Composition Commons^™

A Cajun Tale, Daniel D. Schultz

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Not required for Music Composition

“A Lot Of Stories In My Mind”: Perspectives Of Children And Elders Living With Dementia On Intergenerational Collaboration In A Participatory Music Project, Cameron Dusman

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Trends of music engagement include a shift towards presentational music culture, as well as inequitable access to participatory music-making for some populations. Meanwhile, trends of societal engagement include ageism and age-segregation. Especially for people living with dementia, stigma often prevents equitable access to creative participatory arts. This convergent, mixed-methods case study design explored participation in an intergenerational, participatory creative arts project. Participants included children from an elementary school and senior adults with dementia in a memory care neighborhood. The purpose was to explore the meaning of participation and interaction in the project from participants’ perspectives. Participants collaborated in eight sessions …

Air, The Contents, Ian C. Mcnally

Theses and Dissertations

Air, The Contents is an encapsulation of the environments of four different places in New York State. It is written for Pierrot Ensemble with a run time of around 8 minutes.

Nausea, Jacob Dickerson

Music Theses and Dissertations

The popular novel Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre, tells the story of a fictional adventurer, Antoine Roquentin, and his struggle to understand the surrounding world. This novel illustrates the basics of Sartre’s existentialism. Sartre introduced the concept of “bad faith,” by which he meant the delusion that things in our lives must always be as they are. “Bad faith” and freedom are the core of Sartre’s message. Sartre shares the deep irony that we are “condemned to freedom” and implores us to understand responsibility in a more meaningful way. His philosophy forces us to own up to what we have …

The Making Of When We Say Goodnight, Andrew Newman

Honors Theses

The following thesis documents the writing and recording of When We Say Goodnight, an album by Lo Noom. The author discusses the various influences that led to the development of the album’s concept. The album is meant to explore the feelings the author associates with summer nights in Mississippi. He attempts to create a world in which the songs and feelings live. He discusses the album’s song development and various recording processes. As he brings the album to completion, a struggle emerges between the author’s desire to please his audience and his desire to create for his own personal enjoyment. …

Creativity And The Evolution Of Musical Ideas: Putting The Creative Principles Of Austin Kleon To Work, Dustin Schulze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All composers internalize the musical ideas of other composers and infuse them into their own original work. But the fear of being labeled “derivative” causes most composers to shy away from talking about these influences openly and directly. In Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like an Artist, he faces the issues of influence and imitation in a deliberately self-aware fashion. The principal objective of this thesis will be to internalize the musical ideas of other composers and infuse them into an original musical work of my own, entitled Kyros. By articulating the exact way in which I am using the work …

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, …

A Survey Of Modern Companion Pieces Outlining Specific Compositional Similarities Between Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem And Mack Wilberg's Requiem Aeternam And Let Peace Then Still The Strife, Joel Dunlap

Dissertations

Companion compositions can best be described as musical works composed to specifically coordinate in conjunction with a preexisting musical work. For the sole purpose and intention of complementing or coalescing with another work, the two companion compositions could share similar subject matter, choral/vocal or orchestral themes, and motifs, length, text treatment, context. Evidence in this survey will expound upon various examples of companion compositions from prominent modern-day composers.

The primary objective of this research is to study specific compositional characteristics, correlations, and relationships between Mack Wilberg’s two original compositions – Requiem aeternam and Let peace then still the strife with …

Negative Harmony: The Shadow Of Harmonic Polarity On Contemporary Composition Techniques, Debora Haller

Composition/Recording Projects

If we are to blame any composer for the puzzling question ‘What is Negative Harmony?’ that caused a worldwide itch on the creative minds of many young composers in this century, it would be Jacob Collier, who introduced the world with prodigious, colorful harmonies upon releasing his first album “In My Room” in 2016. Provided with brief answers during interviews with June Lee that explained the concept of tones and chords being mirrored on an axis center in the opposite direction, the surface of Negative Harmony was exposed but led to even more confusion. Prompted by even more questions, the …

A Violist In Nashville: The Viola’S Role In The Nashville Recording Industry, Patrick Monnius

Composition/Recording Projects

The viola, the violins larger and often overlooked sibling, is not the instrument people would typically think of when they think of Nashville. That honor would most likely go to either the fiddle or acoustic guitar. But present day Nashville is home to much more than the Country music that originally gave the city its' famous moniker Music City. The recording scene now encompasses almost every genre of popular music imaginable as well as a large amount of video game, television, and movie recording. Through this project, I attempted to explore the multitude of ways in which viola can be …

