Music Commons^™

“Jeszcze Polska Nie Zginęła”: Discovering The Life And Music Of Zygmunt Noskowski, Filip Starostka

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polish music history suffers from a lack of representation. This misleads audiences to the common misconception that Polish music began and ended with Chopin. In reality, there are a number of important figures in 19^th-century Poland whose efforts were seen as vital to the restoration of music culture in a time when conquering nations were actively working on destroying Poland’s history. The purpose of this lecture recital is to bring the biography and works of Zygmunt Noskowski, one of Warsaw’s most important musical figures, to English speaking audiences.

Born in 1846, Zygmunt Noskowski was active as a musician, …

An Introduction To Jazz Performance Skills And Techniques For Trombone: The Bordogni Jazz Project, William Ford

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Bordogni Jazz Project are arrangements of eight Bordogni Vocalises using harmonic and rhythmic elements from the jazz style, and new, original etudes that were composed based on the reharmonizations of the original Bordogni etude melodies. The material is intended to provide a comprehensive, but attainable resource for trombonists and educators which is inclusive of the stylistic nuances, performance practices, and cultural backgrounds associated with the jazz idiom. These are to be used as a resource to introduce classically trained trombonists to jazz playing and performance practices. Through study of this material, trombonists will ultimately be able to take advantage …

Using Distributed Techology To Make Music In The Time Of The Attention Economy, Tate Carson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sounds Aware is a mobile web app that allows users to record soundwalks and share them so that other people can experience them. The creator of the soundwalk records their perceptions of the restorativeness of a specific place on the walk, these answers are then sonified for whoever experiences the walk later to hear. Sounds Aware aims to be a social app that is restorative to our attention. It does this by encouraging experience of nature and by using decentralized technology that exists outside of the attention economy.

The attention economy is discussed as a force that exists within much …

Villa-Lobos’S Segunda Sonata-Fantasia For Violin And Piano: An Analysis And Performance Guide, Maira Braga Cabral

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study focuses on Villa-Lobos’s Segunda Sonata-Fantasia for Violin and Piano, written between 1913 and 1914. A brief biography of Villa-Lobos until 1915 provides the context of the period during which he composed the piece. Next, Villa-Lobos’s main influences are presented, a list that includes European nineteenth-century aesthetics, Impressionism, Brazilian popular music, Wagner’s motivic treatment, and Brazilian indigenous music. Next, the main compositional devices used by the composer are discussed, providing examples from the Segunda Sonata-Fantasia and from other pieces by Villa-Lobos. A structural analysis of the piece is presented, focusing on the form, thematic approach, and harmonic processes.

The …

Musical Gesture Through The Human Computer Interface: An Investigation Using Information Theory, Michael Vincent Blandino

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study applies information theory to investigate human ability to communicate using continuous control sensors with a particular focus on informing the design of digital musical instruments. There is an active practice of building and evaluating such instruments, for instance, in the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference community. The fidelity of the instruments can depend on the included sensors, and although much anecdotal evidence and craft experience informs the use of these sensors, relatively little is known about the ability of humans to control them accurately. This dissertation addresses this issue and related concerns, including continuous control performance …

Developing Student Agency In The Choral Classroom: A Case Study, Danielle E. Laird

LSU Master's Theses

This multiple-case study sought to describe how student agency is cultivated within two high school choir programs. Research questions were: (a) In what ways did participating teachers incorporate student agency? (b) How did their students describe their experience? (c) What opportunities/difficulties emerged when students assumed leadership and decision-making roles? (d) Why do participating teachers offer these to students? (e) How do opportunities for student agency serve student learning and program goals? Data collection included semi-structured teacher interviews in two stages, as well as a student questionnaire. Other data included choir handbooks, student leadership information, social media presence, and classroom signs. …

Living Room Orchestra: Designing Embedded Furniture As A Family Of Electronic Musical Instruments, Matthew Scott Blessing

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Musical Chairs is a project that explores ways to bring more music and sound art into people’s homes in an unobtrusive manner. In a world of embeddable technologies and Internets of Things, the home is getting increasingly “smarter” and not all things are as they once seemed–a refrigerator can tell you the weather, a smart speaker can order a dollhouse. By embedding musicality in everyday home objects, performable sonic beauty can be all around without requiring any dedicated space to hold instruments. One no longer requires a grand piano taking up space in order to host a Salon.

