Music Commons^™

Understanding The Effects Of Hormone Treatments On The Transgender Singer: A Pedagogical Study And Voice Studio Guide, Erin M. Hannon

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Transitioning from one gender to another can be an arduous and emotionally charged experience, accompanied by many physical and mental transformations. The journey of self-discovery and vocal explorations is both unique and deeply personal. Modifications that emerge in an individual's vocal characteristics have a profound influence on their capacity to communicate and express themselves.

Transgender vocal students and professional singers must navigate the delicate balance between their vocal and gender identities while considering the possible risks of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy. Though these therapies may significantly alter one's appearance and overall well-being, they are also capable of causing notable declines …

Honk!: Meaning And Activism In 21st Century American Street Bands, Isaac Maupin

Theses and Dissertations--Music

In this dissertation, I explore activism, music, and meaning through the lens of HONK! Bands in the United States. HONK! A Festival of Activist Street Bands began in Sommerville, Massachusetts, in 2006. Since its inception, the festivals have grown on a national and global scale. The festivals, however, operate as a convenient organizing structure for the bands themselves and are not a primary focus of this work. Instead, I examine activism, learning, and value as systems within the HONK! culture (each topic with a devoted chapter) to, through a phenomenological lens, better understand how HONK! bands fit within American culture. …

Barriers And Pathways To Music Teacher Professional Agency, David Dockan

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Teacher agency has been a burgeoning topic of research in education and music education. In education research, professional agency has been associated with the influence of policy, teacher demographics, teacher beliefs, professional developments, and teaching environments. In music education, music teacher professional agency is a music teacher’s perception of their capacity to exert power, act, or cause change in their curriculum. Although many researchers and scholars assume that music teachers have agency in their classroom regarding their curriculum, the landscape is shifting due to recent policy changes in the United States, specifically concerning Divisive Concept Laws. Since recent Divisive Concept …

Formative Musical Experiences Of Older Adult Sexual Minority Women From Rural Areas: An Adapted Case Study, Sabrina Hartsfield

Theses and Dissertations--Music

People often have strong emotional connections between music and memories, which can affect a person’s identity and self-concept. The deep meaning that individuals find within music that is important to them helps music therapists to make connections to clients and to work with clients to understand their experiences through the lens of music. The purpose of this project was to examine in depth the musical experiences of sexual minority women aged 65 and older from rural areas, and to see how musical experiences may have impacted their identity. In this adapted case study, I conducted in-depth one-on-one interviews and constructed …

A Conductor's Analysis Of Selected Latin-Texted Compositions Of Joan Szymko, Hyunjin Kwak

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Joan Szymko (born in 1957) stands out as a notable female composer in the history of American Choral Music. Her extensive contributions to the choral music genre have left a profound impact. Szymko distinctively showcases her individual style in compositions, and for this study, five unaccompanied settings with Latin text have been chosen. These compositions include Ave Maria (1999), Ubi Caritas (1999), Hodie (2000), O Lux Beatissima (2011), and Et in Terra Pax(2002). The analysis of these selected pieces will focus on two main subjects. Firstly, it aims to identify consistent aspects of Szymko’s compositional style, exploring five key …

The Trombone In Wind Band: An Analysis Of Excerpts From Seminal Works By Dr. David R. Holsinger, Kyle Aaron Davidson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The preparation of excerpts from the orchestral canon is a standard part of musical pedagogy. For trombones, the “standard, first-round” excerpts come from a selection of orchestral masterworks, including works such as Mozart’s Requiem, Ravel’s Bolero, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, and Saint-Saëns’ Third Symphony. Such excerpts are often used for wind band auditions despite being rarely, if ever, performed in a wind band setting. Rather than only learning excerpts written for an orchestral setting, the author proposes that excerpts from music written for wind band be used as well.

Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive overview of …

How Spirituals Influenced Both Resistance To Nazis And Civil Rights Protests, Chandi Plummer

Theses and Dissertations--Music

How have American Negro Spirituals inspired later generations of oppressed and marginalized people? Which songs of suffering and hope were particularly poignant in providing courage and inspiration? Questions such as these sparked my research journey, reaching a crescendo during a lecture recital on November 10, 2023, and now culminating in a dissertation.

Spirituals inspired Albert Franklin Fisher and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in New York City in 1930 during the Harlem Renaissance and traveled (via phonograph and music books) with Bonhoeffer to Nazi Germany during World War II. In America, spirituals influenced Myles and Zilphia Horton, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, …

Expert Perceptions Of Needs Of Pregnant Individuals With Substance Use Disorder In Kentucky: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Emma Foret Latham

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Substance misuse is a pandemic with far reaching effects on those personally affected, their families, and their communities. Kentucky has one of the highest rates of substance use disorder (SUD) in the country, and most research has focused on how to help men in recovery. There is very little research regarding how to support pregnant individuals with SUD. The purpose of this qualitative thesis was to identify the perceived needs of pregnant individuals with SUD, define characteristics of effective care, and learn how music therapists can support this population in substance use rehabilitation settings from the perspectives of experienced professionals. …

Ecuadorian Vocal Anthology In Four Rhythms, Wagner Mauricio Pástor Pazmiño Dr.

