Music Performance Commons^™

Joby Talbot’S Path Of Miracles: Musical And Dramatic Analysis, Joseph Stuligross

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This project investigates Joby Talbot’s choral composition Path of Miracles, focusing on interpretive insight as well as musical and extra-musical understandings related to the subject matter, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. It explores the sources and methods of generating dramatic intensity and seeks to understand how the composer achieved particular dramatic effects. The project proceeds along two related modes of inquiry. The first involves musical evaluation, particularly of pitch, motive, harmony and rhythm techniques, in a somewhat traditional analysis. The second investigates the ways in which musical techniques generate the …

Types And Causes Of Physiological Injury In Piano Playing, With Emphasis On Piano Pedagogy In China, Ruixi Niu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Among musicians who seek medical help for their injuries each year, half are pianists. Improper playing technique is a factor influencing the development of injury. This research project focuses on the types and causes of physiological injury in the process of piano playing and includes methods of avoiding such injuries.

The types of piano-related physiological injury and associated conditions that are discussed include tenosynovitis, focal dystonia, and muscle pain. Relevant literature and investigative data—and some legends—are compared and sorted. Chinese pedagogical views concerning piano technique are discussed, along with ongoing debates concerning injury prevention and the appropriate use of exercises …

The "Organ-Accompanied Solo Motet" In In La Maîtrise, 1857–1861, John David O'Donnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In his work, Motets for One Voice by Franck, Gounod, and Saint-Saëns, Richard Benefield began the scholarly study of a unique body of repertoire, the organ-accompanied solo motet repertoire of nineteenth century France. While Benefield chose to restrict his project to the work of only three major composers, he indicated other collections of Latin texted solo motets, one of which was the solo motets published in the Parisian church music journal La Maîtrise,between 1857–1861. These songs are examined in terms of historical context, musical features, and possible contemporary uses.

As France recovered from the ravages of the Revolution, …

How Does The Pronunciation Of Native Languages Affect Beginning Singers? A Research Focusing On Native Mandarin Chinese And American English Speaking Singers, Ruobing Zhao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The classical style of singing is taught at music institutions around the world as a mainstream artform. The main languages of classical vocal repertoires are Italian, German, French and English, which means most classical singers need to sing in non-native languages. When people learn a new sound from a foreign language, they often search for reference points within their native language(s), which usually is the reason behind singers performing with incorrect accents or diction.

This research focuses on beginning singers whose native language is either Mandarin Chinese or American English. This research introduces the romanization system and basic pronunciation rule …

Musical And Cultural Perspectives Of Héctor Campos Parsi: An Examination Of His Influences And Analysis Of Selected Vocal Works, Cynthia Ortiz-Bartley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper examines the historical and cultural atmosphere in Puerto Rico and how it affected one of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated composers, Héctor Campos Parsi, and two selected works in two different times of his life. The discussion includes events that affected the island with respect to art music from 1898, the birth of Héctor Campos Parsi in 1922, and up to 1986, which marks the date of the second selected work. This document considers three questions about cultural and structural influences about the life and experiences of Héctor Campos Parsi: Does a composer’s life experience and environment and culture …

Latin American Influences On Selected Piano Pieces By Louis Moreau Gottschalk And Darius Milhaud, Hyejeong Seong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document examines selected piano works by Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) and Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) that are influenced by Latin American cultures.The paper traces the influence of Latin American music and the incorporation of characteristic melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements in the following compositions: Souvenir de Porto Rico, op. 31 (1857) and Souvenir de la Havane, op. 39 (1859) by Gottschalk; Saudades do Brasil, op. 67 (1920-1921) and Brasileira: Third movement of Scaramouche Suite, op. 165b (1937), for Two Pianos, by Milhaud. After a brief introduction, the study reviews the existing related literature about this topic. Then, Chapters Three …

The Life And Work Of Alex Klein, Ramon Thiago Mendes De Oliveira

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Alex Klein is one of the best-known figures of the American oboe school. He is the winner of multiple international competitions, including the first prize at the Geneva’s Concours International d’Execution Musicale. Appointed principal oboe at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1995, Klein is one of the most highly regarded musicians hired during the Barenboim era. His recording of Richard Strauss’ oboe concerto with the CSO was awarded Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) at the 44th Grammy Awards. In 2004, his tenure at CSO was interrupted due to the onset of Focal Dystonia; which affected multiple fingers in …

Contemporary Music Notation For The Flute: A Unified Guide To Notational Symbols For Composers And Performers, Ms. Eftihia Victoria Arkoudis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

