Music Commons^™

Concert Recording 2019-10-28, Stephen Hunt, Kevin Robinson, Miroslava Panayotova, Kassidy Moore

Concert Recordings & Programs

[00:00]. House of the rising sun / traditional ; arranged by Robinson -- [06:20]. Euphonium concerto. Movement 1 / Eric Ewazen -- [12:05]. Sonata in C Major, BWV 1033. Andante ; Allegro ; Adagio ; Minuet and trio / J.S. Bach ; arranged by Pierce -- [20:41]. By gaslight / Tadeusz Kassatti -- [26:04]. Madison / Ola Gjeilo -- [29:08]. Rhapsody in blue / George Gershwin ; arranged by Ridenour -- [38:48]. Napoli / Herman Bellstedt -- [44:00]. Cousins / Herbert L. Clarke.

Fanny Hensel's Das Jahr: Emergent Meaning At The Intersection Of Textual, Visual, And Aural Modalities, Lindsay Gray Clavere

Theses and Dissertations--Music

On Christmas Day in 1841, Fanny Hensel presented her husband with a Christmas gift—Das Jahr—a piano cycle comprised of twelve pieces, each one depicting a month of The Year. Not long thereafter, Fanny and husband Wilhelm would collaborate to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, reworking Das Jahr and expanding it by two additional expressions: vignettes drawn into the score by Wilhelm, and epigrams, snippets of poetry by master German poets.

This dissertation seeks to answer the question: “What meaning is achieved by the intersection of the three modalities present in Das Jahr: textual (epigram), visual (vignette), and …

A Kentucky Pioneer In Music Therapy: An Oral History On The Life And Career Of Lorinda Jones, Emma Powers

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Lorinda Jones, MT-BC, is the longest practicing music therapist in Kentucky. She began her work as a music therapist in 1995 and built a private practice, which expanded over the course of the next 20 years to include services in 16 counties. Ms. Jones’ perspective on the growth of music therapy, both within the state and nationwide, as well as her extensive knowledge of Appalachian folk music, makes her an invaluable resource to Kentucky music therapists. The purpose of this study was to present a historical account of the life and career of Lorinda Jones, to gain her perspective on …

Finding The “Tech” In Technique: A Pedagogical Approach To Electroacoustic Concert Percussion Performance Practice, William Brady Harrison Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Premise and Objectives

In our increasingly technology driven society, the impact of technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives in some form or another. This has been acutely felt within the world of percussion, with electroacoustic works representing perhaps the most rapidly expanding area of concert percussion over the last twenty years. Electroacoustic music couples electronic technology with traditional acoustic instruments and/or performance practices.

Broadly, this paper outlines a systematic approach to teaching electroacoustic performance practice, based on elements found in a cross-section of percussion literature. In using such an approach, not only does each student become more capable …

Teresa Carreño’S Early Years In Caracas: Cultural Intersections Of Piano Virtuosity, Gender, And Nation-Building In The Nineteenth Century, Laura Pita

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation studies the musical activities of the Venezuelan pianist and composer Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) during her formative years in Caracas. It examines the sources that pertain to her musical environment, early piano training, and first compositions in the context of the growth in Caracas of the practices of recreational sociability, the increasing influence of virtuosic music, and the tradition of private concert-making sponsored by devoted music amateurs. This study argues that Teresa Carreño’s musical upbringing occurred in a social and cultural context in which Enlightenment-framed ideologies of civilization and social progress, shaped in fundamental ways the perceptions of the …

Symphonic Fantasy: Discussion And Analysis, Tyler Turcotte

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The following piece is a three movement, twenty minute orchestral work in a Romantic style whose primary goals are accessibility and beauty. In the process of writing this piece, I learned that strong and memorable melodies are the key to a successful composition - taking influence from Henry Mancini and early Japanese video game composers, this work takes a central melodic theme through a series of variations to demonstrate the power of harmonic and orchestrational recontextualization. Rhythmically, the work utilizes techniques from the Minimalist and Progressive Rock traditions to strike a balance between rhythmic complexity and melodic focus. The three …

Theoretical Study And Performing Edition Of Sonata Iii By Javier G. Compeán, José Mario Ortiz Sánchez

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Mexican composer Javier G. Compeán finished Sonata III, his most recent composition for solo guitar, in December 2015. Since the composition of his first such work in 2003, the composer has been experimenting with texture, register, dynamic range, extended techniques, harmonic possibilities, timbre, and form in his solo guitar music. In Sonata III, Compeán applied the experience he gained in previous compositions for guitar.

