Music Commons^™

A Survey Of Elementary And Secondary Music Educators’ Professional Background, Teaching Responsibilities And Job Satisfaction In The United States, Wendy K. Matthews, Karen Koner

Research & Issues in Music Education

The focus of this exploratory study was to examine the current trends of K – 12 music educators in the United States regarding their (a) professional background, (b) classroom teaching responsibilities, and (c) job satisfaction. Participants included seven thousand four hundred and sixty-three (N = 7,463) currently employed music teachers who were members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) during the 2015 – 2016 academic year. To assess the variables, participants responded to a researcher created 49-item Music Educator Survey for K – 12 Teachers. Results indicate that overall, K – 12 music educators were predominately Caucasian …

“A Door Left Open”: Tracing Shakespeare’S Influence In Richard Wagner’S Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Lindsay Elizabeth Bachman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the Gesamtkunstwerk, the “total work of art,” German opera composer Richard Wagner sought the perfect artistic synthesis of music and dramatic theater. Crucial to this vision was the idea that music and drama should be equally well constructed. However, while a considerable amount of Wagner scholarship has focused on the music Wagner composed, less has explored his methods for creating complex and psychologically rich characters. Richard Wagner the librettist spent considerable time and effort reading and studying the works of William Shakespeare, as evidenced by his wife’s journals, the contents of his library at Bayreuth, and his personal …

Identifying French Compositional Styles: Subtlety Through Familiarity, Brandon Kinsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine two French berceuses for violin and piano to identify common compositional traits, specifically subtlety and familiarity in rhythm and harmony. Both Fauré's Berceuse (1878-9) and Ravel's Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré (1922) are representative of small form pieces written by French composers; in addition, the relationship of the two works is particularly striking as Fauré was Ravel's teacher. The similarities of genre and instrumentation, coupled with 40 years of separation provides a unique setting to examine aspects of French compositional practices over time. The introduction of my thesis outlines aspects of diversity …

Magical And Mysterious Resonances: Structural Principles In E. T. A. Hoffmann's Kreisler Works And Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, Alison Elizabeth Redman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), borrows its title from E. T. A. Hoffmann's set of essays concerning his literary alter ego, Johannes Kreisler. The character of Kreisler is most prominently featured in two of Hoffmann's works: the Kreisleriana essays (1814-1815) and his final novel, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (1820-1822). This thesis explores the influence of E. T. A. Hoffmann on Schumann's Kreisleriana, focusing on how structural principles derived from Hoffmann's Kreisler works--duality, creating and blurring boundaries, fragmentation and irresolution, and circularity--are at work in Schumann's composition. While others have treated the relationship between …

Morgen : Melody For Soprano And Piano, Emmanuel M. Dubois

Emmanuel Dubois Compositions

Op. 48 : 1 score (ii + 3 pages) ; includes the poem "Morgen" by John Henry MacKay, in German.

The "Noble Savage" In American Music And Literature, 1790-1855, Jacob Mathew Somers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the aftermath of the War of 1812, America entered a period of unprecedented territorial expansion, economic growth, and political unity. During this time American intellectuals, writers, and musicians began to contemplate the possibility of a national high culture to match the country’s glorious social and political achievements. Newly founded periodicals urged American authors and artists to adopt national themes and materials to replace those imported from abroad, and for the first time Americans began producing their own literary, artistic, and musical works on a previously inconceivable scale. Though American writers and composers explored a wide range of “national themes,” …

Women's Hit Cheating Songs: Country Music And Feminist Change In American Society, 1962-2015, Madeline Rachel Morrow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines songs about cheating performed by women in country music that appeared on year-end country songs charts in Billboard magazine from 1962 through 2015. The study of a total of fifty qualifying songs included a focus on their lyrical and musical content, the performers' personae and careers, and the way the particular outside factors of feminism and changing gender relations in American society may have influenced them. These songs do not show a purely linear progression of or emphasis on social change, in spite of country music's pride in conveying the truth about the lives of its songwriters, …

Usu Symphony Orchestra, Usu Symphony Orchestra, Sergio Bernal, John Miller, R. Dennis Hirst

All Music Department Programs

Special performance of the USU Symphony Orchestra honoring John Miller as a special guest performer, alongside faculty member R. Dennis Hirst. The program features these individuals' talents with the bassoon.

2017 School Of Music News, Wmu School Of Music

School of Music News

• PEN Trio to present new works for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and electronics
• Renowned trombonist to perform at WMU
• Stulberg silver medalist to perform with University Symphony Orchestra
• WMU baritone presents free recital of operatic excerpts
• Capitol Quartet to perform standard works, new music and jazz
• Technology-based music performance featured at WMU
• Accomplished trombonist Brad Edwards to perform in free recital at WMU
• Vocal supergroup MOSS to perform with WMU jazz ensembles
• Trio performs with WMU emerita in free concert
• Prism Quartet to perform free recital and with Symphonic Band
• Electric guitarists take the Dalton Center Recital Hall stage
• MacArthur Genius …

College Of The Arts 17/18 Season, Department Of Theatre And Dance, John J. Cali School Of Music

2017-2018

No abstract provided.

