Composition Commons^™

Bass And Drum Grooves In R&B: Analysis And Composition, Hugh Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term “R&B” has existed within the musical lexicon for nearly eighty years. It was first introduced in 1949 to replace the label “race music,” and was a combination of blues, jazz, gospel, and rock. Since then, the genre has transitioned from swing-based, live instrumentation toward straight-eighth backbeats and electronically produced sounds. Despite these shifts, contemporary R&B continues to borrow from its ancestral roots while maintaining a modern aesthetic. A primary feature that has persisted through this landscape is the “groove,” specifically defined here as the rhythmic layer created by the drums and bass. In R&B, the bass provides both …

Lost In Thought: An Exploration Of Musical Perception And An Original Piece For Orchestra, Matthew Moix

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an original two-movement musical composition orchestrated for full orchestra titled Lost in Thought, based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series Heartstopper (2018-2023). The work explores the relationship between two different characters from the series, Nick and Charlie. It emphasizes the different perspectives of these characters and explores the concept of how two different points of view can tell the same story in different ways. An accompanying analysis of the work explains how the two movements illustrate the characters' individual mindsets throughout their version of the story, as well as showing their personal character development and how their …

Architecture As Frozen Music: An Original Wind Ensemble Work Exploring Architectural Metaphors In Contemporary Music, Leighannah J. Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Architecture has long served as a source of inspiration for Western art music composers from the Early Renaissance through the Neoclassical period. While the relationship between music and architecture has been widely studied, much of the existing research focuses on traditional mediums such as the symphony orchestra. This project explores the concept of music as “frozen architecture” – introduced by Friedrich Schelling – and the metaphorical correlations as described by Vitruvius and Lupishko, applying these concepts to the contemporary medium of the wind ensemble through my original composition. My work integrates the architectural principles proposed by Vitruvius and Lupishko while …

Schemata Of Barbershop Tags, Brian A. Cromer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the genre of barbershop tags, brief musical compositions in the barbershop style. After the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 describes the barbershop style and outlines a modified roman numeral system that reflects barbershop norms. Chapter 3 analyzes the 125 entries of the Classic Book of Tags based on two features: the harmonic point of interest (HPI) and the penultimate chord. Patterns emerging from these two criteria include eleven primary schemata along with a few secondary schemata accounting for the harmonic design for a majority of tags. Chapter 4 analyzes two barbershop arrangements: “Come Fly With Me” …

Gypsy Spirit Suite: An Original Jazz Manouche Composition For Large Ensemble, Nicholas Knirk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an original jazz manouche musical composition, Gypsy Spirit Suite, arranged for a large ensemble comprising winds, horns, strings, guitar, cimbalom, vibraphone, and percussion. The composition integrates jazz manouche (gypsy jazz) elements, such as chromatic passing chords, virtuosic melodic runs, and la pompe rhythm, into a large ensemble. Modal interchange, extended harmonies, and fusion with genres like latin and funk generate interest and reflect contemporary jazz manouche evolution. The written thesis supports the composition through a detailed analysis of jazz manouche harmonic schema, instrumental techniques, idiomatic passages, and orchestration techniques that blend jazz and classical genres. By …

Metamorphosis: An Original Jazz Guitar Concerto Exploring Improvisation And Polystylistic Strategies In The Modern Concerto, Ronnie J. Whitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The electric guitar is underutilized in large ensemble art music. Some composers have sought to alleviate this deficiency by expanding the literature through the electric guitar concerto. Few electric guitar concerti are written for improvised jazz guitar, therefore presenting a need for this research. In this thesis, I explore the development of the jazz guitar concerto and nine compositional strategies that benefit composers writing a multi-genre jazz guitar concerto. I analyze selected jazz guitar concerti through lenses, including phrase-level compositional devices, textural and timbral schema, and musical hybridity, to identify these strategies. These concerti include: D.J. Sparr’s Katrina, Jake …

“Starlight Suite”: A Compositional Exploration Of The Argo Navis Constellations In Three Movements, Adam Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores a compositional technique in which stellar constellations are arranged upon musical staves in a variety of iterations to create a basis from which to draw melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material. These raw extrapolations of unaltered notes are then arranged and orchestrated into thematic music for full orchestra, centered around elements from the mythological background behind the constellations used. An accompanying analysis explains the specific applications of this technique within each movement of the work, the significance of each, and the variety of ways in which musical inspiration was drawn from the raw materials. The objective of this …