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Ecuador is a pluricultural and multilingual territory with four natural regions, several musical genres, and interpretations. Amazon, Galápagos, Mountain Range, and Coastal region. In the following dissertation, the author develops concepts of four traditional rhythms, their composers, and harmonic and phonetic characteristics from the mountain range region of his homeland, Ecuador.

The present document is a descriptive study of vocal Andean music and the application of the operatic style in classical vocal technique for performance practice.

The dissertation will support a lecture recital to fulfill the doctoral program's requirement in voice performance from the University of Kentucky.

Blending European And Latin Sounds: A Study Of French Horn Repertoire In Mexico, Aj Bernal

Theses and Dissertations--Music

As a first generation Mexican-American, it is crucial that I advocate and promote music of the culture I grew up in. This project aims to unearth Mexican compositional techniques that derive from the fusion of European and Indigenous roots in an effort to promote diversity within the realm of Western Classical music. Music in Mexico is characterized by a unique blend of indigenous rhythms, European classical structures, and regional folk influences. This project will discuss how the bold timbre of the French horn intertwines with traditional Mexican and indigenous melodies, rhythms, and forms that create a unique style. The horn’s …

Sculpting Time: A Performance Guide To Four Fragments Of Time By Marcus Siqueira, Luis Felipe Vargas Magdaleno De Moraes

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation investigates the musical and phenomenological aspects of Four Fragments of Time by Marcus Siqueira (b. 1974) and provides a performance guide for this work. Furthermore, this dissertation analyzes previous guitar works by the composer, seeking to understand Siqueira’s compositional idiosyncrasies and to provide context for the interpretation of Four Fragments of Time. This dissertation includes a biography of the composer, an analysis of the compositional process of Four Fragments of Time, an analysis of the recurrent idiomatic procedures in Siqueira’s guitar works, and an overview of the collaborative process between the composer and the author. Additionally, an analysis …

Conceptual Blending: A Singer’S Analysis Of Libby Larsen’S Try Me, Good King: Last Words Of The Wives Of Henry Viii And A Conversation With The Composer, Kelsey Paige Ann Loeslie

Theses and Dissertations--Music

American composer Libby Larsen is celebrated for her versatility and expertise in crafting intricate text-music relationships, notably exemplified in her song cycle Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII. This research explores Larsen's innovative compositional techniques in this cycle using Cross-Domain Mapping and Conceptual Blending Theory. Drawing from Lawrence Zbikowski's work, the study employs Conceptual Integration Networks to analyze Larsen's music, revealing the intricate interplay between text and music. By synthesizing these methodologies, the research comprehensively examines Larsen's song cycle, enhancing our understanding of her composition both from a music theory perspective and from a …

Border Bones – Between Borders: A Performer’S Guide To The Formation Of A Music Ensemble, Commissioning, And Recording, Juan Saldivar Jr

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Border Bones, a trombone duo formed in 2023, is committed to encouraging marginalized and underrepresented composers from Mexico and the United States. In its first project, Border Bones commissioned ten new works for the trombone repertoire. The focus and representation of this projected included Mexican, female, and LGBTQ+ composers. Once commissioned, Border Bones recorded these works through New Branch Records and released them as an album titled, Between Borders.

This dissertation is a performer’s guide to forming an ensemble, commissioning new works, and recording an album. It also includes interviews with well-known individuals from the music industry that have commissioned, …

A Practice-Led Investigation Into Applying The Pianistic Qualities Of Guitarist Lenny Breau’S Artificial Harmonics To A Contemporary Music Setting, Joshua Luke Fairweather

Theses : Honours

Canadian jazz guitarist Lenny Breau (1941-1984) has long been revered for his innovative style and stellar approach to technique on the instrument. In his short career, he developed a reputation for emulating musical traits typically only associated with the piano. A key technique that allowed him to achieve this was his signature take on artificial harmonics, a guitar technique involving the displacement of a note by silencing a string’s fundamental frequency and isolating one of its overtones. Breau thoroughly explored this technique as a soloist over a range of jazz repertoire, but he was rarely heard playing outside of this …

The Early String Chamber Music Of Agnes Zimmermann, Miranda Dyskin

Theses : Honours

This dissertation focusses on the early string chamber music of German-English composer and pianist Agnes Zimmermann (1847-1925), written whilst she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Whilst almost unknown today, Zimmermann was one of the finest pianists of the late[1]Nineteenth Century, appearing throughout Europe both as a concerto soloist and as a distinguished chamber music collaborator. She was also an accomplished composer, writing piano pieces, songs, music for the church and, especially, chamber music. Her models were the great Germanic figures of the Nineteenth Century, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

