Music Commons^™

Observation And Analysis Of Undergraduate Applied Piano Lessons And Individual Practice Sessions, Fen-Fang Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify what practice strategies were presented by piano teachers in applied lessons and how their students practiced in subsequent practice sessions. Moreover, the study also attempted to identity what practice strategies and applications were associated with the students' performance improvement. Five university piano professors participated in this study. Each participant professor recruited two piano-major (BA, BM, BME) undergraduate students from his or her piano studio, with one student in the first or second year of college (as the lower-level), and the other one in the third or fourth year (as the upper-level). A …

Two Pieces For Bassoon By Dan Welcher: A Guide To Performance And Analysis, Including A Survey Of Welcher’S Chamber Music With Bassoon, Reed Aaron Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a performance guide that traces the compositional style of Dan Welcher, a well-known composer and former principal bassoonist of the Louisville Symphony and professor of bassoon at the University of Texas, through an examination of two works in which the bassoon is a prominent solo instrument: Concerto da Camera (1975) and The Wind Won’t Listen (2002). These works, a concerto and a chamber piece, span a period of almost 30 years in Welcher’s career. The study also includes a survey of other chamber music by Welcher involving the bassoon. It relates the two focal pieces to the …

Olivier Messiaen’S Couleurs De La Cité Céleste: A Conductor’S Guide, Michael Thomas King

Theses and Dissertations

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) was one of the leading composers of the twentieth century. He was renowned for developing his own personal style of composition of which he outlined in his Technique de mon Language Musical. This style includes the use of color chords, birdsong, plainchant, and Hindu and Greek rhythms. His compositions were written for, and championed by conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, and of course his primary artistic partner, pianist Yvonne Loriod.

Over the course of his compositional career, Messiaen wrote five works for winds and percussion. The first three works Oiseaux exotiques, Couleurs de …

Gestalt Principles In Ligeti’S Piano Etude “Desordre”, David William Batchelor

Theses and Dissertations

This document is a study of how Gestalt principles of organization are at work in “Désordre” (1985), the first etude in the first book of piano etudes by György Ligeti (1923–2006). After explaining how Gestalt principles can be applied to the analysis of music, the study presents an analysis of the etude in four main parts. The first part identifies elements of the composition that help the listener define boundaries between phrases, phrase groups, and sections. The second part discusses how foreground and background layers are articulated. The third part discusses the polytempo illusion. The fourth and final part identifies …

Teachers’ Observations Of 2-Year-Old Children’S Musical Vocalizations Elicited By Purposeful Silence Techniques, Kathryn Ward Reardon

Theses and Dissertations

With the intent of improving early childhood music development understanding, the purpose of this research was to examine young children’s music vocalizations. The guiding research question was: When a music teacher implemented purposeful silences while performing a song and a rhythm chant, what techniques encouraged vocalizations made by 2-year-old children as observed by music teachers and classroom teachers? I implemented a qualitative design utilizing participant observation techniques to investigate the research purpose and question of this study. Four teachers served as a panel of experts to provide observational data. I video recorded myself teaching music activities from Music Play (Valerio, …

A Technical Method For The High School String Classroom: Priorities And Presentation Of Essential Skills, Nicole Elizabeth Cody

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis and its accompanying appendices synthesize pedagogical information from classroom method books, classroom pedagogy texts and individual instrument methods presenting new manuals for technique acquisition on violin, viola, cello and double bass in the secondary orchestra classroom. After reviewing the literature, the following categories were determined to be most important for this level of student: 1) Finger Patterns/Tetrachord Exercises, 2) Scales, 3) Bowing, 4) Shifting, 5) Position Etudes and 6) Chorales/Tonal Development. This paper focuses on these categories reporting on how different texts teach the various skills and creating a guide that encourages both a vertical and horizontal understanding …

Starships, Gallifrey, Krypton, And Earth: Searching For The Hero Archetype In The Melodies Of Science Fiction And Superhero Films, James Wesley Talbot

Wayne State University Theses

The study of science fiction and superhero melodies is relatively new in the academic world of music theory. Analysis of hero archetypes found in Doctor Who, Star Trek (and its major motion pictures), Star Wars, and Superman provide excellent conduits for all students of music to access the hidden and overt musical meaning assigned to heroes. Realization of this study’s findings will feature interval tension and Schenkerian analysis, score reductions, and topic theory to provide perspective on how heroes are identified and perceived by directors, composers and audiences alike. Deryck Cooke, Leonard Ratner, and V. Kofi Agawu’s approach to thematic …

Birds Of A Feather (Les Oiseaux De Même Plumage): Dynamic Soundscapes Using Real-Time Manipulation Of Locally Relevant Birdsongs, William Walker, Brian Belet

