Composition Commons^™

Developing A Systematic Approach For Teaching Beginning Improvisation Using The Concert Percussion Ensemble, Ian Mcclaflin

Dissertations

Typically, when studying percussion at a University, a student is required to be proficient at multiple aspects of percussion (snare drum, mallet keyboards, drum set, hand drumming, etc.) and work through multiple method books and solos on the different instruments. This often leaves little to no room for the study of improvisation on their instrument.

Examined in this study are the following points pertaining to the state of teaching improvisation:

• There is an apparent lack of improvisation in the classroom
• Teachers often feel unprepared in teaching improvisation
• Improvisation is most commonly associated with jazz
• Both teachers and students tend to …

An Analysis Of Western Art Music Arrangements For Steel Pan Chamber Ensemble, Ian Meiman

Dissertations

This dissertation is an analysis of western art music arrangements for steel pan chamber ensembles. Specifically, this dissertation will analyze how certain arrangers have adapted western art music for steel pan chamber ensemble while discussing the possible methods the arranger used to create this adaptation. The analysis will observe the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and other significant alterations made in the steel pan chamber arrangement, and discuss any changes made, whether due to the adaptation of the instruments or otherwise, from the original works. The dissertation will also include a brief historical discussion on western art music’s influence of early steel …

Traditional Irish Musical Elements In The Solo-Piano Music Of Ryan Molloy, Brian Thomas Murphy

Dissertations

Music in Ireland has become increasingly popular in recent decades. There is no shortage of Irish musical groups, recordings, and live performances featuring Irish music both in Ireland and abroad. Contemporary art music in Ireland has also seen an increase in support and notoriety. Irish composers face a decision of how, if at all, to engage with traditional folk music that is so prominent in their culture. Ryan Molloy (b. 1983 in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a composer and performer who incorporates elements of traditional Irish music in the context and in the language of modern art music. …

A Study On The Compositional Style Of The Flute Chamber Works Of Mel Bonis, Geraldine Margaret Padilla

Dissertations

Mélanie Hélène Bonis (1858-1937) was a female French composer born at a time when musical trends started shifting away from Romanticism. Amidst the various styles that emerged towards the end of the nineteenth century, Bonis remained faithful to the practices of the Late-Romantic period. Her style, characterized by its adherence to tonality and classical forms, was considered outdated by the Parisian public and proved to be detrimental in her career. This document focuses on the four chamber works originally written for flute. Bonis’ chamber works demonstrated a composer who was willing to experiment with the modern techniques of the twentieth …

A Discussion Of Shiguang Cui’S Piano Concerto No. 2, Focusing On A Stylistic Analysis And Traditional Chinese Musical Elements, Yuting Ji

Dissertations

Shiguang Cui (崔世光) (b. 1948) is a Chinese composer and pianist. To celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in Beijing, his work Concerto for Ten Concert Grand Pianos and Orchestra was commissioned by the Dean of the National Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Ping Chen. Ten internationally-renowned pianists were invited to give the world premiere on August 19, 2008. The pianists were Claude Frank, Phillippe Entremont, Vladimir Feltsman, Louis Lortie, Yunyi Qin (秦云轶), Shikun Liu (刘诗昆), Lang Lang (郎朗), Cyprien Katsaris, Guillermo Gonzalez, and Sha Chen (陈萨).¹

This piece was originally conceived as Concerto for Ten Concert …

An Annotated Bibliography And Performance Commentary Of The Works For Concert Band And Wind Orchestra By Composers Awarded The Pulitzer Prize In Music 1993-2015, And A List Of Their Works For Chamber Wind Ensemble, Stephen Andrew Hunter

Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to assemble into one resource the concert band, wind orchestra, and chamber wind ensemble compositions of the 23 composers who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music between 1993 and 2015. The Pulitzer Prize in Music is given annually to an American composer in recognition of distinguished achievement in composition of a work that received its premiere during the previous year. Timothy Mahr completed this study on composers who received the Prize from 1943 to 1992. This is a continuation and replication of that study, following Mahr’s procedures.

