Music Commons^™

Explorations Of Timbre In Selected Songs From Schubert’S Winterreise, Samuel Clayton Garner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes five songs from Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise (1828) according to timbre using spectrographic images created with the Sonic Visualizer computer program. The report begins with an introduction to timbre, an explanation of spectrographic technology, and defining to terminology to be used in the analyses. The songs and topics to be covered are “Gute Nacht” and how individual performances can dictate timbre; “Die Wetterfahne” and the motive of wind related to timbre; “Der Lindenbaum” and timbral relationships among strophes; “Frühlingstraum” and how emotions, dream sequences, and weather are conveyed by timbre; and “Der stürmische Morgen” and the …

Furthering Cultural Understanding Through Music, Sophia Abukamail

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores the role that music plays in fostering cultural understanding and equity by discussing the sociopolitical implications of musical collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli musicians. In order to do this, the paper will dive into the history of the conflict between Palestine and Israel, detail instances of musical collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli musicians, show how music is helping to bridge the divide between these two cultures, and examine the intentions and consequences of such collaborations as they relate to music, politics, and society. The purpose of this project is to investigate the ways that music can affect …

The Rosalía Polemic: Defining Genre Boundaries And Legitimacy In Flamenco, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

In 2018, Spanish singer Rosalía attained international popularity with her innovative flamenco-fusion album El mal querer. Within the flamenco world, the Rosalía vogue provoked vehement and ongoing polemics, involving whether or not her music should be regarded as “flamenco,” whether she had the social credentials to be accepted as an innovator, and whether it was proper for her to adopt the persona of a ghetto-girl Gypsy in her hit music video, “Malamente.” These controversies reveal much about flamenco culture, and especially about the tensions inhering to its status as both a concert art form and a traditional idiom embedded …

Making Music For All: A Guide For Inclusivity In The Music Classroom, Rebecca Sims

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Music Therapist's Experience Of The Client-Therapist Relationship In Improvisational Voicework: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry, Samantha Schick

Theses & Dissertations

The voice as it is used in clinical improvisation in music therapy can impact the therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist. This study sought to explore music therapists’ perceptions and experience of the client-therapist relationship in the context of improvisational voicework through semi-structured interviews with two experienced Nordoff-Robbins music therapists. The research questions included: What is the music therapist’s experience of the client-therapist relationship in using the voice improvisationally? What is the possible impact of vocal improvisation on the therapeutic process overall? Through an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of the data collected in the interviews, three superordinate themes emerged: 1) …

An Examination Of Graham Fitkin’S Saxophone Music And Implications For The Modern Saxophonist, Sean Hayes

Theses : Honours

There is a significant body of academic writing on long-entrenched traditional chamber repertoire for the saxophone, both in the form of creative outputs (saxophone repertoire and études) and traditional academic writing (practical methods, journal articles, and dissertations). In contrast, the aggregate research output existing on “contemporary-classical” music for the saxophone is comparatively small. This research endeavours to contribute to the lesser-studied field, by providing an exposition on saxophone usage in the works of Graham Fitkin (1963-), an internationally recognised composer known for his music which demonstrates a variety of more recent styles, including post-minimalism, jazz and heavy influence from popular …

Multimodal Learning For Dyslexic Musicians: Practical Applications For Adults, Melissa Mikucki

Theses : Honours

Dyslexia affects 15 to 20% of the population according to the International Dyslexia Association. Multimodal media, such as smartphones and tablets, which are capable of presenting varied modes of information (for example, visual, aural, and kinetic), have been shown to aid learning in dyslexic children. Music has been identified as a useful multisensory tool to help educators improve literacy skills in children. However, little research has been done on the impact of dyslexia on a child or adult’s ability to learn and perform music. Few studies have been undertaken that focus solely on dyslexia’s effect on musical ability in children; …

Representations Of Chronic Migraine And Therapy Through New Electronic Music Composition, Peter Mcavan

Theses : Honours

This thesis explores compositional techniques in electronic music that depict and explore chronic migraine and the therapies that manage the condition. Migraines are typically described as a destructive, violent force or a hopeless ailment, but research shows that this perception is damaging for new patients learning to manage migraine. Furthermore, evidence suggests that better understanding of how pain works can be instrumental in reducing pain (a process called Therapeutic Neuroscience Education). Drawing from this literature and my experience as an electronic musician suffering from chronic migraine, I utilise a practice-led research methodology to explore current scientific understandings of migraine and …

A Student Tubist's Guide To Doubling On Bass Trombone, Donovan Klutho

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this project is to provide high school-aged tuba students a brief resource for learning to double on the bass trombone. As will be discussed in the guidebook, there are a number of reasons that students could want to double: jazz band, pit orchestra, show choir band, classical concert ensemble, etc. No matter the reason a student may want to learn to double, I wanted to provide a guide that would hopefully make it more accessible for them to learn. To accomplish this, I have made the language digestible for high schoolers without too many technical terms.

