Composition Commons^™

Music Of The Divine: Interweaving Threads Connecting Contemporary Chant-Based Piano Repertoire, Jeremy D. Duck

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The purpose of this document is to prove chant remains an important source of inspiration among living composers, and, despite the number of piano works already incorporating chant, composers today are still finding unique ways to include chant in their music. To achieve this objective, representative works have been selected for research and analysis for four of the major chant traditions. Connor Chee’s The Navajo Piano, Victoria Bond’s Illuminations on Byzantine Chant, and Hayes Biggs’ E.M. am Flügel: Poem-Étude for Piano Solo, though the chants from which they are inspired are diverse in concept and style, they …

Chopin’S Piano Sonata No. 3 In B Minor Op. 58: A Structural Analysis, Maverick Harrold

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in b minor Op. 58 is an incredibly important composition to the world of music. This work will uncover many of the unique facets and features of this piece as well as discover the beautiful intricacies of each of the four movements. By learning about this sonata, the reader will gain an understanding of the importance of musical structure and musical form and will gain insight into the ways of Chopin’s compositional style and of romantic piano music as a whole.

From Story To Song: Exploring The Storytelling Potential Of Instrumental Music, Celine Darr

Honors Projects

For this project, I have composed a piece of program music with the aim of capturing scenes from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" through music. The project seeks to answer questions regarding the elements that make instrumental music "programmatic", or able to portray a story.

They Care If You Listen: Works For Cello And Piano By Migó, Rachmaninoff, Ysaÿe, And Gershwin, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Essay from the liner notes for the CD Cerdanyenca featuring cellist Mark Prihodko and pianist Viktoria Korolionok.

Don't Lose Your Keys: Exploring The Transition From Harpsichord To Piano, Justice Post

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper explores keyboard technology in music from the Baroque era to today. Central focus is on the initial dominance of the harpsichord in Western music and how this shifted to the piano. Using this context of evolving instrumentation, the paper considers how this coincided with changing styles of music composition. Finally, the paper considers the question of how a keyboardist of today should handle music written in eras before the piano existed, and whether it is appropriate to perform harpsichord music using a modern piano.

Jeremy Lee In A Student Composers Recital, Jeremy Lee

Honors Thesis

This recital and collection of original sheet music represent the culminating work for senior Music major (Contemporary Styles and Practices concentration) Jeremy Lee at Loyola Marymount University. The program features a selection of musical compositions that encapsulate different styles, genres, and unique compositional devices. Pieces also utilize a variety of arrangements and mediums, including compositions for multiple instruments and for film. Program notes for the included selections describe the historical influences and/or the personal stories and inspirations behind each piece. Performed live on April 21^st, 2022, in Murphy Recital Hall.

The Sounds Of Home: A Composition Portfolio, Paul Gabriel L. Cosme

Music Honors Projects

What does home sound like? I have spent most of my recent life outside my homeland, the Philippines, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this question of what home is has become a persistent thought, if not, a necessary inquiry. This composition portfolio attempts to answer that question in three varying pieces. The first, The Sounds of Home, is a string quartet in three movements where each one tells a personal story by invoking Filipino folk and indigenous themes. The second, Commuting in Manila, is a wind septet that sonically emulates the commuting experience in Manila from the …

A Bird’S Eye View: Large-Scale Tonal Structures In Robert Schumann’S Four Song Cycles (Op. 42, 24, 39, And 48), Peter Kramer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Some of Robert Schumann’s most notable works are his Lieder for solo voice and piano accompaniment. Schumann's Lieder are considered some of the best compositions in this genre, engendering various interpretations by performers and exciting vigorous debate among musicologists and theorists. Robert Schumann’s early music was almost entirely composed for the piano alone; it wasn’t until 1840 that he started to compose almost exclusively Lieder and song cycles inspired by his predecessors Beethoven and Schubert. This was a prolific year for Schumann compositionally, in part due to his marriage to Clara Schumann who was one of Europe’s most preeminent piano …

Composition Portfolio, Joshua A. Aguiar

Music ETDs

A collection of music compositions, composed and imagined during study at the University of New Mexico.

