Music Commons^™

Northern Music Culture In Antebellum New Orleans, Warren Keith Kimball

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the three decades before the Civil War, immigrants from the Northern United States flooded into New Orleans in search of new economic opportunities. These newcomers brought to the Southern city many elements of Northern life, such as Protestant churches, English-language newspapers, public schools, and distinct political views. They also brought with them musical practices specific to that region: Protestant church music, amateur choral societies, instrumental concerts, music publication, and English-language opera all flourished from the late 1830s until the late 1850s. This dissertation situates the musical practices of New Orleans during the decades preceding the Civil War within the …

Mood And Mode: The Impressionistic Commonalities Of Claude Debussy And John Coltrane, Simon B. Needle, Edward Eanes

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

There are marked parallels in scale use, the use of modality and harmonic construction and movement in the music of John Coltrane as compared to impressionist composers like Claude Debussy. The modal harmonic exploration employed in the works of Coltrane is often attributed to the Indian raga and other music, but it can also be likened to Impressionist works by Debussy. A fascination with exoticism and a search for new veins in music to draw from propelled both of these artists forward musically. While Debussy learned medieval modality from the Russians, Coltrane looked further East to the Arab world and …

The Acoustics Of Justice: Music And Myth In Afro-Brazilian Congado, Genevieve E. Dempsey

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

For the Afro-Brazilian musicians of popular Catholicism, or Congadeiros, who live precariously on the urban and rural margins of Brazil, ritual undergirds their struggles for subsistence, spiritual fulfillment, and racial equality. When Congadeiros create ritual, they enter into a tradition begun in the seventeenth century in Brazil by their enslaved African and Afro-descendant ancestors who intoned songs of redemption. In keeping with their ancestors’ evocations of dignity during slavery, worshipers in the present day embed multiple kinds of vested interests within ritual festivity to achieve racial equality. This article explores Congado, the ceremonies of these disenfranchised musicians, to …

Worlds Of If: Analyses Of The Composed And Improvised Works Of Robert Dick, Melissa Keeling

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Considered one of the most important publications in twentieth-century flute pedagogy, Robert Dick’s seminal method book, The Other Flute (1975),[1] is an extensive catalogue of multiphonic fingerings, microtonal fingerings, glissandi, circular breathing, and other extended techniques. The Other Flute and a handful of his published solos are widely studied, but these works only represent a fraction of Dick’s creative energies.

Equally comfortable in classical, jazz, rock, electronic, and world music, Dick’s oeuvre demonstrates a sophisticated, musical use of contemporary techniques and his pieces have become standard repertoire. Though Dick was not the first flutist to use or notate these …

A New Approach To The Analysis Of Timbre, Megan L. Lavengood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Two distinct approaches to timbre analysis exist, each with complementary strengths and limitations. First, music theorists from the 1980s adopt a positivist mindset and look for ways to quantify timbral phenomena, often using spectrograms, while avoiding any cultural dimensions in their work. Second, writings of the past five years focus on the cultural aspects of timbre but make no use of spectrograms. This dissertation builds upon these two approaches by synthesizing them: discussion is grounded in spectrogram analysis, but situated within a broad cultural context, through interactions with listener experience and ethnographic study of music periodicals and other published interviews. …

The Musicality Of The Water Lilies/La Musicalité Des Nymphéas (Library Resources), Holy Cross Libraries

Library Resources for Campus Events

A bibliography of resources available through the Holy Cross Libraries which provide additional information related to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery exhibition “Gabrielle Thierry: The Musicality of the Water Lilies/La Musicalité des Nymphéas” from Aug. 30 through Oct. 7.

Thierry’s series of eight large-scale paintings were inspired by her rediscovery of the “Water Lilies” landscapes by Claude Monet on view at the the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. With special permission from the museum, Thierry painted in front of Monet’s originals over a period of 18 months from 2010 to 2012, where she explored the inner musical …

Constructing Music Of Rebellion In The Triumphant Empire: Punk Rock In The 1990s United States, David Pearson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the late 1980s, the punk scene in the United States was plagued by Nazi skinheads, the macho violence of “straight-edge hardcore,” and musical stagnation. Moreover, Ronald Reagan, the symbol of all that punks detested, was no longer president, the Cold War was coming to an end, and the United States was fast becoming the world’s sole superpower. These dilemmas put punk rock’s viability as a music of rebellion against the dominant order in a state of crisis.

