Music Commons^™

"La Reyna Es El Rey": Expressions Of Gender Identity By Female Mariachis In The Southwest, Erika J. Soveranes

Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1990s, the popularity of all-female mariachis has grown in the United States. These ensembles push the boundaries, both socially and stylistically, of a genre which has traditionally disregarded female participation. In this thesis, I study two all-female mariachi groups in the Southwest in which I have participated: Mariachi Buenaventura from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Mariachi Margaritas from Brownsville, Texas. These two groups struggle to establish their reputation and aspire towards equal recognition to their male counterparts on the basis of musicality. Based on musical analysis and ethnographic reflections, I argue that the mariachi tradition embodies patriarchal values …

Music, Politics, And Sociality: Ethnic Tensions And The Performance Of Gikuyu Nationalism, Peter Njagi Mwangi

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines how some selected Gikuyu popular music propagates ethnic tensions in Kenya by promoting Gikuyu nationalism at the expense of Kenyan nationalism. This music derives its themes from the historical period of the Mau Mau armed struggle against British colonists and connects this struggle with everyday experiences of the Gikuyu people. Memory and the performance of everyday life in this music solidifies the Gikuyu community as tied to a common destiny and distances other Kenyan communities from this destiny. The music consolidates Gikuyu ethnic nationalism and authenticates the position of the community as superior and a dominant force …

Inculturation Of Liturgical Music In The Roman Catholic Church Of Igbo Land: A Compositional Study, Benedict Nwabugwu Agbo

Journal of Global Catholicism

A study of inculturation, composition and music among Catholics in Igboland, Nigeria. The article insects with contemporary discussions of inculturation/enculturation after Vatican II and the recommendation of St. John Paul II in his Ecclesia in Africa.

The Transnational Guqin Revival In Flushing, New York, Tyler L. Burba

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the guqin 3,000-year-old history the instrument nearly faced extinction in the Twentieth Century. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which featured the guqin as a cultural symbol of Chinese identity, there has been a revival of the guqin and its traditional repertoire. This study looks at a small guqin community in New York City's Flushing neighborhood, centered around Master Shi-hua Judy Yeh, and how transnational students are taking advantage of transnational organizations, like the New York Guqin School, to ease the transition into life in New York.

Grime Launches A Revolution In Youth Politics, Monique Charles

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

"The relationship between grime and politics has been an interesting and evolving one. Grime is a genre of music that emerged at the turn of the 21st century in London’s inner boroughs. Early on, its sound was most closely likened to US hip hop and rap. But those in the know appreciate grime’s deep connections to its UK predecessors, which include music from the British underground scene such as garage and jungle, in addition to Jamaican dancehall, electronic/experimental music, and British punk. The grime 'sound' developed as it grew, eventually being acknowledged as its own genre at the MOBOs in …

The Story And The Song: Examining Worship In The Tabernacle In Relation To The Gospel And Postmodern Evangelism, Debra Wilcox

Masters Theses

By examining tabernacle worship and its connection to the Gospel, worship leaders may find effective lyrical contexts for reaching the post-modern unbeliever. The priestly responsibility of the worship leader is to carry out the job description of helping people to worship God. As worship leaders select music for worship, they should take the opportunity to teach context and select songs that have parallels to tabernacle worship. In example, the significance of “entering into” worship is a reference to the high priest entering into the Most Holy Place. Worship pastors can approach the task of connecting postmodernists to God by examining …

From The Concert Hall To The Cinema: The Journey Of The Classical American Sound, Rebecca Stegall

Masters Theses

American classical music has enjoyed a long-standing presence around the world as its own entity within the classical music genre. As early as the 1920s, American classical music has had its own unique sound. The early 20th Century was a time of musical experimentation and social unrest in America. Due to its relative newness and experimentation by numerous composers, identifying the defining characteristics of American music, an experimental music itself, became difficult and ambiguous. Also, the continuation of American classical music became increasingly problematic as classical music was replaced in popular culture by other genres of music. The research for …

The Application Of Eastern Band Of Cherokee Powwow Music In Music Education, Glenda Motley