This dissertation examines two …

Steve Grossman, The Catalyst: A Practice-Led Research Investigation Into Developing A Chromatic Approach To Improvisation, Joshua Parker

Theses : Honours

Steve Grossman was a tenor saxophonist from Brooklyn, New York, who passed away in 2020, leaving a catalogue of recordings and improvisations that are largely overlooked and under-appreciated by the mainstream jazz culture. Inspired heavily by the modal and free jazz improvisations of John Coltrane during his later period (which heavily utilised a chromatic approach to generate intensity), Grossman developed his own unique and powerful approach to the post-Coltrane style. This voice began to solidify from a young age, as is evident on recordings during the 1970s, such as Miles Davis’ Black Beauty Live at Fillmore West (1973) and Live …

Omphale, Phryné, Antigone, Hélène, Déjanire: ‘Le Sexe Faible’ In Camille Saint-Saëns’S Greece-Inspired Works, Arun Rao

Doctoral

This thesis examines the convergence of the fin-de-siècle revival of Greek antiquity and the denigration of women brought on by the patriarchal structures of the Second Empire and the Third Republic in five works composed by Camille Saint-Saëns between 1870 and 1910: Omphale, Phryné, Antigone, Hélène, and Déjanire. Its main purpose is to reveal the compositional strategies he devised in order to effectively give each of these title characters the musical upper hand over their male counterparts. That these five works were significant landmarks in his exceptionally long career is attested by the numerous articles he published around the time …

Voices Of The Feis Ceoil: An Exploration Of The Association’S Operational And Choral Networks, 1897–1932, Helen Doyle

Doctoral

The Feis Ceoil or ‘festival of music’ is a large-scale annual competitive music event. It has provided huge stimulus to all facets of Irish musical life in its almost 130-year lifespan. This study examines the first four decades of the festival which was inaugurated during the Gaelic Revival, a period of cultural nationalism that saw the development and celebration of Irish art, literature, language, and music. As this is the first sustained project centred upon the Feis Ceoil archival collection, detailed excavation of which has not been undertaken before now, it draws on a large amount of previously unexplored primary …

Tracing The Contributions Of Django Reinhardt And Charlie Christian In The Evolution Of The Guitar In Jazz, Darach O'Laoire

Doctoral

The objective of this project is to examine the music of Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian with a view to analysing the origins and development of innovative harmonic and melodic material within their work. Having established the musical context in Europe and the United States from which both musicians developed, their musical styles are traced and analysed. The analytic framework used is one based on the organising principles underpinning the jazz solo of the time (circa 1920 to 1940). In examining Reinhardt’s and Christian’s musical outputs, the emphasis is put on identifying musical material which is anomalous to, or existing …

Adult Music Education: Negotiating New Musical Learning Identities In Adulthood, Marian Mcrory

Doctoral

This study presented an investigation into the field of adult music education. The inspiration for this research stemmed from a perceived need for a uniquely adult learning programme which evolved into two programmes, Allegro for Adults I and Allegro for Adults II. The concept of this programme also involved the adult learning environment which was based in a music conservatoire in a university. Diversity in the curricular content was an important consideration and although the pedagogical approach was accelerated in nature, gaining knowledge and understanding underpinned the skills-based and compositional elements.

Piano Wisdom From Two Great Masters: Heinrich Neuhaus And Walter Gieseking, Xiaohan Hu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the pedagogical insights and piano techniques of Heinrich Neuhaus (1888-1964) and Walter Gieseking (1895-1956), two iconic figures in 20th-century piano performance and education. Through a detailed analysis of their writings and teaching methods, the research highlights their shared focus on the foundational principles of piano technique, as well as their unique contributions to interpretation and musical expression.

Neuhaus’s The Art of Piano Playing provides an in-depth discussion on the importance of artistic imagery, posture, sound production, and emotional depth in performance. Gieseking, along with his former teacher Karl Leimer, emphasizes ear training, mental visualization, and technical precision …

Through The Keyhole, Anna Higgins

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Through the Keyhole derives inspiration from the lyrical styles of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. The transformational form of the piece follows an organic growth process leading up to a true climax. The piece stops, yet it does not end, leaving the listener to feel incomplete. Two melodic themes shape the piece alongside timbral developments. The harmony helps to portray the emotional journey of the piece, changing slightly throughout.