A brief biographical sketch will be …

First Critical Performing Edition Of The Zarzuela Maria La O, By Ernesto Lecuona, Orchestrated By Felix Guerrero, Ivan A. Del Prado

Dissertations

The First Critical Performing Edition of the Zarzuela Maria la O by Ernesto Lecuona (as orchestrated by Felix Guerrero), is the rescue of the complete score of one of the most important works by a Cuban composer. The complete but still unpublished original score to Maria la O will finally have a clear and accurate performing edition. This will serve, both expert performers in Cuban popular music and anyone else interested in the subject. In this new score, indigenous rhythms and other traditional performance practice issues have been fully written out.

This document will also include a brief history and …

A Jamaican Voice: The Choral Music Of Noel Dexter, Desmond A. Moulton

Dissertations

As we approach the twenty-first century, the world generally is moving away from the dominance of the European aesthetic towards a world music that owes much to the musical resources of the African-American tradition. Jamaica’s social and philosophical music belong mainly to that tradition, which includes the use of rhythms, and timbral and melodic resources that exist independently of harmony. Already in this century, Jamaicans have created two totally new music - Nyabinghi, which performs a philosophical function and Reggae, which performs a social function. The choral music of Noel Dexter is important because it is uniquely Jamaican/Caribbean in its …

Blue Mountain: A Chamber Opera For Winds And Voices By Justin Dello Joio: A Unique Contribution For Wind Band Literature, Armando Saldarini

Dissertations

Blue Mountain is an opera in one act scored for four voices, and thirty-three instruments, commissioned by Det Norske Blaseensemble. Under the direction of Kenneth Jean, the premiere took place on October 8, 2007, at Kanonhalen in Oslo, Norway, as part of the Edvard Grieg Centennial celebrations and the 2007 Ultima contemporary Music Festival. The opera takes place in Troldhaugen, Norway, during the last days of Edvard Grieg’s life. Suffering from emphysema, Grieg was being treated by his doctor with morphine that created great anxiety, fear, and mental torment. A visit from his friend, Percy Grainger, gave Grieg great …

Adapting J.S. Bach's Solo Violin Sonatas And Partitas For The Marimba: Broken Chord And Arpeggio Performance Practices, Jason Eugene Mathena

Dissertations

This purpose of this study is to provide the keyboard percussionist with information and examples for breaking chords and properly executing arpeggio passages in J. S. Bach’s solo violin Sonatas and Partitas. Primary sources included Baroque treatises on performance practice and recent scholarship of the past one hundred years. Various editions of the Sonatas and Partitas were surveyed for this document but, in the end, only Bach’s autograph manuscript and Gunther Hausswald’s critical edition were used for the musical examples as well as the marimba transcriptions included in appendices.

Topics covered are appropriate places to break chords and the various …

A Performer’S Guide To Six Song Cycles Composed Between 1959 And 2010 By Mississippi Composers, Sarah Hogrefe Mabary

Dissertations

This dissertation offers a performer’s guide to six song cycles by Mississippi composers, including the structure and form of the songs, possible poetic interpretations, and performance practice techniques. The song cycles addressed are Samuel Jones’s Four Haiku, Howard Keever's Dreams, Raymond Liebau's Song Set I and Song Set II, and James Sclater's Three Songs on Texts of Emily Dickinson and Songs from “Telephone Poles.” For the purposes of this study, a Mississippi composer is defined as one who has a significant connection to Mississippi, either by birth or by having worked as a musician in the state for many years. …

Joseph Kreines: A Biographical Sketch, An Analysis Of American Song Set For Band And A Descriptive Catalogue Of His Original Compositions And Transcriptions For Wind Band, Paul Eugene Weikle Jr.