On The Total Communicative Efficacy Of Music And Its Synthesis To Written Word Through Bob Dylan And Kendrick Lamar, Skyler Addison

CMC Senior Theses

In a social conversation, words spoken carry less than 35% of the interaction’s social meeting, with 65% conveyed by the non-verbal. While poetry relies on the word and it's subtext, songwriting may also weld the other 65%. By dissecting the dynamic communicative aspects of song, modern poets may find useful ways in which they can make their lines have more staying power with the listener, encompassing both the rhythmic catchiness of their lines to an all-encompassing emotive transfer. We may isolate the interwoven components of a song that dictate how a story is told in order to better understand how …

Overture: Love—Love Is A Pink Cake, Or, Queering Chopin In Times Of Homophobia, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Abstract:

An introduction to the three essays included in this section. The article highlights the right to know whether Chopin was gay and contextualizes this inquiry in a very long and pervasive historiographical tradition, essentially two-hundred years long, dedicated to examine Chopin sexual orientation, on the one hand, and on the other the more recent tradition of queering western classical music composers. The main point is not to demonstrate categorically that Chopin was “gay” (a relative, modern identity marker in any case) but rather to highlight the discourses that have presented him as unequivocally heterosexual.

Resumen:

Una introducción a los …

"A Long Life In Music:" The Career And Legacy Of Ann Schein, Anthony William Gray

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper is devoted to the life, career, teaching and legacy of the celebrated pianist Ann Schein. Having led a remarkable career spanning more than six decades, Schein was taught by such towering figures as Mieczysław Munz, Arthur Rubinstein and Dame Myra Hess and has in turn influenced countless musicians through her own teaching. This research paper includes a detailed portrait of Schein through a biography, an interview with Schein, and interviews with six of her former students from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University: Dr. Matthew Bengtson, Ms. Ya-Ting Chang, Dr. Inna Faliks, Dr. Mansoon Han …

Going Deeper With God Than King David: Cultivating Intimacy Using Hymns, Classical Sacred Songs, And Contemporary Christian Music, Ivy Elizabeth Cole

Masters Theses

In the time of King David, a worshipper did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit to enhance worship as worshippers have today. At present, the modern church age worship leader utilizes mostly contemporary Christian music to help lead a congregation into the presence of God. However, the Psalms, hymns, and classical sacred songs may also be used in the exploration of enhancing a worship experience. This study explores the concept of music evoking an emotional response that may allow a worshipper to surrender to an intimate relationship with God. With studies in emotion related to music, Scriptural references, professional writings …

The Three Piano Sonatas By José De Almeida Penalva, Heron Alvim Moreira

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research project discusses the three piano sonatas by José de Almeida Penalva (1924-2002), a priest and composer from the southern region of Brazil, who lived most of his life in the city of Curitiba, in Paraná state.

Along with overall information about the composer’s life and general output, the reader will find brief discussions of Penalva’s keyboard works, along with comprehensive formal analyses of his three piano sonatas.

Sonata no. 1 (1970, chronologically the second to be written) appears in one large movement that reveals two distinct sections. Its language is atonal and its first section displays sonata-allegro form. …

The Joyful Path Of Lifelong Mastery Of The Piano, John Alan Rose

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Designed to function as a handbook for pianists, this research project is written in a friendly manner. Organized by theme, it contains a multiplicity of approaches that pianists at all levels can apply to their daily piano practice to help deepen the meaning and efficacy of their work. No matter what role the piano plays in your life, there is much in this document that will help you find joy as you discover new things about yourself through practicing the piano. From methods of practice to philosophies by established performers, this project has enough material to be kept within arm’s …

#Canceled: Positionality And Authenticity In Country Music’S Cancel Culture, Gabriella Saporito