Faculty Publications

This paper and live audio demonstration explores the capabilities of using Web Audio API as a digital audio workstation (DAW) to manipulate sounds from massive server-side databases. Sonic source material comes from a database of birdsongs recorded worldwide by volunteer recordists at xeno-canto.org. Sounds from xeno-canto are chosen to match recent, nearby bird sightings submitted by volunteer birders at eBird. The result is a virtual soundscape derived from the sounds of birds currently present in the user’s geographical region. Our client-server architecture delegates database queries and archival storage to the server, leaving the client to concentrate on the aesthetic context …

Graduate Recital In Viola, Nichelle Probst

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Nichelle Probst performed her graduate recital on Friday, April 24, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. in Davis Hall at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. This recital was given in partial fulfillment of requirements for her Master of Music degree, with an emphasis in viola performance. The recital program consisted of Suite No. 6 in G Major (transcribed from the original for cello in D major), BWV 1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach; Romanze for viola and piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams; Sonate for viola and piano, Op. 25 No. 4 by Paul Hindemith; and Le Grand …

The Guitar As An "Open-Air" Instrument In The Early Romantic Era, Panagiotis Poulopoulos

Soundboard Scholar

In the first decades of the nineteenth century, playing music outdoors became a popular trend in Europe and North America. This largely reflected the Romantic ideal of coming closer to nature, whose allure played a significant role in contemporary education, literature, art, fashion, and music. By investigating a wide variety of written and pictorial sources, as well as surviving instruments in museum collections, this article discusses the development of the guitar as an “open-air” instrument as epitomised by the invention of guitar variants for use “on the go”. Moreover, the article sheds new light on the guitar’s connections to other …

The Microtonal Guitars Of Harry Partch, John Schneider

Soundboard Scholar

Known as an "American Maverick," Harry Partch (1901–1974) was surely one of the United States's most colorful composers. His dissatisfaction with the scales and instruments of Western music inspired him to design and build an orchestra of over two dozen handcrafted "microtonal" instruments that were tuned to his notorious "monophonic" scale of forty-three tones per octave. Between 1934 and 1952, Partch created four different adapted guitars, using them in fifteen compositions ranging from solo song cycles (Barstow, December 1942, U.S. Highball, Three Intrusions) to chamber music, dances, and four of his five major …

Fernando Sor On The Move In The Early 1820s, Erik Stenstadvold

Soundboard Scholar

This article adds to our knowledge of Sor’s final months in London in 1822 and his subsequent Paris sojourn before he went to Russia in 1823. Central to Sor’s activity during this period was his involvement in the ballet Cendrillon, for which he wrote the music. Hitherto unknown reviews of the premiere at the King’s Theatre on March 26, 1822, show that both the ballet and the music were consistently well received by the London critics. This success led to action being taken to have the ballet staged at the Paris Opéra, and in the fall that same year …

Differences In Auditory Imagery Self-Report Predict Neural And Behavioral Outcomes, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Mental imagery abilities vary among individuals, as shown both by objective measures and by self-report. Few imagery studies consider auditory imagery, however. The Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale is a short self-report measure encompassing both Vividness and Control subscales for musical, verbal, and environmental sounds. It has high internal reliability, no relation to social desirability, and only a modest relation to musical training. High scores on Vividness predict fewer source memory errors in distinguishing heard from imagined tunes on a recognition test, and better performance on pitch imitation tasks. Furthermore, higher scores are related to hemodynamic response and gray matter volume …

A Graduate Recital In Voice, Branden D. S. Haralson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Branden D. S. Haralson, baritone, presented his graduate voice recital on Friday, April 3, 2015, at 6:00 p.m., in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus. The recital was presented in collaboration with pianist Dr. Robin Guy, and included works by Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, and Duparc. This abstract discusses musical and historical features of the works performed.

Concert Recording 2015-09-14, Cory Mixdorf, Miroslava Panayotova

Concert Recordings & Programs

Deux Danses. Danse sacrée ; Dance profane / Jean-Michel Defaye -- Elégie, op.44 / Alexandre Glazounov -- Concerto. Andante et scherzo - valse ; Nocturne ; Tembourin / Henri Tomasi -- Á la manière de Debussy / Jean-Michel Defaye -- Alien loop de loops / Howard J. Buss

Concert Recording 2015-09-20, Peter Collins

Concert Recordings & Programs

Sonata in D major, K.284. Allegro ; Rondeau en polonaise, Andante ; Thema / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- Images, Book II. Cloches à travers les feuilles ; Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut ; Poissons d'or / Claude Debussy -- Twenty-four preludes, Op.28 / Frédéric Chopin

Concert Recording 2015-04-15a, Christine Hsu

Concert Recordings & Programs

Sonata in d minor K.9 -- Sonata in E major K.20 -- Sonata in A minor K.54 -- Sonata in A major K.24 / Domenico Scarlatti -- Sonata in C major / Johannes Brahms -- Sonata in D major op.28 / Ludwig van Beethoven -- Sonata in f minor op.1 / Sergei Prokofiev

Concert Recording 2015-02-18, Haley Henderson, Yulia Orlova

Concert Recordings & Programs

Dein blaues Auge / Johannes Brahms

Concert Recording 2015-09-03, Er-Gene Kahng, David Gerstein, Miroslava Panayotova