The Resonance Of Desire: A Sonic Exploration And Guide To Recreating Disney’S Signature ‘I Want’ Songs, Aiyanna E. Riley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the sonic architecture of Disney’s Renaissance-era “I Want” songs and develops a framework for recreating their signature production style. This study analyzes how vocal timbre, microphone choices, layering, stereo placement, and mixing strategies contribute to the immersive qualities that define the Disney sound. Drawing from historical accounts, interviews with industry professionals, and technical literature, the thesis documents production practices unexamined in scholarly work. Inspired by David Gibson’s The Art of Mixing, my analyses prioritize spatial and textural qualities in Disney mixes, highlighting how sound design shapes narrative impact. The study culminates in two original compositions modeled …

Gastropoda A Song Cycle In 7 Movements For 10 Musicians., Jonathan Krueger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by Gnostic myth, biosemiotic forms and Basilides of Alexandria's Seven Sermons to The Dead, Gastropoda tells a creation myth of the opposite yet complementary processes of birth and consumption. The subject of the myth, an unnamed Gastropod, is thrust from the formless ocean to a land more differentiated; full of boundaries and obstacles which obscure the source from wence it came. Through communion with the darkest and lightest aspects of this world, a worm-like entity known as Abraxas, the Gastropod follows two separate yet simultaneous sequences of events that lead to the same essential outcome. One is the path …

Elevator Music., Lillian Caroline Reed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A spy, doctor, engineer, and businessman find themselves trapped in a malfunctioning elevator in a contemporary, humorous take on Sartre's No Exit. Are these four, who come to despise each other, gathered here by chance? Is this eternal elevator ride some sort of divine punishment?

Is this hell?

Old Becoming New Again: A Form-Function And Narrative Analysis Of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 'Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis', Aileen E. Sager

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ralph Vaughan Williams, a leading figure in the early twentieth-century movement to preserve traditional English music, composed Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis as a tribute to his love of Tudor music and English folksong. The piece is based on a psalm setting by Thomas Tallis, known as the Third Mode Melody, which features the Phrygian mode. Vaughan Williams discovered this theme while researching for the new English Hymnal. A brief history of the Tallis theme, along with an exploration of Vaughan Williams' education and early endeavors as a composer, are critical to understanding the Fantasia's historical …

Soundscapes Of The Pillow Book: Creating Music Exploring Pamela Z'S Sonic Landscapes, Asuka Kakitani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pamela Z stands as a pioneering force in contemporary music, seamlessly integrating her roles as a composer, performer, and media artist. Renowned for her innovative approach, she masterfully combines her voice with live electronic processing, sampled sounds, and video elements, crafting a distinctive musical landscape that embodies the forefront of artistic exploration in our time. The primary aim of this thesis is to create “The Pillow Book,” a new musical work inspired by Z's creative process and methods. This work will also incorporate elements of my native language and ancient Japanese text from The Pillow Book, written in 1002 …

Sing A New Song: Analyzing A Cappella Arrangements Of Contemporary Worship Music, Ashley S. Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music is indispensable to Christian worship services, and pop/rock-influenced contemporary worship music (CWM) serves an important role in modern worship. This thesis explores strategies for arranging CWM for a cappella settings by comparing the originals with two a cappella arrangements: one intended for group performance and the other for congregational worship. This will be accomplished through examining the following five songs: “Hymn of Heaven,” “Raise a Hallelujah,” “Build Your Kingdom Here,” “Psalm 34 (Taste and See),” and “Battle Belongs.” Analysis of elements such as form, texture, harmony, and rhythm reveals many arranging techniques. The songs are categorized by the level …

Life Beyond The Port Of Beirut, Album & Drum Triggering System., Ayman Abi Kheir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Life Beyond the Port of Beirut is a project of two parts: an album of 8 instrumental tracks and a drum triggering system. The title is in dedication to my country, Lebanon, and specifically to its main historical seaport in the capital, Beirut. This port is the historical starting point of the Lebanese diaspora who have spread their culture across the globe and contributed to the world culture. The drum triggering system is a “do-it-yourself” system that enables drummers to trigger samples and virtual instruments through acoustic drum set and percussion. It was designed in Max for Live and Ableton …

Do What You Love, An Opera In One Act., Kamil Jozef Pedziwiatr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do What You Love is an opera in one act, based on the American culture idea of doing what you love in life, following your passions or living the American dream. The libretto, which was generated by AI, presents the story of four main characters and one episodic character, each representing the worst outcome or highlighting vicious drives of following the motto Do What You Love. The opera is also a cliché version of historic opera, uniting typical baroque opera characters and styles with quasi AI Generated, cliché, stereotypical music. Synopsis: The Artist is preparing for a huge audition that …

