Music Commons^™

Rolling In The Modern: The Mahler-Roller Productions Of The Vienna Court Opera House (Historical Essay And Syllabus), Gregory Eckhardt

Music Theses and Dissertations

This project takes the Mahler-Roller productions at the Vienna Court Opera House as a case study to examine the ways that contemporary artistic trends can influence operatic productions. By analyzing the sketches Roller created for their productions, I argue that Mahler and Roller expanded the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk to both increase the production quality, the metaphorical content, and set a new standard for interpretive operatic productions.

This project is divided into two parts. Part I is a historical essay that provides context for the Mahler-Roller productions. I first outline the history of the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk and discuss the ways that Wagner …

Sounding The Nile: River Politics, Environment And Nubian Musical Expression, Regan L. Homeyer

Music ETDs

ABSTRACT

In the mid 1960s, almost 100,000 Egyptian Nubians, people Indigenous to the Nile River Valley, were removed from their ancestral homeland due to the creation of the Aswan High Dam. In the years surrounding their displacement, Nubian musicians in Cairo and villages in new settlement areas gathered traditional Nubian songs and composed new songs to form a distinctive Nubian musical repertoire. This thesis addresses contemporary Nubian musical performance and the role of these reclaimed and newly-written songs in maintaining and revitalizing not only Nubian languages and culture, but especially senses of self in relation to place and, above all, …

Nadia Boulanger’S Fantaisie Variée Pour Piano Et Orchestre A Study Of A Significant Unpublished Piece, Sarah Elias

Dissertations

The research consists of a brief historical and biographical overview of Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979), a main focus of a thematic and motivic analysis of her work Fantaisie variée pour piano et orchestre, along with touching upon the influences of Fauré, Debussy, Widor, Reger, and Franck on its composition, and a mention of the process of obtaining the Fantaisie from the Centre international Nadia et Lili Boulanger. Boulanger produced works in a variety of genres, including: a fugue; more than thirty songs for voice and piano; two completed works for solo piano; three works for organ; several chamber works; three works …

Negative Harmony: The Shadow Of Harmonic Polarity On Contemporary Composition Techniques, Debora Haller

Composition/Recording Projects

If we are to blame any composer for the puzzling question ‘What is Negative Harmony?’ that caused a worldwide itch on the creative minds of many young composers in this century, it would be Jacob Collier, who introduced the world with prodigious, colorful harmonies upon releasing his first album “In My Room” in 2016. Provided with brief answers during interviews with June Lee that explained the concept of tones and chords being mirrored on an axis center in the opposite direction, the surface of Negative Harmony was exposed but led to even more confusion. Prompted by even more questions, the …

The Eye And The Ear: A Study Of The Connections Between Music And The Visual Arts In The Italian Baroque, Mckay Perry

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

The seventeenth centaury is one of the most widely studied periods in the arts. Music, drama, architecture, and the visual arts flourished around Europe. In Italy especially, the seventeenth century was a time of innovation and flourishing of the arts, thanks to patronage of the papacy in Rome, powerful families funding the arts in cities such as Florence, and increased economic activity in cities such as Venice. Music and the visual arts in particular flourished during this period: from seventeenth century Italy emerged the genre of opera, the sculptures of Bernini, and countless other timeless works of art. Though scholarship …

Whence Comes The Lady Percussionist? The Changing Role Of Females In Professional Percussion Positions In The United States, 2011-2020, Cassidy Cheyenne Calloway

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women percussionists have historically been the minority in professional percussion roles. After a discussion of women’s roles as drummers in ancient history, this document reviews the role of women percussionists in the rapidly evolving field of percussion. The purpose of this study was to see if there has been an increase in female percussionists in professional positions since Meghan Aube’s 2011 study, Women in Percussion: The Emergence of Women as Professional Percussionists in the United States, 1930-Present. Because female percussionists have been subject to gender stereotyping of instruments and gender discrimination, this study also aimed to discover if any progress …