Emerging out of this late 1980s malaise was a new wave of (leftist) political bands that took lyrical aim at the New …

The Varieties Of Tone Presence: On The Meanings Of Musical Tone In Twentieth-Century Music, Aaron Harcus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is about tone presence, or how musical tone shows up for experience in twentieth-century music. In exploring the subject of tone presence, I rethink notions of “pitch structure” in post-tonal theory and offer an alternative that focuses on the question of what it is to be a musical interval for experience, drawing on a wide range of research from social theory, semiotics, theories of emotion, African American studies, literary theory, usage-based linguistics, post-colonial theory, and phenomenology. I begin by offering a critique of three basic assumptions that constrain understandings of what we mean by pitch structure in post-tonal …

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.

“Ever To The Right”?: The Political Life Of 1776 In The Nixon Era, Elissa Harbert

Music Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Key Inference From Irish Traditional Music Scores And Recordings, Pierre Beauguitte, Bryan Duggan, John D. Kelleher

Conference papers

The aim of this paper is to present techniques and results for identifying the key of Irish traditional music melodies, or tunes. Several corpora are used, consisting of both symbolic and audio representations. Monophonic and heterophonic recordings are present in the audio datasets. Some particularities of Irish traditional music are discussed, notably its modal nature. New key-profiles are defined, that are better suited to Irish music.

Paper Disc Record: A Consumption-Based Account Of Musical Identity, David Prescott-Steed

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Since 1991, I have been keeping a pen and paper list of my CD's, added to with each new purchase. With the increasing availability of digital media, not everything that I now listen to comes from a disc. Nevertheless, I have never bought digital music downloads, and so every new album purchase is a physical product with the band name and release title still added to the list. I keep it rolled up in a desk draw (the first composition-pages of which are yellowing nicely). The list comprises approximately 280 entries. Each entry until March 5, 2006 is numbered, by …

Britten’S Slippery Semitone And Motivic Intertextuality In The Poet’S Echo, Op. 76, And Serenade, Op. 31, Clare Sher Ling Eng

Faculty Scholarship

Britten wrote a number of vocal works that compose bouquets of poems around a central theme.  In these themed song cycles, he often uses motives to forge connections between different poems, suggesting intertextual relationships that transcend the original meaning of the poems, but render the song cycle more cohesive by underscoring its thematic unity.  This chapter focuses on the motif of the semitone, which I nickname Britten’s Slippery Semitone.  This motif is not unique to Britten, but he masterfully manipulates it in his music.  I show that the Slippery Semitone underlies some of the most characteristic features of Britten’s music, …

Empirical Aesthetics And The Philosophy Of John Cage: A Literature Review And Experimental Study, Braden J. Gillispie

Honors Projects

This paper examines the musical philosophy of composer John Cage in terms of psychological theories and experimental design. A literature review was first conducted to extract testable hypotheses from Cage’s musical works, writings, and interviews relevant to theories and research in empirical aesthetics. A study was then devised to examine the relationships between cognitive appraisals of the interestingness, enjoyableness, orderliness, and musicality of general sound events, as well as to determine the influence of openness to experience and the effect of two intentional-listening strategies, inspired by Cage’s ideas, on these relationships. Participants (n = 21) completed an openness to …

Gustave Vogt's Musical Album Of Autographs: A Scholarly Edition, Kristin Leitterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) was the most famous oboist in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. Throughout his career he played with the best orchestras in Paris, toured Europe widely, and also taught the next generation of oboists at the Paris Conservatoire from 1802–1853. Although many of the details of his life have been lost to history, he did leave behind a record of the esteem in which he was held. This is preserved physically in the form of an album of short musical compositions honoring Vogt, collected between 1831 and 1859. The album has never been published, and is in the …

Reimagining The Collective: Black Popular Music And Recording Studio Innovation, 1970-1990, Will Fulton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines developments in the production practices of black popular music in the recording studio from 1970 to 1990. The year 1970 marked a transition in the recording practice of popular music that had a distinct impact on styles marketed as R&B, soul, and funk. Multitracking in the 1950s and 1960s had paved the way for a transformed production process, one initiated by Les Paul’s and Sidney Bechet’s overdubbing experiments in the 1940s. The collective sound of instrumentalists and vocalists heard on records no longer resulted from live-to-tape recordings of group performances, but was increasingly the product of constructed …

Eighteenth Century Women And The Business Of Making Glass Music, Kate M. Hepworth

History

During the relatively short period from the mid-to-late eighteenth century when glass musical instruments were manufactured and gained popularity, several women made names for themselves in the realm of avant-garde musical performance. The lives of three female glass instrument players: Anne Ford, Marianne Davies, and Marianne Kirchgassner, show how these successful performer-entrepreneurs operated in an age of emerging feminine public identity. Their journeys reveal much about the gender dimensions of the age, the role of music in the modern era, the consumption of it, and their approach to business. The financial opportunities presented to women looking to challenge the limitations …