Concert Recordings & Programs

Spring trio: A bouquet of traditional flower rags. Ragtime daffodil, a classic rag ; The violet, a slow drag ; Ragtime hyacinth, a classic rag / William Bolcom -- Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (The four seasons of Buenos Aires). Verano porteño (Summer) ; Otoño porteño (Autumn) ; Invierno porteño (Winter) ; Primavera porteña (Spring) / Astor Piazzolla ; Arr. José Bragato -- Café music. Allegro ; Rubato, Andante moderato ; Presto / Paul Schoenfield

Concert Recording 2015-03-05, Michael Hernandez, Michael Mortarotti, Diane Hunger, Thomas Giles

Concert Recordings & Programs

[00:00]. Three contrapuncti from The art of fugue BWV 1080. Contrapunctus I ; Contrapunctus IV ; Contrapunctus IX / Johann Sebastian Bach -- [09:53]. Premier quatuor op. 53. Adagio-allegro ; Adagio sostenuto ; Allegro vivace ; Allegretto / Jean Baptiste Singelee -- [25:16]. Saxophone quartet. Molto moderato ; Andantio giovale ; Adagio-allegro molto ; Recitatives ; Presto meccanico / Stephen Dankner.

Concert Recording 2015-02-26, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. New Music Ensemble

Concert Recordings & Programs

Salt of the earth / Paul Dooley -- Taking sides. Dysfunction ; Reflection ; Consensus / Matthew Tommasini -- Are you experienced. On being hit on the head ; Dance ; On being hit on the head (reprise) ; On hearing the voice of God ; Drop ; On hearing the siren's song / David Lang

Concert Recording 2015-11-02, Don Bailey, Dianne Frazer

Concert Recordings & Programs

Rondo in D, KV Anh.184 / W.A. Mozart -- Poem / Charles T. Griffes -- First sonata. Allegro moderato ; Adagio ; Allegro poco moderato / Bohuslav Martinu -- Erev shalom / Gary Schocker -- Fantaisie. morceau de concours Paris Conservatory / Georges, Hüe -- Sonata for flute and piano. I ; II ; III / Tom Herman -- Mulberry Cottage / William Lloyd Webber

Concert Recording 2015-11-03, Danny Lopez, Brandon Bahara, Matthew Hildebrand, Stephan Mitchell, Alex Reyes, Michael Moore, Stephen Thorn, Codashti Mcallister, Kristine Mezines

Concert Recordings & Programs

Concerto in D major. Allegro / Heinrich Stolzel -- Concerto, abridged / Alexander Arutunian -- Sonata for trumpet and piano. With strength and vigor / Kent Kennan -- Concerto in E-flat. Allegro / J.B.G. Neruda -- Sonata for trumpet and piano. Lento, allegro molto / Eric Ewazen -- Concerto in E-flat. Allegro / Joseph Haydn -- Concertpiece no.2 / Vassily Brandt -- The hollow men / Vincent Persichetti

A Comparative Analysis Of Three Concerti, Julia Gjebic

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Health And Aesthetics In Singing: A Brief Examination Of Classical And Musical Theatre Vocal Technique, Gabe Reitemeier

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Set Lister, Cyril Casapao

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

This Floating World For Solo Flute By Edie Hill, Donna J. Hangen

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Abstract discussing author's choice of solo flute performance, with analysis and explanation of the various pieces.

"Gretsch Drums - New For 2015: Broadkaster - Renown Walnut - Renown Birch - Wood Burned Snares - Gretsch Accessory Bags" Catalog, Gretsch Company

Gretsch Company Catalogs & Price Lists

This is a Gretsch drum catalog from 2015. Like others, it has lists of drum sets, snare drums, and accessories. However, its drum advertisements make heavy use of various musicians in their photographs of the drums.

Five-String Fiddle And The American Vernacular, Patrick Daly

Doctoral

This research examines the emergence of the five-string fiddle in contemporary North American fiddle culture within the past ten years. By interacting with leading artistlevel practitioners, the research documents the evolution and impact of the instrument to date in exploring the possibilities the five-string fiddle presents for musical performance and innovation. North American vernacular music and, in particular, the contemporary fiddle playing landscape, exemplifies virtousic and innovative idiomatic technique and improvisation as central to an overarching musical explosion, evidenced in the music of many high level, multi-stylistic contemporary practitioners. Within contemporary American fiddle performance, it is compelling to observe how …

An Analysis Of Student Teachers’ Instruction In A Beginning Band Setting, Eric C. Bonds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the teaching behaviors of student teachers in a beginning band setting and identified their instructional targets to compare the data between the participants from two different conditions, the on-podium condition and the off-podium condition. Previous research of expert and experienced teachers in a beginning band setting suggests those teachers were mobile during instruction, were proactive in managing transition periods, remained off the podium for greater durations while providing instruction, used modeling frequently, and provided specific directives toward goal attainment. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether student teachers more closely exhibit the instructional strategies of …