This dissertation …

Jake Runestad, An American Triptych: A Conductor's Guide, Neviton Barros

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Jake Runestad is a fresh voice within the new wave of successful twenty-first century American choral composers. Among the growing number of very popular works within his expanding opus, Runestad has compiled three of his independently conceived compositions into a cycle he titles, American Triptych. The determination to group these works together in a cycle, Reflections (2016), The Piece of Wild Things (2013), and Come to the Woods (2015), was largely based on a common textual thread since all three authors are naturalist writers – Henry David Thoreau, Wendell Berry, and John Muir.

All three are written for SATB chorus …

"The Rest Is Lagniappe": The Female Secondary Band Director Experience In Louisiana, Margaret M. Webb

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this case study is to examine the experience of female secondary band directors in southeastern Louisiana. Six female band directors in Louisiana were interviewed using video-conferencing. Of the six, four were middle school directors and two were high school directors. The semi-structured interviews took place in three phases: 1) musical influences and experiences from birth through college, 2) early teaching experience, and 3) current teaching experience. Data analysis included four phases of coding; open, axial, closed, and selective. Coding uncovered multiple themes in the findings. Themes were categorized as the following: (1) Becoming a Band Director, (2) …

Amour Symphony Thesis, Vanessa C. Williams

LSU Master's Theses

The word Amour means love. Amour Symphony represents God's love to me. Each movement represents growing up as a Christian under the Love of God. Amour Symphony is a four movement symphony for full orchestra. Each movement follows the traditional movements of a symphony. Movement I is Sonata Form. Movement II is Theme and Variation Form. Movement III is Minuet and Trio Form. Movement IV is Sonata Form.

The Implications Of The American Symphonic Heritage In Contemporary Orchestral Modeling, Mathew Lee Ward

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Disparate priorities between composers, performers, audiences, and institutions have created systemic issues in the sustainability and relevance of symphonic music in modern society. The purpose of this study is to explore the history of the symphonic heritage in the United States with the goal of forming solutions to contemporary issues in the sphere of classical symphonic music. With consideration for the breadth of repertoire, the genre of the symphony is the primary focus, with special attention given to under-represented and under-performed composers. The American symphony orchestra, nonexistent during the founding of the country, has become one of the greatest conduits …

Indeterminate Sample Sequencing In Virtual Reality, Chase Mitchusson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The VR Sequencer is a tool for composing and performing music which takes advantage of spatial configuration of 3-D objects to generate looping sequences. This project combines dice-rolling with omnidirectional playheads and variable terrain to make a sequencer with indeterminate features in Virtual Reality (VR). A comparison of mapping systems for music games and digital instruments demonstrates a middle ground for interactive music making which the VR Sequencer applies. An inspection of current VR works exhibits a disconnect be- tween VR gamers and experimental musicians. In an attempt to give the gaming community access to experimental music making, the VR …

Viola Fragments: Contextualizing And Interpreting Selections From György Kurtág's Signs, Games And Messages, Mounir Nessim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The viola came to prominence as a solo instrument relatively late compared to the violin and cello. As a result, the standard repertoire is more recent, consisting largely of twentieth century works. The standard repertoire continues to expand as new works are written and embraced by performers. One such work is the Hungarian composer György Kurtág's open ended collection of pieces for solo viola Signs, Games and Messages (1987-). Kurtág, born in 1926, is one of the most important composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His music is characterized by its brevity, fragmentation, ambiguity, and intertextuality. The painstaking scrutiny …

Bendit_I/O: A System For Extending Mediated And Networked Performance Techniques To Circuit-Bent Devices, Anthony Thomas Marasco

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Circuit bending—the act of modifying a consumer device's internal circuitry in search of new, previously-unintended responses—provides artists with a chance to subvert expectations for how a certain piece of hardware should be utilized, asking them to view everyday objects as complex electronic instruments. Along with the ability to create avant-garde instruments from unique and nostalgic sound sources, the practice of circuit bending serves as a methodology for exploring the histories of discarded objects through activism, democratization, and creative resurrection. While a rich history of circuit bending continues to inspire artists today, the recent advent of smart musical instruments and the …

Second Sonata For Piano And Violin In F Minor Op. 6 By George Enesco A Transcription For Cello, Andrian Harabaru

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

George Enesco (1881-1955) was one of the most important musical personalities, fascinating and diverse of the XX Century. Acclaimed as a composer, appreciated as a conductor, and considered an example of the highest order of violin playing, he performed throughout Europe, Russia, and North America. His compositional legacy succeeded in incorporating a wide variety of genres: chamber music for strings, wind and voice, instrumental solo concertos, symphonies, and operas, Oedipe being one of the most acclaimed. The purpose of this paper is to explain the process of transcribing Enesco’s Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2 in F minor Op. 6 …