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

From its beginning in film and television and its early adoption by Black Twitter, cancel culture has become a phenomenon in the era of social media. Marked by the popular hashtags #cancel, #canceled, #[InsertNameHere]isOverParty, and #Surviving[InsertNameHere], cancel culture is a practice which involves publicly denouncing and/or shaming a person or company when they do something that is considered offensive or objectionable. It saw a resurgence in the era of #MeToo that has not slowed down in an age dominated by social media presidents and global pandemics. Cancel culture has also seen a recent re-adoption by the political right, which begs …

A Foundation For Collaboration: An Analysis Of Robert Schumann’S Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Kailang Zhan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper provides an analysis of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe offering historical information and insights into each of the sixteen songs. The analysis includes the English translation of the texts and discussion of the form of each song as well as highlights of the special moments of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic structure in relation to Schumann’s setting of each poem. The analysis provides a foundation for collaborative skills for the singer and pianist for the study and performance of Dichterliebe. In addition, the paper includes brief biographies of Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine and background information on the poetry and …

Jerome Franke’S “Architectural Practice” Exercises For Mendelssohn’S Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 62 And Lalo’S Symphonie Espagnole In D Minor, Op. 21, Yaniv Gutman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since their original publications, Otakar Ševčík’s Analytical Studies & Exercises books have been used as practical guides to practicing standard violin repertoire. Jerome Franke (1948-2019) was Assistant Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for approximately twenty-five years, Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, string advisor for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, founder of the Cedarburg Chamber Ensemble and a founding member of Quartet Dubuffet, violin instructor at Wisconsin Lutheran College and conductor of the school’s “Chamber Strings'' orchestra, and a crossover musician and recording artist. Franke, who …

An Analysis Of Amy Beach's Variations On Balkan Themes, Op. 60, Yiwen Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper provides an analysis of Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60, one of Amy Beach’s most significant solo piano works. Variations on Balkan Themes exists in four different versions: the 1906 original solo piano version, a 1936 revised solo piano version, a 1942 two-piano version and fragments of an orchestral version. This paper is focused on Beach’s 1906 original solo piano work. The analysis includes descriptions of the character of each variation, the structure, the pianistic figures and selected harmonic analysis as well as information comparing the four different versions. Beach’s biographical information, historical background of the …

The Memorization, Preparation, And Performance Of Piano Music: Cognitive Foundations And Current Neuro-Music Research, Amy M. Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Memorization of piano music for performance has often been shrouded in mystery. A body of neuro-music research has emerged, mostly in the last twenty years, that addresses how musicians perceive, learn, and memorize music, and how these processes operate in music performance. This paper is a compendium of current research on music perception, learning, memorization, and performance, specifically focused on piano music and piano performance. It is intended to benefit both pianists (performers, teachers, students), and neuro-music researchers.

This research explains the operation of human memory systems and, from this platform, addresses aspects of music memorization such as multi-modal approaches …

Fostering Music Performers In The 21st Century: A Contemporary Professional Perspective Toward A New Curricular Agenda For Graduate Study In Music, Andre Januario

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

What if the core curriculum for graduate students in music performance were designed to prepare students to succeed in the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This dissertation offers a hypothetical answer: a structured and systematic academic curricular framework for music graduate students of performance of concert music (especially those in terminal degrees, such as doctoral students), along with music instructors, professional music performers, school administrators, and college professors, seeking to prepare such students for achieving and maintaining a music career more in keeping with the current work environment, especially those skills demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the …

A Selected Analytical Bibliography Of Works For Saxophone By Composers Associated With The Darmstadt International Summer Courses For New Music: 1946-2021, Christopher Mark Delouis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although the saxophone is one of the most recently invented concert instruments, countless pieces of music have been written for it. This document aims to contribute to the established scholarship that examines and highlights existing saxophone repertoire, by looking specifically at composers associated with the Darmstadt International Summer Courses. Bruce Ronkin’s Londeix Guide to the Saxophone Repertoire 1844-2012 is a standard resource for the 21st century saxophonist to have. It includes some, but not all, compositions for saxophone written before 2012. By looking at this specific set of composers, with many who are alive today, this document is able to …

A Survey Of Musical Expectations In The Marine Forces Reserve Band Stationed In New Orleans, Louisiana, Brandon Paul Carbonari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document examines the musical expectations of United States Marines serving in the Marine Forces Reserve Band from 2017 to 2021. Chapter One of this study provides a detailed foundation of the musical and non-musical responsibilities of a United States Marine musician. Training regime, rehearsal schedule, and logistical area responsibilities will be described to help convey the full scope of duty. The source material for Chapter One includes dissertations, journal articles, published books, online sources, and interviews. Chapter Two provides results of a survey that was conducted with members of the band. The questions were designed to record the …

