Composition Commons^™

Sculpting Time: A Performance Guide To Four Fragments Of Time By Marcus Siqueira, Luis Felipe Vargas Magdaleno De Moraes

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation investigates the musical and phenomenological aspects of Four Fragments of Time by Marcus Siqueira (b. 1974) and provides a performance guide for this work. Furthermore, this dissertation analyzes previous guitar works by the composer, seeking to understand Siqueira’s compositional idiosyncrasies and to provide context for the interpretation of Four Fragments of Time. This dissertation includes a biography of the composer, an analysis of the compositional process of Four Fragments of Time, an analysis of the recurrent idiomatic procedures in Siqueira’s guitar works, and an overview of the collaborative process between the composer and the author. Additionally, an analysis …

From A Humble Cry To A Holy Chaconne: The Background, Analysis, And Performance Guide To Chaconne For Tokkae, Op. 96 By M. W. Johann Kim, Jurang Kim

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The cries of animals have been used as motivic material in classical music literature throughout history. This project considers the Cambodian tocay gecko’s cry as the motif which embodies the harmonic structure in Chaconne for Tokkae for Violin and Piano, Op. 96 by Dr. Myung Whan Johann Kim. It reveals how Dr. Kim adapts unique compositional style and technique such as the bell harmony of Dr. Kurt Anton Hueber, to develop the theme into 39 colorful variations. The essential elements of the chaconne and the composer’s intentions are examined through personal interviews and correspondence with the composer. These elements are …

David Gillingham’S Stained Glass For Wind Ensemble: A Transcription From The Standard Percussion Repertoire, Ashley Shoupe

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Stained Glass (1994), by David Gillingham, is a work that is considered one of the standard pieces of percussion repertoire. To date, there are no known arrangements or transcriptions which exist for wind band that originated from the percussion ensemble repertoire. Stained Glass is a work which utilizes many musical characteristics and compositional techniques that could translate successfully to the wind ensemble, such as sweeping ostinato, sustained chordal structures, and a variety of colors and textures. It is because of this observation of musical characteristics that makes this work a good candidate for a successful first transcription from percussion ensemble …

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 …

Shining A Spotlight On Female African American Composer Evelyn Simpson-Curenton, Iris E. Fordjour-Hankins

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Those who are interested in learning more about Evelyn Simpson-Curenton (b. 1953) will find it challenging to find scholarly material on her life and music. She is best known for her arrangements of spirituals that were sang and recorded by Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman (whose concert recording Spirituals in Concert was released in 1991). Simpson-Curenton is also known for her choral work, “Psalm 91,” made famous by Oakwood University’s Aeolians. Though she is self-published, her absence from compilations, volumes, and anthologies for solo voice and piano is regrettable. This dissertation provides well researched scholarly information about her musical life …

Chimurenga Chepfungwa: A Liberated Cultural Curriculum For The Madzimbabwe Singer, Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Chimurenga ChePfungwa is the self-liberation of the mind. Education can either be an instrument for liberation or a tool for colonial indoctrination, brainwashing, and enslavement — the European colonization of Africa in the late-nineteenth century and the continent's epic efforts at self-liberation have amply taught us this.

Chimurenga ChePfungwa calls for the centering of ChiVanhu knowledge systems such as Ngano, Tsumo neNziyo. ChiVanhu encapsulates Madzimbabwe indigenous knowledge systems, cosmologies, and ways of being, and this paper insists on the primacy of these ChiVanhu epistemologies for the construction of knowledge and knowing.

Amagama ayadala. Words create. So much of the language …

A Performer’S Guide To Norman Bolter’S Morning Walk For Trombone And Piano, Justin Croushore

Theses and Dissertations--Music

For the past 45 years, Norman Bolter has been one of the most prolific and important composers, performers, and educators for the trombone. Born in Minnesota in 1955, Bolter held the position of Second Trombone of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Trombone of the Boston Pops from 1975 until 2009. He has taught at leading conservatories, universities, and festivals around the world and continues to teach as trombone faculty at the New England Conservatory and the Boston Conservatory today. His compositional output is large and wide-ranged, including works for solo trombone, trombone and piano, trombone ensemble, chamber ensemble, band, …

Engaging The Eclectic Bulgarian Soul In Viola Concerto No. 1 By Marin Goleminov (1908-2000): A Faceted Analysis With New Pedagogical Studies, Lubitza Braikova

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The main purpose of this monograph is to provide a faceted study of Marin Goleminov’s Concerto for Viola No.1, a work of art complexly revealing its creator’s constructive study of style – including national style. It is hoped that this will, among other things, assist in deepening relevant performances and researches.

This document examines the M. Goleminov Concerto for Viola and Orchestra no.1, 1950 (Концерт за Bиола и Oркестър Hомер 1 Марин Големинов, р.1908–п.2000). It would bring essential features of it to the attention of a broader audience, perhaps beginning with inquisitive violists. If, with the necessary selectivity, …

An Exploration Of Smetana’S Z Domoviny (From My Homeland), Two Pieces For Violin And Piano, Jb 1:118, Yeseul Kim

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Z domoviny (From My Homeland), by Bedřich Smetana (1824-84), is among the most colorful and effective works for violin and piano of the 19^th century, and yet it is not as well-known, nor as often performed, as many other works by Antonín Dvořák, Johannes Brahms, Pablo de Sarasate, Henryk Wieniawski and their contemporaries. This document will attempt to balance the work’s place in the repertoire and provide a performer’s guide. It consists of an historical background of the composition, including a biography of Smetana; a discussion of his compositional technique and style, along with an exploration of his nationalistic …

Theoretical Study And Performing Edition Of Sonata Iii By Javier G. Compeán, José Mario Ortiz Sánchez

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Mexican composer Javier G. Compeán finished Sonata III, his most recent composition for solo guitar, in December 2015. Since the composition of his first such work in 2003, the composer has been experimenting with texture, register, dynamic range, extended techniques, harmonic possibilities, timbre, and form in his solo guitar music. In Sonata III, Compeán applied the experience he gained in previous compositions for guitar.