“Sounds Like” Redemption? On The Musicality Of Species And The Species Of Musicality, Tyler Yamin, Alice Rudge

Faculty Journal Articles

Popular and academic studies of music frequently claim that human musicality arose from the so-called ‘natural world’ of non-human species. And amid the anxieties produced by the Anthropocene, it is thought that the possibility of reconnecting with the natural world through a renewed appreciation of music’s links with nature may usher in a new era of posthuman environmental consciousness, offering repair and redemption. To critique these claims, we trace how notions of ‘musicality’ have been applied to or denied from non-human entities across diverse disciplines since the late nineteenth century. We conclude that such debates reinforce the separation that they …

Saxophone: A Deeper Understanding, Toree Fogle

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to provide a comprehensive background on the creation and evolution of the saxophone, as well as to examine the acoustic factors that contribute to its function. Beyond that, the project will assess differences within the saxophone family (including soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones) and between major brands (including Selmer, Yamaha, and Yanagisawa). The project will be largely constructed from previous research, in addition to personal experiences. The end result will consist of a written report that individuals-especially future saxophone students-will be able to use to expand their knowledge and understanding of the saxophone.

The Relationship Between Music Educators And Stress, Sarah Plain

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to gather information from currently practicing music educators in a range of specialties about the relationship between their working lives and personal lives. Does their working life affect them at a level where they cannot decompress? Do they have a healthy relationship with their career and manage their workload well? Information will be gathered about the conditions surrounding educators to gather context for why they have the work-life balance they have described. After measuring and reporting how music educators are balancing their careers against their personal lives, potential solutions will be described to help …

Past What You Can See: Innocence, Experience, And Realization In Stephen Sondheim’S Into The Woods, Brock Adam Terry

Theses and Dissertations--Music

A deeper appreciation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods may be achieved by examining the work under a new magnifying glass. After a synopsis of background information of the musical itself, the assertion is made that Into the Woods shows three basic stages of life that occur in a cycle: innocence, experience, and realization. This is supported by the proposition that the idea of innocence is represented by a recurring five-note motive (commonly referred to as the “bean theme”), and that the ideas of experience and realization are revealed through particular musical numbers. The overarching entity that binds the work …

Jakub Polaczyk And His Kentucky Bluegrasp, Hyangwoo Lih

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation examines the contemporary composer, Jakub Polaczyk and his recent work, Kentucky Bluegrasp for Solo Viola. The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I serves as an introduction. Chapter II presents interviews with Polaczyk conducted via Zoom and email. Chapter III explores two parts: Jakub Polaczyk’s early years of life, and education and career. Chapter IV, “Influences,” is further divided into three parts: Slavic music, Polish, heritages, and Diverse inspirations. Chapter V, “Unique Artistic Language,” delves into five parts: Exploration of Timbre, Unique Instrumentation, Extended Techniques, Cross-Cultural Influences, and Other Versatile Sources of Inspiration. Chapter VI, focuses on …

Ben Moore's "Ode To A Nightingale" For Baritone Voice And Piano: A Performer's Guide, Jeremy Kelly

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This project is a performance guide of Ben Moore’s (b. 1960) Ode to a Nightingale (2014), a song cycle for baritone set to the poetry of John Keats. Song cycles are an important fixture in classical voice performance, as well as academia, and there is a need to promote new works by American composers. Moore’s Ode to a Nightingale is a unique contribution to the song cycle catalog as it sets John Keats’s eight stanzas of the singular poem to eight separate songs, something that is exceedingly rare in practice. Combining analysis of Moore’s songs in Ode to a Nightingale …

Mapping The Double-Tongue: Incorporating Body Mapping Into The Double-Tonguing Learning Process, Camilla Yoder

Theses and Dissertations--Music

As the articulation technique of double-tonguing is becoming more necessary and desirable for oboists to learn, this document explores the benefits of incorporating Body Mapping methods and kinesthetic awareness exercises into the double-tonguing learning process. These methods of body exploration are applied only to the areas of the body deemed highly relevant to accomplishing double-tonguing: the atlanto-occipital joint, the temporo-mandibular joint, the throat, the tongue, and the roof of the mouth. To explore the effectiveness of this approach, an Institutional Review Board approved research study was conducted, in which eight oboists learned double-tonguing with a preliminary iteration of this method. …

Mediating Authenticity: An Ethnographic Portrait Of Experience At U.S. Popular Music Festivals, Elizabeth Navarra Varnado

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This ethnographic study of U.S. popular music festivals subverts the impression of festivals as strictly ‘presentational’ live music events by utilizing a nuanced approach that is grounded in ethnographic fieldwork, historical analysis, and participant interviews.

Interlocutors, drawn from the author’s personal network of festival attendees, musicians, and promoters, reflect on “particularly positive festival moments,” the social and emotional benefits of festivals, and the corporeality of festival aesthetics. Discourse and published media play a vital role in festival participants’ perception of the festival field and their place within it; therefore, this study draws inspiration from the tripartite focus of iconic festival …