“Beychella:” Beyoncé’S Homecoming To A Futuristic Queer Utopian, Jolie V. Brownell

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance and 2019 Homecoming film set the stage for a radical Black queer reimagining. Yet, how can Beyoncé—who is straight—be located within a queer critique? In this paper, I argue that through a radical and political expansion of queer, the creative deployment of dis/identification, and the unapologetic expression of the erotic, Beyoncé performs an embodiment of queer of color critique. These creative gestures within “Beychella” invite viewers into a queer futuristic utopian and provide new creative modes to politically inhabit, resist, and reimagine interlocking systems of oppression.

Keywords: Beyoncé, queer, dis/identification, erotic, QoCC, …

Bass Is My Religion: Syncretic Spirituality And Navigating The Potential For Misappropriation Among Participants In Electronic Dance Music Culture, Daniel Backfish-White

Graduate Thesis Collection

At electronic dance music events in the United States, artists and attendees tend to appropriate religious and spiritual sounds, images, and dress, especially from India but also from elsewhere, to varying degrees. This project explicates the effects of adopting religious symbology, ethos, and atmosphere in the music and culture of EDM, specifically in bass music culture. It argues that although individual participants may adopt aspects of religious traditions in ways they perceive as authentic, the potential for misappropriation still exists. In other words, EDM culture creates opportunities for misappropriation that individual participants navigate in order to construct their own individual …

Chamber Music Fundamentals And Rehearsal Techniques For Advancing String Students, Gabrielle Padilla

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chamber music pedagogy is an area that is crucial to a comprehensive music education. There is no manual when it comes to chamber music rehearsal or coaching techniques. Many of the great quartets have biographies written on them, yet few shed light on how the quartet handled the problem-solving processes used during rehearsal. This could be due to the longstanding tradition of string quartet education which uses a coach or leader who shares their wisdom and techniques, often as they had learned as young chamber musicians. Without this guidance, young quartets (and sometimes coaches) often have few ideas of how …

Selected Principles Of Practicing For Security In Performance, Hsing-Yi Tsai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research focuses on extending the imagination for the purposes of activating our brain to strengthen memorization of music for a stronger and more secure performance. This research explores the concept of self-awareness in the sense of having a conversation with ourselves in order to understand the primary reasons we pianists spend hours in the practice room. I introduce selected strategies for learning pieces through a meticulous process of memorization which impacts not only new pieces, but also the resurrecting of old repertoire. Along with including the concept of the Memory Palace, I explore different methods of memorizing music to …

Touching Light: A Framework For The Facilitation Of Music-Making In Mixed Reality, Ian Thomas Riley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Drawing upon the historical development of analog and digital technologies alongside the proliferation of computer-assisted performance practices, this research seeks to develop a framework for integrating Mixed Reality applications to live musical performance, specifically through the creation of a Microsoft HoloLens 2 Mixed Reality application in order to facilitate a live performance of an original musical composition for percussion and real-time Mixed Reality environment. Mixed Reality enables a performer to interact with virtual (holograms, VSTs, etc.) and physical (vibraphone, tuned drums, microphones, etc.) objects simultaneously. Tandem to the development of the conceptual framework was the composition of an original score …

A Performance Guide To Prokofiev: Romeo And Juliet For Solo Tuba, John Christopher Dicesare

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As the most recent brass instrument to be added to the standard orchestra, the tuba’s solo repertoire is relatively new compared to other orchestral instruments. Ralph Vaughan Williams composed the first major concerto for tuba in 1954, over 100 years after the tuba’s creation in 1835 by Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz. Though many composers — including Bruce Broughton, Eric Ewazen, Paul Hindemith, Gunther Schuller, and John Williams — have written solos for the tuba since Vaughan Williams, performers rely on arrangements and transcriptions of existing works to fill gaps in the repertoire. In 2011, Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s …

Concert Recording 2021-10-21, Ronda Mains, Theresa Delaplain, Lia Uribe, Dominic K. Na, Robert Mueller, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Razorbones

Concert Recordings & Programs

[00:03]. La Pointe au Portail -- [09:45]. Deserted paths. To the hayfields ; To the mountains ; To the old cemetary -- [24:02]. Mantra -- [32:52]. Rhapsodies and interludes / Robert Mueller.