Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Archival Enactment, Retelling 'The Big Book': Alison Knowles, Something Else Press And Fluxus, Meghan A. Dellacrosse

Theses and Dissertations

"Archival Enactment, Retelling 'The Big Book': Alison Knowles, Something Else Press and Fluxus," positions Knowles’ Big Book (1966) as a case study of historical methodology and interdisciplinary artistic practice in the post-war period. This comprehensive analysis of Big Book, a work of art no longer extant, contextualizes its publisher, Something Else Press through Dick Higgins’ concept of “intermedia,” and important lesser-known junctures relevant to Fluxus and the group’s leader George Maciunas are illuminated. Knowles' early and lesser-known silkscreen paintings are also examined.

Frank Martin's Arranged Works For Flute: Sonata Da Chiesa And Deuxieme Ballade, Jessica Dixon Leeth

Theses and Dissertations

The Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) wrote three major works for flute—Ballade for flute and piano, Sonata da Chiesa for flute and organ, and Deuxième Ballade for flute and piano. Of these, both the Sonata da Chiesa and Deuxième Ballade were arrangements of two of his previously written works, Sonata da Chiesa for viola d’amore and organ and Ballade for saxophone and piano (or string orchestra, piano, and percussion), respectively. Martin wrote both works in their original versions in 1938, a time in his career when he realized his true individual style, embracing the chromaticism of twelve-tone serialism while maintaining …

H. Leslie Adams' Twenty-Six Etudes For Solo Piano: A Performance And Stylistic Analysis, Aaron Balthazar Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932) is a prolific and well-respected American composer, performer, and educator. He currently works as a full-time composer and travels the country promoting his music. Past faculty appointments of H. Leslie Adams include serving as an Assistant Professor of Music at Stillman College, Florida A & M University, and the University of Kansas. Over the years, he has received numerous commissions, honors, and awards including the Composer Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts to study in Bellagio, Italy, the Yaddo Artists Colony fellowship, the Jennings Foundation, and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and …

An Annotated Bibliography Of Saxophone Works By Taiwanese Composers, Po-Fang Chang

Theses and Dissertations

Saxophone works by Taiwanese composers are, as yet, rarely researched nor introduced to the Western saxophone community. The purpose of this research paper is to create an annotated bibliography of works by prominent Taiwanese composers as a practical resource for pedagogues, researchers, and performers. Each work is introduced with background information, compositional ideas, performance length, a performance guide, and level of difficulty. In addition, a short biography and contact information for each composer is also included. It is the author’s goal to increase the exposure of these important contemporary works to the wider saxophone community, so that there will be …

The Wind Ensemble Trilogy Of Joseph Schwantner: An Examination Of The Close Musical Relationship Between "And The Mountains Rising Nowhere," "From A Dark Millennium," And "In Evening's Stillness..." With An Approach To Programming The Works As A Trilogy, James Willson Taylor Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Joseph Schwantner’s Trilogy for Wind Ensemble consisting of and the mountains rising nowhere (1977), From a Dark Millennium (1981), and In evening’s stillness… (1996) presents a unique problem. While it is clear that the composer’s intent is that the works be considered smaller parts of a whole, there are several complications to negotiate in order to both perform and appreciate the works as a trilogy. This document is a study of the characteristics that bind these pieces despite their seemingly disparate qualities, including such major components as programmatic inspiration, instrumental requirements, compositional traits, and pitch and rhythmic material. Additionally, it …

H. Villa-Lobos' Concerto Para Piano E Orquestra N. 4: A Stylistic Analysis, Vicente Della Tonia Junior

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a stylistic analysis of Heitor Villa- Lobos’ Concerto No. 4 for piano and orchestra through investigation of its form, thematic materials, harmony, orchestration, stylistic influences and keyboard usage. The secondary purpose of this study was to offer the historical background, including the commission of the work, its première, reception and publication, which, along with the composer’s influences, will further illustrate his style and contribution to the genre. This study helps to fill a research gap by promoting and educating performers about Villa-Lobos’ writing. The ultimate goals are to encourage informed performances of …

