Music Commons^™

Variations On A Russian Folk Song, Brian R. Denu

Student Publications

This piece for solo piano demonstrates a wide range of techniques utilized in twentieth century composition. The theme is taken from the Finale of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird", which itself is based on a Russian folk song. Each subsequent variation focuses on one or more compositional technique.

I. Theme

II. March (chords by thirds, extended triads)

III. Molto grave e expressivo (chromaticism)

IV. L'istesso tempo (ten-tone row)

V. Fast and light (twelve-tone row, secundal harmony)

VI. Much less (minimalism, extended techniques)

VII. Hazy (quartal harmony, modal melody)

VIII. Finale (spectralism)

The order of the variations partly reflects a chronological …

The Count's Dilemma, Or, Harmony And Dissonance In Legal Language, Ian Gallacher

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

Lawyers have had a long, but ambivalent, relationship with metaphor. Viewed by some as a mere literary device, a trick of language that "adds little of substance to an argument," metaphor is seen by others as an essential component of legal language, a rhetorical device inseparable from thought. On one thing, though, all can agree: lawyers only have words to express their thoughts, so they have an obligation to use words, whether used metaphorically or not, as exactly as possible.

This article offers a critique of the way lawyers meet this obligation when they use metaphors based in musical language. …

Book Reviews, John M. Cipolla

Music Faculty Publications & Performances

Book reviews by John Cipolla of:

• Mandat, Eric. Chips Off the Ol' Block for Solo Bass Clarinet
• Rossini, Gioachino & Carlos Pässler. Divertimento for Clarinet & Piano
• del Aguila, Miguel. Pacific Serenade, Op. 59 for Clarinet & String Quartet
• Wilson, Jeffrey. Colour Studies for Clarinet

Clara Schumann, Andante, Jennifer Snodgrass

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of The Sacred Choral–Orchestral Works Of Sir Henry Walford Davies (1869–1941), Martin C. Cook

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

In the closing years of the 19th Century, when Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar were at the height of their fame and influence in British musical society Henry Walford Davies emerged as one of the most promising talents of the day, receiving commissions from the provincial music festivals of Great Britain, which were a rite of passage for emerging composers.

Between 1904 and 1929 Davies produced eleven sacred choral-orchestral works for these festivals and one further work, which were received favorably in their day but are now almost forgotten. There are five large multi movement works: The …

A Sonata-Theory Analysis Of Mozart's Piano Sonata In B-Flat, K. 333, I. Allegro, David Castro

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Volume 26, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Faure's "Nocturne," Op. 43, No. 2, Jena Root

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This analysis assignment includes a blank score for the piece, and includes an English translation of the French text, an annotated score, with suggested analysis answers, a study guide that contains questions that may be given as a homework assignment and/or used for class discussion of the work, and answers to the study guide and points for further class discussion.

Gloria, Abigail L. Kempson

Student Publications

A four part (SATB) motet written with Renaissance counterpoint, specifically in the style of Palestrina. Set to the text of the Gloria. About 2 minutes and 15 seconds in length.

A New Geometric Model And Methodology For Understanding Parsimonious Seventh-Sonority Pitch-Class Space, Enoch S. A. Jacobus

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Parsimonious voice leading is a term, first used by Richard Cohn, to describe non-diatonic motion among triads that will preserve as many common tones as possible, while limiting the distance traveled by the voice that does move to a tone or, better yet, a semitone. Some scholars have applied these principles to seventh chords, laying the groundwork for this study, which strives toward a reasonably comprehensive, usable model for musical analysis.

Rather than emphasizing mathematical proofs, as a number of approaches have done, this study relies on two- and three-dimensional geometric visualizations and spatial analogies to describe pitch-class and harmonic …

Investigating The Structure Of Acoustic And Electronic Noise : An Analysis Of 'Volumina' By Gyorgy Ligeti And 'Canaanda' By Merzbow, Sam Gillies

Theses : Honours

The term noise as it pertains to music is a subjective one and open to interpretation. What we find is that over 20th century discourse, the term noise has been used as a broad label to encapsulate all musical sound that functions in a way that opposes what would widely be considered 'musical'. While much of the literature covers the categorisation and political theory of noise in music, there is comparatively little literature that analyses musical construction of noise music beyond that of a purely aesthetic or political reaction.