Murder Music: Horror Film Soundtracks Throughout History, Vincent G. Aragon

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Horror films often rely heavily on their music to create a tense and frightening experience for their audience, and it is the composer's job to write a score that satisfies that requirement. Throughout film history, the methods composers utilize to achieve that goal differ across time due to various factors including available technology, allotted budget, and the norms and expectations of films at the time. This capstone paper explores the different approaches composers employed in writing horror soundtracks from the early 20th century to the modern-day, noting any significant shifts and common themes found in the music of popular horror …

Devil In The Strawstack, Devil In The Details: A Comparative Study Of Old-Time Fiddle Tune Transcriptions, Kalia Yeagle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis asks what transcriptions of old-time fiddle tunes might tell us about their underlying purposes and the nature of transcription. How could differing approaches to transcription reflect the intentions of the author, and what are those intentions? What does this suggest about how aural information is prioritized? Through a comparative analysis of three transcriptions of the same recording—Tommy Jarrell’s “Devil in the Strawstack”—this thesis examines how musical information is prioritized and how transcribers have adapted their methods to better reflect the nuances of old-time music. The three transcriptions come from Clare Milliner and Walt Koken (The Milliner-Koken Collection …

Rethinking Meredith Monk., Tracy Monaghan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meredith Monk’s decades of work embody an interdisciplinary art that exists at the intersection of sonic, visual, and kinesthetic artistic media. To date, scholars and critics of music and dance have only studied aspects of her work in isolation and have tended to omit the other critical aspects of Monk’s compositional language. For example, music scholars omit analysis of movement in their analyses, while dance scholars omit musical analyses. This has led to inappropriate categorization of her work, particularly into the vein of minimalism. My project represents the most in-depth study of all aspects of Monk’s music to date by …

Spectral Time: How Gérard Grisey’S Concept Of Musical Time Is Still Relevant Today, Isaac Raymond Smith

Honors Program Theses

This paper analyzes and compares the music of two composers, Gérard Grisey and Magnus Lindberg, focusing on how each treats the passage of time in his music. These composers were deliberately selected because Grisey helped launch the spectral music movement in the 1970s and 80s, while Lindberg is still alive and writing music today. Though Grisey is not as well-known of a composer as others during that time, this paper strives to show how his ideas concerning the passage of time in music influenced the music of his students and other composers, even those who do not claim to be …

From Michigan With Love, Emma Krug 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Hamlet As Music: A Study In The Semantics Of Symphonic Poetry, Mckenzie C. Alons

Selected Honors Theses

Symphonic poetry, a widely overlooked genre in musico-literary scholarship, provides a unique focal point into the relationship between music and extramusical texts. Invented by Franz Liszt in the mid-19th century, symphonic poems (or ‘tone poems’) interpret literary texts or ideas through short orchestral works. Thus, the symphonic poem invites close analysis of the semiotic relationship between music and literature. Using Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Liszt’s Symphonic Poem No. 10 (“Hamlet”), this thesis examines the relationship between the Shakespearean tragedy and Lisztian symphonic poetry. This focus is a microcosm for the musico-literary relationship and, henceforth, an undiscovered niche that involves disciplines as …

A Mad Magical Poet: Essays On The Life And Art Of Warren Zevon, Zachary E. Tenney

Honors Projects

"A Mad Magical Poet: Essays on the Life and Art of Warren Zevon" is a series of three essays on the titular subject. Warren Zevon was an American songwriter whose career spanned from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. Though known for his hit single "Werewolves of London," Zevon is a far more interesting figure than the "one hit wonder" label can possibly capture. Here, I explore his appeal as a literary and philosophical figure, examine his prophetic song of environmental crisis, "Run Straight Down," and consider the theme of violence as it appears throughout his music. The text …

Music Preferences Among College Students Through The Decades, Janelle Potter

Honors Projects

Music plays a part in every person's life, whether they realize it or not. From the radio to background music to ringtones, music influences most aspects of our lives. Radio took music from local clubs and concert halls to places that were thousands of miles away. Radio evolved to vinyl discs and then into cassettes and compact discs. These went further in MP3 recordings and on into streaming services that control the music of today’s industry. The 1960s brought soul, R&B, Motown, and rock to the world. The 1970s brought hard rock and pop and pushed the industry into less …

About This Issue, Michael E. Ruhling

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

No abstract provided.