The Effects And Comparisons Of Receptive Live Music Listening And Expressive Music Making On Mood With Elderly Adults In A Congregate Residential Setting, Rory Kendall Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

It is important to consider mood and its effect on elderly persons as many older adults will experience symptoms of depression. In prior studies, research indicated that preferred music listening and expressive music making can positively change mood in older adults. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the differences between receptive music listening and expressive music making (presented as a facilitated group music therapy session) and their effect on participants’ mood. The researcher hypothesized that 1) there would be a significant difference for pre and posttest standardized mood assessment (PANAS) scores between the receptive music listening and …

An Historical Ethnography Of A Rural School Music Program: A Case Study, Robert C. Lacey

Theses and Dissertations

Every school music program has a history and a culture. This thesis was a study synthesizing those two elements, seeking to explore the past culture of a rural school music program primarily through interviews with former members of this culture. Throughout are examples of how music teachers, music students, administrators, and community members interacted over the course of approximately 30 years. From these interactions, the researcher drew insights about patterns of teacher behavior that could improve or hinder progress in a music program, including the quality of interpersonal relationships, the value of a teacher trying to integrate in a community …

Metamorphoses After Oboe: An Examination Of The Evolution Of Oboe Part Writing Through Music History, Patrick Quinn

Theses and Dissertations

This lecture examines the technological, musical, and societal changes the oboe both underwent and influenced using musical examples across the four major areas of Western music history: the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. The recital features works by Tomaso Albinoni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, and Benjamin Britten.

"Sing Me A Sad Song And Make Me Feel Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Familiar Sad Music, John D. Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

Hogue (2013) tested some of Levinson's (1997) theoretical ideas about why people like listening to songs that make them sad. Particularly, Hogue tested Levinson's ideas of communion, mediation, savoring feeling, and how absorption interacted with the songs to affect communion and the emotion. Hogue, however, did not use musical stimuli that were familiar to the participants, which is a precursor to Levinson's (1997) theory. This thesis retested Levinson's theory comparing familiar songs against unfamiliar songs and songs from another participant.

Data were collected from 82 participants. Each participant provided songs that induced happiness and songs that induced sadness. Participants listened …

Percussion Education In Secondary Public Schools: A Pilot Study Comparing The Concert Band Vs. The Percussion Ensemble Approach, Jedediah Alan Blodgett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the benefit of offering a percussion ensemble class in secondary public schools. I looked at two elements of music education: playing time and relevant instruction. The research questions focused on the difference in playing time and relevant instruction between percussionists in the concert band and percussionists in the percussion ensemble, as well as differences between the concert band subgroups (brass, woodwind, percussion). 6 separate instrumental groups were observed: 4 concert bands and 2 percussion ensembles (N=6). Students were randomly selected from each instrument subgroup (brass, woodwind, percussion, percussion ensemble) for observation. …

Music Therapy As Treatment For The Psychological Distress Of Victims Of Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing Expressive And Receptive Music Interventions, Kristiana Miner

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violence or intimate partner violence refers to physical, sexual, or emotional harm committed by a current or former intimate partner. Intimate partner violence has varied and serious repercussions in the lives of its victims. The direct consequences of violence combined with the physical aftermath of emotional distress, fear, and anxiety can lead to a variety of ailments. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and suicide are both major concerns for female victims of IPV. Considering that the issues faced by many victims of DV are pervasive and complex, treatment for survivors needs to be comprehensive and multifaceted. Music therapy is an evidence-based …

Pedagogy And Materials For Teaching Piano To Children In China And The United States, Linxi Yang

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study compared the pedagogical teaching practices and piano materials used by five Chinese and two U.S. piano teachers. The teacher interviews were conducted in China and the United States based on semi-structured questions and then transcribed, translated as needed and interpreted for common themes. Interviews revealed details about specific pedagogical practices that are different based on the age of piano students, individual teacher ideas about selection of materials, and the impact of developing relationships and motivation for students. The piano materials revealed a lack of different material in the books published in the United States and China. The …