Defining Recomposition Through The Works Of Gregson, Richter, And Peck: Creating A Dialogue With Vivaldi And Bach To Compose New Music., Amanda Peck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recomposition has been a commonly utilized compositional method for hundreds of years, yet there is no universally accepted definition in the musical community. The existing literature on the subject is limited, so this project will examine various sources to define this term more accurately. This research analyzes successful recompositions for string ensemble, Peter Gregson’s Bach - The Cello Suites Recomposed (2018) and Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Recomposed (2012), and my two new compositions, Air on the G String Recomposed and Vivaldi Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Minor Recomposed. My compositions incorporate the …

Digital Orchestration In Media Compositions, Jimmy Bartley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As composers gain access to better tools, digital mockups have increasingly grown in popularity. Composers often aim to emulate an idealized orchestral sound in their mockups. By understanding the nature of acoustic orchestration and instrumentation, specific techniques and approaches for virtual instruments and sample libraries, and methods to process and manipulate MIDI audio, composers can achieve this idealized sound. This thesis will focus on the common techniques and methods that composers can use to achieve this in digital mockups. Concluding the thesis is an original work that combines digital and live instruments while exploring different techniques to achieve an ideal …

So Much (For) Saving Rock And Roll: The Musical Dna Of Fall Out Boy, Blake Buehler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the American rock band Fall Out Boy has had a great impact upon the popular music scene since their first album in 2003, little academic literature exists exploring their musical and cultural influences and impact. Through careful transcription and analysis this thesis defines Fall Out Boy’s compositional tendencies and contextualizes their work in the greater Western popular music canon. My composition, AQUA, is a continuation and response to Fall Out Boy’s seminal album, So Much (For) Stardust. Grounded in influences from Fall Out Boy’s music and my personal journey as a musician and queer individual, AQUA represents a deeply …

Harmonic Data: Ai Music, Edm Transcription, & Minimalist Jazz, Trevor Freed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents research in the domains of music theory and music technology. The topics of the three chapters are as follows: (1) the technical and artistic limitations of artificial intelligence when generating music, (2) the transcription of electronic dance music (EDM) using a hybrid notation system, and (3) the effective convergence of jazz and minimalism in the music of Joe Hisaishi from Studio Ghibli. Each topic investigates a different aspect of harmony and the modern ways in which humans communicate in terms of harmony. The first chapter surveys the latest research projects in AI-generated music and proposes ideas for …

La Fiesta Del Espiritu Santo: An Original Work For Choir, Soloists, And Small Ensemble Influenced By The Santeria Music Of The African-Dominican Community In The Dominican Republic, Rafael Scarfullery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study examines the role of Santería music as practiced by African Dominicans in Villa Mella, a neighborhood of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This musical tradition comes from the culture and religion of the Yoruba people who were brought as slaves from Africa, and features complex drum rhythms and call-and-response chants. This paper deals with the historical and social context of Santería music within the Dominican Republic, but its principal objective is to adopt the musical language of this tradition and use it to create a new contemporary work for mixed choir and small ensemble.

One of the most …

A View From Within: Timbre As An Analytical Tool In Contemporary Viola Music, Ash Mach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Timbre is an elusive musical parameter that musicians, physicists, and cognitive scientists have been grappling with for centuries. While timbre can roughly be defined as an auditory attribute that distinguishes one tone color from another, this definition does not capture the complexities of sound and our perceptions thereof. Research on timbre has flourished since the 20th century, however, timbre studies has largely gone unnoticed within the viola community. This study, “A View from Within,” helps close the gap between timbre studies and viola repertoire scholarship by presenting analyses of three pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries through a timbre …

Making Malice Musical: Verdi’S Compositional Journey Through The Eyes Of Six Villains, Michael Chadwick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Giuseppe Verdi is a pillar of the operatic world and had a profound impact on the evolution of the art form. From a rudimentary beginning, he developed over time from a popular creator of operas in the solita forma style of 19^th century Italy into a master craftsman of combining music, text, and theatrical drama. Verdi utilized the popular compositional formal convention of solita forma to begin his career. Over time he evolved beyond its boundaries and shifted his focus to the holistic theatrical presentation of the drama. Much has been written about this evolution through analysis of Verdi’s …