Dissertations

Joseph Kreines is a well-respected composer, conductor and educator who has maintained an illustrious musical career in Florida and elsewhere. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Kreines came to Florida in the 1960s as the Associate Conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra. Other professional conducting appointments with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, The Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra and appointments as the conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra Youth Symphony, Pinellas Youth Symphony Orchestra and Brevard Youth Symphony Orchestra proved to be the launching of a successful free-lance career as guest conductor for hundreds of Secondary programs in Florida and elsewhere including band, orchestra …

A Conductor’S Guide To The Poetic And Musical Style Of The Cante Jondo Based On The Work Of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’S Romancero Gitano, Op.152, For Choir And Guitar With Selected Poems Of Federico Garcia Lorca’S Poema Del Cante Jondo, Elsa Patricia Ramierz-Hacker

Dissertations

Composers around the world have found the poetry of Federico García Lorca a source of inspiration for solo and choral works. Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco used seven texts from Lorca’s Poema del Cante Jondo (Deep Song Poems) in his work Romancero Gitano, op. 152, for choir and guitar.

The purpose of this study is to provide a conductor’s guide to the poetic, historical, and musical structure of the cante jondo. Cante jondo or “deep song” is considered the most serious and profound collection of songs in Flamenco music. These songs express the history and landscape of the Andalucían region. Donn Phoren …

The Life And Selected Piano Works Of David Burge, Mary Chung

Dissertations

Although David Burge is recognized as one of the most important American pianists dedicated to contemporary music in the twentieth century, little is known about his contributions as a pedagogue, lecturer, writer, novelist, and, especially, as a composer. This biographical study focuses on three of his piano compositions: Second Sonata, Eclipse II, and Go-Hyang. Each work represents one of three distinct compositional periods: the first reflects the influence of Prokofiev and features characteristics of the neoclassicism; the second marks a turn to experimentalism, atonality, and serialism; and the final indicates the return to a more traditional style that makes use …

A Performance Project With An Historical And Analytical Perspective On The Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra, Op. 31 By Peter Jona Korn, Brian Sanford Ransom

Dissertations

Peter Jona Korn (1922-1998) is not a name immediately recognized in American music circles, yet during the 1940s and '50s he led a successful career as an American composer. His Saxophone Concerto - composed in 1956 for the virtuoso Sigurd Rascher, and revised by Korn in 1982 - is an important contribution to the saxophone repertoire.

Many composers, including Glazounov, Ibert, and Larsson, wrote concertos for Sigurd Rascher. These works, once considered highly virtuosic, are now studied and performed by college level saxophonists. The original version of Korn's Concerto, among the most technically demanding works, has remained in obscurity for …

Comparative Analysis Of Representative Marimba Works By Nebojsa Jo Van Zivkovic, Jefferson Lavelle Grant Iii

Dissertations

Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic has been an active performer and composer since the late 1970s. He is the closest modern percussionists have to the tradition of the virtuosocomposer from the Romantic period. He holds degrees in composition, music theory, and percussion performance. His music merits study based on the fact that he is an accomplished marimbist who composes at the instrument. This lends to his music a uniquely idiomatic quality. The two works presented in this treatise span almost twenty years of the composer's thirty-year career. The unifying element in both works is that they feature a marimba soloist as the …

The Music Of Jerry Sieg: A Descriptive Catalogue Of His Piano Music And An Analysis Of The Five Miniatures For Piano, Nuria Mariela Royas

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to present the solo piano music of the American composer Jerry Sieg, whose output includes works for orchestra, voice, opera, chorus, and numerous compositions for solo instruments.

It opens with the biography of the composer, including information concerning bis musical training, followed by a brief survey of his solo piano works. A discussion of his compositional style in his Five Miniatures for Piano, written in 1994 for the American pianist Marian Lee, is also included in this work. The analysis of the Five Miniatures for Piano in Chapter IV presents a detailed analysis of …

A Comparative Analysis Of Roman Palester's Concertino Pour Saxophone Alto Et Orchestre A Cordes, Brian Donald Kauth

Dissertations

The music of Roman Palester (1907-1989) is little known outside his native Poland. Before World War II, he experienced a great deal of musical success, with many of his compositions being performed at prestigious music festivals throughout Europe. Palester completed his one solo work for the saxophone, the Concertino pour Saxophone Alto et Orchestre a Cordes, in 1938, but its scheduled premiere in 1939 never took place due to political tensions on the eve of World War II.

