Composition Commons^™

Jonathan Green, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

"How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall? Write - As Well As Practice"

An Illinois Wesleyan University composer recently had a work of his debut at Carnegie Hall. WGLT's Charlie Schlenker has more.

Folk/Traditional Music Of West Virginia Arranged For Classical Guitar Ensemble, Júlio Ribeiro Alves

Music Faculty Research

My motivation for writing this book grew from my desire to better understand the people and the music heritage of West Virginia and to share the findings of my experience, with the guitar community, in the form of guitar ensemble arrangements.

Solo Composition Recital (October 26, 2013), Dominic Dousa

Dominic Dousa

Faculty Compositon Recital, presented by Nayeli Dousa (Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez) and Dominic Dousa (piano). Performances of the following original compositions: "Lands of Enchantment"

Developing Depth And Dimension: Instructional Tools And Practices To Facilitate And Encourage The Growth Of Young Jazz Musicians, Shauna E. Mcfaul

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Developing Depth and Dimension: A step-by-step, comprehensive introduction to the world of jazz for young musicians. This work begins with a philosophical discussion of the educational methods that are incorporated into the following games, lesson plans and writings. The project is directed toward students who have little to no experience playing jazz or improvising. It is meant to provide a foundation for continued success and development throughout their musical lives.

Igrooving: A Generative Music Mobile Application For Runners, Daniel J. Lepervanche

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

iGrooving is a generative music mobile application specifically designed for runners. The application’s foundation is a step-counter that is programmed using the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer. The runner’s steps generate the tempo of the performance by mapping each step to trigger a kick-drum sound file. Additionally, different sound files are triggered at specific step counts to generate the musical performance, allowing the runner a level of compositional autonomy. The sonic elements are chosen to promote a meditative aspect of running. iGrooving is conceived as a biofeedback-stimulated musical instrument and an environment for creating generative music processes with everyday technologies, inspiring us …

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 …

Uncommon Action: An Interdisciplinary Arts Performance On Ally Involvement, Rachel Dentinger

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This instrumental and dance performance, titled “Uncommon Action: An Interdisciplinary Arts Performance on Ally Involvement”, was designed to raise awareness about bullying and becoming an active ally in the event of bullying. Sixteen student musicians and a team of production assistants were enlisted to produce this interdisciplinary program that was over a year and a half in the making. This production is a unique artistic effort where the classical musicians will also perform as dancers while playing, similar to what is seen in performances by marching bands, drum corps, Stomp, Barrage, Blue Man Group, etc.

The musical piece, commissioned from …

Fight Or Flight, Asher Griffith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fight or Flight is a one-act, science-fiction opera. Outwardly the story of an astronaut who is marooned on the Moon, this dark comedy is an allegorical tale of forced isolation and loss; and of the anxiety and sadness that inevitably result. Musically, this piece began as an experiment in the reverse-engineering of mostly improvisatory methods of musical spoken-word delivery such as rap or slam poetry; this compositional device being a means to the more important end of creating a live musical theatre lacking the flippant sparkle commonly associated with Broadway and the like, but also free of the "intellectual" or …

In Autumn Rhythm, Daniel Joseph Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In Autumn Rhythm is a twelve-minute work for orchestra inspired by the improvisational processes and artistic outlook of American painter Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956). Pollock's work Autumn Rhythm manifests itself in this piece as a web of dense, improvisatory counterpoint that emphasizes aggregate texture over clear linear designs. The form is delineated by a metric palindrome extrapolated from the symmetrical rhythmic design of the opening section.

Composed Performance, Jessie Marino

Jessie Marino

Notes on works made between 2009-2013 by composer/performer Jessie Marino and her performance duo On Structure and questions about performative postures adapted by contemporary classical musicians.

Symphony No.1, Roger Lowe

Original Compositions

Unpublished, Premiered April 29, 2013 in Dover Theater, Gardner-Webb University

Symphony in four movements available on YouTube:

Mvt. I

Mvt. II

Mvt. III

Mvt. IV

Instrumentation: 3231, 4331, Euphonium, 5 perc plus timp, glock, xyl, piano, harp, strings

Additional Instruments, 4^th mvt. only: alto flute, drum set, electric guitar, electric bass.

An Integrated Approach To Preparing Paul Hindemith’S Sonata For Trombone And Piano: A Guide To Help Achieve A Better Performance, Jemmie Robertson

Jemmie Robertson

The aim of this article is to enhance understanding of the Hindemith Sonata and assist performers toward performances of the highest musical quality and emotional impact. The goal is to produce a musical and historically informed performance, based on a good theoretical foundation and thorough technical preparation. We will briefly discuss the history and theory behind Hindemith’s Sonata, examine unique performance issues, and introduce ways to prepare for a successful performance with several specific exercises designed to help the trombonist decode Hindemith’s complex compositional language, which involves a unique approach to tonality and rhythm.