This work represents the composer’s current style, in which he returns to a more traditional language but continues to experiment with the technical capabilities of the instrument. Sonata III is Compeán’s most ambitious guitar composition and …

Partita For 8 Voices & Wind Ensemble: A Transcription Process, Kaitlin May Bove

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Partita for 8 Voices (2012) is a groundbreaking a cappella work that earned its composer, Caroline Shaw, the record of youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013. While the work continues to receive performances from its premiere ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, no transcription of the piece to any other ensemble type existed at the beginning of this DMA project. The author sought to transcribe a piece by a living female composer with no work for band into the wind band medium. The resulting transcription, Partita for 8 Voices & Wind Ensemble, adds a new work to …

An Analysis And Performance Guide Of Steve Reich’S Mallet Quartet, Francisco S. Perez

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Steve Reich’s music has had a profound effect on the contemporary percussionist’s repertoire. More recently, his Mallet Quartet (2009) has been one of the most performed works in the rising genre of mallet-keyboard quartets, which was featured in Third Coast Percussion’s 2017 Grammy-winning album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. With Mallet Quartet, Reich codified this type of ensemble into the contemporary repertoire of percussion as evidenced through current commissions in progress by groups such as Sō Percussion and Third Coast Percussion.

The purpose of this document is to delineate the trajectory (past and present) of the mallet-keyboard …

The First Three Guitar Sonatas Of David Del Puerto, Jeremy Andrew Bass

Theses and Dissertations--Music

David del Puerto’s first three sonatas for solo guitar are large-scale, multi-movement works in a style that is at once strongly guitaristic, and highly refined with regard to harmony, melody, rhythm, and form. Del Puerto completed all three sonatas in 2015, a considerable milestone for a composer who had never before published works in this form for solo guitar. The sonatas represent a consolidation of the composer's recent style: the synthesis of modal, pandiatonic, and twelve-tone harmony; references to folkloric, popular, and classical musics; and a lucid, immediate approach to both surface rhythm and larger formal structures.

Since the development …

Music For Brass Quintet With Orchestral Accompaniment: Commissioned Works, The Annapolis Brass Quintet, And A Survey Of Literature For Brass Quintet And Orchestra, Stacy L. Simpson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Today’s leading brass chamber ensemble is the brass quintet, whose inception was relatively late compared to the string quartet or woodwind quintet. The first modern brass quintet formed in the 1950s, while the first string quartet can be traced to the 17th century. Compositions for woodwind quintet were written as early as 1811 during the Classical Period.

The New York Brass Quintet, American Brass Quintet, and Annapolis Brass Quintet commissioned a large portion of the currently existing brass quintet literature. The literature grew exponentially as the brass quintet became popular in the 1960s. Also during this time, a new genre …

Robert Nelson's A Room With A View: The Creation Of A Contemporary Opera, Marcello Cormio

Theses and Dissertations--Music

My recent engagement as music director and conductor of Robert Nelson’s A Room with a View (1992, rev. 2004) has offered me the valuable opportunity to work on an opera side by side with its composer. The purpose of this dissertation is to reconstruct the various stages of the process of creation, interpretation, and performance of a contemporary opera, addressing aspects of the collaboration between the composer and the conductor.

The methodology used in my research is based primarily on direct observation and interview. The investigation is conducted from the perspective of a “participant-observer,” due to my personal involvement in …

Childe Roland: String Quartet, Percussion And Electric Guitar, David Blevins

Theses and Dissertations--Music

An original composition in five movements for string quartet, percussion and electric guitar. Majority of the electric guitar parts are marked “quasi-improvisation”, with the intent of allowing the player freedom to explore their own creativity and expand upon the notated guitar parts as desired. The percussion parts, also marked “quasi-improvisation”, allow the player to expand upon the notated rhythms and choose their own combination of muted wood blocks as desired.

The name of this piece and its individual movements pay homage to the author Steven King and his series of books known as the The Dark Tower. Much of …

Concerto For Viola: A New Work For Solo Viola And Orchestra With Analysis And Commentary, David E. O'Fallon

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This project consists of a new work for solo viola with orchestra and includes an analysis of that work with commentary on the composer's stylistic traits and influences. The analysis comprises not only an examination of the formal and thematic elements of the work, but also an investigation into the problems of projection and balance that are inherent in a work of this type and how various composers have attempted to solve, or at least minimize, these problems.

Christopher Rouse: An Exploration Of Three Percussion Standards, Brian T. Nozny

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The percussion ensemble is still a relatively young ensemble, with the first works by Edgard Varèse and Amadeo Roldan composed in the first third of the 20th century. Because of this youth, it is important to examine significant works for the percussion ensemble which establish themselves as staples to the repertoire. Christopher Rouse, a Pulitzer-Prize winning composer has written three such works, Ogoun Badagris (1976), Ku-Ka-Ilimoku (1978), and Bonham (1989). This study will closely examine each of these works, providing background, detailed analysis, and performance practice for each of these works.