Digital Commons Network^™

Music As An Environment, Yuval Gur

Masters Theses

Music.

For me, music has always been a constant. In my happiest moments it lifted my joy into other realms; in my darkest, it consoled me and offered refuge.

Over time, however, this constancy has grown predictable. Recorded music, once capable of transforming a day, has faded into background sound - familiar but dulled. This project begins with my loss of wonder: how might the act of listening regain its power to move me?

I ask: how does the experience of listening transforms when music is encountered as an environment that can be entered and navigated rather than as a …

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète, Benjamin T. Connolly

Pitzer Senior Theses

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète is a two-part ethnomusicological study of how the capacities and affordability of modern electronic instruments could be utilized within school curricula as an affordable alternative to traditional music classes. I explore the musique concrète movement from mid-20th century France, aiming my examination towards the movement’s emphasis on the materiality of sound production and utilization of modern technology during the composition process. From there, the paper transitions into a study on the affordances of contemporary music technologies through a series of interviews with electronic composers, tracing the …

More Than A Man: An Ethnomusicological Survey Of The Folklore Of John Henry And Resource Guide For “More Than A Man” By Shanyse Strickland, Clayton R. Heath

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

“John Henry” exists as an enduring folk legend in the United States of America, representing the confluence of the Reconstruction Era, the economic utility of Appalachia and the Westward expansion of industry which left it behind. Though based on historical events, Henry’s fictional representation has diverted and evolved in music and other media from its inception in the oral tradition to the modern age. Through this progression, shared symbols have circulated, gathering embedded meanings and associating the folklore with specific communities. Henry’s representational identity has been signaled with the creation and distribution of each version of his story, both complicating …

In Search Of The Armorial Aesthetic: The Counter-Reform Of Ariano Suassuna And The Compositional Techniques In Clovis Pereira’S Suite Macambira, Wagner De Oliveira Duarte

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, in the wake of the Week of Modern Art in São Paulo in 1922, Brazil grappled with defining its national identity, distinct from European influences. While eminent figures such as Villa-Lobos, Camargo Guarnieri, and Francisco Mignone provided foundational narratives in this quest, the Armorial movement emerged as a unique and emblematic response to these nationalistic aspirations.

Originating from the creative vision of Ariano Suassuna, the Armorial movement, though often perceived as a regional initiative, epitomized a broader endeavor to represent Brazil's diverse cultural tapestry. Central to understanding this movement is the work …

English Folk Song Performance On Tuba: An Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

English folk song and tuba performance are mostly unrelated topics, the closest they come to intertwining is in the compositions of English folk influenced composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams or Percy Grainger. However, this combination is limited to Western Art Music performance, not the traditional performance of English Folk Song. This paper aims to describe how a tubist may perform English folk song in a more traditional setting not disturbed by the iterations created by composers rooted in Western Art Music.

Mozart’S Da Ponte Operas And The Bel Canto, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

One of the most prominent composers of opera since the latter half of the 18th century is the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Lauded for his catchy melodies, notoriously difficult passages, and his structural brilliance, his operas remain as popular today as they were when they first premiered. At the same time as these operas were being composed, another movement was occurring within Italianate vocal music, that of “bel canto” or beautiful song. This movement, although highly disputed over its exact definition and origin appears to refer to a style of singing popularized in Italy within the 17th and 18th centuries …

Lucky’S Legacy: Determining An Effective Relationship Between Music And Business Management Principles, Jacob Joseph

Honors Projects

The Recognition-Conversation-Reflection (hereafter “RCR”) framework is modeled after popular change management frameworks for accomplishing projects and goals, utilizing concepts found often in business management and strategy. While traditionally these ideas are found in the workplace, they also serve as complex practices that can be used in various contexts. The music industry is composed of a plethora of professions exploring vast genres and interpretations of melody around the world. Despite its diverse perspectives, music is rooted in performance involving ensembles of varying capacities. With the complexities of the RCR framework and the diversity of the music industry, the question I looked …