An Integrated Approach To Preparing Paul Hindemith’S Sonata For Trombone And Piano: A Guide To Help Achieve A Better Performance, Jemmie Robertson

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The aim of this article is to enhance understanding of the Hindemith Sonata and assist performers toward performances of the highest musical quality and emotional impact. The goal is to produce a musical and historically informed performance, based on a good theoretical foundation and thorough technical preparation. We will briefly discuss the history and theory behind Hindemith’s Sonata, examine unique performance issues, and introduce ways to prepare for a successful performance with several specific exercises designed to help the trombonist decode Hindemith’s complex compositional language, which involves a unique approach to tonality and rhythm.

An Integrated Approach To Preparing Paul Hindemith’S Sonata For Trombone And Piano: A Guide To Help Achieve A Better Performance, Jemmie Robertson

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The aim of this article is to enhance understanding of the Hindemith Sonata and assist performers toward performances of the highest musical quality and emotional impact. The goal is to produce a musical and historically informed performance, based on a good theoretical foundation and thorough technical preparation. We will briefly discuss the history and theory behind Hindemith’s Sonata, examine unique performance issues, and introduce ways to prepare for a successful performance with several specific exercises designed to help the trombonist decode Hindemith’s complex compositional language, which involves a unique approach to tonality and rhythm.

Composition Portfolio With Accompanying Comments And Analysis, Dermot Mcdermott

Masters

My M.Phil project consists of eight original musical compositions of varying genre and style, together with accompanying analysis and commentary on these works. The compositions include pieces for full symphony orchestra, string quartet, clarinet quartet, and a number of other chamber works with varying instrumental combinations. Together, the works represent approximately fifty minutes of music, together with over nine thousand words of commentary and analysis. Some of my compositions have already been performed by the contemporary music ensemble, Concorde, and I have also completed a commission, with funds supplied by the Arts Council, for a work which was publicly performed …

Lawrence Pianist Michael Mizrahi Earns “Best Of 2012″ Honors For His Album “The Bright Motion”, Lawrence University

Press Releases

Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Music Michael Mizrahi ended the year in style. His album, “The Bright Motion”, was cited by both Time Out New York and Time Out Chicago on their annual list of best albums of 2012.

Released last May on New Amsterdam Records, “The Bright Motion” was listed eighth on Time Out New York’s 2012 list of the best opera and classical music of the past year, while Time Out Chicago included it on its year-end, non-numerical top-10 list of the year’s best opera and classical music albums.

The Bright Motion” features 10-tracks of newly composed works …

The Flap-O-Phone, A Site-Specific Turntable, Christopher Delaurenti

Articles

This article gives an overview of the author's site specific turntable, the flapophone. Supplemental attached files include images, audio, and video of the flapophone being played by the author.

The Trickster Cycle, Rron Karahoda

Senior Projects Spring 2013

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Joe Henderson's Harmonic Approach To Improvisation Within The Duo Setting In His 1992 Quintet Album, Lush Life: The Music Of Billy Strayhorn, Patrick Van Der Moezel

Theses : Honours

Jazz improvisation can be greatly influenced by the combination of instrumentation, influencing the role of the instruments and the way they relate to each other. Notably, the stripped-back nature of the duo emphasises these differences. Musicians such as Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Joe Henderson are three of many saxophonists who have employed this particular combination to explore different ways of improvisation.

This paper will draw on Joe Henderson’s 1992 album Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn, which uses the duo setting on three tracks. Each of these three tracks has a slightly different combination (saxophone with bass, with …

Ronald Stevenson, Composer-Pianist : An Exegetical Critique From A Pianistic Perspective, Mark Gasser

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This exegetical critique makes a conceptual summation of Ronald Stevenson’s life’s work for the piano and his contributions as a composer‐pianist. Chapters one and two provide a profile of Stevenson as a pianist, examining the aesthetic and musical concerns that defined his long career, as well as precedents and antecedents of his pianism. Of particular interest are the ways that Stevenson coalesces aspects of the ‘grand manner’ and his obsession with a pianistic bel canto style. Chapter three examines Stevenson’s remarkable output in terms of piano transcriptions. His conceptualization of this as ‘capturing the essence’ of the original composer is …

Nola 2, Chris Rutkowski

Chris Rutkowski

NOLA 2 is a jazz composition based on authentic New Orleans rhythms blended with a contemporary and intricate melodic and harmonic palette.

Argentine Conducting Tour, Dan Rager

Dan Rager

Argentine Educational Conducting / Lecture Tour, Dan Rager

Dan Rager