In 1978, Palester revised the work for saxophonist David Pituch, who premiered and recorded this version. A comparison of the original and …

Leo Brouwer's Estudios Sencillos For Guitar: Afro-Cuban Elements And Pedagogical Devices, Carlos Isaac Castilla Penaranda

Dissertations

This document presents a detailed performance and pedagogical analysis of the Estudios Sencillos by the Cuban composer, Leo Brouwer. Such pertinent musical aspects as biographical data of the composer, Afro-Cuban traditions, Cuban composers, and philosophical and artistic trends that impacted Brouwer's aesthetic world are studied and discussed.

Virtually any of Brouwer's works can serve to convey this information, but it is particularly this group of pieces that better suits the study of Afro-Cuban elements within a pedagogical focus since no other of Brouwer's compositions is set with this particular target in mind: etudes for the development and/or implementation of a …

Microtonality As An Expressive Device: An 
Approach
 For 
The 
Contemporary 
Saxophonist, Seán Mac Erlaine

Dissertations

This dissertation provides a critical examination of the use of microtonality as an expressive tool for the improvising saxophonist and offers a new method for quarter-tone production drawing on cultural references from European art music, Arabic Maqam and Contemporary Jazz. The thesis is underpinned by an historical, musicological analysis of tuning systems and theory necessary for the performer of microtonal music. The dissertation is presented in three chapters. In Chapter One, a discussion of tuning theory and a history of temperament systems contextualises the current uses of equal temperament and extensions of it including the quarter-tone tempered system. Chapter Two …

Fantasy Variations On George Gershwin's Prelude Ii For Piano: An Analysis And Conductor's Guide, Brian Stevon Taylor

Dissertations

Donald Grantham has received much acclaim and awards for his compositions. Fantasy Variations proves to be noteworthy addition to his collected works and to the band repertoire. The work won the NBA/William Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest in 1998 and the ABA/Ostwald Award in 1999. The piece has received much acclaim and many performances with several commercial recordings. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the importance of the band music of Donald Grantham through an analysis of one of his award-winning works. Further, another aim would be to help more bands perform this noteworthy piece by assisting in …

Luigi Zaninelli: Rehearsing, Performing, And Conducting Selected Works 2005-2008, James Ernest Standland

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a resource for band conductors for rehearsing and performing band compositions of Luigi Zaninelli, specifically Three Dances of Enchantment, Prayer and Canto, and Dwarf of Venice. Certain decisions conductors make and even risks they take can make the difference in an ensemble's understanding of the music. This study provides an analytical view of Three Dances of Enchantment, Prayer and Canto, and Dwarf of Venice in terms of tempi, form, ensemble blend and balance, intonation, melodic lines, and conducting gestures.

Jack Stamp: A Biographical Sketch And Analysis Of Symphony No. 1 - "In Memoriam David Diamond", Dawn Anna Perry

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to provide information about Jack Stamp as a prominent composer of wind band literature, with a focus on his compositional techniques. An analysis of Symphony No. 1 - "In Memoriam David Diamond" illustrated Stamp's varying compositional styles from lyrical to highly contrapuntal with syncopation, changing meters, modal and extended harmonies, and colorful use of percussion - characteristics found in his works at all ability levels. An interview with the composer documented his compositional influences, his thoughts on wind band literature, conducting, and specific techniques employed in Symphony No. 1. To date Stamp has published …

A Stylistic Analysis Of Six Pieces For Solo Piano By Rodion Shchedrin And A Stylistic Analysis Of Trespreludiosa Modo De Toccata, Dos Danzas Cubanas, And Estudio De Contrastes By Harold Gramatges, Amanda Virelles Del Valle

Dissertations

This document compiles stylistic analysis for performance of selected works by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin and the Cuban composer Harold Gramatges. The piano music of these composers has been gaining international acclaim since the 1950's. The unique harmonic language, the elements of folklore, and the virtuosity found in these pieces make them very attractive for performance and research.