Participation And Community Healing In The Me2/ Orchestra, Lee Cyphers

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

The Me2/ Orchestra is a Boston-based community orchestra for people living with mental illness and those who support them. Me2/’s mission, according to its website, is “to erase the stigma surrounding mental illness (including addiction) through supportive classical music rehearsals and inspiring performances.” In order to investigate the methods and practices used by Me2/ to fulfill this mission, this annotated bibliography compiles important literature on community music initiatives with social projects. Concepts of “participation” and “performance” are explored, as well as problems posed by research into the effectiveness of arts programs. In addition, the distinction is made between amateur music-making …

Phantasticus: An Exploration Of The Sound World Of 17th Century Italian Instrumental Music, Ian Jones

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

The Baroque period is home to some of the most prolific composers known today: Handel, Vivaldi, Bach all fill the standard repertoire of many instrumentalists today. However, who came before, and why should we care? Prior to these notable composers of the High Baroque, the 17th century marked an era of immense musical discovery. The early 1600s was a time of exploration and excitement within the realms of music making and musical thought. Claudio Monteverdi was a pivotal figure in the development of the early Baroque world, and with that, new styles of music emerged, noted as stil concertato …

Digital Evolution: How The Development Of Digital Audio Technologies Have Changed The Way Video Game Composers Create Music, Mason Cooke

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This work provides annotations for a collection of sources relevant to the topic above.

Copland And Bernstein: How The American Left Responds To Mccarthyism Through Music: An Annotated Bibliography, Rachel Clausing

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein were not only two of the most influential American composers but were also important cultural figures in left-wing American politics throughout their lifetimes. As public figures with sometimes communist sympathies, they fell victim to McCarthyism’s Red Scare tactics like so many others did, facing scrutiny from the US government. The Cold War era, marked by a contradictory combination of a cultural push for family values and consumerism with the overarching fear of foreign infiltration and nuclear annihilation, led to a feeling of anxiety and mistrust. In this paper, I examine the ways in which Copland’s …

Friedenstag By Richard Strauss: An Exploration Of The Effect Of Nazi Propaganda On German Composers, Benjamin Swain

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Richard Strauss was one of the most influential German composers in the first half of the 20^th century. His relationship with the Nazi Party has been a topic of debate among musicologists and historians for some time and the question of whether Strauss attempted to resist the regime through his work remains. Strauss’s opera Friedenstag has garnered much of this debate as it can be seen as either a piece of propaganda or a piece of pacifist resistance. Given the reach of the Nazi propaganda machine, there is little question that Strauss would have been influenced by it. This …

The Unfaithful Bride: A Musical Exploration Of The Jewish Prayer Modes And Comparable Modern Instrumentation, Claire Smith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Unfaithful Bride is a piece of Western art music written with the intent of acclimating westernized ears to the sonic landscape of Judaism, while simultaneously exploring a difficult and allegorical passage of Scripture that intersects with the composer’s religious traditions. The primary objective, however, was to create a beautiful work of art. To create this work, research on Jewish music (specifically on the ancient liturgical modes) was utilized to both inform and inspire.

Once the text was selected and analyzed, composition began, and rhythmic values and a prayer mode were assigned to each movement. Melodic materials were written at …

Uncommon Influence: Exploring Xenakis’ Use Of Math And Architecture As Compositional Tools Bibliography, Paul Finckel

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Schubert’S Compositional Development Reflected In Winterreise: Annotated Bibliography, Reid Wolch

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

“Native American Folk Song Suite”: A Study Of Traditional Native American Melodies, The Role Of Music In Native American Society, And Its Translation To The Modern Wind Ensemble, Preston Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music holds a sacred place for the many Native American tribes of the United States. Over the past 150 years, ethnomusicologists Dr. Theodore Baker (1851-1934), Dr. Frances Densmore (1867-1957), and John Donald Robb (1892-1989) have preserved these songs by sitting down with indigenous Native Americans and recording their music straight from the source. Through these recordings, these ethnomusicologists created a springboard for composers, including myself, to study the past and create new music that honors the traditions and culture of Native Americans. I have applied my new knowledge of these musical techniques and traditions to create a work for wind …