This thesis seeks to explore the world of noise music with …

Clarinet Performance Practices For Alberto Ginastera's "Variaciones Concertantes": Solutions For Orchestral Auditions And Performances, Thomas James Kmiecik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The principal clarinet part of Alberto Ginastera's Variaciones concertantes (1953) requires the performer to execute a number of exposed passages that are considered impractical by many clarinetists as published. The Boosey & Hawkes edition of Variaciones concertantes was published for the B-flat clarinet. On account of this clarinet choice, the part exceeds the traditional upper range of the instrument in the third variation (Variazione in modo di Scherzo per Clarinetto ). Moreover, it requires very awkward fingering patterns in passages because they are written in the Phrygian mode of C-sharp. To avoid some of these technical obstacles, many professional …

Solo Composition Recital (October 14, 2011), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

Faculty Compositon Recital, presented by Gregory Luffey (soprano saxophone, UTEP), Melissa Colgin-Abeln (flute, UTEP), Mark Schuppener (violin, UTEP), and Dominic Dousa (piano). Performances of the following original compositions: "A View from Within" "Two Pieces for Flute and Piano" "Sonata for Violin and Piano"

Introducing The Learning Portfolio Into Music Theory Core Pedagogy, Anna Ferenc

Music Faculty Publications

Undergraduate music programs at North American institutions of higher learning typically require music majors to complete successfully a core grouping of theory courses in order to fulfill degree requirements. These courses are considered foundational not only for further study of music theory, but for all areas of music specialization because they provide students with basic analytical and musicianship skills necessary to understand musical organization in the western tradition. Although specific curricular content may vary from one institution to another, the theory core usually includes the study of diatonic and chromatic harmony, form and analysis, aural skills and possibly instruction in …

Ars Musice, Johannes De Grocheio, Constant J. Mews, John N. Crossley, Catherine Jeffreys, Leigh Mckinnon, Carol J. Williams

TEAMS Varia

Ars musice, composed in Paris during the late thirteenth century, reflects Johannes de Grocheio's awareness of the complexity of the task of describing music. As the editors note in their introduction, "Grocheio is aware of the enormous range of types of music performed in different ways in different places. How can he impose order on this enormous subject matter? He decided to resolve this question by structuring his discussion around the practice of music that he observed in the city of Paris, organized into three main 'branches': music of the people (musica vulgalis), composite or regular, 'which they call measured …

Cognitive Processes For Infering Tonic, Steven J. Kaup

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Research concerning cognitive processes for tonic inference is diverse involving approaches from several different perspectives. Outwardly, the ability to infer tonic seems fundamentally simple; yet it cannot be attributed to any single cognitive process, but is multi-faceted, engaging complex elements of the brain. This study will examine past research concerning tonic inference in light of current findings. First I will survey the recent history of experimental research in cognitive functions for memory retention and expectation as they relate to the recognition and learning of musical schemas. Then I will discuss distributional theories associated with the tonal hierarchy of major and …

Pianistic Imagery In Franz Schubert's Die Schone Mullerin, Kristen (Wargo) Kiekel

Senior Honors Theses

Franz Schubert's Die schone Mullerin was the first true song cycle of the nineteenth century. Known for his contributions and innovations in German Lieder composition, Schubert published this twenty-song cycle in 1824. Composed as a set of songs based on a collection of poems with a continuing story line, the influence of Die schone Mullerin on the art song is still in evidence today. Schubert's use of imagery, especially in the piano accompaniment, was one of his biggest contributions to the development of musical style in Lieder. Treating the piano part as more than just a simple chordal accompaniment, he …

Kevin Volans' She Who Sleeps Witha Small Blanket: An Examination Of The Intentions, Reactions, Musical Influences, And Idiomatic Implications, Peter D. Breithaupt

Masters Theses

Using and expanding upon a theoretical model for examining the meaning of music presented by ethnomusicologist Timothy Taylor, one of the leading scholars on composer Kevin Volans and his music, this research will attempt to properly position Volans' percussion solo, She Who Sleeps witha Small Blanket, composed in 1985, within Volans' African Paraphrase classification. It will also attempt to dissociate She Who Sleeps from the claims of hegemonic cultural appropriation that are attached to Volans' African Paraphrase pieces. In his model, Taylor talks about the "inseparable metatext" that surrounds a piece of music and includes the composer's intentions, the listener's …

Metrical Theory And Verdi's Midcentury Operas, William Rothstein

Publications and Research

Both historical and recent theories of meter have tended to assume that meter is a single phenomenon, definable in a single (though perhaps complex) way. Most U.S. theories of meter have been based on a limited repertoire: instrumental music by German composers. Examination of Verdi's mid-century operas, from Macbeth through La traviata (1846–53), suggests that different theoretical approaches may be appropriate for different repertoires. National traditions of composition, depending often on national poetic traditions, may require different ways of hearing and counting, and thus different ways of modeling meter. The metrical theories of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, David Temperley, …

