Composition Commons^™

Accretion And Acrylics: Composition Portfolio With Commentary, Patrick Egan

Doctoral

This portfolio consists of nine compositions and an accompanying commentary on each of the pieces. The earlier compositions represent the exploration of preoccupations with canon, counterpoint, and rhythmically-charged, pulsating mobiles. This led to the further research elements incorporating the development of rhythmic motifs and their proliferation, culminating in static sonic canvases, slowing the rate of harmonic change. Investigative research into the various gradations applied to amplitude levels, first explored in my electronic music and then applied in the form of dynamics in my acoustic writing, represents another highly-featured process in this thesis. The opening chapters chart the processes of the …

A Case Study Of The Cellists And Treatise Authors: Johann Georg Christoph Schetky (1737-1824), Joseph Reinagle (1752-1825) And John Gunn (C.1765-1823): The Development Of The Cello In Provincial Britain, Margaret Doris

Doctoral

This dissertation provides an investigation of British provincial cello playing in the lateeighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries through a comprehensive examination of the biographical histories and the pedagogical outputs of the cellists and cello treatise authors, Johann Georg Christoph Schetky (1737–1824), Joseph Reinagle (1752–1825) and John Gunn (c.1765–1823). Through re-evaluation and analysis of the biographical profiles of Schetky, Reinagle and Gunn, in combination with a contextual review of their cello treatises, a provincial trend in British cello treatise authorship has been revealed. Schetky was principal cellist with the Edinburgh Musical Society [EMS], whilst Reinagle was principal cellist of the Oxford Musical …

Sketches Of A Life, Alexander D. Morris

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Sketches of a Life is a work for a small chamber ensemble and depicts small sections of an unidentified person's life. It is scored for 13 instruments and runs eight minutes in length. The piece itself is supplementary to this project, which is largely a descriptive and theoretical analysis of the work. The analysis and score are submitted as PDFs. A link to the recording is included in the appendix.

Dear…,, Tiffany Mckinney

Graduate Thesis Collection

This paper discusses my thesis piece Dear...,. It describes how the piece was put together and the deeper symbolism of aspects of the music.

Surfaces, Rob Funkhouser

Graduate Thesis Collection

Surfaces is a work for two percussionists in four movements. It uses a variety of small percussion instruments, keyboard percussion, and two specially built kalimbas. This document contains both the score and an analysis of the piece that covers instrument choice, performance practice, form and compositional techniques employed

Theft! A History Of Music, Keith Aoki, James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Trying To Fit In With The Weird Parts Of The Internet: Online Subcultures And Content Creation, Isak Fedeler Knivsland

Honors Program Theses

Creating my thesis project has been quite a journey - perhaps a longer and more tedious journey than I anticipated, but rewarding nonetheless. Starting this project in the fall, I simply had the goal of making cool music, producing videos to accompany it, and getting some people to watch it. This is much easier said than done, however.

In my head, this was to be a pretty straightforward project. I had made electronic music before and had been improving at it. I had edited some videos, though not for a few years. And I had experimented with marketing content. The …

The Genesis: A Symphonic Work And Analysis, Max Keller

Faculty Publications

The biblical account of creation found in the Book of Genesis is known to billions around the world through its proclamation by multiple religions and numerous denominations. As such it is embedded in many cultures, especially that of the Western civilization and art. This article contains all but two of the movements, three and six, of Max Keller’s analysis of his multi-movement symphonic work The Genesis. The work sought to be a musical expression of the creation narrative found in the Book of Genesis, with direct correlations to the original Hebrew text. As such, the analysis takes an in-depth look …

Performance Examples, Compositions (Improvisation Vehicles) And Transcriptions Vol Ii, Michael Nielsen

Doctoral

No abstract provided.

Bonding Theatre And Chemistry: An Educational Exploration, Matthew Gurniak

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper analyzes the educational aspects of theatre and music and the impact that they have on an audience. The goal was to begin a new conversation about science and theatre and how the two can learn and gain unique insight from each other. To examine how these two antithetical fields can interact, I composed a new, innovative musical that tells the love story between two professors through the use of concepts from general chemistry. The results and responses from the performance of the play were overwhelmingly positive from members of both disciplines. They have inspired continued interest in this …

American Spring, Sam Mullooly, Tom Mullooly

CrissCross

Composer's Notes

I composed American Spring during the 2015-2016 school year, my final year as an undergraduate at Illinois Wesleyan University, in connection with the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. This opera takes place mostly in April 1865, the year Richmond burned and Lincoln died, and deals with America’s feelings of pride and shame in war. The opera’s main character is Varina Davis, the wife of confederate President Jefferson Davis. Varina offers the 1860’s Southern perspective on slavery and the war, one glossed over in most readings of our history because it is so obviously repugnant …