Caryl Clark And Sarah Day O'Connell, Eds. The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia, Denis Mccaldin

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

A review of "Caryl Clark and Sarah Day O’Connell, eds. The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia"

A Survey Of French Cello Music Dating From The Baroque Era To The 20th Century, Chien-Hui Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research aims to examine how French music progressed from the Baroque era to the 20^th-century through the cello repertoire. This document will be a useful tool for people who are interested specifically in French cello compositions. The researcher will discuss fifteen composers and seventeen cello works. Through reading composers’ biographies and examining the selected cello compositions from these French composers, the researcher will better comprehend and attempt to describe the composers’ musical styles and their musical legacies within the canon of music for the cello.

From the Baroque era, François Couperin, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, and Martin Berteau are …

To The Question Of Studying The Interpretation Of The Image Of Amir Temur In The Western European Opera, Ravshanoy Tursunova

Eurasian music science journal

Introduction. The role and significance of our great ancestors in world history is indisputable. Their vital activity, priceless works and deeds require a truthful, adequate assessment and in-depth research in various fields of modern science. The works of the great commander, patron of science, culture and art Amir Temur are at the center of many-sided fundamental research. For centuries, the personality of Amir Temur aroused great interest in the world community, whose image formed the basis of numerous literary, musical and stage works created by leading playwrights and writers, librettists and composers of different centuries.

The purpose of the research …

An Experimental Model Of Color And Sound Correlation, Elyorkhon Abdullayev

Eurasian music science journal

The article is devoted to the relationship between music and color, the degree of knowledge of this issue in science, some aspects of the history and theory of synesthesia. Based on the Pythagorean and Verdian systems, an attempt is made to analyze the interaction, differentiation of sound and color based on their frequency fluctuations. The general constants of music and images, as well as methods for their decoding, are investigated. Tables, diagrams and figures show the experimental model of color-sound correlation, which demonstrates the general laws of musical theory, harmony, color science and color.

Karakalpaks Songs Art, Arzu Azimova

Eurasian music science journal

Modern musical instruments of Karakalpaks are various enough and represented by string, wind and percussion instruments. The kobuz and dutar can be specially stand out as it is their sounding that first of all can be associated with timbre side of the Karakalpaks musical language.

Theoretical Justification For Systematization Of Genres And Styles Of Contemporary Uzbek Variety Music, Nodira Amanova

Eurasian music science journal

Genre-style research of contemporary variety music requires the development of new methodological approaches. The available classifications and methods, unfortunately, do not allow to fully analyze the genre-style structure of Uzbek variety music. Another problem in the analysis of genre-style affiliation is the notation of variety music composition. This is due, among other things, to the fact that note fixation cannot fully reflect the style affiliation expressed through rhythmic "pulls," special effects, sound distortion and other attributes of modern variety music. As part of our research, a new method of combined note-hearing analysis has been developed. Algorithm of analysis and isolation …

Unknown Pages Of Felix Yanov-Yanovsky's Creative Work: The Romantic Overture, Rimma Radman

Eurasian music science journal

Felix Markovich Yanov-Yanovsky is one of the most prominent composers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. His creativity has been studied in detail in many musicological works. However, the oeuvre of F. Yanov-Yanovsky also contains pieces unknown to musicology, including the "Romantic Overture" for a symphony orchestra, which became the object of research in this article. The main goal of the study is to replenish the history of the development of the overture genre in Uzbekistan, as well as to supplement the general understanding of the F. Yanov-Yanovsky creativity. The material for the investigation is a previously unstudied manuscript of the …

Dedication To Tagore By Mustafo Bafoev (On The Problem Of Studying Composer's Creativity In The Context Of Monodial Thinking), Alina Kutluchurina