Masters Theses

The Virginia education curriculum for fourth grade social studies requires the study of American Indian history and culture. Motivated by research questions, this project proposes a music education curriculum that enhances these social studies lessons through the inclusion of American Indian music. The music of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Cherokee, North Carolina is appropriate for teaching students about this culture. The literature reviewed covers early American Indian history followed by the history of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Resources on the role of women are also explored in society and music. Literature examined on the …

A Recipe For Black Girl Magic: A Critical Study Of The Mise-En-Scene In Beyoncé’S Visual Album Lemonade As A Radical Representation Of Black Women, Tatiyana Jenkins

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Lemonade, a visual album released by pop icon Beyoncé Knowles Carter in 2016, crafts a mise-en-scene that redefines the way that black women are allowed to feel and exist in media culture. Contrary to the negative stereotypes and misrepresentations perpetuated in media, Lemonade is a radical attempt to provide audiences with an alternative representation of the experiences of black women. For this honors project, I address the controversy surrounding the visual album’s radical representations of black womanhood. To inform my understanding of the visual album I examine the various creative contributions such as the film Daughters of the Dust directed …

We Are One: Singing, Sisterhood, And Solidarity In Appleton-Area Women's Choirs, Lauren Vanderlinden

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Despite its relatively small population, the city of Appleton has a large and thriving women’s choir community. Between the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir, which serves hundreds of girls every year, and Cantala, the women’s choir at Lawrence University, opportunities for involvement in nationally-recognized female-voice ensembles range from second grade all the way through to college graduation. Using the theories of Foucault, Bourdieu, Butler, Green, and Bentham, this project explores the women’s choir culture of Appleton in an attempt to discover the core values of these two influential programs. I accomplished this by conducting ethnographic research in the form …

“Ain’T It A Pretty Night?”: An Analysis Of Carlisle Floyd’S Susannah As An Allegory For The Socio-Political Culture Of The United States In The 1950s, Melissa L. Allen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This capstone thesis discusses the applicability of Carlisle Floyd’s 1955 opera, Susannah, as an allegory for the socio-political climate of the United States in the 1950s. In order to do so, a musical analysis of the opera’s score was then performed for its use of folk song conventions and verismo operatic conventions. The libretto was analyzed for the use of social conventions of Southern Appalachia. Characters actions and musical content were then judged on whether (1) their actions were in line with the social conventions of traditional Appalachian culture and (2) if their musical content used/reflected conventions of traditional Appalachian …

How Native American Rappers Communicate And Create A Modern Identity, Hannah J. Berge

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Current research concerning identity and Native Americans is sparse outside the realm of expressly Native American scholarship. While most conversations about identity and Native Americans focuses on historical and political aspects, many sources do not explore alternative avenues of contemporary identity creation. This thesis uses Kenneth Burke’s pentad to analyze the lyrics for “AbOriginal” by Frank Waln. The pentad is used to analyze each line of the rap. A new term, alter-agent, is used to identify agents who the agent either associates with or who the agent views as hindering his progress. There is then a count of the number …

The Music And Politics Of Willy Chirino, Nancy N. Balcziunas

Honors College Theses

Cuban musician and singer Willy Chirino, the self-proclaimed inventor of the “Miami Sound,” was sent to the United States as a teenager in the 1960s under Operation Pedro Pan to escape the influence of Fidel Castro's communist regime. Throughout his career, he has used his music to spread a personal and political agenda; his rejection of communism and the Castro regime can be seen through his song lyrics, humanitarian efforts, and direct engagement in the world of politics.

