Composition Commons^™

Trees On The River (For Solo Piano), Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

One of three short pieces for piano, composed in early August 2017, for piano learners. (NB: RXZ)

Lost Bicycle (For Solo Piano), Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

One of three short pieces for piano, composed in early August 2017, for piano learners (NB: RXZ).

Lakeside Dream (For Solo Piano), Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

One of three short pieces for piano, composed in early August 2017, for piano learners. (NB: RXZ)

To Only You: For Soprano Or Tenor And Piano, David Patterson, Tenbroeck Davison

Compositions of David Patterson

To Only You for Soprano or Tenor and Piano

Anniversary Song of Enduring Love and Devotion

Lyrics by TenBroeck Davison

Music by David Patterson

Copyright July 13th 2014 by TenBroeck Davison

Copyright July 13th 2017 by David Patterson

A Generalised Song, Will Turner

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

We consider parallels between words and music. We call a triple of structures, one verbal, one musical, and one mathematical, in which the mathematical structure is related to the verbal and musical structures, a generalised song. With the intention of exhibiting the potential of this form, we describe a generalised song called ‘Cube’.

Evolution Of The Cello In Music, Joshua Propst

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

With this project, I have studied cello music written throughout many of the major musical eras in an attempt to discover the cello, specifically regarding playing style, technique, and tonal ability. The composers included in this project are Bach, Haydn, Dvořák, Pärt, and Amanti. Most of the major musical styles are represented, with a focus on baroque, classical, romantic, minimalism, and jazz. I performed this wide variety of pieces at my Senior Recital for the Western Kentucky University (WKU) Music Dept. The goal of the recital was to showcase the rich musical history of the cello and how cello composition …

Looking Through The Glass: An Album Of Original Music And Accompanying Artist Book, Sam Genualdi

Lawrence University Honors Projects

“Looking Through the Glass” is a 12 track, 38-minute long album of original songs accompanied by a hand-bound artist book. The book houses the CD as a well as an accordion-structure text block of original prints. The content and form of the work draw upon the experiences of the author to create a unique and personal take on memory as a human experience. Sam Genualdi composed and produced all of the music as well as created all of the art.

Carpenter, Howard R., 1919-2016 (Mss 613), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 613. Manuscript orchestral music for several pieces composed by Howard R. Carpenter, a music professor at Western Kentucky University from 1953 to 1984.

Compositional Practice As Expression Of Cultural Hybridity In Lou Harrison’S Double Concerto For Violin, Cello, And Javanese Gamelan, Matthew N. Andrews

Student Research Symposium

Artists in the twenty-first century face a creative dilemma: styles and traditions from around the world are now available to all, and in the post-colonial era it can become difficult to discern the appropriateness of artistic borrowings. I propose that cultural hybridity, defined as genuine investment in another artistic culture's traditions and respect for its practitioners, can provide an “Ariadne's thread” to guide the interculturally sensitive artist. Lou Harrison's long relationship with the gamelan music (karawitan) of Indonesia provides an enlightening example. From his initial exposure to Asian music all through his decades of intensive study and instrument-building, Harrison's development …

Sonority: A Study In Composing With Color For Wind Band, Kyle Brown

Senior Theses

Over the course of a year, Sonority has come to life. From early melodic ideas to musical sketches and now my final piece, this compositional journey has taught me a lot about my own writing and the processes involved in band writing. My emphasis on instrumental colors and waves of sound guided my writing as I worked to complete this piece. Those key concepts helped to shape the melody, rhythm, and form of this piece. Writing Sonority was certainly an educational experience for me, and I am proud to present this piece as a representation of my work over the …

Spirits' Dance: Sunrise Overture, Jeonghun Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The subtitle of Spirits’ Dance is Sunrise Overture. This overture is composed with five different themes of spirits’ dances: Light, Air, Water, Earth and Fire. The piece starts with the wind breeze in the darkness, mimicked by woodwinds and brass blowing their instruments without producing a tone. When the Sun rises the piece quietly begins. The beginning and ending express the sunrise and the sunset with the Light spirits’ dance. Air spirits softly introduce Water spirits. Mischievous Earth spirits pop up and carry a practical joke after the beautiful water sprits’ dance. Marching of Fire spirits brings dryness to the …

Affirmation, Validation, And Empowerment: Influences Of A Composition Competition On Students’ Self-Concepts As Musicians, Daniel Albert

Faculty Authored Articles

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a composition competition influenced four K–12 students’ self-concepts as musicians. Research questions explored motivations for these four students to enter into a composition competition, influences of the competition on students’ self-concepts as musicians (if at all), and effects of the competition besides those of self-concept as a musician (if at all). Data sources for this multiple case design study included semi-structured interviews, journals, and wiki interactions. Findings determined that acceptance to the competition, performance of students’ works, and the reception that students received validated and strengthened their self-concepts as …

The Art Songs Of Zachary Wadsworth: A Guide To Style Performance, And Literature, Jordan R. Davidson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This Doctor of Musical Arts Document explores the role Zachary Wadsworth plays in the development of American Art Song. Born in 1983, composer Zachary Wadsworth has written over forty songs. His music is complex and challenging, with influences from all musical eras, with much of his work focusing on the techniques and sounds of twentieth-century modernism. Wadsworth’s choice of poetry focuses on English literature from many different musical eras, embracing a broad range of themes subjects, and emotions.

