Composition Commons^™

Folk Music Of Atlantis: An Exploration Of Water As A Sound Source In Music, Lucy Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Folk Music of Atlantis is a programmatic composition for water instruments and orchestra depicting the mythical city of Atlantis. I have researched water’s musical properties: its pitch bending, its ability to create sound through motion, and its percussive effects on various materials. Drawing upon my research, I have invented a collection of water-based instruments that take advantage of these properties. Folk Music of Atlantis demonstrates their potential, combining them with both the traditional orchestra and the innovations in water music of past composers.

The written portion of the thesis includes a historical overview of water as a musical sound source, …

Rope: An Original Piece For String Orchestra Played Concurrently With Alfred Hitchcock's Film, Douglas William-Solomon Espie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an original piece of music designed to be performed concurrently with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948). The film provides a canvas upon which a musically dominant multimedia experience is built. An accompanying analysis explains the variety of compositional techniques used, explaining their significance and how each deviates from a traditional film score. The objective of this work is to challenge the existing relationship between music and film, and add to the growing body of repertoire of live works featuring synchronized video, modeling example methods of live multimedia performance. In this exploration, the goal was not to be anti-cinematic, …

Working With Metal: The Stylistic Characteristics Of The Swedish Band Meshuggah And An Original Composition Inspired By Their Work, Adam J. Benefield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I have long been fascinated by music that is created through the amalgamation of more than one style of music. As a composer, this has led to me exploring paths that combine elements of contemporary, classical, jazz, world, film, and video game music. In this thesis I explore elements of progressive metal band Meshuggah. More specifically I examine their use of polymeter, polyrhythm, and other rhythmic devices used in six of their songs. I then demonstrate how I applied those same components to an original composition, Armageddon, scored for flute, Bb clarinet, C trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello, …

The Sound Of Adventure: Two Original Compositions That Combine Music, Sound Design, And Post-Production, Inspired By Outdoor Experiences, Jason K. Gibson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composers have been inspired by nature for centuries, but writing music about nature is becoming more popular in our day. Now, under titles like “Landscape Music” and “Environmental Music,” many composers seek to embody the feeling of nature in music. What has yet to be fully developed is how electronic music and landscape music can overlap in the chamber music world. This project culminates in two original compositions, Natural Opposition (ca. six min), and Giants at Night (ca. 15 min), that seek to satisfy the requirements of both realms by combining naturally inspired music with electronic influences. The compositions themselves …

“Native American Folk Song Suite”: A Study Of Traditional Native American Melodies, The Role Of Music In Native American Society, And Its Translation To The Modern Wind Ensemble, Preston Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music holds a sacred place for the many Native American tribes of the United States. Over the past 150 years, ethnomusicologists Dr. Theodore Baker (1851-1934), Dr. Frances Densmore (1867-1957), and John Donald Robb (1892-1989) have preserved these songs by sitting down with indigenous Native Americans and recording their music straight from the source. Through these recordings, these ethnomusicologists created a springboard for composers, including myself, to study the past and create new music that honors the traditions and culture of Native Americans. I have applied my new knowledge of these musical techniques and traditions to create a work for wind …

From Choir To Band: Analysis And Application Of Adaptation Techniques As Demonstrated In Works By Whitacre, Ticheli, And Johnson, Deshmond D. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the adaptation techniques of composers Frank Ticheli and Eric Whitacre. As a means for that exploration, it includes an original choral work by the author as well as a band transcription that was done using adaptation techniques found in the Ticheli and Whitacre pieces. The application of those techniques sheds new light on the subject of band transcriptions by showing a variety of possible approaches. Musicians, conductors, and composers will be able to use these materials to enhance the composition and performance of a choral work and its band transcription.

Eclectic: A Recording Project Of Original Crossover Compositions, Chance Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music makers have always borrowed one another’s influences, across philosophies, across culture, and thus, across genres. Since the 1950’s, a time when classical music was at its farthest reach from popular music, the rift between these two “worlds” has shrunk, and music crafters from each category are free to take from the other as they please. As a figure who stands between the cultivated and vernacular traditions, my aim for this thesis is to give an introduction to some of the ways genre hybridization has been achieved since 1950, present a collection of my own compositions (along with recordings) that …

An Analysis Of Musicals By Lynn Ahrens And Stephen Flaherty, And An Original Musical, Fly Like An Eagle, Donna Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty have written musicals together for several decades. This thesis contains an in-depth discussion and stylistic analysis of several songs each from Once on This Island, Ragtime, and Seussical – three Ahrens & Flaherty shows chosen specifically because of their variety in style and subject matter. This analysis includes, among other things, the lyrics and lyric setting, textures, harmonic settings, accompaniment styles, rhythms, and harmonic progressions. The central portion of this document contains the music for nine songs of an original musical titled Fly Like an Eagle. This script is written by Daris Howard and is …

Pedagogy Of Video-Game Scoring For Collegiate Application And An Original Score For The Nintendo Switch Title, Renaine, Mason Lieberman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video-game scoring as an academic subject is quite new. There are limited opportunities for college-level students to study this field, and even fewer that are offered remotely via online sources. My goal for this thesis was to craft educational modules, courses, or other academically-based resources, that would develop a student’s musical skills, professional instincts, and educational groundings in the game audio world. These courses could then serve as an academic model for the development of other classes. After conducting research informed by my professional background as a composer in the video game industry (with a particular focus on my experiences …

