Music Commons^™

La Valse And The Parisian Salon: Nostalgic Continuities And Sonorous Modernisms, Claire Weydt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Immediately following World War I and the death of prominent French composer Claude Debussy, French composers and music critics were concerned that the war created an unbridgeable chasm between generations of composers who, through their various aesthetic allegiances, worked to define musical sounds as undeniably French. Numerous scholars have characterized this process as an aesthetic rupture brought on by the World Wars. French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), however, seems to have bridged this gap, at least for some influential critics. My project challenges notions of wartime rupture by resituating musical modernism within a framework of aesthetic continuity. Ravel’s choreographic poem …

Chamber Music For Voice, Viola And Piano: An Analysis Of Johannes Brahms’S “Geistliches Wiegenlied” From Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91, Tong Ding

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper examines Johannes Brahms's “Geistliches Wiegenlied” from Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91, an integral but often overlooked work in the chamber-music repertoire for voice, viola, and piano. The study begins with brief historical background information on the text and music. Following this, an analysis of “Geistliches Wiegenlied” is provided as well as practical advice on interpretation and ensemble performance. Also included is a list of selected recordings. By exploring the special qualities of the work, this study aims to deepen the understanding and appreciation of Brahms's contribution to chamber music for this unique ensemble.

Guide To The Aaron Horne Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

The Aaron Horne collection contains scores collected from Black composers, some of which are inscribed by the composer, spanning from 1960 to 1987.

Guide To The Charles Samuel Brown Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

The strength of this collection lies in the African-American traditional Spiritual scores produced and arranged by Charles Samuel Brown for SATB a cappella and piano. Pieces range from the years 1972-2011.

Floating Signifiers: Ai, Semiotics, And The Crisis Of Meaning In Music, Kehinde Aruwajoye

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis examines how AI-generated music disrupts traditional meaning-making processes in musical expression. Through semiotic analysis (Saussure, Peirce) and cultural theory (Hall), I demonstrate how AI produces technically proficient but culturally hollow compositions, what I term "floating signifiers." Case studies reveal AI's inability to replicate the lived experiences that give music its depth, despite accurate stylistic reproductions. The work identifies three fundamental losses: contextual grounding, authentic hybridity, and historical consciousness. I propose ethical frameworks for human-AI collaboration that preserve music's essential humanity while leveraging algorithmic capabilities. Ultimately, this research shifts the debate from technical possibility "Can AI compose?" to cultural …

Voices Of Rebellion: A Lesson On Feminism, Identity, And Popular Music, Michelle Vasquez

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This lesson focuses on the rise of the feminist punk rock movement Riot Grrrl, and the political, social, and cultural conversations brought about by the band that created the genre, Bikini Kill. Students will explore the history of the genre and how its emergence had a great influence on political movements, female empowerment, the 3rd-wave of feminism, as well as the punk rock scene as a whole. Through engaging discussions, lyrical and performance analysis, and scholarly research on popular music, the lesson will highlight the ways in which artists have represented, subverted, and critiqued societal norms and politics surrounding gender …

Analyzing Rap Through Poetry: “Zen Scientist” By Milo & Kenny Segal, Mason S. Jensen

Anthós

milo, now known as R.A.P. Ferraria, has described his music as synonymous with poetry. This article examines his song “zen scientist,” testing the linkage of poetry and rap through poetic analysis. Jensen analyzes the song through metrical systems, marking it in scansion, poetic feet, and rhyme to delineate rhythm and to show how rhythm is created and experimented with. Jensen then applies Vendler and Chan’s methods for deriving poetic meaning, providing potential interpretations of “zen scientist.” Jensen argues these poetic methods dissect the rap song into perspicuity. The article concludes that poetic analysis can be used effectively to analyze rap …

Bridging The Gap: Fostering Emotional Expression Through Teaching Strategies In The Middle School Choral Classroom, Jacob Brown

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of teacher-elicited expression strategies (i.e. emotionally evocative metaphor, technical elements through modeling, body of the conductor, understanding the emotional content) on the emotional expressivity of my middle school choral students. Using a mixed-method approach, data was collected through surveys of students' self-evaluations of the expression strategies, and their overall value of expression before and after learning processes that emphasized emotional expressivity. I found that each teacher-elicited expression strategies impacted student expressivity positively. Concrete strategies (i.e., body of the conductor and technical elements through modeling) were highly effective, particularly in my beginner and intermediate choirs, while …

Building Rhythmic Independence In Beginning Band Students, Caroline Williams

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to design and implement a unit of instruction based upon three common approaches to teaching rhythm in the beginning band setting and to examine their effect on the rhythmic understanding, confidence, and independence of students in my sixth grade beginning band class. Students received instruction that was traditionally-based, aurally-based, and movement-based for one week each, respectively. An analysis of my teaching was provided by the notes I took that detailed what my students and I did throughout the study. Through my instruction, my students were able to increase their interactions with rhythm. Students were …