In Time Gone By: Song Cycle For Baritone And Six Players, Bryan Grosbach

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

In Time Gone By is a song cycle for Baritone vocalist and Pierrot Ensemble + percussion that explores the value of life being a byproduct of its finitude. Only during the most vulnerable and difficult events of that life can self-realization occur. These topics are wrapped into a “love-story” narrative crafted from select poems from Chamber Music by James Joyce and select quotes from the prose Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions by John Donne. Using intervallic focus as a tool for development, the piece transitions from sparse quintal harmony to lush tertian harmony as a musical metaphor for the self-realization of …

The Dinner: An Opera In One Act., Rachael Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After getting engaged Kate decides to invite her estranged mother over to come out as queer. As Kate attempts to appease her mother, who fervently disagrees with her lifestyle, choices, and sexuality, the dinner starts over, progressively becoming stranger until Kate must finally confront their relationship.

Medusa For Three Sopranos And Chamber Orchestra., Joshua Baerwald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many people know the story of Medusa as she relates to Hercules' adventures. Most think of her as the monster who turns anyone who looks into her eyes into stone. Few people know, however, why Medusa was that way. One of the first written versions of Medusa's story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, written in 8 AD. Ovid says that Medusa's beauty invited jealous aspirations from many suitors. One of those suitors was Poseidon, God of the Sea. As was often the case in Greek myth, Poseidon did whatever it would take to have Medusa, and raped her in Athena's Temple. …

The Third Truth, John Paul Chapman

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This composition, scored for a full symphonic orchestra, is based on the theory of truth discussed by Bertrand Russell. Objective truth, he states, must satisfy three criteria. The first element of truth is to acknowledge that it has an opposite. The second element of truth is a property of belief, statement, and perception. The third requisite is to acknowledge that truth consists in coherence. The introduction to this composition invokes the confluence of the three elements by utilizing discordant harmonies. In the next two movements, a theme is developed for each element. The First Truth, representing conflict, possesses a dark …

Murder Music: Horror Film Soundtracks Throughout History, Vincent G. Aragon

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Horror films often rely heavily on their music to create a tense and frightening experience for their audience, and it is the composer's job to write a score that satisfies that requirement. Throughout film history, the methods composers utilize to achieve that goal differ across time due to various factors including available technology, allotted budget, and the norms and expectations of films at the time. This capstone paper explores the different approaches composers employed in writing horror soundtracks from the early 20th century to the modern-day, noting any significant shifts and common themes found in the music of popular horror …

Sacred Song Sisters: Choral And Solo Vocal Church Music By Women Composers For The Lenten Revised Common Lectionary, Lisa Elliott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This document explores sacred music by women composers for the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) of the Catholic and Christian churches. The study researches exclusively choral and vocal solo music by women composers for the church season of Lent. Other primary limitations include music in English, and music from the nineteenth century to the present. The main question answered in this document is: what sacred music has been published by women composers that may be programmed in church services?

This question is answered in the included appendices. These appendices list the music by women composers appropriate for the specific RCL readings …

Music And Infrasound In Horror Movies - How They Can Be Used To Enhance Horror Films, Isabella Sills

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The purpose of this project is to research and investigate the effect music and sound effects have on horror films, specifically, the natural phenomena known as infrasound will be explored in depth. Just outside our range of hearing at 20 Hz, infrasound may not be audible, but can still cause physical reactions such as anxiety, uneasiness, and extreme sorrow (Morrow, 2017). I am looking to create a horror comic in the form of a video that heavily relies on musical cues and the incorporation of infrasound to build up parts of the story told in the form of a comic. …

Master's Recital: Isaac Schwartz, Isaac Schwartz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this recital is to partially fulfill the requirements for the Master of Music degree in Jazz Pedagogy, and to display musical proficiency on drum set, bass guitar, and piano. Isaac Schwartz scheduled his graduate jazz recital for April 8, 2020, at 7:30pm. Due to COVID-19 quarantine regulations, he met the alternative requirements provided by his graduate committee instead of presenting a live recital.