The document unites two papers, each supplementing lecture recitals offered on April 16 and 28, 2008. In each paper, after a brief biographical summary and an account of the piano repertoire of the respective composer, the pieces are examined, and matters …

A Comparison Of Two Distinctive Jazz Trombone Artists, David Steinmeyer And Curtis Fuller, Eddie Lee Elsey Jr.

Dissertations

This dissertation discusses two jazz trombonists, David Steinmeyer and Curtis Fuller. Six solos performed by these two artists are analyzed for the purpose of studying and comparing their individual styles of playing. Each solo is analyzed melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically with musical excerpts from each solo included to provide emphasis on a particular area.

This dissertation also includes comparisons of overall styles, full transcriptions of each solo, discographies for both artists, and brief biographical sketches of each artist. Although the artists play in different styles, they still share similar philosophies in approaching the performance of playing jazz trombone.

A Comparative Analysis Of Poetic Structure As The Primary Determinant Of Musical Form In Selected A Cappella Choral Works Of Gerald Finzi And Benjamin Britten, Andrew Malcolm Jensen

Dissertations

Numerous scholars have identified the relationship linking words and music as the prime factor in the success of both Gerald Finzi's and Benjamin Britten's vocal music. However, few authors provide a satisfactory discussion concerning the specific musical elements used to achieve that success. Those that do, typically focus upon textual/musical correspondences that highlight poetic meaning at the phrase or single word level. Additionally, no known source draws connections between the text-setting practices of these composers. This dissertation seeks to identify the association of text and music on a larger scale: specifically, the influence of poetic structure as the primary determinant …

Instrumental Tango Idioms In The Symphonic Works And Orchestral Arrangements Of Astor Piazzolla. Performance And Notational Problems: A Conductor's Perspective, Alejandro Marcelo Drago

Dissertations

Tango performance practices and notational conventions included in the orchestral works of Astor Piazzolla belong in two groups. The first is tango performance manner, or the specific way of rendering the written musical text; and the second is tango special effects, which could be defined as a group of non-traditional (for European music) instrumental techniques specific to tango music. Both groups are part of a performance style that has been poorly systematized, if at all, and kept alive only by means of face-to-face transmission. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify and analyze the challenges that Piazzolla faced while …

An Analytical Conductor's Guide To The Satb A Capella Works Of Arvo Part, Kimberly Anne Cargile

Dissertations

Arvo Part (b. 1935) is an Estonian composer whose works include film scores, piano and organ works, chamber music, choral/orchestral works, and unaccompanied choral works. This dissertation is limited to the composer's SATB a cappella works. During an eight-year "period of silence" from 1968 to 1976, Part ceased serious composition in order to find his true compositional "voice." During this hiatus, Part abandoned his Lutheran faith, converting to the Russian Orthodox Church, and discovered a fascination with sacred Medieval and Renaissance music, which had been denied him as a student in the USSR. These events, added to the lingering influence …

A Performer's Analysis Of Eric Ewazen's Sonata For Trumpet And Piano, Joseph Daniel Mcnally Iii

Dissertations

Eric Ewazen is a prolific composer whose works are becoming standard repertoire for not only trumpet players but also for brass quintets, soloists, and wind ensembles alike. Ewazen wrote the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano for the International Trumpet Guild, and it was premiered by Chris Gekker, trumpet, and Ewazen, piano, in 1995 in Bloomington, Indiana.

This document illuminates some of the characteristics of Ewazen's music, and summarizes the music's technical and performance demands, based on firsthand performing experience. It should also offer practical observations and recommendations for the performance of Eric Ewazen's Sonata for Trumpet and Piano.

Trends In Historic And Modern Performance Practice For The Trumpet In Richard Wagner’S Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Michael Ryan Ellzey

Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to compare the Alto F trumpet used by the players of Richard Wagner’s orchestra to the modem trumpet, with reference to specific excerpts from Der Ring des Nibelungen. It will discuss topics pertaining to transposition, range, keys, timbre, and crooking. Other elements that will be explored are the evolution of the valved trumpet and how it led to the Alto F trumpet. The document will also discuss the eventual replacement of the Alto F trumpet by the modem C and B-flat trumpets. Included in this section will be a historic study of the …