtitlan a la llegada de Cortés, y es, sin duda alguna, un héroe tan digno de la lírica como Ulises, Eneas o Julio César. Por este motivo, durante el siglo xviii se compusieron un número muy importante de óperas dedicadas al soberano mexica, para un público algo cansado de los libretos relacionados con la mitología grecorromana y los dramas medievales. En este artículo presentamos una de …

Risky Business: Policy Legacy And Gender Inequality In Australian Opera Production, Caitlin Vincent, Katya Johanson, Bronwyn Coate

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The field of cultural policy has seen a shift towards considerations of diversity, with government bodies increasingly leveraging funding to combat inequality within organisations. A barrier to this aim is a lack of quantitative data, which would provide a means to evaluate the impact of specific policies in practice. This article investigates the relationship between gender inequality at an organisational level and cultural policy at a sectoral level through a case study of Australia’s state-funded opera companies. Drawing on production data from 2005 to 2020, we consider women’s representation as conductors, directors, and designers at the state companies through the …

Times Are Changing: Addressing Racism And Sexism In Die Zauberflöte, Cassidy Wiltjer, Anna Winn, Linnea Johansen

2022 Festschrift: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte

The eighteenth century philosophy regarding discrimination based on gender and race do not align with the philosophy of the modern era. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, written in 1791, is full of racist and misogynist remarks which are woven carefully into the music and plot of the opera. Racism is evident through the character of Monostatos and the claims that his status as a Moor make him less valuable as a human being. Additionally, the character Sarastro exemplifies a rational and powerful male while the Queen of the Night, while powerful in her own right, is the villain: an unruly, emotional woman. …

The Evolution Of The Bel Canto Technique Through The 20th And 21st Century: Annotated Bibliography, Claudia Diaz

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

The Bel canto technique is the quintessential technique of opera performance. Throughout history, it has adapted itself and survived through pedagogies, composers, influential artists, and scientific specialists from the field. Although the bel canto technique has a wide range of sources and complete history, this will focus more on the evolution occurring through the 20^th and 21^st centuries. How the bel canto technique has managed to survive is key to understanding its future.

Fred And Dinah Gretsch School Of Music Newsletter, Georgia Southern University

School of Music Newsletters (2017-2023)

• Student News
• Faculty News
• Coming Events
• Support the Gretsch School of Music

Guide To The Doug Lofstrom Music Collection, College Archives & Special Collections

Collection Guides / Finding Aids

A composer and bassist whose scores reflect his involvement in theater, dance, film and symphonic music, Doug Lofstrom also formed The New Quartet, a chamber ensemble which performs original music and arrangements, Trillium, and, most recently, joined the group The Last Word. He was composer-in-residence for the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and musical director of Chicago's Free Street Theatre before joining the faculty of Columbia College Chicago’s Music Department.

Òpera, Diversitat, Inclusió: Una Reflexió A Partir D'Una Estrena A Nova York, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

La inauguració de la temporada d’òpera a qualsevol ciutat important sol ser un gran esdeveniment i el Metropolitan Opera de Nova York (MET) no és cap excepció. És, lògicament, una nit de gala i tots els rituals de le grande monde es despleguen amb rigor litúrgic. Hi ha autoritats polítiques, naturalment, però sobretot lluminàries del món de les altes finances, la cultura i la ciència. Hi ha, també, sectors de la societat que no s’ho voldrien perdre per res del món: un petit univers d’estudiants de música tan ambiciosos com pobres i alguns grups com, el col·lectiu LGBTI+, molt discrets …

Mozart's Operas For Harmonie: Three Contemporary Arrangements Compared, Jacob R. Ludwig

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This thesis examines three approaches to arranging Mozart's operas for Harmonie by Johann Nepomuk Went, Josef Triebensee, and Joseph Heidenreich through an analysis of selections from their arrangements. It consists of two chapters. Chapter One discusses the historical background of the Harmonie ensemble in Vienna and an introduction to the complicated publishing history of Mozart's original works for the Harmoniemusik ensemble. A summary of the scant biographical information about the three arrangers of the works to be studied concludes Chapter One. Chapter Two covers the arrangements of Mozart's operas by Johann Nepomuk Went, Josef Triebensee, and Joseph Heidenreich. The Harmonie …

The Gambler’S Son: A Performance Companion Guide Of Dr. Tyler Goodrich White’S Opera, Patrick Mcnally

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

This document is intended to be a practical tool for anyone interested in performing or developing a deeper appreciation for the opera The Gambler’s Son by Tyler Goodrich White. Premiered and produced by UNL Opera in October, 2019, The Gambler's Son is based on Mari Sandoz’s Son of the Gamblin’ Man and Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit. The document presents brief biographies of the composer Tyler Goodrich White and his wife, the librettist, Laura White. A discussion of the work's inspiration and evolution includes a review of the process by which the two works of literature were melded into …