The Concurrent Prevalence Of Modernism And Romanticism As Seen In The Operas Performed Between The World Wars And Exemplified In Ernst Krenek’S Jonny Spielt Auf, Nicole Fassold

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ernst Krenek’s 1927 opera Jonny Spielt Auf represents Zeitoper, or “opera of the times”. The opera’s story line and characters symbolize Krenek’s internal debate of a divided artistic world between all that is modern and innovative and the older mindset of romanticism, both of which he used in his compositions. This dissertation intends to peer into Krenek’s world and influences of the 1920s to consider the symbols in the opera that represent Modernism and Romanticism. The Golden Age of the Weimar Republic occurred from 1924 to 1929, between the World Wars. During this time, Austrian and German composers had the …

The Seven Valleys For Orchestra And A Study Of Music Composition Pedagogy, Niloufar Iravani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part consists of an original orchestral work, The Seven Valleys, featuring seven movements, each of which presents various musical elements. The piece is a symphonic poem inspired by a chapter with the same name in the celebrated masterpiece of Persian literature, The Conference of the Birds, by the 12^th-century poet Farid ud-Din Attar. The second part presents a study of music composition pedagogy, investigating past and present pedagogical practices in music composition. Chapter 3 provides a conceptual and historical examination of music composition pedagogy. Chapter 4 surveys the …

A Conductor's Guide To Dale Trumbore's How To Go On, Stuart Dameron

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

How To Go On is a thirty-five minute work for a cappella choir composed by Dale Trumbore from 2015 to 2017. Since its premiere, How To Go On has been performed by notable choral ensembles including The Esoterics, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists, and Webster University’s Chamber Singers. The work was awarded the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award in 2017.

This dissertation serves as an analysis and conductor’s guide for this work through the fulfillment of several purposes: a detailed and thorough investigation into the background and history behind the …

Emergent Formal Functions In Schubert's Piano Sonatas, Yiqing Ma

LSU Master's Theses

Drawing on the work of Janet Schmalfeldt and William Caplin, I explore the way in which emergent formal function determines our perception of form in four piano sonata movements by Schubert: D.840, D.845, D.850 and D.894. Janet Schmalfeldt adapts the notion of formal function to directly address the dialectic between “being” and “becoming,” approaching formal function from a phenomenological perspective. Building on her work, I define emergent formal function as a formal function that is conditioned by how the listener’s expectations change. It is an important analytical tool that helps us understand how and why Schubert’s sonata forms depart from …

The Use Of The Alexander Technique As A Practice Tool For Horn Performance, Centria Deondra Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to present how the Alexander Technique can be used as a practice aid for horn players. In this document, I have proposed that the Alexander Technique can be a tool students use to achieve efficient and effective practice sessions. Students who have a clear understanding of the Alexander Technique would be aware of their body and mind, such as physical tension and mental thought processes, while performing. The intention of this dissertation is to use standard repertoire as a means of learning how the Alexander Technique can assist a student practicing these works.

I …

A Case Study Of Two Preservice Elementary Music Teachers As Culture-Bearers, Julius Kyakuwa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The integration of music from unfamiliar cultures in music classrooms is part of education curriculums around the world. International music education organizations also have goals for using a variety of musics in music education programs as one way of educating students to meet the 21st century global education targets. In the American education practice, the concept and principles of multiculturalism have been prominent in classroom subjects for over 50 years. In music education, multicultural approaches continue to be included in music standards and curriculum guides across the United States. Music educators, likewise, often use culture-bearers to expose their students to …

Instrument Construction: An Examination Of The Effect Of Lead Pipe Design Variability On Tuba Response, Larry James Heard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The document begins with a brief description of the main parts of the tuba: the mouthpiece, the valves, the body and the bell; in addition to a short explanation of the different types of material used to construct brass instruments. This study will function as the first installment of a bigger series exploring the variations in tuba sound when the different main parts are physically altered or swapped for other designs of the same part. This first installment of the series seeks to examine the section of the tuba known as the lead pipe in relation to the implications of …

Schnittke, Gubaidulina, And Pärt: Religion And Spirituality During The Late Thaw And Early Perestroika, Aleksandra Drozzina

