Music Commons^™

The Transnational Guqin Revival In Flushing, New York, Tyler L. Burba

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the guqin 3,000-year-old history the instrument nearly faced extinction in the Twentieth Century. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which featured the guqin as a cultural symbol of Chinese identity, there has been a revival of the guqin and its traditional repertoire. This study looks at a small guqin community in New York City's Flushing neighborhood, centered around Master Shi-hua Judy Yeh, and how transnational students are taking advantage of transnational organizations, like the New York Guqin School, to ease the transition into life in New York.

Preserving Performance Power Classifying And Publishing Notes Of Douglas Bush, Krissa Hendricks, Don Cook

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Great performers often rely on the wisdom of other great performers to inform their musical interpretations. Understanding historical context and expert interpretations can not only make a performance more historically accurate but also more engaging. Because most of the music that performers play originates from deceased composers, performers rely heavily on secondary sources to give extramusical information about the pieces they play. Dr. Douglas Bush shared his love of music throughout his 35 years as a faculty member in BYU’s School of Music before his death in October 2013. A Bach enthusiast and organist extraordinaire, he took myriad notes about …

Grime Launches A Revolution In Youth Politics, Monique Charles

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

"The relationship between grime and politics has been an interesting and evolving one. Grime is a genre of music that emerged at the turn of the 21st century in London’s inner boroughs. Early on, its sound was most closely likened to US hip hop and rap. But those in the know appreciate grime’s deep connections to its UK predecessors, which include music from the British underground scene such as garage and jungle, in addition to Jamaican dancehall, electronic/experimental music, and British punk. The grime 'sound' developed as it grew, eventually being acknowledged as its own genre at the MOBOs in …

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, …

Commencement Concert, June 9, 2017, Lawrence University

Conservatory of Music Concert Programs

Memorial Chapel

Tremors: A Musical Exploration Of Modern Faith, Asher Bay, Christian Asplund

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Under the guidance of Professor Christian Asplund, I composed and produced a concept EP addressing the complexity of modern faith. The purpose of the project was to validate trials of faith that often are otherwise unspoken in our community and to encourage people to continue authentically seeking truth, despite the pain that often transpires. The EP contains seven tracks totaling twelve minutes of music. Its Internet release is scheduled for the beginning of 2017 and will be accompanied by a listening event.

An Analysis Of State Music Education Certification Practices In The United States, Allyssa Pehrson, Brittany May

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to compile relevant information for music educators about certification practices of each of the United States and the District of Columbia from resources available fall 2015, and to examine the commonalities and differences among the state policies. Specifically we identified the following for each state: (1) Content areas included under the certification in music teaching. (2) Age-level designations for certification in music teaching. (3) What tests are required for certification in music teaching? (4) Does the state have reciprocity for various certificates? (6) Is there an alternative certification program available for those without education …

The “Bitter Sweetness” Of Hybridity: Being A Bicultural Greek Australian Musician, Renee Georgoulas, Jane E. Southcott

The Qualitative Report

“Calista” is a bilingual, bicultural Greek-Australian musician in Melbourne, Victoria who explores and enacts her bicultural identity by musicking (making music). This single case study explores the formation and development of hybridized identity which is a complex lifelong process that may generate tensions for an individual that changes across the lifespan. There are strengths and challenges for those traversing different cultures. This study focuses on a bicultural identity formed by personal, musical and cultural contexts. Calista enacts her bimusicality in different musical genres and in different modes of musical engagement. Data were collected by semi-structured interview and by reference to …

A Closer Exploration Of Therapeutic Relationship Through A Musical Mediuem: An Arts-Based Research Study, Michael Kelliher

Theses & Dissertations

Arts-based research is emerging and becoming prominent in music therapy. The intention of this arts-based research study was to explore, experience, and gain awareness of the therapeutic relationship of a client and therapist engaged in music therapy through client and therapist journals. This study looked at several elements of artistic expression of music therapy, such as the aesthetic components of verbal journaling and musical portraits. The journals were mixed to create songs that illuminated the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist. The relationship between words and music were analyzed aesthetically to explore the congruence and conflict between the harmony and …

Ruth: A Bible Storatorio, Lydia Hu Chaffee

Honors Projects

“Ruth: A Bible Storatorio” is a combination of a narrated bible story and sung oratorio, designed for youth and adults alike to perform and enjoy. It emphasizes the theme of welcoming the stranger into a loving, God-honoring community. The Bible Storatorio contains multicultural folk tunes as well as original songs, arranged and composed for choral and solo songs, set to the charming text of the book of Ruth. It is quite natural that I was inspired to write this Bible Storatorio as an undergraduate honors project at Seattle Pacific University, since it combines several of my interests and passions as …

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 …

The Firebird, Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra, June 2, 2017, Lawrence University