Love With Excuse: Contextualizing Themes In Adaptations Of The Legend Of Tristan And Isolde, Lillianna Wright

Senior Honors Theses

The legend of Tristan and Isolde is perhaps the most influential Arthurian romance apart from Lancelot and Guinevere. It has been retold many times, with each iteration responding to its own unique cultural context as well as adopting varying approaches to the medieval traditions of courtly love. The works of Wagner, Malory, and Gottfried von Strassburg all develop different versions of the same three themes: sexuality, the worthiness of love, and death. These various reconstructions of Tristan and Isolde's story blend syntheses of courtly love and historically contemporary approaches to romance, but all three reinventions romanticize it; while Strassburg and …

Performer Wellness And Applied Stage Practices Curriculum: Preparing The Undergraduate Vocal Performance Major For An Opera Career, Gabriel J. Kirby

Masters Theses

Within higher education, the goal is to prepare students to enter the workforce with the knowledge and abilities to meet or exceed the chosen occupation’s requirements and expectations. To achieve these requisites, schools create curricula comprising key information for several fields and concentrations while abiding by the regulations enforced by both their school boards and accreditation organizations. Students can apply for a job knowing that their degree holds value. Many institutions continually revise degrees to curricula to inspire the next generation in the workforce. The purpose of this curriculum project is to advocate for expanded curriculum considerations that include acting …

Key Notes: The Newsletter Of The Department Of Music, Georgia Southern University

School of Music Newsletters (2017-2023)

• NEW MUSIC INDUSTRY DEGREE READY TO LAUNCH

• Georgia Southern Opera "Save the Date"

• STUDENT PERFORMANCES

• FACULTY NEWS

The Evolving Philosophical Stance Of Richard Wagner And The Effects On His Female Characters From Senta To Kundry, Aoife Shanley

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This bibliography analyzes the multiple effects of the philosophers Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche on the works of Richard Wagner. By analyzing the contradictions of these philosophers and the different manifestations of their ideas in the different works of Wagner, it is easy to see which philosopher held the greatest hold on Wagner at a certain time. Wagner marries the philosophies of Hegel and Schopenhauer despite the fact they considered themselves to be on polar opposites of the philosophical spectrum. However, asceticism and a quest for purity ultimately seem to be the driving forces behind Wagner’s operas and depictions of women …

Voiced Gender Signifiers Within ‘As One’ A Chamber Opera: Annotated Bibliography, Samuel Sherman

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

‘As One’, a popular modern chamber opera by composer Laura Kaminsky, presents the transition of transgender woman, Hannah. Hannah, however, is casted and composed as two separate voices, a baritone and mezzo-soprano, thus creating “Hannah before” and “Hannah after”. In doing so, a dichotomy of thought surrounding the attributes of a binary based practice of vocalization and character representation is created. Through the analysis of gender theory, voiced gender theory, and the ‘As One’ chamber opera, storytelling of complex gender-based characters may be solidified within biased gender compositional and musical tools. In discovering these repetitive actions through socially constructed stereotypes …

The Evaluative Rubric Of 19th Century Parisian Operagoers: Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

My research seeks to identify the rubric used by 19th century Parisians to evaluate the quality of a given “Grand Opéra.” The works listed below shed light on that rubric. They particularly emphasize the importance of formal adherence, cultural relevance, totality, and sexual gratification to the Parisian operagoer.

Same Old Song: An Analysis Of Adaptation And The Orpheus Myth In Musical Theatre, Aaron J. Wulf

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This bibliography is a brief examination of various adaptations of the myth of Orpheus and Euridice throughout the history of musical theatre and opera, specifically through comparative textual analysis of the scripts and libretti. In this examination, additions to or retractions from the original story, whether common to several adaptations or unique to a single source, will be analyzed. From these findings it will be possible to speculate on historical and contextual reasons for the unique shape taken by each adaptation, and to add to the conversation about the nature and purpose of adaptation in general as well as the …

Covid-19_Umaine News_For Umaine Opera Workshop, The Show Goes On, University Of Maine Division Of Marketing And Communications

Division of Marketing & Communications

Screenshot of UMaine News press release regarding the University of Maine School of Performing Arts Opera Workshop going online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effects Of The Met: Live In Hd On The Democratization Of Opera In America, Anna Wigtil

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The Met: Live in HD satellite broadcasts of live opera performances began in 2006 and have since become popular with audiences around the world. While this could be an excellent avenue to democratize opera and make it available to new audiences, the available data indicates that most Live in HD viewers are already opera enthusiasts and have previously attended live opera performances. This thesis examines the history of the Metropolitan Opera’s broadcasting efforts, the demographics of American opera audiences, trends in Live in HD’s repertoire, and strategies to increase Live in HD’s appeal to a broader, more diverse …

