Composition Commons^™

The Planets, Reimagined: Translating Science Into Music, Kaitlyn Wincup

Honors Projects

Inspired by Gustav Holst’s The Planets, this project analyzed the qualitative properties of the planets in our Solar System and translated them into a composition, created by Connor Gibbs, to represent an overall aural depiction of each planet. Where Holst created an astrological depiction of each of the planets, this piece is an astronomical depiction that broadens the perspectives of its listeners.

Sound Chapel, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

The idea of "Sound Chapel" liturgies, in the manner of matins or vespers, is that a chapel space is darkened with only the light of a single or several candles available. The organ shall play sustaining notes in various, slow, elongated and sustained ways, at the discretion of the organist. The piece shall create a meditative space with the music being of "piano" (p/pp/ppp) or quieter levels. Various "liturgies" are suggested by the composer below, but may be altered and done ad lib by the performer(s) as the tone or mood of the early morning or early evening "sound chapel" …

Cereal Variations, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

The “Cereal Variations” are short works of experimental notation using different types of cereal or other grains (rice, wheat, bran, and “Honey O’s”), in order to expand the notions of the score. Each piece is very short (10 or fewer measures) and written in C—but this should not restrict performers from transposing or trying pieces in other keys. No tempo or instrumentation is given either, so that performers may use whatever instruments they want. It is encouraged that musicians use anything from percussion to strings and even attempt slow versions of multiple voice choruses. Performers may also want to try …

"Now, Then, Then:" An Original Composition And Examination Of The Influence Of Blues, Bluegrass, And Rock In Western Concert Music, David Klock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines four pieces by three composers and one creative team, focusing on connections to bluegrass, blues, and rock music in each. The pieces are Raphael by Bryce Dessner, Cognitive Consonance II: Westering by Christopher Trapani, Bog Bodies and other Macabre Miniatures by Nicolas Lell Benavides, and “Three Dots and a Dash” by Punch Brothers. Each of these works uses distinct instrumentations, but every ensemble includes guitar in some fashion. This examination informs the original composition entitled Now, Then, Then, scored for violin, cello, electric guitar, and marimba. In this original composition, Klock uses devices found within these …

Wordmuse, John M. Nelson

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Wordmuse is an application that allows users to enter a song and a list of keywords to create a new song. Built on Spotify's API, this project showcases the fusion of music composition and artificial intelligence. This paper also discusses the motivation, design, and creation of Wordmuse.

Escape Beneath: An Original Game Score Inspired By An Analysis Of Garry Schyman's Music, Daniel Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video-game music has grown into a vast array of different styles, sounds, and applications. As a newer field of music, game scoring has begun to receive high acclaim. Garry Schyman has become one of the most successful composers within the video-game industry. His music has received many awards and nominations throughout the years. Despite this, research and analysis into his compositions and techniques are almost non-existent. This thesis studies his techniques within the video-game scores for BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite, Middle Earth Shadow of War, and Torn; and then applies them into an original …

The Musical Implementation Of Additive Synthesis, Quinn Ingrassia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper on the musical implementation of additive synthesis seeks to explore and divulge what exactly is additive synthesis and what makes it distinct from other types of synthesis. A part of it is dedicated to making clear and palatable case for additive synthesis and is followed by a discussion of how and why various artists have implemented additive synthesis into their music, and how to recreate their techniques.

Recuerdos De Mi Niñez, Noel Barsenas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains an original work for orchestra that features programmatic elements and musical gestures referencing previous generations of composers as well as other influential relatives of the author that are then recombined into a personal style. The document also contains commentary about the piece’s personal, historic, and cultural contexts, as well as a theoretical analysis addressing the form, structure, and harmonic content of the work.

52 Nanotone Symphonies, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

The 52 Nanotone Symphonies is a work of expanding and contracting nature, which reflects the paradox of size, length, speed, and tone of a work: a symphony is traditionally a massive orchestral work with many interactive parts, while a tone is an elemental form of sound, at the foundational level of music. This work distorts and challenges those categories, allowing for each measure (in 12 + 4 time) to constitute an entire "symphony" of sound in miniature: using a single piano (keyboard or organ) instead of orchestra. Performers are encouraged to play each as slow or fast as they wish. …

A Study Of Indigenous North Vietnamese Ca Tru Music, And The Deities Of The Kalachakra Mandala, Daniel D'Aiuto Schultz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

This document is in two sections. Chapter I is a study on the history, instruments and performance of Vietnamese ca trù folk music. Indigenous Asian music, especially music from Vietnam, has held an almost mystical interest for me with its links to the doctrines of Buddhism and Hinduism. Ca trù’s singular style, always sung by women in fixed ensembles, is of particular interest because of its colorful history and unique performance practices. The ca trù music of Vietnam’s northern provinces, like much Asian folk music, is considered an endangered genre.

