Music Performance Commons^™

Sculpting Time: A Performance Guide To Four Fragments Of Time By Marcus Siqueira, Luis Felipe Vargas Magdaleno De Moraes

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation investigates the musical and phenomenological aspects of Four Fragments of Time by Marcus Siqueira (b. 1974) and provides a performance guide for this work. Furthermore, this dissertation analyzes previous guitar works by the composer, seeking to understand Siqueira’s compositional idiosyncrasies and to provide context for the interpretation of Four Fragments of Time. This dissertation includes a biography of the composer, an analysis of the compositional process of Four Fragments of Time, an analysis of the recurrent idiomatic procedures in Siqueira’s guitar works, and an overview of the collaborative process between the composer and the author. Additionally, an analysis …

Conceptual Blending: A Singer’S Analysis Of Libby Larsen’S Try Me, Good King: Last Words Of The Wives Of Henry Viii And A Conversation With The Composer, Kelsey Paige Ann Loeslie

Theses and Dissertations--Music

American composer Libby Larsen is celebrated for her versatility and expertise in crafting intricate text-music relationships, notably exemplified in her song cycle Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII. This research explores Larsen's innovative compositional techniques in this cycle using Cross-Domain Mapping and Conceptual Blending Theory. Drawing from Lawrence Zbikowski's work, the study employs Conceptual Integration Networks to analyze Larsen's music, revealing the intricate interplay between text and music. By synthesizing these methodologies, the research comprehensively examines Larsen's song cycle, enhancing our understanding of her composition both from a music theory perspective and from a …

Border Bones – Between Borders: A Performer’S Guide To The Formation Of A Music Ensemble, Commissioning, And Recording, Juan Saldivar Jr

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Border Bones, a trombone duo formed in 2023, is committed to encouraging marginalized and underrepresented composers from Mexico and the United States. In its first project, Border Bones commissioned ten new works for the trombone repertoire. The focus and representation of this projected included Mexican, female, and LGBTQ+ composers. Once commissioned, Border Bones recorded these works through New Branch Records and released them as an album titled, Between Borders.

This dissertation is a performer’s guide to forming an ensemble, commissioning new works, and recording an album. It also includes interviews with well-known individuals from the music industry that have commissioned, …

A Practice-Led Investigation Into Applying The Pianistic Qualities Of Guitarist Lenny Breau’S Artificial Harmonics To A Contemporary Music Setting, Joshua Luke Fairweather

Theses : Honours

Canadian jazz guitarist Lenny Breau (1941-1984) has long been revered for his innovative style and stellar approach to technique on the instrument. In his short career, he developed a reputation for emulating musical traits typically only associated with the piano. A key technique that allowed him to achieve this was his signature take on artificial harmonics, a guitar technique involving the displacement of a note by silencing a string’s fundamental frequency and isolating one of its overtones. Breau thoroughly explored this technique as a soloist over a range of jazz repertoire, but he was rarely heard playing outside of this …

Steve Grossman, The Catalyst: A Practice-Led Research Investigation Into Developing A Chromatic Approach To Improvisation, Joshua Parker

Theses : Honours

Steve Grossman was a tenor saxophonist from Brooklyn, New York, who passed away in 2020, leaving a catalogue of recordings and improvisations that are largely overlooked and under-appreciated by the mainstream jazz culture. Inspired heavily by the modal and free jazz improvisations of John Coltrane during his later period (which heavily utilised a chromatic approach to generate intensity), Grossman developed his own unique and powerful approach to the post-Coltrane style. This voice began to solidify from a young age, as is evident on recordings during the 1970s, such as Miles Davis’ Black Beauty Live at Fillmore West (1973) and Live …

Past What You Can See: Innocence, Experience, And Realization In Stephen Sondheim’S Into The Woods, Brock Adam Terry

Theses and Dissertations--Music

A deeper appreciation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods may be achieved by examining the work under a new magnifying glass. After a synopsis of background information of the musical itself, the assertion is made that Into the Woods shows three basic stages of life that occur in a cycle: innocence, experience, and realization. This is supported by the proposition that the idea of innocence is represented by a recurring five-note motive (commonly referred to as the “bean theme”), and that the ideas of experience and realization are revealed through particular musical numbers. The overarching entity that binds the work …

Jakub Polaczyk And His Kentucky Bluegrasp, Hyangwoo Lih

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation examines the contemporary composer, Jakub Polaczyk and his recent work, Kentucky Bluegrasp for Solo Viola. The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I serves as an introduction. Chapter II presents interviews with Polaczyk conducted via Zoom and email. Chapter III explores two parts: Jakub Polaczyk’s early years of life, and education and career. Chapter IV, “Influences,” is further divided into three parts: Slavic music, Polish, heritages, and Diverse inspirations. Chapter V, “Unique Artistic Language,” delves into five parts: Exploration of Timbre, Unique Instrumentation, Extended Techniques, Cross-Cultural Influences, and Other Versatile Sources of Inspiration. Chapter VI, focuses on …

Ben Moore's "Ode To A Nightingale" For Baritone Voice And Piano: A Performer's Guide, Jeremy Kelly

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This project is a performance guide of Ben Moore’s (b. 1960) Ode to a Nightingale (2014), a song cycle for baritone set to the poetry of John Keats. Song cycles are an important fixture in classical voice performance, as well as academia, and there is a need to promote new works by American composers. Moore’s Ode to a Nightingale is a unique contribution to the song cycle catalog as it sets John Keats’s eight stanzas of the singular poem to eight separate songs, something that is exceedingly rare in practice. Combining analysis of Moore’s songs in Ode to a Nightingale …

Mapping The Double-Tongue: Incorporating Body Mapping Into The Double-Tonguing Learning Process, Camilla Yoder

