Music Commons^™

A Twenty-First Century Approach To Darius Milhaud's Saudades Do Brasil, Paige H. Crain

Theses and Dissertations--Music

French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from February 1917 to November 1918. Milhaud’s experience in Rio was overwhelmingly positive, and several of his works were influenced by this period of his life, one being a suite for solo piano titled Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67. Inspired by Brazilian popular music, this piece is an example of exoticism, a trend of writing music based on cultures other than the composer’s own. Considering that exoticism historically has the potential to perpetuate harmful stereotypes or generate false information, this research delves into Saudades do Brasil, exploring …

Performance Guide To Select Twentieth-Century French Organ Works Based On Te Deum, Margaret Maria Lerose

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Gregorian chant Te Deum originated over 1500 years ago and was the basis of many vocal and instrumental compositions. Segments of the chant were also used as motives and themes for improvisation. Students at the French organ school studied both improvisation and composition. This study examined three exemplary pieces that resulted from the French organ school traditions: Improvisation sur le Te Deum (1930) by Charles Tournemire, Hymne d’Actions de Grâces, Te Deum (1934) by Jean Langlais, and Paraphrase sur le Te Deum (1946) by Marcel Dupré.

After a brief chapter on the history of the Te Deum chant, biographical …

Professional Experiences Of Disabled Music Therapists: An Adapted Multiple Case Study, August Lily Tuggle

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Literature about disability often focuses on disabled people as recipients of professional services and there is scant literature about disabled professionals. Although music therapists work primarily with disabled individuals, there is little research on or from the perspectives of disabled music therapists. A growing body of qualitative research, grey literature, and media platforms provides perspectives from the disability community regarding music therapy. Disabled individuals both within and outside the profession critique common music therapy attitudes and practices that conflict with the expressed needs of the disability community. However, much of this literature contains the perspectives of one individual or a …

Luis Serrano Alarcón’S Second Symphony For Wind Orchestra Background, Analysis, And Conductor’S Guide, Adam P. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Luis Serrano Alarcon’s composition, Second Symphony for Wind Orchestra (2017), is a significant work for the wind ensemble. Written as a tribute to the great Romantic composers it was inspired by their symphonies. It is neo-classical in form but contains a neo-Romantic language and a compositional style unique to the Spanish composer.

The purposes of this dissertation are: 1.) to provide biographical details regarding Luis Serrano Alarcon and his musical career; 2.) to place the Second Symphony for Wind Orchestra in perspective within other modern works for wind band and within the composer’s own catalogue; 3.) to elaborate on the …

Puccini’S Manon: A Holistic Approach To Role Preparation And Execution, Sandra Oman Farren

Doctoral

The fulcrum of this thesis is operatic role preparation and execution, an investigation into how the conscientious singer-actor can ‘become’ the character of ‘Manon’ in Giacomo Puccini’s 1893 opera, Manon Lescaut. Adopting a multi-stranded research strategy, encompassing traditional methodologies, a series of lived experience interviews with international operatic practitioners, and a survey of live performances in 2023–2024, the actuality of performing this complex role is considered, with recommendations and conclusions drawn from a multiplicity of sources.

No Sweeter Sound: Musicking, Transformative Pedagogy, And Collaborative Social Justice In Choral Settings, Natalie N. Shaffer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Choral music and its conductors occupy a tenuous space in the 21st century. In a new cultural atmosphere influenced by Gen Z’s expectation of welcomed diversity and intolerance for injustice, TikTok’s rapid global dissemination of information and entertainment, and society’s desire for authentic connection following the Covid-19 pandemic, the dichotomies present in choral music are no longer being glossed over. Difficult conversations about race, gender, ableism, social location, and other intersectional identifiers are at the forefront of academic writing and conference presentations. Evidence of transformative pedagogy and culturally responsive practices are beginning to appear in classroom syllabi and rehearsal techniques …

J.A.C. Redford’S Variations On The Incarnation: Looking Back And Forward With Piano Theme And Variations, Nathaniel Brown

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This senior thesis consists of a lecture recital and research regarding the development of the theme and variations form in piano literature. It will trace the way the types of pieces that use theme and variations have developed from era to era and composer to composer. The culminating lecture recital will present my research on the topic and will end with a performance of J.A.C. Redford’s Variations on the Incarnation, one of the most recently published theme and variations pieces for solo piano. Redford’s piece was commissioned by Dr. Paul Barnes.