Sources for Ca trù insights are scarce, but some …

Perils Of Heavy Rainfall: Displacement And Resettlement Driven By Floods, Shumaila Hemani Dr.

The Goose

Monsoon is typically a season to rejoice in South Asia because it cools off July's hot summer weather. In the poetry of Sufi mystic Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, the monsoon represents a time of abundance, and his verses are prayers of abundance for Sindh and the entire world as rainfall is indeed a much-awaited season to cast off dry spells of the desert. However, in the past few years, climate change has led to heavy floods and massive displacement of poor people in Sindh. This year, floods even reached Karachi's urban city, the biggest metropolis of Pakistan, causing the displacement …

I Hear Spring Is Beautiful, Malachi Van Nice, James Westervelt

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

An original musical about a dance student who comes to terms with their gender identity as the USA succumbs to the horrors of fascism.

Phantasticus: An Exploration Of The Sound World Of 17th Century Italian Instrumental Music, Ian Jones

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

The Baroque period is home to some of the most prolific composers known today: Handel, Vivaldi, Bach all fill the standard repertoire of many instrumentalists today. However, who came before, and why should we care? Prior to these notable composers of the High Baroque, the 17th century marked an era of immense musical discovery. The early 1600s was a time of exploration and excitement within the realms of music making and musical thought. Claudio Monteverdi was a pivotal figure in the development of the early Baroque world, and with that, new styles of music emerged, noted as stil concertato …

Digital Evolution: How The Development Of Digital Audio Technologies Have Changed The Way Video Game Composers Create Music, Mason Cooke

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This work provides annotations for a collection of sources relevant to the topic above.

Copland And Bernstein: How The American Left Responds To Mccarthyism Through Music: An Annotated Bibliography, Rachel Clausing

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein were not only two of the most influential American composers but were also important cultural figures in left-wing American politics throughout their lifetimes. As public figures with sometimes communist sympathies, they fell victim to McCarthyism’s Red Scare tactics like so many others did, facing scrutiny from the US government. The Cold War era, marked by a contradictory combination of a cultural push for family values and consumerism with the overarching fear of foreign infiltration and nuclear annihilation, led to a feeling of anxiety and mistrust. In this paper, I examine the ways in which Copland’s …

Atdheu ("Homeland"), Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

Work written for musical friends Etleva Shemai and Will Kanute. Text written by composer in Albanian.

Music Composition - Beginning Of The End, Jarin Watkins

Department of Music Student Projects

Movements

I. Beginning of the End - Overture

II. In Sacred Trust

III. Capture

IV. Conversion

V. IV

VI. Deployment

VII. Contact

VIII. Mercy

0880: Don Ferguson Sheet Music Collection, 1850-1981, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Don Ferguson’s collection consists of 358 individual pieces of piano sheet music spanning the first seven decades of the 20th century. There are also two string quartette scores named Quartette by Mozart and Beethoven for two violins, viola, and cello. They were published in Leipzig, Germany in the 1940s and were given to Mr. Ferguson by a member of the Bern, Switzerland Symphony Orchestra.

Rupturismes: Art Sonor A Mallorca, Un Poc De Context, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Antoni Caimari (1943-2021), com sap tothom, no era un músic com els altres; i tampoc no ho volia ser. Encapçalava els títols de les seves obres musicals amb les inicials EB o «esbós» (com altres compositors les inicien amb Op.) per donar una idea que no tenien res a veure amb les composicions tancades i immanents dels mestres del passat. Aquests EBs no tenien partitura perquè, com va dir Llorenç Barber, un altre compositor donat als aforismes, estaven alliberats de la tirania de la «partiturocràcia».

Unsuk Chin’S Hyper-Sheng: Sonic And Structural Development In Šu For Sheng And Orchestra, Hyun-Kyung Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Korean composer Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) is constantly exploring new sonic experiences in her works; her concerto Šu for Sheng and Orchestra (2009) is drawing considerable attention, as it is Chin’s first piece written for an Asian instrument. This study begins with a simple inquiry How does Chin combine an Asian instrument (sheng) with the Western orchestra? To answer this question, this research examines Chin’s treatment of the sheng and the development of the orchestra in partnership with the solo instrument, focusing on the creation of what she terms a “hyper-sheng:” the solo sheng and the orchestra collaboratively producing …