Theses and Dissertations--Music

As the articulation technique of double-tonguing is becoming more necessary and desirable for oboists to learn, this document explores the benefits of incorporating Body Mapping methods and kinesthetic awareness exercises into the double-tonguing learning process. These methods of body exploration are applied only to the areas of the body deemed highly relevant to accomplishing double-tonguing: the atlanto-occipital joint, the temporo-mandibular joint, the throat, the tongue, and the roof of the mouth. To explore the effectiveness of this approach, an Institutional Review Board approved research study was conducted, in which eight oboists learned double-tonguing with a preliminary iteration of this method. …

Joley Seitz, Soprano In A Graduate Recital, Joley Seitz

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Sibelius’S Scaramouche: A Comparative Production History Of A Tragic Pantomime, 1913–1977, Karl E. Toepfer, Eija Kurki

Open Educational Resources

The book describes the historical context for the Scaramouche tragic pantomime created by Poul Knudsen and Jean Sibelius in 1913. The pantomime had numerous productions in various European countries between 1922 and 1977, and the book examines all of them according to all available evidence. The text explains the historical and cultural significance of the pantomime and how it uniquely explores a dark and complex intersection of female sexuality, marriage, and class control of erotic desire. The authors examine all productions of Scaramouche from the premiere production in Copenhagen in 1922 to the last major production in Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany …

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’S Sonata In C Minor, Wq. 65/31: A Study Of Performance Practice, Weiyang Sun

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation discusses concepts of performance practice in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's keyboard works, including historical instruments, fingering, articulation, ornamentation, dynamics, rhythm, and other related topics. It provides an interpretive analysis of C. P. E. Bach's Sonata in C Minor, Wq. 65/31, for keyboard, as a way to discuss the application of these issues. Additionally, this dissertation includes a brief biography of C. P. E. Bach, a list of his keyboard works, and a discography of current and historical recordings of the Sonata in C Minor, Wq. 65/31.

Incorporating Keyboard Literature In The Undergraduate And Graduate Piano Performance Curriculums, Yangyang Cao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper presents suggestions for the incorporation of piano literature and performance practice courses into university curricula. The prevalence of piano literature in American universities is examined, highlighting the necessity to promote its inclusion in Chinese universities. The significance of piano literature and performance practice courses for piano performance students is explored for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Included are selected readings and detailed sample syllabi of potential courses to be offered by college and university music programs.

Selected Chinese Art Songs From The 20th And 21st Centuries, Xinxin Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper presents Chinese art songs from the early 20^th century to today and highlights selected composers from each of the five traditional eras of recent Chinese social history. It is intended as an introductory guide for singers and collaborative pianists who are interested in Chinese art songs and the development of the genre in China. Selected composers include Youmei Xiao (1884-1940), Yuanren Zhao (1892-1982), Er Nie (1912-1935), Hanhui Zhang (1902-1946), Xinghai Xian (1905-1945), Deyi Shang (1932-2020), Zhongrong Luo (1924-2021), Zaiyi Lu (b. 1943), Jianfen Gu (b.1935), and Cong Liu (b.1956). The paper provides brief biographical information for each …

Something From Nothing: Reimaginings, A Resource Guide For The Horn Sonata By Frank Gulino, Albert J. Houde Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since publishing his first work in 2006, American composer Frank Gulino has been the driving force behind some seventy new pieces of music. With music commissioned and performed by top professionals around the world, Gulino’s star has risen quickly backed by his prowess for writing music for brass instruments in solo works and chamber music. The subject of this document is a sonata for horn and piano entitled Reimaginings, a work commissioned by the author in 2020. This document presents a biographical sketch of the composer, an interpretation for performing the work, and suggestions for learning key skills needed …

Uncovering The Emotional Line: An Analysis Of Three David Maslanka Wind Ensemble Works Using Formal Emotive Intensity Analysis, Michael John Kahle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

David Maslanka (1943–2017) was a prolific American composer who wrote most frequently for the medium of concert band/wind ensemble. His music is frequently performed by ensembles around the world. Due to his more intuitive and idiosyncratic compositional style, Maslanka would center what he described as the “emotional line” of the work, certain aspects of his music are undetected by traditional analytical models. Formal Emotive Intensity Analysis bridges that gap to focus on the supposed emotional line within Maslanka’s work. Through a case study of three of Maslanka’s works for wind band, The Seeker, Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Wind …

Ann Bradfield, Alto And Soprano Saxophones, Friday, December 21, 2023 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recitals given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Response To “Spontaneous Wellsprings Of Music” By Nicholas Mcnair, Michael Hamman

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

The Spontaneous Wellsprings Of Music, Nicholas Mcnair

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

Western Classical Music has traditionally been described in terms of fixed structures, carefully built up by the composer and presented to the performer in the form of a score. This has crystallised over the centuries into an ideological position which, in the last analysis, gives absolute authority to the composer over the performer, severely limiting the freedom of expression of the latter. In this article I seek to reverse this position by pointing to the essential spontaneity, represented by improvisation, that lies at the heart of all music-making, albeit fiercely opposed by the fundamentalism of an endless number of structural …

Selected Lieder Transcriptions Of Franz Liszt And Leopold Godowsky: A Comparative Analysis, Jeremiah Padilla

Dissertations, 2020-current

Musicians have held differing views regarding the art of transcription. Purists, who are against the very idea of transcribing existing works, think of the genre as being disrespectful to the composer(s) of the original work. Conversely, musicians who appreciate the art of transcription welcome the opportunity to perform works not originally written for the piano. This document will examine Lieder (German art songs) transcriptions, which is is a valuable genre for transcription. The Lied has historically appealed to many composers, particularly Liszt and his contemporary, Leopold Godowsky, as a source of transcription material.

Chapters one and two will primarily compare …