A Score Of Voices: Creating And Scoring An Original Film With A Cappella Choir, Zachary James Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Film scores typically feature large instrumental ensembles, sometimes with choir added at pivotal moments. Rarely, however, is the choir entrusted with a greater percentage of the score, and far too scores explore the sonic potential that vocal music has to offer. In fact, in a recent study of 800 films, none contained a score that was completely c. Thus, the body of unaccompanied choral film scores is practically non-existent. This curious gap in repertoire inspired me to create the documentary Downstream (2023) and score it entirely with an unaccompanied choir. The full score to this new work is contained within …

Early Instruments In 21st Century Composition And An Original Composition For Saxophones And Viols, Jacob Bitinas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composers continually seek new timbres and sonorities to bend to their will. The early music revival of the twentieth century has resurrected dozens of instruments that have gone unutilized in contemporary composition for centuries. The historically-informed-performance movement has now evolved to a point where early instruments and period performance techniques can add extraordinary new characters to twenty-first century compositions. This thesis explores how composers effectively utilize early instruments like the viola da gamba, harpsichord, lute, and recorder in their compositions.

The document also contains interview transcripts from eight composers and performers, including Nico Muhly, Liam Byrne, Martha Bishop, David Loeb, …

Bloom: A 21st Century Mandolin Concerto, Ashley Hoyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I have created a career performing various types of music on the mandolin. Very little of the concert repertoire, however, includes music originally written for the mandolin with most of it consisting of rearrangements of violin, cello, or piano music. This observation has led me down a path to learn why there is a lack of mandolin concert repertoire as well as to create new music specifically written for the instrument. In this thesis, an original mandolin concerto, Bloom, aims not only to add to the instrument’s repertoire, but bring it into the twenty-first century using contemporary compositional techniques. I …

Ethics In Kakadu (1988): Finding Djilile’S “True Tracks”, Natasia T. Boyko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tasmanian-born Peter Sculthorpe (1929 – 2014) was one of Australia’s most iconic modernist classical composers of the twentieth century. Kakadu (1988) seems to have sparked the most controversy of Sculthorpe’s works and has become one of his most well-known pieces. In the program notes provided in the score’s foreword, Sculthorpe asserts that “the melodic material in Kakadu, as in much of my recent music, was suggested by the contours and rhythms of Aboriginal chant.” Sculthorpe attributed this melodic material to the Arnem Land chant, Djilile. Consequently, Sculthorpe has been criticized for extracting Djilile from its authentic context as …

Escape Beneath: An Original Game Score Inspired By An Analysis Of Garry Schyman's Music, Daniel Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video-game music has grown into a vast array of different styles, sounds, and applications. As a newer field of music, game scoring has begun to receive high acclaim. Garry Schyman has become one of the most successful composers within the video-game industry. His music has received many awards and nominations throughout the years. Despite this, research and analysis into his compositions and techniques are almost non-existent. This thesis studies his techniques within the video-game scores for BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite, Middle Earth Shadow of War, and Torn; and then applies them into an original …

"Now, Then, Then:" An Original Composition And Examination Of The Influence Of Blues, Bluegrass, And Rock In Western Concert Music, David Klock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines four pieces by three composers and one creative team, focusing on connections to bluegrass, blues, and rock music in each. The pieces are Raphael by Bryce Dessner, Cognitive Consonance II: Westering by Christopher Trapani, Bog Bodies and other Macabre Miniatures by Nicolas Lell Benavides, and “Three Dots and a Dash” by Punch Brothers. Each of these works uses distinct instrumentations, but every ensemble includes guitar in some fashion. This examination informs the original composition entitled Now, Then, Then, scored for violin, cello, electric guitar, and marimba. In this original composition, Klock uses devices found within these …

Listen To The River: Dolores, Ophelia, And Female Resistance In Opera, Daniel Aaron Barnidge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The music of female characters in the great masterpieces of opera often demonstrates resistance to and undermines the abuse they have historically received in opera plots. The Mexican folktale that my opera, The Tragedy of La Llorona, draws inspiration from plays on many of the same tropes historically found in female characters in opera including madness, sexuality, and lack of agency. This led to research into the portrayal of women in opera as part of my pre-compositional process and my desire to access this tale free from the traditional 'marianismo' and 'machismo' narratives it is associated with and which …

Maria On The Moon: A Chamber Opera., Tanner Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After receiving news that his mother’s cancer has taken a turn for the worse, Brian must face the inevitability of her passing. He refuses to let her go without a fight, however, and attempts to buy time with rituals and strange objects from his eccentric, late family. But dark and mysterious things begin to lurk around their home, and Brian sees what comes of attempting to ward off death. An encounter with a strange figure forces Brian to face his inability to let go of what he cannot control. This work is adapted by the composer from Travis Brown’s short …