Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Background Conglomerates In Alkan's Quasi-Faust, Op. 33, No. 2, Matthew James Steinbron

LSU Master's Theses

Various approaches have been used over the past 50 years to describe and analyze works that exhibit tonality but have more than one tonic. This paper focuses solely on a subcategory of such works: those that begin in one key and end in another, the first key being permanently replaced by the second. The most prominent systems of terminology and analysis for such works include “progressive tonality,” “directional tonality,” “interlocking structures,” and “background conglomerates.” After examining these systems, “background conglomerates” is determined to best suit works that permanently change tonics. This approach, which was introduced by Harald Krebs, employs a …

The Transcription For Two Double Basses Of Selections From Pièces De Violes, Quatrème Livre, Deuxiême Partie: Suitte D'Un Goût Etranger By Marin Marais, Yong Hao Pan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Marin Marais (1656-1728) was one of the most celebrated bass viol composer-performers of the French school from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth century. The purpose of this project is to introduce some of his music to double bass players through transcriptions. The monograph starts with an overview on the importance of transcriptions in double bass literature. A historical background of the viol and its relation to the double bass are discussed in the second chapter. The third chapter reviews Marin Marais’s biographical sketch, and some of his most significant compositions. The transcription process of eight selected bass …

A Performer's And Conductor's Analysis Of Ingolf Dahl's For Alto Saxophone And Wind Orchestra, Christopher Scott Rettie

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ingolf Dahl’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra was written in 1949 for the famous concert saxophonist, Sigurd Rascher and was then revised to its present state in 1953. The concerto, widely known by saxophonists and wind band conductors alike, is considered among the finest of repertoire for band as well as for saxophone. Although Dahl’s concerto is one of the most frequently performed saxophone concerti, there has been surprisingly little written about it. Available published sources deal directly with the concerto, but do not address harmonic implications, the saxophone solo part, or the published wind band score. This …

The Solo Piano Music Of Andrzej Dutkiewicz, Christine Burczyk Allen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to examine the solo piano compositions of Polish composer and pianist, Andrzej Dutkiewicz (1942- ). These works include Toccatina (1969), Suite for Piano (1970), Three Sketches in Retrospect (1985), and À-la (1986). Although his compositions have been performed in festivals and concerts, there has been little written about his works. This is the first academic research presented by an American scholar. This monograph is divided into three chapters as follows: Chapter One includes background and biographical information on Dutkiewicz; Chapter Two presents a comprehensive analysis of À-la from an analytical and stylistic perspective; Chapter …

Symphony No.1, Jessica Mahan

LSU Master's Theses

Symphony No. 1 is a programmatic piece based on the sabbat holidays of the traditional Celtic calendar. The holidays of the Celtic year celebrate the human spirit in context with the changes of the earth during the course of a year. Beginning with autumn, Samhain celebrates death and the preparation for the darkness of the winter months. Yule is the longest night of the year, and the time the Goddess is crowned. Signs of spring come at Imbolg. Ostara is the Spring Equinox, and an equal relationship exists between the Goddess and the God. Beltane is celebrated by wrapping ribbons …

Formal Convention In Verdi's Falstaff, Joseph Salvatore La Rosa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Falstaff (premiered in 1893) draws more explicitly on primo ottocento formal conventions for duets, arias, and central finales than scholars have previously argued. A description of those conventions (generally referred to as the solita forma) is followed by the analytical application of those conventions to selected passages from Falstaff. A general description of the solita forma for duets and arias is followed by a pertinent example from Rossini’s Semiramide. Three passages from Falstaff are then shown to have strong grounding in the solita forma. These passages include Falstaff’s “Honor” monologue in act I, part 1; the scene for Mrs. Quickly, …

An Introduction To The Music Of Tania León And A Conductor's Analysis Of Indígena, James Spinazzola

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to provide an introduction to the living American composer, Tania Leon, and a detailed analysis of Indigena, her work for large chamber ensemble. Chapter One includes Leon’s biographical information, focusing on her cultural heritage and her dual careers as a composer and conductor. Chapter Two details her compositional style, illustrated by examples from selected works. Subsections focus on her compositional practices with regard to rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form, as well as the prevalence of jazz and Latin American influences in her work. Chapter Three analyzes Indígena from a theoretical perspective and makes …

Compositional Techniques In Thomas Kerr, Jr.'S Anguished American Easter, 1968 And Their Application To The Theme Of African American Theology, Jane Fitz-Fitzharris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thomas Kerr, Jr. (1915-1988), African-American organist, produced works for organ, piano, and choir. His most significant organ work, Anguished American Easter, 1968, was a musical reaction to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Powerful and dramatic, the work draws on all the forces of the modern pipe organ. Anguished American Easter, 1968, based on the spiritual He' Rose expresses the sorrow and horror of death and the power and hope of the resurrection. A profound composition, it reflects the anguish of an oppressed race. The purpose of this monograph is to examine the compositional techniques Thomas Kerr, Jr. used …

