Composition Commons^™

Joan, Sarah Bauerle

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Joan is an original, programmatic piece for orchestra, with an approximate running time of eight minutes. It is inspired by the life of Joan of Arc, the French heroine at the end of the Hundred Years' War. Themes evoking major characters are presented as the piece unfolds. Along with original material, melodies from several folksongs are used in the themes representing Joan and the English. The English "Agincourt Carol" dates to the Hundred Years' War. Joan's themes, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" and "He is Born," are both familiar French carols. In addition to these two themes, the piece begins …

Singing The Sermon: Where Musicology Meets Homiletics, Emmett G. Price Iii

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

From the beginning of the Christian Church, singing and preaching have served as major tools of communication. In fact, they remain the most utilized methods of articulating and explicating personal and communal theologies across the diverse and expansive expressions of Christianity.

From the life, ministry, and legacy of Jesus Christ through the teachings of the Apostle Paul, the roles and functions of singing and preaching are well known but not well studied as a unit. From the foundational writings of the early Church Fathers through the various theses of the reformers, the acts of singing and preaching have been studied …

Preaching And The Power Of Music: A Dialogue Between The Pulpit And Choir Loft In 1689, Markus Rathey

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

During the ecclesiastical year 1689-90 the Lutheran superintendent in Leipzig, Johann Benedict Carpzov, and his cantor, the composer Johann Schelle, embarked on a collaboration of unusual scale. In the previous year, Carpzov had preached a cycle of sermons based on well-known hymns from the Lutheran tradition. In 1689-90 Carpzov gave a short summary of the earlier hymn sermons, while Schelle composed for each Sunday a cantata based on the very same hymn. The result is a unique collaboration between preacher and musician, pulpit and choir loft. Only a few of Schelle’s compositions have survived; however, the extant cantatas together with …

Through A Wheat Field; To A Pond, Ian Mikyska

The Goose

Poetry by Ian Mikyska

A Jamaican Voice: The Choral Music Of Noel Dexter, Desmond A. Moulton

Dissertations

As we approach the twenty-first century, the world generally is moving away from the dominance of the European aesthetic towards a world music that owes much to the musical resources of the African-American tradition. Jamaica’s social and philosophical music belong mainly to that tradition, which includes the use of rhythms, and timbral and melodic resources that exist independently of harmony. Already in this century, Jamaicans have created two totally new music - Nyabinghi, which performs a philosophical function and Reggae, which performs a social function. The choral music of Noel Dexter is important because it is uniquely Jamaican/Caribbean in its …

Void: For Orchestra, Jared Aragon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In astronomy, a void is an area in outer space which contains no galaxies. These are vast expanses of darkness and emptiness. This orchestral piece, simply titled void, attempts to describe such an area through various musical methods: long sustained notes depicting the huge distances away from galaxies, wide distances between upper voices and lower voices creating a sense of void between musical elements, and close distances and tight harmonies to recreate the sense of confusion and uncertainty that may be experienced in an area of emptiness.

Smoke & Mirrors, Justin R. Pecot

Music

No abstract provided.

Project Llama: Making A Cappella Arranging Easier, Jason Lu

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

This project was intended to improve the current state of a cappella arranging. It explains the problems with current tools and explores other options.

Guy Woolfenden: A Composer's Musical Dna, James A. Dreiling

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

Guy Woolfenden is a British composer who has made a name for himself in England as the composer of over 150 scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as music for numerous ballet and opera companies. In addition, he has composed fifteen pieces for wind band and eleven pieces for various wind chamber ensembles. While his wind music is well known throughout England, his name and his music are not as well known throughout the rest of the world. Those few conductors outside of England who are aware of his work tend to know only one or two of …

Flaher For Wind Ensemble, Benjamin W. Lee

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Music compositions are vehicles of communication. Organized music ensembles in schools allow for students to share in the process of music-making and extramusical expression within the curriculum. As of late, school districts have made a push in mental health awareness and suicide prevention within professional development seminars. This project views the music classroom as an important, open environment for such pressing social subjects. In such, my composition—Flaher (pronounced “flare”)—pays homage to a friend, Anthony Flaherty, who committed suicide (keeping his namesake in the work’s title). Flaher is an accessible piece for high school or college band that directors can …

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 …

Stars For Large Orchestra., Matt Wetmore 1989-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