“In Hysterics”, Examining The Mad Scene In Italian Opera: Annotated Bibliography, Lillian Ridout

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Declining Opera Audiences: Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Peculiar Attunements: How Affect Theory Turned Musical [Table Of Contents], Roger Mathew Grant

Philosophy & Theory

Peculiar Attunements places the recent turn to affect into conversation with a parallel movement that took place in European music theory of the eighteenth century. During that time the affects—or the passions, as they were also called—formed a vital component of a mimetic model of the arts. Eighteenth-century critics held that artworks imitated or copied the natural world in order to produce copies of the affects in their beholders. But music caused a problem for these thinkers, since it wasn’t apparent that musical tones could imitate anything with any dependability (except, perhaps, for the rare thunderclap or birdcall). Struggling to …

Opera And Children’S Literature: 1895-Present, John P. Delooper

Publications and Research

This presentation discusses the findings resulting from the creation of a comprehensive bibliography of English Language children’s opera books published from 1895 to present. Historically opera was often assumed to be an elitist art in the United States and was thus seldom discussed in library collection development literature, and equally rarely highlighted in children’s literature periodicals. Recently, two librarians, supported by a Carnegie Whitney grant from the American Library Association, investigated the impact of opera themed children’s books by compiling a bibliography which documented instances of opera in published English Language children’s literature over the last 125 years. By analyzing …

La Favola D’Orfeo And The Role Of The Operatic Orchestra, Sarah Anderson, Grant Estes, Peyton Hansen

2019 Festscrift: Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo

One of Claudio Monteverdi’s greatest contributions to the opera was his unification of musical ideas and theoretical philosophies passed down from his predecessors. These ideas were mostly concerned with the way in which a composer could manage instruments and voices in a dramatically satisfying way. Monteverdi’s La Favola d’Orfeo was the first opera to employ new musical philosophies that would come to characterize the genre. In this essay, we will outline operatic orchestration practices before Monteverdi and connect them to the La Favola d’Orfeo to demonstrate the profound shift that Monteverdi brought to the development of modern opera.

Key Notes: The Newsletter Of The Department Of Music, Georgia Southern University

School of Music Newsletters (2017-2023)

• Coming events

Gustav Mahler: An Honorary Secessionist, Grant Estes

Music: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Gustav Mahler’s artistic philosophy was closely related to that of the Secessionists in fin-de-siècle Vienna. His work, both as the director of the Imperial Opera and as a composer, was based on the idea that art should be paramount over personal, sociological, and historical influences. Thus, Mahler should be viewed as an honorary Secessionist who, though personally distant from the Secessionist movement, continually sought higher artistic standards and freedom. This essay will focus on the first movement of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and contemporary criticisms of the work to better understand both Mahler’s music and the environment in which he worked.

The Gonzagas: Artistic Patronage In The Mantua Region During The Italian Renaissance, Ariane Omerza, Curtis Marek, Zachary Myatt

2019 Festscrift: Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo

The Mantua region of Italy is one that was controlled by the Gonzaga family for centuries. They dominated political and cultural aspects of life. This paper displays evidence that illustrates the power and structure behind Italian patronage during the Renaissance era. It showcases the Gonzaga family’s power in the Mantua region as well as their reaching influences on the greater Italian society. Specific examples of the family patronage are explored in depth, along with the ways that their patronage affected others. Overall, this paper serves as an array of information that ties in with the overarching themes of patronage both …

Musical Drama In Monteverdi's L'Orfeo: How Aria, Recitative, And Ritornello Shape Drama, Zoe Haenisch, Elliott Peterson, Luke Mcmillan, Sam Wagner

2019 Festscrift: Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo

Composers of early operas faced the unique challenge of using their music as a dramatic form of entertainment. This idea of drama linked with music was relatively new, so these composers had to develop entirely original concepts. One such composer was Claudio Monteverdi, who built the foundation of modern opera’s three main musical forms: aria, recitative, and ritornello. An early example of the dramatic use of these musical forms can be seen in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. In this opera, Monteverdi used the aria to convey emotions, the recitative to transmit information, and the ritornello to unify the plot.

Letters From Olive Fremstad To Willa Cather: A View Beyond The Song Of The Lark, Jessica Tebo

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 1913, Willa Cather met opera-diva Olive Fremstad and the two formed a friendship that would span at least a decade. Fremstad has long been recognized as an inspiration for the character Thea Kronborg of Cather’s Song of the Lark (1915) but has not been portrayed as influential in any other aspects to Cather’s career. Letters sent by Fremstad to Cather have recently been located, and they reveal an ongoing and interdisciplinary dialogue between the two women that negotiates issues surrounding art and professionalism. I locate these letters within the broader context of Cather’s public and fictional statements about art …