An Examination Of Lukas Ligeti’S Thinking Songs: An Analysis Of Compositional Techniques For Ligeti’S Contemporary Solo Marimba Composition, Caitlin Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Thinking Songs by Lukas Ligeti is a contemporary solo five-octave marimba work containing five movements. Thinking Songs is expansive in terms of length, content, and marimba technique. This study explores compositional influences throughout the piece and unveils influences in both Western Classical music and African music. This document contains seven chapters and a bibliography. Each movement unveils unique compositional influences that will be explored. Movement One, “Dance,” reveals the music of the Chopi people and timbila xylophones to be a compositional influence. The standard lamento bass line, as well as György Kurtág are stylistic influences in movement II, “Lamento.” Movement …

Studies Of Musical Borrowing: Borrowing As Compositional Tool In Béla Bartók's Second Piano Concerto And The Influence Of Luciano Berio On The Grateful Dead's Approach To Live Improvisation, Michael J. Crowley

Theses and Dissertations

J. Peter Burkholder’s typology of musical borrowing provides new ways of thinking about and understanding how composers and musicians incorporated influential ideas into their own compositions. This paper explores two cases of musical borrowing in order to gain a deeper understanding of the compositional styles of the chosen subjects. In the first study, I explore Béla Bartók’s use of Paraphrase, Modeling and Stylistic Allusion in his Second Piano Concerto, demonstrating how Bartók used borrowing as a compositional tool to develop his own innovative ideas. In the second study, I investigate how Luciano Berio’s compositional style influenced the Grateful Dead’s approach …

Towards Interaction: Combining Jazz Techniques And Idiomatic Writing For Varied Ensembles. A Collection Of Musical Works -And- An Exegesis, Glyn Alan Macdonald

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This practice-led research project has produced musical works that bring together ensembles from the Western Classical tradition that only read notation, and, jazz soloists who improvise. Three works ‘Standing Ground’, ‘The Journey’ and ‘Matt versus the Zombies’ were composed for three ensembles each with an improvising soloist. These ensembles included a British style Brass Band, Brass Quintet and a double Saxophone quartet.

The project built on the work of Andy Scott and Eddie Sauter, both of whom wrote for non-jazz ensembles and an improvising artist without including a jazz rhythm section. The accompanying non-jazz ensemble was written in such a …

Complex Personalities: An Original Composition For Virtual Wind Ensemble And An Accompanying Exploration Of The Effects Of The Internet On Music Collaboration And Composition, Chris Kamerling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the impact that the internet has had on the esprit de corps of the musical community. As a mechanism for that exploration, it also includes an original composition comprised of three character pieces. The exegesis of the piece will describe the basis of these musical representations and explore the application of the piece as a vehicle for a shared musical experience across the internet. A virtual ensemble was created by crowd-sourcing from social media. Participants played different parts that were combined by computer manipulation into a final product.

Analysing Intonation Of The Pied Butcherbird, Jean-Michel Maujean

Theses : Honours

Native to Australia, the Pied Butcherbird has been extensively studied and transcribed by previous composers, notably including Olivier Messiaen. This may be due to richness and diversity in each bird’s repertoire, along with parallels drawn from Western Tonality. Hollis Taylor has conducted extensive study in this field, notably with an analysis of a transcription made by Messiaen, that was incorporated in his piece Éclairs sur l'au- delà (1988-91). Coupled with the original field recording, Taylor’s analysis and Messiaen’s score, this study will reanalyse the original recording from which Messiaen made his transcription.