Eurasian music science journal

This article focuses on the problem of understanding the Uzbek composer's creativity of the last decades in the context of monodies (national) thinking. The traditional Uzbek monody, represented by such high genres of the intangible cultural heritage of mankind as Ashula, Biga Ashula, makoms, and modern composer's creativity, are two self-developing areas carrying the idea of coexistence and interaction. Presenting a complex and poorly researched area of modern music science, monody is understood not as a type of warehouse (facture), but as a type of thinking, first systematized by the researcher S.P. Galitsa in the work "Theoretical issues of monody". …

Guillem D'Efak, Invent I Simulacre, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

La llegenda de Guillem d’Efak (1930-1995) va començar en el mateix moment del seu naixement a l’antiga Guinea Espanyola quan son pare, un guarda colonial de Manacor destacat a l’Àfrica, per facilitar el viatge del petit Guillem a Mallorca —en realitat, un segrest sense el consentiment de sa mare— va falsificar la data de naixement de l’infant i, afegint-li un any, va declarar que havia nascut el 1929.

Zhao Xiaosheng And His Original Piano Solo Works, Ke Xue

Student Works (2020-2029)

As an influential composer in contemporary Chinese piano development, Zhao Xiaosheng has made outstanding contributions through his piano compositions, including original piano solos, transcriptions, etudes, concertos, and impromptus. His six original piano solos illustrate the development of his compositional career, which coincided with the development of Chinese new music from the period of the Cultural Revolution to the Reform and Opening-up. Therefore, in the context of Chinese new music, this research attempts to study Zhao Xiaosheng’s contributions by looking into his six original piano solo works, namely Textile Worker (纺织工人) (1974), Fisherman’s Song (渔歌) (1975), Ballade in D♭ Major (D♭大调叙事曲) …

“A Gentle, Angry People”: Music In A Quaker Nonviolent Direct-Action Campaign To Power Local Green Jobs, Benjamin A. Safran

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

While the use of spiritual music in non-violent resistance is noted by such scholars as Thomas Turino (2008), one not might expect music to play a large role in a Quaker-led non-violent direct action campaign. Even though Quakerism is known for its historical animosity toward music, I argue that Quakerism's historic values have in fact fostered a robust musical culture within Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) and shaped its ability to function effectively as a "rebel" non-violent direct action group. Music is used to summon courage and unity within scary actions. The “gentle” Quaker aesthetic may meanwhile partially mask or …

"No Human Ever Made A Cathedral Such As This": Scoping The Ecology Of The Carols By Candlelight Effect In Australia's Open-Air Environments, Robin Ryan

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

During Australia’s dry December, traditional and popular forms of caroling shape the sight and sound of the key Christian festival of Christmas. Creative connections between belief, place, and music are characteristically manifest in focused open-air environments of beach, bushland or park. Reasoning from gospel belief that the very first “Christmas carol” emanated from a heavenly host of angels singing to an audience of shepherds in a field, caroling alfresco is an appropriate activity. How, then, do Australian caroling venues become conducive to environmental spheres of sound and influence? While the annual mass Carols by Candlelight concerts televised from Melbourne and …

Look At “Tanovor”, Iroda Ganieva

Eurasian music science journal

Tanavor – one of bright musical creations of the Uzbek people. The given creation is shown by the sample of oral-professional creativity of the Uzbek people, it can be carried to high samples of the Uzbek musical folklore of the late XIX-th and early XX-th century which continues to develop and we listen to it in music, in dance to this day. An image of the woman - her sufferings and dreams make the basic plot of this song.

Linguistics And Musicology. Fruits Of Interaction..., Yulduz Nasyrova

Eurasian music science journal

This article invites you to reflect on the issues of the interaction of various scientific subjects with the music, when many of the basic provisions are the same as, for example, linguistics.

Two Cello Works Of Pēteris Vasks: Structure, Symbolism, And Identity, Caroline Bean Stute

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents analyses of two compositions for cello by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks: Grāmata Čellam (1978), for solo cello, and Concerto No. 2, “Klātbūtne” (“Presence,” 2011–2012), for cello and string orchestra. It acquaints readers with defining elements of Vasks’s musical language and relates his music to the concurrent stylistic classifications of Baltic Minimalism and Neoromanticism. The paper also discusses the significance of Vasks’s national identity in his creative process and provides historical context on Latvia.