การดำเนินทำนองระนาดเอกเพลงหน้าพาทย์ประกอบพิธีไหว้ครูดนตรีไทยของครูศักดิ์ชัย ลัดดาอ่อน, ธิติวุฒิ โกมุทรัตนานนท์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วิทยานิพนธ์เรื่องการดำเนินทำนองระนาดเอกเพลงหน้าพาทย์ประกอบพิธีไหว้ครูดนตรีไทยของครูศักดิ์ชัย ลัดดาอ่อน มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษามูลบทที่เกี่ยวข้องและการดำเนินทำนองระนาดเอกเพลงหน้าพาทย์ไหว้ครูของครูศักดิ์ชัย ลัดดาอ่อน ผลการวิจัยพบว่าการบรรเลงเพลงหน้าพาทย์ ระนาดเอกมีบทบาทสำคัญคือต้องดำเนินกลอน คุณสมบัติผู้บรรเลงต้องมีปฏิภาณไหวพริบ มีความรับผิดชอบสูง มีทักษะการบรรเลงที่ดี และเข้าใจหลักการบรรเลงประกอบไปด้วยกลอน เสียง แนว และรัวท้าย การดำเนินทำนองของครูศักดิ์ชัย ลัดดาอ่อน แบ่งได้ 3 ส่วนคือ ดำเนินกลอน ตีสับ และตีตามทำนองหลัก การตีตามทำนองหลักใช้ตอนขึ้นต้น ลงจบ และแทรกระหว่างเพลง ในทำนองเน้นดำเนินกลอนโดยยึดทางเสียงและลูกตกตามทำนองหลัก พบการใช้กลอน 7 รูปแบบ กลอนอัตลักษณ์คือ กลอนสับเสียง กรณีทำนองซ้ำปรับกลอนให้ต่าง ช่วงท้ายใช้กลอนเรียบง่าย กลวิธีพิเศษส่วนใหญ่ใช้ตามทำนองหลัก พบมากที่สุดคือ สะบัด สะเดาะ การตีสับใช้ย้ำทำนองและรักษาสำนวนเพลง รัวท้ายแต่ละเที่ยวมีความแตกต่างและเพิ่มความซับซ้อนตามลำดับ รัวพิเศษมีความเรียบง่าย รัวลาเดียวมีความสัมพันธ์ของกลุ่มทำนอง พบการใช้กลวิธี 14 รูปแบบ กลวิธีที่พบทุกรัว เช่น สะบัดแยกมือ ขยี้นอนวัน รัวลูกเดียว กลวิธีที่ครูศักดิ์ชัยถนัดที่สุดคือ การตีแยกมือผสมกลวิธีอื่นเป็นกลุ่มเรียก “ลูกนกกระจอก”

Record Scratch: The Podcast, Kate Widmer

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

“Record Scratch: The Podcast” is an attempt to gather some of the history of Missoula’s alternative music scene from the 1990s until now, to contribute to documentation of Montana’s art scenes as well as to summarize and finalize my two and a half years of doing music reporting in Missoula. For the podcast, I interviewed four people who are active in Missoula’s music scene. Our discussions range from their youth through to the present day, giving several perspectives on Missoula’s changing music culture, as well as what it means to be a punk in Montana. My guiding reason for this …

Minority In Baroque Trumpet Repertoire: Minor-Key Literature For Baroque Trumpet, Wing Heng Victor Yuen

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The repertoire for trumpet in the Baroque era is overwhelmingly in major keys for obvious reasons. As natural trumpet is limited by design to play the notes of the harmonic series, most players have little access to sonorities outside the major scale and arpeggios within the series without the help of technical innovations such as the slide, and much later, vent-holes. Baroque trumpet makers built valveless natural trumpets, which are limited by design to play the notes of the harmonic series. Since the fundamental physics limit the musical notes available to the natural trumpet, minor key is not an essentially …

Examples Of Storytelling In Tan Dun’S The Banquet Piano Sonata, Ni Zhan

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Banquet is a 2006 Chinese martial arts film directed by Feng Xiaogang. Chinese-American composer Tan Dun was invited to create the film's original soundtrack. In 2016, Tan adapted the music from the soundtrack into a four-movement piano sonata, also titled The Banquet, using melodies from the original film score. This document examines The Banquet Piano Sonata’s connection to the film’s narrative. It explores ways in which the storytelling of the film is used in the sonata; this is accomplished through three key aspects depicted in the music: culture, atmosphere, and inner emotions.