The composers and pieces featured in this project …

Transformer-Based Symbolic Music Generation, Ben Buentello

Master’s Theses

This thesis investigates the capacity of transformer-based architectures to learn generalized musical patterns through symbolic generation. To support this exploration, a complete music generation pipeline was developed, beginning with the construction and classification of a large-scale dataset of over 170,000 MIDI files. The dataset was processed using rule-based heuristics and custom neural classifiers to separate tracks by musical function and contour. A novel tokenization scheme, MINTii, was introduced to encode musical information compactly through interval-based representations, reducing redundancy and promoting generalization. Using this infrastructure, a transformer model was trained to generate single-track melodic sequences. Its performance was evaluated through both …

Mind The Gap: Supporting Freshmen Voice Students Transitioning To Higher Education Through Coaching Conversations, Erica L. Gabriel

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The experiences one may encounter while matriculating through the K-12 system of education are vastly different from the world of higher education. While one feeds directly into the other, the transition can be a difficult one for young singers also navigating the developmental leap from adolescence to adulthood. This is due to several systematic and instructional differences, compounded with unique challenges encountered by freshman voice students in the first year. Gaps in support systems compiled with new and increasing financial, social, and academic demands can lead to a decline in overall student well-being and an increase in stress.

This increase …

Treating Social Media Addiction In Adolescents: A Scoping Review With Implications For Music Therapy Practice, Roman D. Swain

Theses and Dissertations--Music

With the rapid expansion of online connectivity, concerns have emerged regarding the influence of digital interactions on adolescents’ real-world relationships and mental health. Social media use can expose adolescents to harmful content and disrupt the brain’s pleasure centers, increasing the risk of developing addictive patterns of use. Such disruptions may interfere with daily functioning and contribute to negative mental health outcomes. Given the impact of music on the brain’s reward system, music therapy may offer a beneficial approach for helping adolescents develop mindfulness of social media use and strengthen offline social connections. This thesis presents a scoping review of current …

How Has Popular Types Of Musicals Throughout Time Affected Reed Book Pit Musicians?, Bailey Coon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project will work to answer the question of how reed books in musicals have evolved over the years, and how those changes affect the woodwind players who take on those jobs and roles.

Additionally, this project aims to pinpoint outside factors that have helped to create the changes that reed books have experienced. This will help to create eras of musical theater. Also, if these changes can be attributed to specific changes, then a strategy can be created to help musicians who work for musicals; as most of those roles are by contract and not long-term full time …

Mckensie Miller, Soprano In A Graduate Recital, 2025 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recitals given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

The Seating And Standing Arrangements Of Band, Orchestra, And Choir, Sabrina Wolf

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this literature review, I will be looking for scholarly articles that discuss the seating and standing arrangements of band orchestra and choir ensembles. The main goal of this literature review is to find what information is available and discover what positions work to find the best sound that each ensemble can have. After finding the resources, I will annotate each source and summarize the information. I will also reach out to ensemble directors at the University of Akron and interview them to discover what seating and standing arrangements they prefer and why. I will compile this information into a …

The Effect Of The Number Of Xylophone Bars On Student Comfort Level With Improvisation, Beth Trulson

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of reducing the number of bars available on a xylophone on the comfort level and perception of improvisation quality in elementary-aged students. Subjects were third and fourth graders with no formal instruction in improvisation, but have experienced Orff-inspired instruction that included improvisation. Students were asked to improvise on an Orff xylophone in one of four ways: (1) only the pitches F, G, and A on the xylophone while playing for eight measures, (2) all bars on the xylophone while playing for eight measures, (3) only the pitches F, G, and …

The Music Education Gender Divide At The University Of Northern Iowa, Abigail Wendland

Honors Program Theses

While anyone with proper training can direct a band well, the definitive stereotype in music education is that male directors are the default. Women face a multitude of challenges when going into the field because of this stereotype, which is the direct result of decades of prejudice that are now historical tradition. These challenges include the perceived need to adopt a male persona while on the podium, the challenges of working as a public school band director while being a mother, and the guilt that accompanies many women in the field. Obstacles such as these have strongly contributed to the …

The Effect Of Note Highlighting On Note Identification Accuracy In Beginning Band Students, Thomas R. Knowles

Graduate Research Papers

This study was completed in the spring of 2025 and is based on the effectiveness of colored notation in music reading in beginning band students. An extensive literature review was conducted that supports the usage of color in educational material. Extensive research has been done on color in music education, and that research was used in this study. This study’s primary question is how color affects student note-reading. The hypothesis generated for the study is that students who receive highlighted notes see improvement in their note-reading compared to those who do not. The method used in this study was a …

Perspectives On Music Within The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Community, Anna Hanbeck

Graduate Research Papers

This study investigates how Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals perceive and experience music. Through a survey with DHH participants, the research explores alternative modes of musical perception, including vibration, visual cues, and emotional response. Findings reveal that many DHH individuals actively engage with music through multisensory strategies, challenging the understanding of music as primarily a hearing-based experience. The results highlight the importance of inclusive musical practices and technologies that provide diverse sensory experiences. Music is an experience that can be sought through different means. This research contributes to a broader understanding of accessibility in the arts and underscores …

An Examination Of Teacher Perceptions Of Student Retention In Choir When Transitioning Between 8th And 9th Grade, Megan Mccrary