Ex Nihilo: An Inquiry Into The Nature Of Musical Creation, David Orvek

Capstone Research Projects

As of late there has been much interest in the creative process of musical composition. Most studies to date have taken the form of quantitative and/or psychological analyses performed upon composers by researchers who are not themselves composers. In contrast, this project takes a more philosophical and historical approach in that it takes time to reflect upon the context and manner in which music has been composed throughout history. Additionally, this study offers a more personal perspective as it draws information from the author’s own compositional process–as recorded in a composition journal–as well as the thoughts and reflections of composers …

An Introduction To Serbian Piano Music: Musical And Cultural Influences On Three Selected Composers, Jelena Djukic

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

Serbia is a country that has survived many political and religious conflicts. Perhaps the best way to describe Serbian culture and tradition would be a country whose inhabitants struggled for many years, yet managed to incorporate the best elements of its conquerors’ cultures. Serbian musical identity is an amalgam of local and international influences and styles.

Different foreign authorities occupied this country for centuries. The Danube River was the main border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, located in the north, and the Turkish Ottoman Empire, situated south of the Danube. The Austro-Hungarian influences on Serbian music are most evident in piano …

Music And Words: Connecting The Love Of Music With Language, Eileen P. Kennedy, Raymond Torres- Santos

Publications and Research

Children from different cultures have a natural affinity for rhymes, rhythm and music. Imagine if students were able, from the beginning of their education and experiences with academic writing and literacy, to access their unconscious and original selves from which to create their writing. The study of music can help to access this aware, inventive side that can enhance anyone’s writing. As an early childhood writing teacher and a composition teacher, we draw on our experiences with young children with words and music. We examine the relationship between music and words in an effort to bring the primitive drive of …

Indigiana, Elizabeth A. Knox

Graduate Thesis Collection

Indigiana, for orchestra and audio soundscape, is dedicated to the 2016 bicentennial celebration of the State of Indiana. The title is derived from the words, ‘Indiana,’ ‘Digital,’ and ‘Indigenous.’ Its programmatic style is based on the natural landscape and my reflections on four Indiana state parks. In addition to the state's bicentennial honor, Indiana celebrated its 100^th anniversary of the purchase of its first two recreational facilities, McCormick's Creek and Turkey Run State Park.² To honor the state and my family’s longstanding heritage as Hoosiers, I used the natural landscape and environmental sounds of four Indiana state parks …

Mexica Music, Tizoc E. Ramirez-Marquez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper explores the society of Mexica, or the Aztecs, and some of the instruments that were produced in the civilization and used in today’s compositions. The history and their creation mythology will also be deliberated for those individuals who do not know this information of the culture. In the history, the subjects of the Mexica constructing a giant city in a lake to the conquest that was lead by Hernan Cortez will be discussed. The creation story will also exhibit the ideology of the Mexica and how their culture is sustained before the conquest. In the music section, the …

A Discussion Of Shiguang Cui’S Piano Concerto No. 2, Focusing On A Stylistic Analysis And Traditional Chinese Musical Elements, Yuting Ji

Dissertations

Shiguang Cui (崔世光) (b. 1948) is a Chinese composer and pianist. To celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in Beijing, his work Concerto for Ten Concert Grand Pianos and Orchestra was commissioned by the Dean of the National Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Ping Chen. Ten internationally-renowned pianists were invited to give the world premiere on August 19, 2008. The pianists were Claude Frank, Phillippe Entremont, Vladimir Feltsman, Louis Lortie, Yunyi Qin (秦云轶), Shikun Liu (刘诗昆), Lang Lang (郎朗), Cyprien Katsaris, Guillermo Gonzalez, and Sha Chen (陈萨).¹

This piece was originally conceived as Concerto for Ten Concert …

Six Reflections Through Music And Poetry, Nicholas Shawn Vecchio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since beginning school at the University of Arkansas in 2008 I have learned many lessons both in and outside the classroom. To date, the most challenging lessons have been those that I have learned about myself. The manifestation of the person that I am today has been an adventure with many twists and turns. This piece aims to capture the essence of some of the lessons that I have learned. Each poem offers the product of that lesson.

The movement entitled “Memories” has a subdued joy in its message. The poem offers nostalgia to begin the piece with. However, it …

Symposium Of Contemporary Music, November 2016, School Of Music

Programs

Presented by the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Music, November 10, 2016, and featured special guest composer and vocalist Eve Beglarian.

Masques, Mayings And Music-Dramas: Vaughan Williams And The Early Twentieth-Century Stage By Roger Savage (Review), Julian Onderdonk

Music Theory, History & Composition Faculty Publications & Performances

No abstract provided.