Zoomusicology is a practice that represents the …

Blurred Distinctions; Beyond Third Stream – A Study In Composition Of Confluent Hybrid Musical Styles: The Amalgam Of Jazz And Classical Concert Music, Rafael Piccolotto De Lima

Open Access Dissertations

Categorizations are very necessary as shortcuts to facilitate teaching, academic discourse, and for publicizing, but they are also very dangerous in the attempt to put absolute values on unquantifiable concepts, such as styles, ideas, or eras. This essay presents dividing lines of musical genres as they are: blurred and open to crossovers. The discussion focuses on both musical and historical elements of jazz and classical music, particularly from the perspective of their mutual influence during the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first century. Departing from the Third Stream concept, the purpose of this research is to discuss the importance …

Red Note New Music Festival Program, 2017, School Of Music

Red Note New Music Festival

The RED NOTE New Music Festival at Illinois State University is a week-long event which features outstanding performances of contemporary concert music.

A Comparative History And The Importance Of Chamber Music, Aaron M. Sacks

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone presentation focuses on the role of chamber music in both social and academic contexts. Using examples from the past five centuries and including local examples, parallels and divergences are drawn to points of most import. The spotlight is upon three areas: a) what the role of chamber music was in the past, compared to today; b) why it is an important genre, to both musicians, as well as non-musicians, and c) in what ways more exposure to the form can be built. Much of the focus is on composers and their influence, but the impact of and upon …

The Long-Playing Ellington: Analyzing Composition And Collaboration In The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Darren Lacour

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines four albums released by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra in the LP era, highlighting the intertwined roles composition and collaboration play in the realization of the sonic products. The first chapter analyzes 1951s Masterpieces by Ellington, the bands first 12-inch LP and one of the first jazz albums to explore the possibilities of the long-playing record as a medium. I balance discussion of Ellingtons compositional techniques in The Tattooed Bride, an eleven-minute concert work, with an examination of interaction as it occurs on the extended arrangements of three standards that constitute the albums remaining tracks. Chapter 2 …

Axis Mundi, An Intercultural Composition For The Atlas Ensemble, David Dean Mendoza

Open Access Dissertations

In our time, composers are presented with an abundance of styles and tools with which to compose, as well as many compositional challenges. Intercultural composition is one such challenge. Intercultural music is music that combines, involves, or exists between two or more musical traditions. In the present study of intercultural composition, I have composed Axis Mundi for winds, zithers, strings, and percussion for members of the Atlas Ensemble to be submitted for a reading session during 2016 Atlas Academy. The Atlas Ensemble is an Amsterdam based ensemble whose musicians combine both Western and non-Western musical traditions. Learning about new instruments, …

Kaze No Daichi Taiko: Convergent Thoughts Colliding Sounds, William Gruber

Honors Projects

By composing original works for kumi daiko, a Japanese group drumming musical style, I answer questions about authenticity and appropriation as an outsider playing this world music.

Sixth Annual Festival Of New Music February 27 - March 1, 2015, Mark Zanter

All Performances

No abstract provided.

Musical Explorations In Creation And Performance: A School's Alternative Approach To Music Education, Laterence Edward Varnado

LSU Master's Theses

Students have various opportunities to participate in school music. The large ensemble model that follows the Western Classical music tradition is the most commonly used model for music education in secondary schools; however, many students in secondary schools do not participate in school music. Recently, alternative approaches (i.e. popular music, world music, guitar, etc.) have been proposed as valuable music experiences that may increase student participation in school music. The aim of this study was to examine the philosophical foundations and pedagogical practices used at a secondary school that has implemented alternative approaches. I also explored student experiences with these …

An Analysis Of The Need For A Congregational Songwriting Manual For The Evangelical Community, Travis Doucette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Music has always been an essential part of the faith journey of God's people. The modern worship movement over the past twenty years has created an industry for new songs of worship. In conjunction with advances in technology, more than ever, songwriters have been able to easily create well-produced compositions. It is the author's opinion that with the massive influx of music, the craft of well-composed, singable tunes matched with theologically accurate lyrics has been largely neglected. There is a need for an academic songwriting manual, teaching students and worship leaders how to write congregational songs for the evangelical church. …