A Former Student And Colleague Remembers Gil Scott-Heron, Linwood Gato Martinez-Bentley

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Music From Around The World, Flute Choir, Nancy Toone

All Music Department Programs

A performance of flutes, piano, and percussion, playing various music styles from across the globe.

The Legacy Of Gil Scott-Heron, Regennia N. Williams

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Encountering Greek American Soundscapes, Anthony Shay

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

For this chapter I will look at Greek American music making through the eyes of a non-Greek, my younger self, who enjoyed and sought out this musical tradition for over fifty years, primarily as a folk dance enthusiast. For the international recreational dancer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Greek music has rich melodic lines and many different rhythmic patterns (5/8; 7/8; 9/8, etc.) that attracted many individuals of Anglo American background like me to learn these dances, especially in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s when recreational and performance folk dance constituted a major leisure-time activity for hundreds of thousands …

Music Of The “Cult Of Whitman”: Charles Villiers Stanford's Elegiac Ode, Jacob Bird

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Between 1884 and 1914, English musical taste was completing a profound shift from the sentimentality of light drawing room ballads and popular songs toward more serious-minded works. Professionalized composers sought to express high moral and humanistic ideals— undoubtedly English—as opposed to continental values. One source for their works was the poetry of the American, Walt Whitman (1819-1892). Whitman had been one figure in the English-American cultural war which was waged since the early 19th century. Whitman was thought by most English as not a ‘proper poet’ because his works fall so far outside their tradition, thus making his poetry an …

Music Education From Birth To Five: An Examination Of Early Childhood Educators’ Music Teaching Practices, Jonathan Bolduc, Melanie Evrard

Research & Issues in Music Education

Children from birth to five are generally enthusiastic about music. However, because many early-childhood educators (ECEs) feel that they have insufficient knowledge to foster musical development, music education practices are not equivalent across ECEs. This study aimed to identify and determine the frequency of music activities used by ECEs. In all, 108 French Canadian ECEs (N = 108 women) from mixed areas (urban and rural) participated in the study. All participants completed an online questionnaire addressing their music education practices. The data analysis considered three profiles: 1) ECEs with little musical knowledge, 2) ECEs with good musical knowledge, and …

Predictive Ability From Eportfolios Of Student Achievement Associated With Professional Teaching Standards: An Exploratory Case Study, Phillip Payne, Frederick Burrack

Research & Issues in Music Education

This exploratory case study, focused on a music teacher preparation program, examined the coursework ePortfolios of pre-service music teachers to determine if any parts of the ePortfolio process predicted teaching effectiveness in the classroom during the student teaching semester. Sixty-five undergraduate pre-service music teachers made up the sample of the study. Data collected for each student consisted of coursework ePortfolios, summative student teaching assessments from both elementary and secondary placements, and selected licensure-related requirements as mandated by the state board of education. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant relationships between ePortfolio performance and student teaching assessments. Specifically, student teacher reflections (as …

Children’S Musical Empowerment In Two Composition Task Designs, Elizabeth Bucura, Julieanne Weissberg

Research & Issues in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary students’ creating processes and perspectives through composition. Two fourth-grade classes took part in this action research, which consisted of creating four compositions—two with acoustic instruments and two with computer software. For each of the two sound sources, the first composition was written with specified constraints and the second with freedom. Research questions included: 1) how do students respond to composition tasks with differing levels of freedom and constraint; and 2) how does composing in different group sizes impact composition? Data included field notes, recordings, student interviews, and response forms. Major themes …

S.S. Schatten Schmidt, Emma Albers-Lopez

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This poem attempts to display the horrors that prisoners in Auschwitz endured, but also the internal struggles of S.S. guards. It has a large focus on music in the camp.

This poem has a personal connection to my family. My great-grandmother did steal Nazi flags to make clothes for her six children. The seventh child was killed in the way that is explained in the poem. That seventh child is where I received my name "Emma". It was a privilege to honor my namesake through this poem.

To See In Color, Sarah Rebban

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

No abstract provided.

Art Infested Water, January 2017, Nova Southeastern University Department Of Performing And Visual Arts

Department of Performing and Visual Arts Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Practical And Philosophical Reflections Regarding Aural Skills Assessment, Stanley V. Kleppinger

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Assessment in aural skills courses is a tricky intersection of instructors’ expectations, students’ skills in audiation, students’ perceptions and anxieties regarding assessment and performance, and the peculiarities of evaluative instruments. After several years in my teaching position at a large university, I became increasingly dissatisfied with assessment in the second-year aural skills program I coordinate. In short, I was displeased both with the nature of the student activities we evaluated and with the ways in which success on those activities was measured. Students’ and instructors’ frustrations convinced me of the need to make assessment more obviously relevant, less intimidating to …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Music Therapists’ Experiences When Working With Actively Dying Hospice Patients: An Analysis Of Words, Mandalas, And Music, Erin I. Fox