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation explores the music of three major Soviet composers—Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Arvo Pärt—against the backdrop of the ever-changing Soviet rule (after Stalin’s death in 1953). I reevaluate the composers’ religious and spiritual beliefs expressed in their works during the 1970s–1980s. Three works are presented as case studies and analyzed in-depth: Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir (1984–85), Gubaidulina’s Sieben Worte (1982), and Pärt’s Stabat Mater (1985). Although under Nikita Khrushchev’s rule (1953–64), governmental censorship began to slowly loosen, this particular group of composers continued to experience a considerable degree of oppression and censorship from the Soviet government until and …

A Spotlight On Women In Brass Performance And Composition, Hollyn Slykhuis

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Acoustic Measures Of The Singing Voice In Secondary School Students, Elizabeth M. Wallace

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Descriptions of voice quality in vocal and choral music often rely on subjective terminology, which may be perceived differently between individuals. As access to software used in acoustic measurement becomes more widespread and affordable, music educators can potentially combine traditional descriptive terminology with objective acoustic descriptors and data, which may improve both teaching and singing. The secondary school choral music educator has specific challenges, in that they teach students who experience drastic physical and acoustic changes of the voice as they grow from children to adults. The purpose of this study was to objectively analyze various acoustic characteristics of the …

String Quartet No. 1 "Lanterns", Austin A. Franklin

LSU Master's Theses

String Quartet No. 1 “Lanterns” was inspired by a poem written by the American poet, novelist,

and short story writer Stephen Crane entitled “Each Small Gleam was a Voice”. In my

interpretation, this poem creates a world in which sight and sound are intrinsically linked,

connected by our inability to perceive either independently from the other. Throughout the

poem, Crane continuously creates a world in which sounds are only capable of being described

through the use of color. One line in particular, “Little songs of carmine, violet, green, gold.”, is

repeated several times throughout the poem. In “Lanterns” each of …

James Kallembach's Antigone: A Conductor's Guide, Dominique Petite

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

James Kallembach’s music has been premiered by acclaimed choral groups such as Seraphic Fire and Lorelei Ensemble. It is a commission by the latter that this dissertation explores. In 2015 Lorelei Ensemble commissioned Kallembach to write a piece for Lorelei Ensemble’s “Witness” program, on the subject of martyrdom as it was conceptualized in ancient and modern times. Kallembach set the Sophocles play, Antigone,with interpolated texts from Sophie Scholl and pamphlets from the White Rose, a group dedicated to resisting the Nazis in Germany during the Second World War. The composition is a forty-minute oratorio for SSSSAAAA choir and …

A Conductor's Guide To Amass By Jocelyn Hagen, Matthew J. Myers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary American composer Jocelyn Hagen grew up in Valley City, North Dakota, where she found an early love for singing, playing instruments, and composing. After completing degrees at St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota, Hagen began a career as a full-time composer. Her appointment as Composer-in-Residence for The Singers led to her first major multimovement work, amass (2011).

Though Hagen planned to write a traditional setting of the Catholic Mass, she struggled to accept the text of the “Credo” as the only path to salvation. Thus, she substituted spiritual poems from a variety of faith traditions to create …

Symphony No.2 And The Text Setting Of Henry Purcell's Dido And Aeneas, Sungho Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work is conceived as a unit that has two parts. Part one is an original composition, Symphony No. 2. This piece is scored for symphony orchestra and it is a sequel of the composer’s master thesis, a symphonic poem titled Moonlight Sprite, which describes the various landscapes of imaginary sprites in nature. The compositional techniques include whole tone scale, octatonic scale, pentatonic scale, atonality, bitonality, polytonality, tone clusters, and minimalism. The piece’s orchestration style and techniques are mainly influenced by Stravinsky, Bartok, Schoenberg, Webern, Penderecki, Charles Ives, and Dinos Constantinides.

Part two is an analysis of the text …

A Performer's Guide To "No Man In His Right Mind," "Letter," And "Mirror Mirror" From The Opera, Dog Days, Grace Claire Mccrary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dog Days is a modern, American opera based in a war-torn, post-apocalyptic United States of America. Written by internationally acclaimed composer David T. Little and internationally acclaimed librettist Royce Vavrek, Dog Days is told through the eyes of a 13-year old girl, named Lisa. This project serves as a performer’s guide to Lisa’s three arias. Chapter one provides a biographical sketch of the composer, David T. Little. Chapter two briefly describes the life events of Royce Vavrek, leading to the development of Dog Days. Chapter three provides the detailed process of how the opera was created, specifically the development …