Conservatory of Music Concert Programs

Memorial Chapel

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 …

Between Speech & Song: Clarifying The Sprechstimme Of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Sara M. Paar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since its creation, the technique of Sprechstimme has fascinated the audiences, performers, and composers of twentieth century music. What is it? How is it done? How should it be notated? At the fore of investigations into these questions has been Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, the work in which Schoenberg debuted this new technique. Much has been written in regard to Schoenberg’s creation and use of Sprechstimme, as well as his own exploration of the speech/song continuum. Composers, conductors, and performers have all tried to make sense of the notation, instructions, and performances Schoenberg left behind. Despite this, confusion, …

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 …

"Toccatas And Arias": Analysis And Historical Context Of Vivian Fine’S Last Work For Solo Piano, Manon Hutton-Dewys

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Vivian Fine’s Toccatas and Arias (1987) is an important work both in Fine’s compositional output and in the history of ultramodern music. Through her close associations with Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell, and others, Vivian Fine was very much a product of the musical scene that developed in New York in the 1920s and early 30s. Toccatas and Arias, Fine’s last piece for solo piano shows that Fine continued to write in the ultramodern/dissonant counterpoint style throughout her life. Its characteristics also demonstrate that, contrary to music-historical writings that suggest such music essentially died out in the mid-twentieth century, Fine …

Schoenberg's "Phantasy" Form, Lisa A. Tipton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Scholars have long debated the form of Schoenberg’s Phantasy for Violin and Piano accompaniment, Op. 47, his last instrumental work. The numerous accounts (by Rufer, Lewin, Lester, Hasty, Hyde, and others) have variously proposed a pseudo-sonata, a three-part, and a four-part form. This dissertation suggests that the piece is best thought of as a multi-layered four-part form, in which the thematic pattern ABB¹A¹ is found at every structural level, from the phrase up to the entire work. An intriguing compositional sketch found on the Schoenberg Center’s website inspired the exploration of a four-part form with elements …

Jazz Small Groups, (Combos 4 & 5), June 1, 2017, Lawrence University

Conservatory of Music Concert Programs

Harper Hall

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 …

Movement, Music, Feminism: An Analysis Of Movement-Music Interactions And The Articulation Of Masculinity In Tyler, The Creator’S ‘Yonkers’ Music Video, Maeve Sterbenz

Music: Faculty Publications

Traditionally, explicit discussion of listeners’ bodies and personal experiences does not often appear in the realm of music analytical observations. One of the reasons for this omission is the masculinist bias that, prior to the 1990s, characterized much of the field, and that tended to dismiss metaphorical language, overtly subjective musical descriptions, and the role of the body in musical practices all at once. A primary goal of feminist music theory has been to combat this bias by acknowledging many different kinds of bodily experiences as vital to music analysis. In this paper, I suggest an analytical approach that examines …

The Story And The Song: Examining Worship In The Tabernacle In Relation To The Gospel And Postmodern Evangelism, Debra Wilcox

Masters Theses

By examining tabernacle worship and its connection to the Gospel, worship leaders may find effective lyrical contexts for reaching the post-modern unbeliever. The priestly responsibility of the worship leader is to carry out the job description of helping people to worship God. As worship leaders select music for worship, they should take the opportunity to teach context and select songs that have parallels to tabernacle worship. In example, the significance of “entering into” worship is a reference to the high priest entering into the Most Holy Place. Worship pastors can approach the task of connecting postmodernists to God by examining …

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 …

My Beloved Man: The Letters Of Benjamin Britten And Peter Pears Ed. By Vicki P. Stroeher, Nicholas Clark, Jude Brimmer (Review), Justin Vickers

Faculty Publications - Music

No abstract provided.

My Fair Lady, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

2017 Summer Theatre

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison.

My Fair Lady. (2017, July 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:22, September 1, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Fair_Lady&oldid=789985734

Understanding Music Track Popularity In A Social Network, Jing Ren, Robert J. Kauffman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Thousands of music tracks are uploaded to the Internet every day through websites and social networks that focus on music. While some content has been popular for decades, some tracks that have just been released have been ignored. What makes a music track popular? Can the duration of a music track’s popularity be explained and predicted? By analysing data on the performance of a music track on the ranking charts, coupled with the creation of machine-generated music semantics constructs and a variety of other track, artist and market descriptors, this research tests a model to assess how track popularity and …

Teaching Music In The Reformed/Calvinist Tradition, John Macinnis

Pro Rege

Editor’s Note: This article (© 2017 by the author) was submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). It was first published in Religions on March 31, 2017, in the Special Issue Teaching the Reformations and was edited for that publication by academic editor Christopher Metress.

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 …

Law Library Blog (June 2017): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Eastern Band Of Cherokee Powwow Music In Music Education, Glenda Motley

Masters Theses

The Virginia education curriculum for fourth grade social studies requires the study of American Indian history and culture. Motivated by research questions, this project proposes a music education curriculum that enhances these social studies lessons through the inclusion of American Indian music. The music of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Cherokee, North Carolina is appropriate for teaching students about this culture. The literature reviewed covers early American Indian history followed by the history of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Resources on the role of women are also explored in society and music. Literature examined on the …

Jazz Small Groups (Combos 1, 2 & 3), May 31, 2017, Lawrence University

Conservatory of Music Concert Programs

Harper Hall