Love Sick The Musical - A Reflection Of My Undergraduate Studies, William Kelly

Senior Theses

No abstract available

"Only The Name Is New:" Identity, Modernity, And Continuity In Afghan Star, Timothy Olson

Masters Theses

In 2005 a televised singing competition took Afghanistan by storm. In a nation previously known for censorship of music and violations of women’s rights, a new precedent began to take shape. People of all ages and ethnic groups followed Afghan Star and cast their votes by mobile phone—a technology that had only recently become available. Though followed by a sea of controversy, Afghan Star has persisted for more than a decade and remains one of the most popular television programs in Afghanistan. Prior to the Taliban, Afghanistan already had a vibrant musical culture, but most people felt that playing music …

The Idiosyncratic Language Of Brazilian Music: Strategies For Performing Villa-Lobos Choros No. 10, Dennis Paz Leoni

Dissertations

Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Choros No. 10 is a composition with many cultural and symbolic inclusions. This work seeks to support a conductor’s informed performance of the piece by providing historical and technical context from the conductor’s life and influences. The first section examines the ethnographic and sociopolitical factors in Brazil during the conductor’s life, and then the personal influences on Villa-Lobos’ career, in order to establish the foundation for a section-by-section analysis of the work which illuminates the idiosyncratic nature of the composer’s masterpiece.

The Romanian Church Musician: Biblical Foundations For Training Musicians To Serve The Romanian Evangelical Church, Gary Mathena

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania, was founded in 1986 as an underground training school for pastors and missionaries during the brutal regime of communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. In December of 1989, Ceaușescu’s government was overthrown. The new democratic government not only officially recognized the school (then the Baptist Biblical Institute) as a theological seminary, but also commissioned the institution to train teachers for the newly emerging, publicly funded religious schools being established across the country. The school accepted that mandate and in 1998 changed its name to Emanuel University of Oradea. The music program began in those early days for …

Worship Renewal Through Discipleship: How Discipleship And Mission Affects Our Worship, Kevin Haglund

Masters Theses

Numerous articles, blogs, and books have been written in recent years about the lessening of congregational participation in singing and many have called for a renewal of worship and changes in worship practice within the church. Yet, most of the solutions offered are aimed at bettering what happens inside the worship event—singing songs with more theologically rich lyrics, incorporating more scripture and prayer, striving for more creative ways to engage the congregation, more resources and training for worship leaders, and many other valuable ideas. As excellent as those solutions may be, they are incomplete unless we also focus on that …

Salar Music And Identity: A "Sad" Sound, Elizabeth Keating

Masters Theses

The Salar are a Muslim minority group in China. They are from the northwest province of Qinghai. Xunhua, the Salar autonomous county, is located about 150 kilometers away from Qinghai’s capital, Xining. I have elected to learn about this minority group because of the need for research and general value. There is a need because little prior research has been done concerning the Salar minority within the field of ethnomusicology. This hole needs to be filled within minority China research. Beyond ethnomusicology, cultural and sociological understanding will profit, expanding the knowledge base of humankind. Also, the Salar themselves are interested …

A Study For Training And Building Up Worship Leaders For Spiritual Maturity And Revival In South Korea, Kyuhyuk Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Worship leaders have become important ministers in worship since the 1990s in South Korea. However, South Korean churches rarely train and build up worship leaders because of the lack of recognition of the importance and expertise about worship leading. They have a false belief that the only role of worship leaders is to lead worship with musical skills. The purpose of this thesis project is to help worship leaders and their congregations to worship God correctly by presenting the concept and necessity for God-centered worship and principles for spiritually mature worship leaders. This study will examine the Bible and literature …

The Suzuki Method: Influences Of Shinichi Suzuki On Japanese Music Education, Moriah L. Richards

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will study the history of Japanese music education philosophies and pedagogy techniques. Specific focus has been given to the music education methods and philosophies of renowned Japanese music educator, Shinichi Suzuki. Suzuki’s views on the learning processes of children have greatly impacted the field of music education. Suzuki held the belief that the language acquisition process and the learning processes of children were intricately connected. He spent years applying his research to the field of music education. His resulting pedagogy techniques are now known as the Suzuki Method. The Suzuki Method, which has been adapted in various ways …

Transmission Of Araquio Music, Songs, And Movement Conventions: Learning, Experience, And Meaning In Devotional Theatre, Florante P. Ibarra