Winifred Wagner: Breaking Tradition At Bayreuth, Brittany Anne Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

Winifred (née Williams) Wagner (1897-1980) is notorious in history for her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Winifred married Siegfried, Richard Wagner's son, in 1915 and took over the Bayreuth Festival after his death in 1930. In 1923, Winifred met Adolf Hitler and formed a quick friendship with the charismatic man. This personal relationship drives much of Winifred’s story and when it has been told, her contributions as the head of the Bayreuth Festival are rarely discussed. Often musical historians give credit for the artistic changes she made at Bayreuth to Heinz Tietjen and Emil Preetorius, ignoring Winifred’s contributions. This thesis examines …

The Struggle Is Real: Propaganda And Workers Songbooks Published By The Workers Music League, 1934-35, Jennifer Meixelsperger

Theses and Dissertations

In New York City, the 1930s saw an explosion of artistic activity through the growth of literary John Reed Clubs, Workers Theatres, and in music: the Composers Collective and Pierre Degeyter Club. These music organizations can trace their roots ultimately back to the Communist Party of the United States, and then to Comintern. They worked together with the goal of creating a distinctly “proletarian music,” which arguably culminated in the 1934 and 1935 releases of two Workers Songbooks. Together, these Songbooks serve as examples of the organizations’ attempts to create proletarian music, and also as examples of neutral propaganda, as …

That's Debatable!: Genre Issues In Troubadour Tensos And Partimens, Kelli Mcqueen

Theses and Dissertations

The troubadour repertory consists of an elaborate complex of genres, some of which are dialogs that employ argumentation in the form of a debate or contest. The precise classification of these debate songs, especially the tenso and partimen genres, involves a measure of controversy that arose in the fourteenth century and continues today. Modern scholars in both literary and musical disciplines reference the dispute in their study of these songs, but largely gloss over the controversy to uphold the traditional parameters of their own disciplines. For literary scholars, this means treating these dialogs as lyric poetry, and musicologists tend to …

Balancing Business And Art In Music: Gazing Into The Star Texts Of Michelle Branch And Regina Spektor, Max Neibaur

Theses and Dissertations

This research builds on literature presenting ideas on the tension between business and art in the music industry and literature defining what a star is by analyzing star texts. Specifically, it looks at how business and art is balanced in the star texts of Michelle Branch and Regina Spektor and what tension this balancing creates. As the analysis follows the careers of these two case studies along their star texts, it reveals the tension created in relation to the record label, press, and fans of the music artists. The analysis discovers that music artists rely on social media to self-brand …

Breaking; Mending- A New Piece For Oboe And Chamber Orchestra, Jonathan Andrew Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Breaking, Mending- A New Piece for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra is an original composition for oboe and chamber orchestra that explores the role of narrative and historical reference and quotation in contemporary music. In Breaking, Mending, J.S. Bach’s Double Concerto for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra is quoted, manipulated and transformed into a new piece of music driven by a central, all-encompassing narrative. The piece was written for and performed by Dr. Susan Tomkiewicz and an orchestra consisting primarily of members of the CSU Honors College.

The Impact Of Singing-Integrated Reading Instruction On The Oral Reading Fluency And Motivation Of Elementary Students In An Out-Of-School Time Program, Yvette M. Moorehead-Carter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time.