Graduate Research Papers

This study was conducted over the course of 10 weeks through an online survey sent to public high school and middle school choral educators across Iowa and gathered data about choir student transitions into 9th grade for the 2024-2025 school year. 38 choir teachers across the state of Iowa participated in this study. Eligibility for participation required that the teachers had taught either 8th or 9th grade choir during the Spring 2024 semester or the Fall 2024 semester. Simple main effects analysis showed that neither students changing buildings nor students changing instructors had a statistically significant effect on student enrollment. …

Pitch Identification In Musical Dyads That Vary In Harmonic Quality And Pitch Register, Edward E. Smith

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Seror and Neill (2015) found that consonant dyads are processed more fluently than dissonant dyads. Their finding suggested that this advantage in fluency accounts for the generalized preference for these chords. Recently, Eerola and Lahdelma (2021) found that the pitch register of the chord also affects consonance judgements of musical chords. This may suggest that chords in higher registers are processed less fluently than chords in the middle register. The present study combines these two studies by investigating processing fluency for musical dyads that vary in harmonic quality and pitch register. Participants were tasked with identifying whether an initially presented …

Listening, Looking, And Learning: An Exploration Of Musical Influence On The Narratives And Characters Of Call The Midwife, Mary Claire Buchanan

Theses and Dissertations

Call the Midwife has distinguished itself among British period dramas through its commitment to telling women’s stories with emotional depth, historical and medical accuracy, and nuanced character development. Unlike many period dramas based in the United Kingdom that center on the aristocracy, Call the Midwife connects the audience with ordinary people, particularly women, navigating life post-World War II and the early days of government healthcare by portraying their struggles, triumphs, and evolving identities. One of the most compelling ways the series achieves this is through its use of music, particularly recurring motifs that signify personal growth and transformation. This thesis …

The Black Spectacle And Oppressive Double Binds: What Rap On Trial Reveals About Race, Exploitation, And Criminalization In The Music Industry, Giovanni Pierre

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I investigate the paradox revealed by the Young Thug trial where certain portrayals of Blackness in rap music are simultaneously praised and punished by white institutions. I propose that the theatrics of the Young Thug trial and other instances of rap lyrics used in criminal trials are emblematic of what I call the Black Spectacle. The Black Spectacle is the role Blackness plays in American entertainment. It has three elements: (1) It entertains white audiences because of Black people’s perceived otherness, (2) it provides white people, particularly white men, with a vehicle through which they can …

Soundwaves Of Change: How Paperboy Prince Redefined Activism Through Art In Bushwich, Omar Kwesi Hurlock

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

This thesis examines how Paperboy Prince, a Bushwick-based artist and activist, employs multimedia art forms to challenge social norms and foster community change. Through analysis of their music, performances, and community initiatives, particularly at the Love Gallery, this research demonstrates how Prince combines artistic expression with grassroots activism to address gentrification, economic inequality, and social justice in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The study employs theoretical frameworks including post-cinema theory, Afrofuturism, and digital performance theory to analyze Prince's work. Key findings reveal how Prince's artistic practice creates new modes of political discourse through: (1) the fusion of digital and physical activism, (2) the …

Commissioning And Recording Project Of New Works For Saxophone Focused On Promoting Mexican Composers And Educating Future Commissioning Saxophonists, Andres Efrain Santana

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document chronicles my process of commissioning and recording five new works by Mexican composers. To contextualize this experience, I provide a brief introduction of Mexican contemporary music history, an overview of second-hand accounts of the commissioning process, my personal experience of this process, and my assessment of the impact these works could have on the classical saxophone repertoire. As I have reflected on my own experience with historical and contemporary accounts of the commissioning process, it has become clear that personal connections between composers and performers and the patronage or funding linked to those relationships are just as important …

Cultural Immersion And Practices: Ellie Mannette’S Steel Pan Building Processes In Morgantown, West Virginia., Timothy Clark Friedhaber

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ellie Mannette, among others, was one of the first builders of the modern steel pan. Born and raised in Trinidad, Mannette started building steel pans at a young age. Eventually, he gained employment with the United States Naval Steel Band, which opened opportunities for him to grow in his field. Through these opportunities and connections, Mannette arrived in the United States permanently in 1967. In the later part of his life, he moved to Morgantown, West Virginia, where he continued building, teaching his building processes, and tuning steel pans. The study aims to serve as an aid for other scholars …

The Effects Of Operatic Voice Type On Singer Identity, Adelaide J. Mcdonald

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Within Western art music, voices are typically classified using the Fach system, which is based upon vocal characteristics and separates singers into the categories of soprano, mezzo soprano, contralto, counter tenor, tenor, bass, and baritone. Over time, these categories have become embedded with social and cultural meaning within the operatic world, leading to the development of stereotypes and expectations surrounding singers, as well as social categories and identities, referred to in this study as “sociocultural vocal categories” and “sociocultural vocal identity,” respectively. Currently, there are limited explorations of the sociocultural vocal categories and their associated stereotypes, with research on singer …