Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Historical Figures And Events As Portrayed Through Opera And Art Song, Emanuel Stavrinakis

Senior Theses

In this thesis essay, an inspection of classical vocal music spanning centuries will identify works based on real-life historical figures and events. The range of works to be inspected span from the Late Renaissance to the Modern era of classical composition. From the early days of vocal composition composers looked back into the past to draw inspiration for their desired expression and portrayal of human conflict. However, in many cases the figures or historical facts portrayed differ quite significantly from how they were in real life.

Composers and librettists, the authors of the text being set to music, had a …

The Tie That Binds: The History, Conductors, And Music Of The Mystic Area Ecumenical Choir Festival, Mark Daniel Merritt

Theses and Dissertations

The Mystic Area Ecumenical Choir Festival, which began in 1968, is now in its 50th year. The festival is sponsored each year by the Mystic Area Ecumenical Council. The festival combines multi-generational choirs from numerous churches in and around the coastal villages of Noank and Mystic in Connecticut. Numerous nationally recognized choral directors, composers, and clinicians have been invited to guest conduct the choirs of the festival. For festival milestones, new choral pieces are commissioned.

This research project explores the history of church choirs in New England, beginning with mandated singing of metrical psalms, the singing schools which started in …

A History Of The Plagal-Amen Cadence, Jason Terry

Theses and Dissertations

Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, most hymns in the Anglo-American tradition ended with the congregation singing amen following the original stanzas, almost always framed within a plagal cadence. Helping this tradition take root was Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861), an Anglican hymnal that published the “amen” cadence after every modern hymn. This practice was heavily adopted among other denominational hymnals throughout England and the United States, peaking around the turn of the century. By the middle of the twentieth century, a decline in the number of hymnals including this cadence was noticeable; however, it would take until the end of …

The Wind Chamber Works Of Ernst Toch: A History And Comparative Analysis, C. Nicole Gross

Theses and Dissertations

Ernst Toch (1887-1964) is one of the forgotten composers of the twentieth century. Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg, and Kurt Weill were contemporaries, while Wilhelm Furtwängler, and Erich Kleiber championed his early works. Toch lamented his lack of notoriety to Nicolas Slonimsky two years prior to his death. Forgotten or underappreciated were his numerous compositions of art music written in the decades prior to his immigration to the United States and in the final years of his career; remembered only were his lighter works and American film music.

Toch composed one work for military band: Spiel für Blasorchester, Op. 39 (1926), …