Mindfulness Meditation: Creative Musical Performance Through Awareness, Sheri Oyan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Musicians spend countless hours practicing their instruments over the course of a lifetime. These hours are primarily spent learning how to manipulate the instrument through scale studies, etudes, and repertoire. However, despite intense and diligent effort, many musicians find themselves unable to perform for an audience without some kind of interruption in creativity in the form of mental and/or physical distractions. The symptoms of such distractions can include heart palpitations, muscle tension, shaking, feelings of fear and panic, and an inability to focus on the task at hand. The presence of these symptoms, typically referred to as “performance anxiety,” is, …

Memory, Mythmaking, And Museums: Constructive Authenticity And The Primitive Blues Subject, Stephen King

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This essay explores how museums, public memory, and authenticity intersect to privilege an understanding of the past. Reflecting White control over the promotion of blues music, the curators at the Delta Blues Museum, located in Clarksdale, Mississippi, employ two rhetorical strategies to satisfy the expectations of (White) tourists who share culturally specific memories of the blues. First, the museum's rhetorical depiction of blues artists reflects White fascination with the mythic image of the primitive blues subject. Second, the exhibit recreates an early 20th century Delta society to complement tourism goals to market the Mississippi Delta as America's last remaining “pure” …

John Coltrane: Jazz Improvisation, Performance, And Transcription, Garry J. Bertholf

Honors Theses

John William Coltrane (1926-1967) was a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist and prolific composer. The evolution of his mature career seems, from my perspective, to fall roughly into the following periods: (1) “Vertical” (ca.1955-59), (2) “Modal” (ca.1960-63) and (3) “Avant-garde” (ca. 1964-67). During this entire 12-year interlude, the artist was moving in several different directions.

Unfortunately, his working band was not well documented. However, a recording of this group in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1957 was discovered and issued in 2005 by Blue Note Records. The Blue Note compilation is the first and only full-length high-quality recording of the group. …

Review Of Elevator To The Gallows, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2006/06/elevator-to-the-gallows.html

Normalizing The Abnormal: Disability In Music And Music Theory, Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

The emerging interdisciplinary field of disability studies takes as its subject matter the historical, social, and cultural construction of disability. After a brief introduction to disability studies, this article explores the interconnected histories of disability and music as they are manifested in three theoretical approaches to late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Western art music (the musical Formenlehre and the tonal theories of Schoenberg and Schenker) and in three works by Beethoven and Schubert. Around the turn of the nineteenth century in Western Europe, disability began to be understood not as something natural and permanent but rather as a deviation from …

A Celebration Of Duo-Piano Music [Compact Disc], Madeleine Forte, Del Parkinson

Del Parkinson

Spanish, French and Russian programs: Roméo Records: 7252-4 (7252--7254) Original works and arrangements for 2 pianos. Program notes in English by Del Parkinson and biographical sketches of the performers (15 p.) inserted in container.

Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Wind Ensemble, Chris Rutkowski

Chris Rutkowski

Commissioned by Indiana University, Emory University, University of Idaho and the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater

Over The Waterfall, Doug Lofstrom, Mim Eichmann, Ed Hall, Paul Russell

Doug Lofstrom

Music performed by Trillium, released on Little Miracles Music from Downers Grove, Illinois in 2006. Trillium consists of: Mim Eichmann, hammered dulcimer & vocals; Ed Hall, guitar, banjo, background vocals; Doug Lofstrom, bass, keyboard; Paul Russell, fiddle & mandolin.

"Film Music", Kathryn Kalinak

Kathryn M Kalinak

9,000 word entry for "Film Music" in the Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film.

Spirals (String Quartet And String Orchestra), Chris Rutkowski

Chris Rutkowski

Commissioned by the New World String Quartet

Jazz Improvisation Handbook 1: Beginning Improvisation, Alexander Noppe

Alexander Noppe

No abstract provided.

Jigs And Airs, Doug Lofstrom

Doug Lofstrom

An extended fantasy for orchestra based on Celtic airs and dances commissioned by Old St. Pat’s church, 2006.

Concertino For Oboe And Orchestra, Doug Lofstrom

Doug Lofstrom

Commissioned by the New Philharmonic, Glen Ellyn, IL, on the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the orchestra, 2006.

Butterfly Triptych, Marianella Machado

Marianella P. Machado

No abstract provided.

Performance Highlights (2006 - 2008), Dan Rager

Dan Rager

O Magnum Mysterium No. 2 (Jeremy's Book, Part Xviii), Jonathan D. Green

Jonathan D Green

SATB choir, 3 minutes

And This Is Life Eternal - Low Voice, Keith D. Rowley

Keith D Rowley

Sacred song for low voice with text from John 17:1-3.

Unlikely Places (Raw Honey), Michael Francis Hannan

Professor Michael Francis Hannan

No abstract provided.

University Research Institute Grant, Oscar E. Macchioni

Oscar Macchioni

Competitive UTEP University Research Institute Grant to record a CD. Mostly Tangos was recorder at Studio M, MPR, and released by Erioica Records in 2009.