This work represents the composer’s current style, in which he returns to a more traditional language but continues to experiment with the technical capabilities of the instrument. Sonata III is Compeán’s most ambitious guitar composition and …

Remaking The Iconic Lulu: Transformations Of Character, Context, And Music, Jennifer Tullmann

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Using Alban Berg’s opera Lulu as a case study, this dissertation explores the fluid nature of cultural artifacts as they are reborn within new socio-cultural contexts. By examining several Lulu productions, this inquiry seeks to understand the changes of meaning that have occurred through the transformation of canonic works in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Central to this project is the shifting nature of the character of Lulu, not only in Berg’s opera, but also in various artistic genres that preceded and affected his own conceptions, as well as her appearances in selected productions.

This study contrasts modern Lulu productions …

The Effectiveness Of Music Therapy Interventions With Persons Of Concern: An Integrative Review, Grace Lauzon

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, and stateless persons, collectively known as “persons of concern,” often have unmet mental health and wellness needs as a result of trauma. With a diverse variety of interventions and approaches, the use of music therapy has the potential to meet the needs of persons of concern. In the present study, the researcher conducted an integrative review to examine the use of music therapy with persons of concern. After conducting a hand-search of music therapy journals and an advanced keyword search through internet databases, the researcher found 17 studies that met inclusion criteria. There …

Lost & Found An Electro-Acoustic Musical Composition Referencing A Day In An African Village: A Commentary On A Musical Composition, George Essilfie

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Electro-acoustic music composition makes it possible for composers to manipulate sounds with the computer with either alone or both live and prerecorded sounds. From the end of the 19^th century when the first electronic devices for performing music were developed up till today, transformations in music technology keep surfacing and the possibilities with working with sounds have become endless. Electro-acoustic music has the ability to conjure mental images using vast sound manipulation techniques using the DAW(Digital audio workstation) and sound amplification through loudspeakers. Every space in our environment has its unique sound/s. Lost and found through these techniques provides …

John Mackey’S Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony For Band A Discourse And Analysis Of John Mackey’S Symphony For Band, Jonathan C. Sweet

Theses and Dissertations--Music

John Mackey’s Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band(2014) is a work of epic proportions and was the winner of the William D. Revelli Composition Contest of the National Band Association in 2015. Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Bandhas received much acclaim and many performances including a recording by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble in 2016.

The purposes of this dissertation are 1) to provide historical information on the genesis of the work through interviews with its composer, John Mackey, and commissioning director, Jerry Junkin; 2) to provide an analysis of how the programmatic elements of Homer’s Odysseyinteract with …

When The Inhuman Becomes Human: An Examination Of The Musical Portrayal Of The Robot In Twenty-First Century Science-Fiction Cinema Through An Analysis Of The Film Scores Of Automata, Ex Machina, And The Machine, Rebecca Ann O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Science fiction film has been telling stories about artificial anthropomorphic robots and androids for almost a hundred years, spawning films, such as Metropolis (1927), Ghost in the Shell (1951), and Blade Runner (1982). Each of these science-fiction films was complemented by a musical score that helped to create an onscreen world dominated by a dystopian view of the future. Influenced by the generations of prior science-fiction films, Automata (2014), The Machine (2013), and Ex Machina (2015) are all concerned with the same narrative in which humanity is in decline while artificial robots are rising up and experiencing life in a …

A Singer’S Stress: Yoga And Meditation Techniques In The Collegiate Voice Studio, Zackery David Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Often neglected in voice study is the understanding that a singer’s instrument lives in his/her body and therefore cannot be packed away like other musical objects. Yoga and mindfulness compliment the belief of a whole body instrument. Data gathered on college campuses report that stress and anxiety are on the rise, thus reinforcing the need for MBSR and yoga as beneficial and proven tools for stress relief. The current state of research in the realm of mental health in colleges merits the study of a cohesive layout of these exercises and their expected outcomes in singing as well as stress …

Postminimalist Choral Music: A Pedagogical Perspective, Joshua John Chai

Theses and Dissertations--Music

After the strict processes of mid-twentieth-century minimalism, a new musical style has emerged which retains extensive use of repetition, but is generally more aurally accessible, based in non-functional triadic harmony, and flexible in its compositional structure. Frequent use of non-minimalist resources, musical resources from multiple styles in a single composition, and quotation from previous historical periods define this flexibility.