With seven pieces on the recital program, the recitalist will play three on drum set, and two each on piano and bass. This shows a diverse set of skills on all three instruments while …

Our Perception Of Scary Sounds: A Comparison Of Films And Popular Music, David Puhl

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My Capstone Research Paper will be an analysis on the usage of “scary” sounds performed in popular music as well as a comparison to the practice of using similar sounds in film, making a note of any similarities or differences (ex. audience perception, use of visuals). I will also touch on the integration of scary sound effects alongside music scoring for film, specifically in the Horror and Suspense genres. With popular music being my primary focus, I want to elaborate on the cognitive psychology of audiences (in film and music) and their reactions to "scary" or "horrific" sounds to better …

Memory Management For Game Audio Development, Rahmin Tehrani

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Research in managing memory for video game audio development. Interactive music and audio implementation are explored with a strong focus on how to manage data while developing game sound. Some concepts that are important include the multi-use of one sound, file conversion, and randomization in music and audio using technology. Additionally, audio middleware such as Wwise is referenced and strongly used to showcase the previously described concepts. The end of this research project explores the future in video game audio with information relative to the next generation of consoles, video game streaming, physical memory limitations and expansions, and the future …

Trippy Sounds: Recording Studio Effects Of Psychedelic Rock, 1960s And Present, Theo Farnum

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The psychedelic rock movement of the 1960s dominated popular music and culture of the decade. The movement was heavily shaped by the consumption of LSD, a mind-altering hallucinogenic drug. Songwriting and lyrics often reflected the drug and the states of mind that it induced, and unique cutting-edge production techniques were used to imitate the effects of LSD use. Artists such as The Beatles used new effects, such as phasing, artificial double tracking, tape loops, and reverse recording.

In the 21st century, music has again been described as psychedelic rock, though the music under that term is much more diverse. Bands …

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, …

Concertante For Sho And Jazz Orchestra, Susumu Watanabe

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

“Concertante for Sho and Jazz Orchestra” is a multi-movement concert piece designed to exhibit both the virtuosity of sho and its orchestral color and dynamism. There are three independent movements, each of which has multiple sections which are subdivided by the alternation of tempo, mood and musical context. The title “Concertante” simply implies a style of composition reflecting a brilliant and virtuosic display of instrumental dexterity and musicality for the solo sho part, and also the various individual instruments and instrumental sections in the 16-piece jazz orchestra.

Sho is a wind instrument which is almost exclusively used for Gagaku, Japanese …

Composition Portfolio, Levi Raleigh Brown

Music ETDs

The four pieces selected for this portfolio represent a variety of interests and pursuits over two years at UNM. Together they are unified through their attention to the universality of the daily human experience, particularly as it contrasts to human desire for control through constructed means such as art, although each approaches this relationship in a distinct way. Musically, these ideas are explored with a sense of spontaneity, drawing from a variety of musical styles, and experimenting with concepts of texture and form, with special attention to elements of live performance.

Included pieces are A Moment of Some Complexity, …

Rained In: An Original Musical, Naomi Krizner

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

This musical confronts the perception of mental illness in an allegorical story that recounts an encounter between Tate, an estranged man inhabiting a cave who is taunted by two demons, and Emsley, a young girl brimming with innocence and curiosity.

Lucky Dragon No. 5 - A New Music Drama, Spencer Stern

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

I was commissioned in the summer of 2018 by the singer and librettist Daniel Neer to collaborate on a piece entitled Lucky Dragon No. 5. It was to be roughly an hour long, and was scored for baritone voice and percussion quartet.

Red Note New Music Festival Composition Competition Announcement, 2020, School Of Music, Carl Schimmel, Roy Magnuson

Red Note New Music Festival

The RED NOTE New Music Festival at Illinois State University is a week-long event which features outstanding performances of contemporary concert music.

We Met At The Edge, Eric M. Howell

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

‘We Met at the Edge’ is a collaboration between composer Eric Howell and visual artist Marcela Rodriguez based on a reimagining of the Major Arcana of the Tarot cards. Each card is presented with all new modern interpretations of the original art as well as approximately one minute of music that reflects its unique meanings. Additionally, each card is capable of being looped on itself to create the illusion of being a seamless moment in time, while simultaneously being able to elide into the next card in the sequence. ‘We Met at the Edge’ is meant to be listened to …

Felice Bryant And Country Music Songwriting In The 1950s, Paula Bishop

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

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, …