Learning Mechanisms For Acquiring Knowledge Of Tonality In Music, Rikka Quam, Matthew Rosenthal, Erin Hannon

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Most people think that musical knowledge is exclusive to trained musicians. Actually, casual music listeners have implicit knowledge of important structural aspects of music, such as tonality. Tonality contributes to the feeling of anticipation one would experience when hearing someone sing “do re mi faso la ti” without singing the final “do”. Knowledge of tonality may be learned through the statistics of music (Krumhansl, 1990). However, learning mechanisms have rarely been investigated experimentally (Creel et al., 2002). Artificial grammar learning experiments have shown that listeners can acquire highly structured knowledge such as syllable co-occurrence and language syntax through passive exposure. …

The Structure And Genesis Of Copland's Quiet City, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Aaron Copland’s Quiet City (1940), a one-movement work for trumpet, cor anglais, and strings, derives from incidental music the composer wrote for an unsuccessful and now forgotten Irwin Shaw play. This essay explores in detail the pitch structure of the concert work, suggesting dramatic parallels between the music and Shaw’s play.

The opening of the piece hinges on an anhemitonic pentatonic collection, which becomes the source of significant pitch centres for the whole composition, in that the most prominent pitch classes of each section, when taken together, replicate the collection governing the music’s first and last bars. Both this principle …

Performance And Analysis Bibliography, Steven Laitz

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Music Theory Pedagogy Bibliography, Mary Wennerstrom

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Volume 25, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Metrical Analysis And Rebarring Of Paul Creston's Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, Op. 19, Christopher Kyle Sweitzer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The Sonata For Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 19 is one of the most popular pieces in the saxophone literature, commonly played by professional saxophonists during their training. It features exciting rhythmic devices like irregular and mixed meter, the notation of which is the main focus of this paper. Although Creston often used irregular and mixed meter in his compositions, he rarely specifically notated them, choosing instead to use accents, beams, slurs, and other phenomenal cues at the musical surface to create the effect of these metric plans. Time signatures often remained constant throughout entire movements. Creston believed this would …

A Salience-Based Analytic Method Applied To André Jolivet’S Concertino For Trumpet, String Orchestra, And Piano, Martin G. Bolt

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

A SALIENCE-BASED ANALYTIC METHOD APPLIED TO ANDRÉ JOLIVET’S CONCERTINO FOR TRUMPET, STRING ORCHESTRA, AND PIANO

Martin G. Bolt, M.M.

University of Nebraska, 2010

Adviser: Stanley V. Kleppinger

André Jolivet’s music is eclectic, and his compositional process is often enigmatic. Broadly speaking, Jolivet’s music falls into that category of twentieth-century repertoire described as post-tonal and pitch-centric.

This thesis will provide an analysis of Jolivet’s Concertino for Trumpet, String Orchestra, and Piano. It thus serves as a model of an analytic approach for post-tonal pitch-centric music of the twentieth century. My analytical method is based on the theories of Fred Lerdahl posited …

Brahms, Opus 32: The Forgotten Cycles, Patrick Russell

Undergraduate Research Conference

A song cycle may be loosely defined as a set of works for solo voice and piano intended for performance as a whole, and in a predetermined order. Established by such composers as Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, cycles are typically characterized by a deliberate structure, the texts of which are almost without exception by the same author. So conventional is the practice of containing the settings of a single poet, it may be considered a prerequisite. Song cycles are also distinguished, therefore, by one or more unifying elements originating in the poetry, such as literary themes or narration. It is …

Woodwind Extension Through The Systematic Use Of Microtonality And Electronic Manipulation Of The Instrument, Seán Mac Erlaine

Conference papers

This research questions how the expressive range of the saxophone / bass clarinet can be extended in new ways by employing both a systematic use of microtonality and electronic manipulation of the instrument.

The use of digital signal processing (DSP) is well advanced among certain music practitioners, most notably electric guitarists, extending that instrument’s expressive powers considerably. Woodwind instrumentalists have a huge unexplored potential to engage with new technologies, furthering the range, polyphonic voicings, loops, reverbs and general signal manipulation.

The marraige of these two disciplines with conventional woodwind practice greatly deepens the expressive range of the instrument while offering …

Volume 24, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Woodland Symphony For Chamber Orchestra, Curtis Pennington

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

1bis thesis entitled A Woodland Symphony for Chamber Orchestra presents a symphonic work written in three movements scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in B-flat, two trombones, harp, percussion {timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals), eight first violins, six second violins, four violas, four cellos, and two double basses. It represents the culmination of the Master of Music degree in Composition. In addition to the score of the symphony, there is an analysis of some key components of the symphony's harmonic language. These are contrasted with the harmonic …