Common Ground, Cody Christopher-Park Ray

Masters Theses

Common Ground is a work that explores ideals of unity through the shared awareness of human mortality. I wrote the majority of this work during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020. Throughout this period, including the summer leading up to it, political and social tension was felt throughout the country. This sentiment stemmed from the unjust killings of unarmed people of color at the hands of law enforcement, to blatant errors in the way political figures handled the spread of this newfound disease, leading to more than 400k civilians prematurely dead. In experiencing these external pressures, I found …

The Meaning Of Music, Caleb Loius Orenstein Carman

Senior Projects Fall 2021

This project combines solo performances of music on piano, collaborative playing/rehearsing, improvisation, and composition. In both parts of the project, I share my performances of François Couperin, J. S. Bach, Schubert, and Ravel, and include my own compositions alongside. I tackle certain pieces that lie within the ‘long eighteenth century’ and demonstrate how improvisation is an integral part of music-making for composers. I believe in order to fulfill my own desires as a musician, I need to develop my aptitude in multiple areas — performance, composition, improvisation, chamber music, etc. — in such a way that the practice of one …

Midnight Sun, Midday Moon - Reflections On The Norwegian Landscape, Mengjia Qi

Honors Theses

This piece is inspired by the majestic landscape in Northern Norway, specifically its two natural phenomena: the midnight sun and the midday moon, which in turn are the two recurring themes. The midnight sun, grandiose and bright, contrasts the midday moon, which is melancholy and fragile. From the dense forests, to the deep fjords, towering mountains, rugged coastline, and the rolling landscapes, this concerto is a tribute to the breathtaking nature of this magical kingdom.

Air, The Contents, Ian C. Mcnally

Theses and Dissertations

Air, The Contents is an encapsulation of the environments of four different places in New York State. It is written for Pierrot Ensemble with a run time of around 8 minutes.

Performing Rhythmic Dissonance In Ligeti’S Études, Book 1: A Perception-Driven Approach And Re-Notation, Imri Talgam

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interpretive approaches to the Études have been limited by Ligeti’s choice of notation, which creates several layers of difficulty in the presentation of complex rhythms. In order to resolve some of these difficulties, this dissertation includes a complete re-notation of four Etudes, using a methodology based on research in cognition and perception of rhythm.

Based on this new score, the notion of rhythmic dissonance is developed as an analytical tool to investigate in-time perception of rhythmic complexity, drawing on existing work on metric entrainment and metric dissonance. Different compositional strategies for the production of rhythmic dissonance are shown to have …

Playscapes For Piano Trio, James Lowrie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Playscapes is a piano trio of an approximate duration of 43 minutes. It is in three movements: Playscape I, II, and III. The top range of the piano(G7-C8) is prepared in such a way that these notes become essentially a percussive effect. Playscapes explores the concept of “Musical Activity” – areas of music where simple rules are established and create a context wherein anomalies can occur. Playscape I is a series of these musical activities. In Playscape II, one musical activity goes on for a long time. In Playscape III, two musical activities alternate. In addition, a general trend towards …

Abandoning Abuse: Acknowledging Adoption In The 21 Century, Deborah Elizabeth Ellis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The inspiration for this set of pieces arose from a friendship with fellow grad student Morgen Cavanah. Morgen and I were both adopted as children, and it this common background that gave rise to these pieces. The poems chosen were written by Morgen about individuals or events in her life. Though I had planned to set 9 of the original 12 poems, this set is comprised of my four favorites. Each piece uses repetitive piano motives that underlie the melodic lines of the voice, flute, and cello. This choice explores harmonic and melodic possibilities that expand minimal accompaniment. Much of …

From Improvisation To Artistry: A Study Of The Piano’S 12 Sides By Carter Pann, Louis Claussen

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

Intended as a resource for pianists who may analyze or perform Carter Pann’s The Piano’s 12 Sides, this study provides biographical information on the composer and explores his professional relationship with the pianist for whom it was composed, Joel Hastings. Each piece from The Piano’s 12 Sides is discussed in terms of form, melody, harmony, texture and Pann’s approach to the pianistic compositional idiom. The composition is also examined with regard to extra-musical details and programmatic elements as well as inspiration and dedications that influenced Pann’s compositional process.

Correspondence and interviews with the composer reveal the motivation and inspiration behind …

Fragments D'Un Diari Musical, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Vetllada musical al pis d'Ursula Oppens. A pesar de les connotacions vuitcentistes que pugui tenir qualsevol saló musical, Ursula no és ni una Guermantes ni una Verdurin, sinó una defensora tenaç dels segles XX i XXI. Elliott Carter, John Adams, Lutoslawski, Ligetic, etc., tots els grans compositors des segles XX i XXI li han dedicat obres, i ella, amb els seus enregistraments, alguns amb nominacions als Grammys, ha estat la gran advocada del pianisme contemporani als EUA.