Biedermann And The Firebugs: Composing Contemporary Music For Live Theater, Jesse Edwards

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Complex Personalities: An Original Composition For Virtual Wind Ensemble And An Accompanying Exploration Of The Effects Of The Internet On Music Collaboration And Composition, Chris Kamerling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the impact that the internet has had on the esprit de corps of the musical community. As a mechanism for that exploration, it also includes an original composition comprised of three character pieces. The exegesis of the piece will describe the basis of these musical representations and explore the application of the piece as a vehicle for a shared musical experience across the internet. A virtual ensemble was created by crowd-sourcing from social media. Participants played different parts that were combined by computer manipulation into a final product.

Palestrina’S Polyphony, Dawson Tillman Dowdy

Undergraduate Research Conference

The intention behind my composition (Kyrie) was to emulate Palestrina’s style by following a set of specific guidelines derived from the common characteristics of his compositions. Ultimately, my goal was to craft a piece that served as a 21st century interpretation of Palestrinian polyphony. Although I took some liberties in terms of harmonic language, I ensured that the essential elements of textual clarity, imitation, stepwise motion, and fluid melodic structure were strictly executed.

Mystery Of The Wax Museum: An Original Film Score For Orchestra And An Analysis Outlining The Evolution Of Film Music Through American Horror Films Of The Early 1930s, Ian Deterling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis illustrates the transitional period between silent films and fully-scored sound films. Connecting the history between producers, directors, and composers reveals how and why film scoring became an accepted practice by the mid-1930s while shedding light on the commonly-overlooked composers whose innovations in these early films paved the way for future film composers. The principle objective of this project is to score selected sequences of Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) by synthesizing contemporary film scoring practices with techniques commonly used in horror films of the 1930s. An accompanying analysis of the score will explain the purpose of each …

Airiños: For Orchestra And Two-Part Women's Choir, And A Biography Of The Poet Rosalía De Castro, Scott T. Stobbe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Spanish poet Rosalía de Castro was a central figure in the Galician

cultural and literary revival of the mid nineteenth-century. One of her most

significant books is Cantares Gallegos, a book of poems written in Galician that

serves as an homage to the language, culture, customs and countryside of

Galicia. The text for the musical portion of this document, a work for orchestra

with extended percussion and two-part women’s choir entitled Airiños, comes

from Castro’s poem Airiños, airiños, aires which was featured in Cantares

Gallegos. To gain a deeper understanding of the author’s importance and

influence in Galicia and …

Classical Forms In Modern Popular Music, Emily Williams

Undergraduate Research Conference

Popular music can be used as background knowledge by music educators in order to educate students on elements of classical music, such as form and compositional devices.

The Impact Of Edgard Varèse’S "Ionisation” On The Percussion Ensemble, Roger Ramirez

Undergraduate Research Conference

When I was selected to participate in a performance of Ionisation with the SFA Percussion Ensemble, the conductor, Dr. Meyer, explained the compositional process Edgard Varèse went through in order to write the piece. Hearing this inspired me to dig deeper into the composition to discover how much Ionisation impacted the world of percussion. After finding out it was the first true percussion ensemble piece ever written, I was inspired to see how it shaped the world of percussion after its debut.

Analysis Of Compositional Techniques From Composing Daily, Monthly Or With A Variable Time Frame Over The Last Twenty-Five Years, Herbert Midgley

Bright Ideas Conference

No abstract provided.

Triads And Text In Ariettes Oubliées, Nathan Fleshner

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Brahms, Opus 32: The Forgotten Cycles, Patrick Russell

Undergraduate Research Conference

A song cycle may be loosely defined as a set of works for solo voice and piano intended for performance as a whole, and in a predetermined order. Established by such composers as Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, cycles are typically characterized by a deliberate structure, the texts of which are almost without exception by the same author. So conventional is the practice of containing the settings of a single poet, it may be considered a prerequisite. Song cycles are also distinguished, therefore, by one or more unifying elements originating in the poetry, such as literary themes or narration. It is …

The Flute Through Time: A Senior Recital, Teresa Powell

Undergraduate Research Conference

The flute is a wind instrument of ancient origin formerly made of wood but now of silver and other metals. It is one of the first wind instruments to have published works. Music for the modern flute spans from the early Baroque era through history, and is still being written to this day.

Twentieth Century Saxophone With A Touch Of Baroque, Sesha Wallace

Undergraduate Research Conference

The saxophone has progressed immensely since its invention in 1846 by the Belgian musician instrument designer, Adolphe Sax. This fairly new addition to the musical world has developed over the years into an extremely versatile instrument capable of being used in a wide range of musical settings, anything from classical to jazz to rock and roll. Throughout the Twentieth Century, the saxophone has seen an enormous growth in contemporary repertoire. Advanced techniques have become widely accepted as part of this new output and a variety of musical outlets have opened saxophonists worldwide. The pieces in this study illustrate some of …