The Qualitative Report

Araquio, a verse play on the search of the holy cross, is an indigenous folk theatre in the town of Peñaranda, province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines that has survived for over a hundred years. This ethnographic-phenomenological study explores the holistic nature of the transmission and learning processes of araquio music and songs as a theatre-ritual. Its transmission as a social phenomenon is an avenue for music learning that may in fact overshadow its being a diminishing tradition. Using the framework of three modes of enculturation (Merriam, 1964) and interpretation of culture (Geertz, 1973), I investigate the music transmission and learning …

Relational Power, Music, And Identity: The Emotional Efficacy Of Congregational Song, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Relational Power, Music, and Identity: The Emotional Efficacy of Congregational Song

The power of congregational song to unify (or divide) people along various lines is well documented. Yet, how this process of uniting or dividing is accomplished has proven necessarily difficult to document. This paper examines the complex and polyvalent factors that contribute to the meaningfulness of congregational music making, seeking to offer a synthetic, conceptual framework with which to engage this often murky milieu.

Employing interdisciplinary research techniques drawn from sociology, ritual studies, and ethnomusicology, I construct a conceptual framework with which to understand the profoundly formative power of …

Dominican Migrants, Plural Identities, And Popular Music, Angelina Tallaj

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Healing Power Of Music And Chants Amongst The Ahl-E Haqq People, Azadeh Vatanpour

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines current practices of music and prayers in the context of Jam ritual among the Ahl-e Haqq, a vernacular religion group in Iranian Kurdistan. I examine the construction and sacralization of the sacred instrument of the Ahl-e Haqq, tanbūr. I also explore the sacred prayer, kalām, and the association of prayer and music. Through the ethnographic method, participant observations, and interviewing religious figures and master musicians during the fieldwork in Sahneh, Iran, I investigate the relation of the Ahl-e Haqq prayers and music, and their effect on healing during their sacred ritual performance. Drawing primarily on scholarship from …

Kendrick Lamar And Hip-Hop As A Medium For Social Change, Diego A. Rocha

Student Publications

This paper provides a context and then analysis of Kendrick Lamar's albums as they relate to advocating and affecting social change. The purpose is to show through example how hip-hop (and music in general) can act as an avenue towards creating positive change for oppressed peoples.

Music Theory For Student Composers: A Course Designed For Engagement By Using Both A Flipped Classroom And Praxial Philosophy, Michelle Nagy

Masters Theses

In a world filled with innovation, technology and hands-on learning, the subject of music theory in the high school classroom has stayed relatively the same for the past fifty years for the student composer. By using the same tried-and-true methods, teachers are introducing concepts through lectures, while students reinforce concepts on their own during their homework assignments. Music examples are given on a regular basis and they are usually played on the piano by the professor or through recording. These methods, while effective, are not meeting the needs of today’s tech savvy and hands-on generation. While students are engaging with …

Ultramontane Piety And Catholic Sociability: The Prescription And Practice Of Identity In Acadian Patriotic Songs, Jeanette Gallant

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

The emergence of ultramontane thought during the Catholic Enlightenment in eighteenth-century France had wide-reaching effects in Catholic communities beyond Europe. One such community was a francophone colonial minority population in Atlantic Canada called the Acadians who, as Canada became a nation-state in the second half of the nineteenth century, came under the control of ultramontane nationalists working to protect Acadian cultural rights from the English-speaking Protestant majority. This paper looks at the role that music played in the transmission of ultramontane thought with these new socio-political circumstances. The Acadians, exiled for seven years during Canadian colonization, were resettled in disparate …

The Evolution Of The Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra 1926–1954, Patrick Joseph Kehoe

Doctoral

2RN, later to be re-named Radio Éireann, the Dublin-based Irish state broadcasting station, was established in 1926, and in that year it engaged five string players and a pianist to constitute the ‘Station Orchestra’. This chamber ensemble was incrementally enlarged over the following years by the recruitment of additional string players together with brass, woodwind and percussion. The ‘Orchestra’ performed a wide range of different kinds of music and was augmented to provide broadcasts of symphony concerts. In the late 1940s it was decided to bring the Orchestra up to symphonic strength, to devote it solely to art music, and …

Neumann Lecture On Music: Listening To Pain, Department Of Music, University Of Richmond

Music Department Concert Programs

No abstract provided.