Composition Commons^™

Saw You In A Dream, Erin Stuckenbruck

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Around the 1930’s my grandfather learned how to play the musical saw by Vaudeville in Tennessee. He then taught his children how to play, and my father did the same. Many people are unfamiliar with the fact that a handsaw can also be used as a musical instrument. For my senior concert, I wanted to show that the saw’s unique sound can in fact be incorporated in many different genres of music.

The program starts in Turkey, ~1 C.E., where the oldest complete musical composition we have record of, Epitaph Siekilos, was found on a tombstone. From there we travel …

Automated And Human Rhythm In "Alice In Wonderland (1915)" And "Sportage", Paul J. Sylvester

Senior Projects Spring 2016

In the history of live musical performance, the question of rhythm has often been overlooked. People playing together in various ensembles have always been able to keep in time with one another due to their own abilities to play fluidly and interact with each other’s body languages and musical gestures to see approximately when the beat is. At the rise of the Digital/Electronic Age in music, this becomes harder and harder to do with an automated performer. A computer, as a performer and as a musical instrument, does not have the ability to listen to the other musicians in the …

Thoreau And Integrity, Daniel Alexander Zlatkin

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Master's Recital In Jazz Pedagogy: A Performance-Demonstration Of Rhythm Section Instruments, Compositions And Arrangements By Josh Hakanson, Josh Hakanson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This recital is presented to demonstrate skills and competencies on the rhythm section instruments piano, bass, and drums, as well as showcase compositions and arrangements by the recitalist. The study of the rhythm section instruments has been a valuable asset to my teaching and allowed me to expand my knowledge of how these instruments are used in a functional jazz context. The study of jazz composition and arranging techniques has also supplemented my teaching skills and given me the satisfaction of both writing and performing my own works. Though this recital is not a comprehensive overview of my study at …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Silence For Orchestra: Incorporating Silence In Musical Language Through Theories Of Expectation, Kari Darby

Masters Theses

The purpose of Silence: for Orchestra is to incorporate silence as a captivating source of musical language. Silence's goal is to encourage the audience to appreciate silence as musch as music. David Huron's research in musical expectations served as a guide to create a piece that develops, contradicts, and conforms to a listener's expectations. Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis's work describes five functions of silence found in music. These functions can be applied to the silences used in my piece in order to further conform to the listener's expectations.

Robert Schuman "Novellette In F Major", Opus. 21 No. 1 (Part 1), Dan Rager

Dan Rager

Robert Schumann "Novellette" Opus 21- No. 1 / Full Piano Score (Part 2), Dan Rager

Dan Rager

The Band Came Back (Sousa -1895/Clarke - 1926/Rager - 2016), Dan Rager

Dan Rager

Musical Syntax (Music Vs. Human Language), Dan Rager

Dan Rager