Theses and Graduate Projects

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of three music therapists when working with actively dying hospice patients. The participants spoke of their experiences, drew mandalas, and improvised music. Through the lens of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis the interview transcripts were coded two main themes emerged: clinical experiences and personal experiences. Subthemes under clinical experiences included use of ongoing assessment, clinical reasoning, clinical use of music to meet patient needs, roles as music therapist, facing challenges in the work, and working with patients’ spirituality. Subthemes under personal experiences included awareness of needs for self-care, physical and sensory experiences, emotions and new …

The Influence Of Jazz Elements In Don Freund's Sky Scrapings For Alto Saxophone And Piano, Wade Howles

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Jazz influence surfaces within traditional repertoire for the saxophone more often than other instruments. This is due to the saxophone’s close association with the jazz idiom. Of particular interest is the use of jazz elements in Don Freund’s Sky Scrapings for alto saxophone and piano. Often, while studying a jazz-influenced work, students and professors alike may not recognize the importance of these elements appropriately. Because of this, their performance loses a portion of the stylistic nuance the composer intended while writing the work. This lack of recognition and loss of stylistic nuance is commonly due to a lack of …

Play American, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Just seventy years ago, a Fortune poll reported that 62 percent of Americans listened to classical music, 40 percent could identify Arturo Toscanini as an orchestral conductor, and nine million listeners (11 percent of American households) tuned in to weekly Metropolitan Opera broadcasts from New York City. Astonishing. The “grand orchestra,” wrote Charles Edward Russell in 1927, “has become our sign of honor among the nations.” (excerpt)

Arvo Part, Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen: A Transcription For Wind Ensemble, Julian Hartridge Sconyers Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Amongst late twentieth and early twenty-first century music, Arvo Pärt’s compositional style is a unique musical voice and has led to the composer becoming the most performed living classical composer for multiple years. His unmistakable tintinnabuli style is often labeled as part of the post-modernist movement, the minimalist genre, sacred minimalism, or even as neo-medieval. Despite any label, his music is as distinctive as it is revolutionary, and many of his works are considered cornerstone works of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries. However, despite the popularity of his works, most of his music is written for choir, orchestra, small chamber …

Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Previous research suggests that individuals with a vocal pitch imitation deficit (VPID, a.k.a. "poor-pitch singers") experience less vivid auditory images than accurate imitators (pfordresher & halpern, 2013), based on self-report. in the present research we sought to test this proposal directly by having accurate and VPID imitators produce or recognize short melodies based on their original form (untransformed), or after mentally transforming the auditory image of the melody. For the production task, group differences were largest during the untransformed imitation task. importantly, producing mental transformations of the auditory image degraded performance for all participants, but were relatively more disruptive to …

That Note Sounds Wrong! Age-Related Effects In Processing Of Musical Expectation, Andrea R. Halpern, Ioanna Zioga, Martin Shankleman, Job Lindsen, Marcus T. Pearce, Joydeep Bhattacharya

Faculty Journal Articles

Part of musical understanding and enjoyment stems from the ability to accurately predict what note (or one of a small set of notes) is likely to follow after hearing the first part of a melody. Selective violation of expectations can add to aesthetic response but radical or frequent violations are likely to be disliked or not comprehended. In this study we investigated whether a lifetime of exposure to music among untrained older adults would enhance their reaction to unexpected endings of unfamiliar melodies. Older and younger adults listened to melodies that had expected or unexpected ending notes, according to Western …

Musical Expertise Has Minimal Impact On Dual Task Performance, Gianna Cocchini, Maria Serena Filardi, Marcela Crhonkova, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Studies investigating effect of practice on dual task performance have yielded conflicting findings, thus supporting different theoretical accounts about the organisation of attentional resources when tasks are performed simultaneously. Because practice has been proven to reduce the demand of attention for the trained task, the impact of long-lasting training on one task is an ideal way to better understand the mechanisms underlying dual task decline in performance. Our study compared performance during dual task execution in expert musicians compared to controls with little if any musical experience. Participants performed a music recognition task and a visuo-spatial task separately (single task) …

Audience Reactions To Repeating A Piece On A Concert Programme, Andrea R. Halpern, Chloe H.K. Chan, Daniel Müllensiefen, John Sloboda

Faculty Journal Articles

Repetition of a piece on a concert programme is a well-established, but uncommon performance practice. Musicians have presumed that repetition benefits audience enjoyment and understanding but no research has examined this. In two naturalistic and one lab study, we examined audience reaction to repeated live performances of contemporary pieces played by the same ensemble. In all studies, we asked listeners to rate their enjoyment and willingness to hear the piece again (Affective), and perceived understanding and predicted memory of the piece (Cognitive). In Study 3, we assessed immediate recognition memory of each excerpt. In all studies, Cognitive variables increased significantly. …