STARS is a work for full orchestra depicting four of the known stars in our galaxy. Each movement is a character piece musically illustrating a particular star by a separate pitch collection: the first movement, Sol, depicts our very own sun rising in the morning sky, blooming slowly from the lowest register to the highest, and uses elements of the pentatonic pitch collection to do so. The second movement, Sirius, shows the fun, playful, and unpredictable side of the titular dog star, also the brightest star in our night sky. Here, a version of the diatonic set that freely and …

Werner Jaegerhuber’S Messe Sur Les Airs Vodouesques Or Messe Folklorique Haïtienne: A Performance Edition, Canes Nicolas

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

Originally written for solo soprano with choir and organ, Werner Jaegerhuber completed this work in 1953, and his close friend and artistic collaborator, Louis Maximilien, commissioned it for the sesquicentennial of Haiti’s independence on January 1, 1954. However, since there are no published scores or even a reliable manuscript of this piece, what has been kept in the archives of the Société de recherche et de diffusion de la musique Haïtienne in Montreal, Canada are two dissimilar scores by unknown sources. One is the choral and organ version, which was made by a professional copyist in the 1950’s (judging by …

Of Seasons Have I Sung, Charlie Leftridge

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

This cantata is comprised of seven movements: versus i. the willows (SATB double choir, SSAA antiphonal soli and string quartet); versus ii. we once were (SA and string quartet); versus iii. when at night I see the sky (tenor solo and string quartet); versus iv. of seasons have I sung (unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir); versus v. if you should ask me (soprano solo and string quartet); versus vi. I once was (TB and string quartet); versus vii. in paradisum (SATB double choir, SSAA antiphonal soli and string quartet). The text set to music is the original poetry of the composer. This …

Northsong, Neal Endicott

Masters Theses

Northsong is a 20 minute tone poem for Wind Ensemble based on the landscapes of northern Michigan and my own personal and musical background. The piece takes its name from a melody that I composed during my undergrad while recovering from back surgery in Traverse City. Unable to actually play any of my instruments, I started composing for the first Mme. In addition to a number of jazz and saxophone quartet arrangements, I wrote a short melody that reflected my mood while I was stuck inside during a snowstorm. I titled the melody Northsong, but didn’t know what to do …

Dess(O)Us Paris : For Viola And Chamber Orchestra., Justin Giarrusso

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Les Catacombes and Notre Dame de Paris: two places that hold my most vivid memories of Paris, but these two places are also inextricably related. Notre Dame de Paris was built from limestone extracted from mines beneath Paris–mines that eventually became the ossuaries known today as the Catacombes. In depleting stone from the ground, cavernous and cathedrallike spaces were created beneath Paris while a cathedral rose toward the heavens on the Île de la Cité. In a way, two cathedrals were built: one a negative image of the other above. Dess(o)us Paris captures the duality of these opposite cathedrals, with …

Adarna : For Flute & Orchestra., Jabez Co

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ADARNA is a fantastical work inspired by the Filipino folk tale “Ibong Adarna.” This Filipino story centers on the elegant and magical Adarna bird, whose songs are so soothing that they can lure people to sleep and whose powers can cure all ailments. The quest for the bird begins when King Don Fernando falls ill, and the only cure for his poor health is the Adarna’s birdsong. The first movement “of soothing songs…” is a depiction of a diamond tree, which is said to be the Adarna bird’s natural habitat. Metallic sounds are accompanied by eerie sustained notes to portray …

Cephalophore : A Chamber Opera., Chris Kincaid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cephalophore is a one-act opera Commissioned and premiered by the Thompson Street Opera Company. The libretto is inspired by the story of St. Denis, who was martyred around 250 AD in what is modern-day Paris. Denis was sent to re- Christianize the city of Lutetia, Gaul by Pope Fabian, after a wave of persecutions by the hand of the Roman Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the once vibrant Christian community. His growing number of conversions alarmed the nobility, particularly Laertia, wife of Lubrius. Laertia’s tragic past makes her husband’s conversion unbearable, and the story centers on her manic attempt …

Twisted Blue, Jessica Rudman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Twisted Blue was written for clarinetist Dan Liptak to perform with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra conducted by Erberk Eryilmaz. The title comes from the bluesy progression that forms the basis of the second movement, which was in fact composed first in a few frantic fall afternoons. The opening movement followed, and then the finale.

Analysis Of Compositional Techniques From Composing Daily, Monthly Or With A Variable Time Frame Over The Last Twenty-Five Years, Herbert Midgley

Bright Ideas Conference

No abstract provided.