Following a brief biography of Wadsworth’s early life and career, the document surveys Wadsworth’s contributions to contemporary American art song regarding his …

A Musical Crusade: Reviving The Music Of Berlioz’S Benvenuto Cellini Through A Comparative Statistical, Pedagogical, And Theoretical Analysis, Jessica R. Spafford

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Abstract

Much of the operatic music of the eccentric French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is overlooked, especially from his first full opera Benvenuto Cellini. This is due in part to many misconceptions surrounding Berlioz’s vocal compositional style, which stem from the political atmosphere at the time of the opera’s premiere in 1838 Paris when ill-willed critics renamed it Malvenuto Cellini. A general ignorance of this work and its music pervades the world of vocal pedagogy, having been excluded from the standard repertoire anthologies, where it can ironically be the most useful. The research presented in this project comprises …

Genesis : For Orchestra., Zachary Dwight Lowery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Genesis is a two-movement work for full orchestra that depicts the Creation and Flood story. These two stories are an inverse of each other, one of beginnings, and the other of endings. The idea of creation is portrayed musically through the stacking and building of various motives presented throughout the piece to create a musical "world". Those motives and ideas are then scattered, distorted, and further fragmented to show the utter destruction of creation. Ultimately this piece is about the power and grace of God, and His plan through it all.

"Given Time..." For Soprano And Orchestra., Alex Isackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The title of this work, Given time… is meant to be less like a traditional title and more like the beginning of a deep thought. Time is one of those things that I think humans just don’t understand and don’t give very much thought to, especially considering how much time has already passed and how much time left there is in the universe. Where does space and time end? And where do we (or I) fit in all of it? Does everything I do have any lasting impact on the eternal scheme of things? The list of questions goes …

The Transmutation Of The Immutable Abyss, Amanda Mccullough

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

The Transmutation of the Immutable Abyss is a song cycle for a female voice and chamber orchestra, originally inspired by the instrumentation of a community theater pit orchestra. This piece sets eight poems by A. R. Ammons over eight movements. One primary goal of this piece was to combine elements of jazz and contemporary classical music.

The Transmutation of the Immutable Abyss also explores duality along with the combination of disparate elements to create a more complete whole. In a literal sense, jazz and classical elements coexist in varying amounts of prominence. Also in a literal sense, elements of tonality …

Requiem, Jacob K. Lee

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

Traditionally, the requiem form began as a Catholic mass to honor the dead. Today, the requiem is generally composed conveying messages of solace to troubled hearts. Many composers, such as Britten and Rutter, choose to abandon some of the orthodox text of the mass to provide an added measure of connection for the audience. The result of these later requiems is often a baring of the composer’s soul – something profoundly personal shared in the hope of inspiring others. This latter process is my aim in creating my Requiem. I approach this end in several ways, compositionally: There is a …

Airiños: For Orchestra And Two-Part Women's Choir, And A Biography Of The Poet Rosalía De Castro, Scott T. Stobbe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Spanish poet Rosalía de Castro was a central figure in the Galician

cultural and literary revival of the mid nineteenth-century. One of her most

significant books is Cantares Gallegos, a book of poems written in Galician that

serves as an homage to the language, culture, customs and countryside of

Galicia. The text for the musical portion of this document, a work for orchestra

with extended percussion and two-part women’s choir entitled Airiños, comes

from Castro’s poem Airiños, airiños, aires which was featured in Cantares

Gallegos. To gain a deeper understanding of the author’s importance and

influence in Galicia and …

Mystery Of The Wax Museum: An Original Film Score For Orchestra And An Analysis Outlining The Evolution Of Film Music Through American Horror Films Of The Early 1930s, Ian Deterling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis illustrates the transitional period between silent films and fully-scored sound films. Connecting the history between producers, directors, and composers reveals how and why film scoring became an accepted practice by the mid-1930s while shedding light on the commonly-overlooked composers whose innovations in these early films paved the way for future film composers. The principle objective of this project is to score selected sequences of Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) by synthesizing contemporary film scoring practices with techniques commonly used in horror films of the 1930s. An accompanying analysis of the score will explain the purpose of each …