Two Suites For Solo Instruments, Matthew O. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

TWO SUITES FOR SOLO INSTRUMENTS:

MA Thesis

Matthew O. Thomas, Composer

This Thesis contains two Suites for Solo Instruments: Suite Médiévale for guitar and Seven Recital Studies for Intermediate Grade for piano solo. The recital studies were conceived as a way to fill a void in music literature for beginning advanced pianists; those students not quite ready for the large works of the masters, but are seeking challenging repertoire beyond the formulaic lesson and recital books. Each of the seven is an example of a different style, form, or theoretical concept. Notes for the performer have been included with recommendations …

Capriccio For Mixed Ensemble And Piano, André Mcevenue

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Capriccio is a 12 minute, single movement “mini concerto” for piano and small chamber ensemble. The music is of a virtuosic and capricious nature; at times it is dance-like and rhapsodic, at others, pensive and introspective. The formal construction concerns the techniques of fragmentation and pitch symmetry. My interest in these techniques is informed from the study of works by Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. Therefore, the title is reminiscent of Stravinsky’s own work, Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. In my piece, a symmetrical pitch collection is used as the main musical material. Small repeating fragments of this collection …

Transcending The Keyboard: The Development Of Non-Traditional Piano Techniques, Brian Hinkley

Music: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Hymn Preludes: Book Five "The Sacrament" - Piano Or Organ, Keith D. Rowley

Keith D Rowley

A Comparative History And The Importance Of Chamber Music, Aaron M. Sacks

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone presentation focuses on the role of chamber music in both social and academic contexts. Using examples from the past five centuries and including local examples, parallels and divergences are drawn to points of most import. The spotlight is upon three areas: a) what the role of chamber music was in the past, compared to today; b) why it is an important genre, to both musicians, as well as non-musicians, and c) in what ways more exposure to the form can be built. Much of the focus is on composers and their influence, but the impact of and upon …

Searching For Modeling Of Stravinsky's Petroushka In Poulenc's Rapsodie Nègre: Poulenc's Use Of Popular Forms And Techniques In His Earliest Work, Jeremy Rover

Senior Theses

Why does the view that French composer Francis Poulenc was a musical hack and a fraud continue to be discussed today? To get to the bottom of this, we need to look at the evidence available and find proof to back up these claims. In the predominant research on Poulenc, many scholars mention musical themes and quotations linked to other composers, but most of these claims aren’t backed up with specific examples or score studies. Therefore, in this paper I attempt to trace the “crime” to its source by showing Poulenc’s possible borrowing of harmonies, thematic material, styles, and rhythms …

Lord, Teach Me How To Pray - 2 Part Choir, Keith D. Rowley

Keith D Rowley

This is a 2 part choir arrangement of Willy Reske's setting of "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire."

Hymn Preludes - Piano Or Organ, Keith D. Rowley

Keith D Rowley

Prelude settings of 20 hymns for piano or organ.

Hymn Preludes: Book Two - Piano Or Organ, Keith D. Rowley

Keith D Rowley

Prelude settings of 20 more hymns for piano or organ

Golliwog's Cakewalk From Children's Corner Arranged For Clarinet Quartet, Elizabeth Johnson

Honors Projects

By demonstrating integrated learning through interdisciplinary connections between music performance and arranging techniques, this honors project was the culmination of a process of using my knowledge of piano and clarinet performance techniques to arrange the piece “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” by Claude Debussy from piano to clarinet quartet. To arrange the piece for clarinet quartet, I utilized my experience in playing piano and clarinet to critically analyze the piano score and decide how it would best aurally transfer to an ensemble of four clarinets. The project also demonstrates critical thinking as I arranged the piece to be at a playing level appropriate …

Born To Conquer: The Fortepiano’S Revolution Of Keyboard Technique And Style, Rachel A. Lowrance

Musical Offerings

The fortepiano had a rough beginning. In 1709 it entered a world that was not quite ready for it; a world that was very comfortable with the earlier keyboard instruments, especially the harpsichord. Pianists and composers were used to the harpsichord technique and style, which is drastically different from the piano. This is because the harpsichord was actually a very different instrument than the piano, as is explained in this paper. This paper traces the history of the piano's rise to dominance over the harpsichord, and how its unique hammer action began creating an idiomatic piano style. The piano also …

Mirrors, Zachary R. Ross

Undergraduate Honors Theses

MIRRORS is a cycle of songs composed for soprano voice and piano using five poems by Sylvia Plath. The work features the creation of a protagonist and tells a chronological story through the arrangement of the five poems colored and unified by the manipulation of a thematic twelve-tone row.