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 Effects Of Diegetic And Nondiegetic Music On Viewers’ Interpretations Of A Film Scene, Elizabeth M. Wakefield, Siu-Lan Tan, Matthew P. Spackman

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Previous studies have shown that pairing a film excerpt with different musical soundtracks can change the audience’s interpretation of the scene. This study examined the effects of mixing the same piece of music at different levels of loudness in a film soundtrack to suggest diegetic music (“source music,” presented as if arising from within the fictional world of the film characters) or to suggest nondiegetic music (a “dramatic score” accompanying the scene but not originating from within the fictional world). Adjusting the level of loudness significantly altered viewers’ perceptions of many elements that are fundamental to the storyline, including inferences …

Out Of The Shadows: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, And The Will To Persist, Juella Baltonado

Theses and Dissertations

Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn are known most commonly for their associations with their male counterparts, and often have their identities and accomplishments overshadowed by these men. This thesis shines a light on these women, uncovering the struggles with gender, agency, and societal expectations.

A Musical Crusade: Reviving The Music Of Berlioz’S Benvenuto Cellini Through A Comparative Statistical, Pedagogical, And Theoretical Analysis, Jessica R. Spafford

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Abstract

Much of the operatic music of the eccentric French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is overlooked, especially from his first full opera Benvenuto Cellini. This is due in part to many misconceptions surrounding Berlioz’s vocal compositional style, which stem from the political atmosphere at the time of the opera’s premiere in 1838 Paris when ill-willed critics renamed it Malvenuto Cellini. A general ignorance of this work and its music pervades the world of vocal pedagogy, having been excluded from the standard repertoire anthologies, where it can ironically be the most useful. The research presented in this project comprises …

Entrepreneurship And Pr Skills For Music Students, Tomás Cotik

School of Music + Theater Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a successful ensemble, not only do musicians need to spendcountless hours mastering their instruments and improving their ensemble playing, they also need to be entrepreneurial, media savvy, and their own managers and promoters—in otherwords, able to deal with a variety of non-musical endeavors.

A Discussion Regarding Various Animals' Abilities To Make Music And Move Rhythmically To Songs, Emilie R. Bufford

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project involves exploring the presence of music and rhythmic abilities in specific animal species. The main subjects are whales, sea lions, gorillas, elephants, birds, and mice. The goal of this project was to compare their abilities to those of humans, and overall, determine whether such abilities are considered musical. Cases where animals demonstrate the ability, both learned and innate, to move to a beat are analyzed, along with animals who demonstrate musical vocal abilities naturally in the wild. The previously unknown frequencies of whales, mice, and elephants, are brought to light. These findings bring up the possibility of even …

Uncovering The Confusing Influence Experts Have On Music Copyright Cases, Arata-Enrique Kaku

Honors Projects

Contemporary copyright decisions by Federal Courts perplex composers; am I the creative composer, or am I an infringer on someone else’s intellectual property? By forming a temporary monopoly to monetize new content, copyright protection incentivizes artists to be fruitful. In a creative field like music, an overly broad definition of copyrightable expression can lead to a “chilling effect” on creativity. This chilling effect is exacerbated by the great latitude given expert witnesses to claim infringement based on broad classifications of expressions. My paper addresses the question: To what extent should expert witnesses be probative when they extend ownership rights beyond …

The Sounds Behind Language : Three Musical Settings Of Beckett's Not I By Heinz Holliger, Paul Rhys, And Agata Zubel., Trevor Roy Dejarnett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Samuel Beckett’s literary and dramatic works have served as sources of inspiration in the last five decades for multiple composers such as Morton Feldman and György Kurtág. Beckett’s late minimalist monologue Not I (1972) is the basis for recent compositions by Heinz Holliger, Paul Rhys, and Agata Zubel. While scholars have discussed similarities between Beckett’s style and individual musical works, a comprehensive study of multiple compositions based on the same work by Samuel Beckett has not yet been completed. Each of these compositions reflects various aspects of Beckett’s late dramatic style such as his use of rhythm, depiction of internal …

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 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 …

Robert Burns's Hand In 'Ay Waukin, O': The Roy Manuscript And William Tytler's Dissertation (1779), Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses Robert Burns's sources and manuscripts for his expansion of the song "Ay waukin, O," first published as song 213 in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, III (1790); highlights an often neglected and misdated printed item, William Tytler’s Dissertation, as Burns's source for two of the four stanzas; considers the two full-length manuscripts, identifying one as being an Antique Smith forgery, and detailing the provenance and purpose, of the other, now at the Birthplace Museum; examines and reproduces the Roy manuscript and its pencilled additions; and so clarifies the relationship among the three genuine manuscripts to argue that …