The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative Reading …

The Social And Cultural Changes That Affected The Music Of Motown Records From 1959-1972, Lindsey Baker

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Teachers’ Observations Of 2-Year-Old Children’S Musical Vocalizations Elicited By Purposeful Silence Techniques, Kathryn Ward Reardon

Theses and Dissertations

With the intent of improving early childhood music development understanding, the purpose of this research was to examine young children’s music vocalizations. The guiding research question was: When a music teacher implemented purposeful silences while performing a song and a rhythm chant, what techniques encouraged vocalizations made by 2-year-old children as observed by music teachers and classroom teachers? I implemented a qualitative design utilizing participant observation techniques to investigate the research purpose and question of this study. Four teachers served as a panel of experts to provide observational data. I video recorded myself teaching music activities from Music Play (Valerio, …

Two Pieces For Bassoon By Dan Welcher: A Guide To Performance And Analysis, Including A Survey Of Welcher’S Chamber Music With Bassoon, Reed Aaron Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a performance guide that traces the compositional style of Dan Welcher, a well-known composer and former principal bassoonist of the Louisville Symphony and professor of bassoon at the University of Texas, through an examination of two works in which the bassoon is a prominent solo instrument: Concerto da Camera (1975) and The Wind Won’t Listen (2002). These works, a concerto and a chamber piece, span a period of almost 30 years in Welcher’s career. The study also includes a survey of other chamber music by Welcher involving the bassoon. It relates the two focal pieces to the …

Olivier Messiaen’S Couleurs De La Cité Céleste: A Conductor’S Guide, Michael Thomas King

Theses and Dissertations

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) was one of the leading composers of the twentieth century. He was renowned for developing his own personal style of composition of which he outlined in his Technique de mon Language Musical. This style includes the use of color chords, birdsong, plainchant, and Hindu and Greek rhythms. His compositions were written for, and championed by conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, and of course his primary artistic partner, pianist Yvonne Loriod.

Over the course of his compositional career, Messiaen wrote five works for winds and percussion. The first three works Oiseaux exotiques, Couleurs de …

Gestalt Principles In Ligeti’S Piano Etude “Desordre”, David William Batchelor

Theses and Dissertations

This document is a study of how Gestalt principles of organization are at work in “Désordre” (1985), the first etude in the first book of piano etudes by György Ligeti (1923–2006). After explaining how Gestalt principles can be applied to the analysis of music, the study presents an analysis of the etude in four main parts. The first part identifies elements of the composition that help the listener define boundaries between phrases, phrase groups, and sections. The second part discusses how foreground and background layers are articulated. The third part discusses the polytempo illusion. The fourth and final part identifies …

A Survey Of The Career Of Baritone, Josef Metternich: Artist And Teacher, Diana Carol Amos

Theses and Dissertations

Joseph Metternich, (1915- 2005) a prominent, internationally acclaimed opera singer of the mid-twentieth century, distinguished himself primarily in Italian baritone bel canto roles. In a career that spanned four decades, he performed in the major opera houses of the world, becoming one of the premiere operatic recording artists while portraying the heroes and villains of the operatic repertoire. At the height of his career, from 1946 to 1952, he was contractually bound to five opera houses at the same time, including theaters in Vienna, Austria as well as in East and West Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich in Germany.

From 1952 …

Carl Friedrich Zelter’S Kantate Auf Den Tod Friedrichs: An Historical Overview, Conductor’S Guide, And Modern Edition, Dustin C. Ousley

Theses and Dissertations

This study of Carl Friedrich Zelter’s Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs marks the first scholarly and musical exploration of the piece since the eighteenth century. A handcopied score of the cantata was converted into modern notation in 2009 using the program Sibelius. This version of the score, as well as instrumental parts, was used for the lecture-recital that grew from the study of this work. The manuscript’s present-day owner, Renate de La Trobe of Hamburg, Germany, granted access to a fair copy of the original score with a dedication in Zelter’s own hand. A member of Mrs. de La Trobe’s …

Expanding The American Canon: A Conductor's Compendium Of Black American Orchestral Composers, Nseobong Ekpo

Theses and Dissertations

From the colonial days in the early 1600s until the present, Black Americans have contributed to the musical life of America. Black Americans and composers of African descent have contributed to symphonic music since the early days of Western Art Music. However, Black Americans have not been adequately represented in symphonic concert programs past or present. This document aims to address the issue of accessible published works by Black Americans by presenting a current resource of available and ready-tobe- performed symphonic orchestral music by Black American composers. This document will include: A brief historical overview of contributions of Black Americans …