American choral music has many popular compositions that exhibit characteristics of this new musical style, in part because of its accessibility relative to earlier minimalist styles, and in part because it adapts easily to the choral setting. At the same time, …

Factors Influencing Music Therapy Career Choice In The United States: A Study Of Student Values And Expectancies, Margaret R. Scheppmann

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The understanding of why students decide to become music therapists is valuable information for music therapy educators and policy makers and published information is lacking. The use of expectancy-value theory provides a framework to understand student choices. Researchers can better understand why students purse a career in music therapy by examining students’ abilities, beliefs, expectancies, and values related to the choice. The purpose of this study was to examine why current undergraduate and equivalency students want to be music therapists. Music therapy students (N = 129) throughout the United States provided insight into their decision to become music therapists …

Morten Lauridsen’S Choral Cycle, Nocturnes: A Conductor’S Analysis, Margaret B. Owens

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Morten Lauridsen is one of the most prolific composers of choral music in the 20th and 21st centuries. His characteristic tone is both readily identifiable and timeless. Works such as Lux Aeterna, Les Chansons des Roses, “Sure on this Shining Night” (from Nocturnes) , and “O magnum mysterium” have solidified his place as one of the most important compositional voices in modern choral music.

Lauridsen’s most often-performed choral works have been individual movements excerpted from his larger choral works, due to their accessibility for advanced high school and collegiate choirs. For example, the popular “Dirait-on” comes from the …

Exposing Corruption In Progressive Rock: A Semiotic Analysis Of Gentle Giant’S The Power And The Glory, Robert Jacob Sivy

Theses and Dissertations--Music

English progressive rock band Gentle Giant is catalogued under the progressive (or “prog”) rock genre for a variety reasons, including unique instrumentation, virtuosity, and interesting/unconventional musical attributes. The complexity of their music is often warranted by the sophisticated concepts behind their albums and the deep messages of their songs. The Power and the Glory (TPatG), Gentle Giant’s sixth studio album, is a concept album that emphasizes the rise and corruption of power. What makes their music, especially TPatG, worthy of scholarly attention beyond the simple examination of the compositional techniques employed is the way in which the …

Gender, Politics, Market Segmentation, And Taste: Adult Contemporary Radio At The End Of The Twentieth Century, Saesha Senger

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation explores issues of gender politics, market segmentation, and taste through an examination of the contributions of several artists who have achieved Adult Contemporary (AC) chart success. The scope of the project is limited to a period when many artists who figured prominently in both the broader mainstream of American popular music and the more specific Adult Contemporary category were most commercially viable: from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. My contention is that, as gender politics and gendered social norms continued to change in the United States at this time, Adult Contemporary – the chart, the format, and the …

Partita For 8 Voices & Wind Ensemble: A Transcription Process, Kaitlin May Bove

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Partita for 8 Voices (2012) is a groundbreaking a cappella work that earned its composer, Caroline Shaw, the record of youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013. While the work continues to receive performances from its premiere ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, no transcription of the piece to any other ensemble type existed at the beginning of this DMA project. The author sought to transcribe a piece by a living female composer with no work for band into the wind band medium. The resulting transcription, Partita for 8 Voices & Wind Ensemble, adds a new work to …

What High School Students Want To Know About Music: An Information Literacy Instruction Course For A High School Music Camp, Michael J. Duffy Iv

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

The SEMINAR High School Summer Music Camp at Western Michigan University provided an opportunity to offer intensive music related information literacy instruction to a small group of high school students over a two-week session. These students participated in an assessment study in which they provided answers to questions related to information literacy learning outcomes before and after the course of instruction. This case study presents a model for lessons and curricular structure for an information literacy course in music for high school students.