Schubert Lieder For Solo Piano: From Liszt Transcriptions To An Original Adaptation, Changpeng Ti

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This document investigates Franz Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert Lieder. Between 1838 and 1846, Liszt transcribed 56 songs (including standalone works and song cycles) by Franz Schubert into solo piano pieces. This document discusses compositional devices used in Liszt’s transcriptions and their relationship to Schubert’s vocal and piano writing as well as the original poetic text. Following the discussion on Liszt transcriptions, I present my own transcription of Schubert’s Im Frühling, D. 882, as an experiment in adapting vocal and poetic nuances into a solo piano piece inspired by the Liszt transcriptions.

Paul Bowles’ Blue Mountain Ballads For Wind Octet And Solo Voice: A Transcription Of A Song Cycle Using The Instrumentation Of Stravinsky’S Octet , Cleveland P. Forrester

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Blue Mountain Ballads (1946), by Paul Bowles, is a song-cycle and setting of four poems by Tennessee Williams who was the composer's friend and mentor. The work has long held a place in the vocal repertoire. Bowles’ unique harmonic language, wide accompanimental range and the use of jazz idiom provide a unique opportunity for the music to be re-cast for wind instruments. Furthermore, chamber music makes up most of Bowles’ musical output as a composer, so using small instrumental forces seemed an appropriate medium to re-orchestrate this song cycle.

The purpose of this document is 1) to provide a detailed …

A Performance Pracitce Guide To Selected Cornet/Trumpet Excerpts From Wind Band Marches, Adiel P. Najera

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation seeks to illuminate a long-overlooked area in music and education. Wind band marches are part of a genre that has perhaps received less scholarly treatment when compared to the trumpet parts of orchestral, jazz, and popular music. This guide aims to fill the gap in information available for cornet/trumpet players in wind band settings.

This treatise will provide knowledge including a brief background information, marches in teaching and performing, insights from interviews with current and retired military trumpeters & current and retired music educators. Additionally, the document features excerpts with detailed performance practice and a list of renowned …

James M. David’S Ghosts Of The Old Year: A Formal Analysis And Instructional Guide, Brian P. Froedge Dr.

Theses and Dissertations--Music

James David’s Ghosts of the Old Year (2016) is a significant work for wind ensemble which was performed at the American Bandmasters Association Convention in 2019 by the Colorado State University Wind Ensemble under the direction of Rebecca Phillips and at the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association Convention by the North Texas Wind Symphony under the direction of Eugene Migliaro Corporon. The piece was recorded by the North Texas Wind Symphony on the album titled noteworthy. Ghosts of the Old Year has also been performed by such prestigious ensembles as the University of Illinois Wind Orchestra, the University of Florida …

Anatomical Literacy And Body Mapping In Flute Performance: Strategies For Addressing And Preventing Upper Extremity Injuries, Lauren E. Wiedemer

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This document investigates the benefits of incorporating the study of anatomy and Body Mapping into flute performance, specifically focusing on addressing and preventing injuries related to the upper extremities. As the physical demands on musicians continue to grow, this research advocates for recognizing flutists as "musical athletes.” It highlights the importance of anatomical literacy and somatic awareness in sustaining performance longevity. The practical applications of Body Mapping are explored in detail and presents strategies for alleviating strain and fostering ease of movement, supported by research and experiential insights. Pedagogical recommendations are offered to integrate these principles into flute instruction, helping …

Miguel Zenón's Solo On Olas Y Arenas And His Approach To Improvisation, David Alonso-Otero

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This paper is about Miguel Zenón’s approach to improvisation using one of his solos on his album Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook. This includes the biography of Miguel Zenón along with the composer, Sylvia Rexach. Jazz Improvisation has a large spectrum of pedagogy, different ways to approach it along with various points of view. The purpose of this paper is to show one of the many ways to see jazz improvisation through the eyes of Miguel Zenón and his unique thinking process to jazz. The transcription will be in the appendices, as well as the interview done in …

Hardcore And Metal Music In Music Therapy: A Functional Guide For Music Therapists And Music Therapy Students, Caroline Nc Wood

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Hardcore and metal music have long been misrepresented, stigmatized, and dismissed in music academia, and overlooked in music therapy literature and education. However, these genres hold significant emotional, cultural, and therapeutic value for many listeners, offering unique opportunities for connection, expression, catharsis, and healing. This thesis presents a practical, introductory guide to help music therapists and music therapy students gain an understanding of why, when, and how to effectively and authentically incorporate hardcore and metal music into clinical practice. The project explores the historical development of these genres; sociocultural associations and considerations, including stigmatization, sensationalism, and the juxtaposing sociopolitical dynamics …