David Cope stated: “There are two basic approaches to the study of New Music Notation: codification and comprehension […] what really needs to be done is not to keep listing the diverse ways each composer symbolizes his music or create substantially new and negating systems of notation, but to concentrate on codifying one way for future composers to symbolize their music.”^[1]

In an attempt to limit the inconsistency and complexity characterizing contemporary notation idiomatic to the flute, this paper is the first to adopt Cope’s statement and ultimately apply it in relation to the notation of non-standard extended flute …

A Compendium Of Opera In Spain And Latin America, Michelle S. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Spain and Latin America have a rich operatic tradition, however this opulent body of operatic work is mostly overlooked or ignored in mainstream histories of opera. This document focuses on opera in Spain and the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. Opera was both composed and performed in Spain and Latin America, and both regions demonstrate the development of national opera traditions. Spanish drama was closely linked to the beginnings of national opera, and Italian influence is evident in opera compositions from both regions. The output of national operas varies by country, with Spain, Mexico, and Argentina claiming the majority of …

Pedagogical Thoughts On Album Des Six: A Piano Set By Les Six To Represent French Nationalism, Dipendra Sunam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Les Six, formally established in 1920, included a group of young French composers: Georges Auric (1899-1983), Louis Durey (1888-1979), Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) and Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983). The primary motivation for their formation was the reaction against foreign influences, especially German Romantic music, in French music. Jean Cocteau, inspired by Erik Satie’s style, proposed a new French musical aesthetic: simplicity, directness, clarity, and terseness. Les Six followed these ideals in their formative years. Their artistic association was short-lived, but while it lasted it produced Album des Six, their sole joint production, a published …

Folk-Song To Formal Performance: Interpreting The Songs Of Jean Ritchie For Voice Recital, Julianne E. Laird

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to identify the value of incorporating American folk-song into a formal voice recital program, specifically the collections and compositions of Jean Ritchie. This qualitative study identified criteria for choosing specific folk-songs to include in formal recital, assessed quality in a folk-song arrangement, discussed suitable instrumentation for accompaniment, and suggested appropriate performance practices for concert performance. New folk-song literature was discovered through accessing original unpublished sources in the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. Finally, a format and program for incorporating the collected and composed folk-songs of Jean Ritchie in formal recital was …

Contemporary Collaborative Piano Practices In Korea: Five Case Studies, Jiyeon Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper provides insight into the practices of collaborative piano in Korea. Interviews are included with five Korean pianists who have enjoyed successful careers in either Korea or the United States: Eun Young Lee, Young Kyung Hyun, Jin Hye Lee, Tony Cho and Hun Won Yim. Their responses provide practical advice for collaborative pianists as well as details about educational and career opportunities for collaborative pianists in Korea and the United States. Also included is biographical information about the selected pianists, information about Korean collaborative pianists’ associations, a list of Korean universities offering collaborative piano degrees, and a bibliography.

Examining Musical Hybridity And Cultural Influences In Valerie Coleman’S Wish Sonatine And Fanmi Imèn, Brittany Marie Trotter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this research document is to examine elements of musical hybridity and cultural influences in renowned African-American flutist-composer Valerie Coleman’s Wish Sonatine and Fanmi Imèn for solo flute and piano. Prominently known for her chamber music works, Coleman describes her compositional style as “urban-classical,” which infuses elements of popular American styles into modern Western art music traditions to highlight and encapsulate the cultural experiences of various diasporas of our time.

The most significant elements of hybridity and cultural influences examined in Wish Sonatine and Fanmi Imèn are programmatic imagery and compositional motifs. The programmatic imagery is represented through …

Discovering The "Finnish Chopin"—Selim Palmgren's 24 Preludes, Op. 17, And Tres Piezas Para Piano, Op. 54, Sijia Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Selim Palmgren (1878-1951) is one of the most significant musical figures in Finland. Unlike Jean Sibelius, who is undoubtedly the greatest Finnish symphonic composer of his time, Palmgren’s concentration is more on smaller-scale character pieces. His contribution to the piano and vocal repertoires earned him the reputation of being the “Chopin of the North” and also the “Schumann of the North.” Palmgren was not only prolific, having written over 300 piano works and 200 vocal pieces, but also versatile, frequently blending within his works various nationalistic, impressionistic, and other musical styles and elements within his works.

This paper is focused …

Marcel Tabuteau’S System Of Phrasing Applied To The Primary Themes In Carl Maria Von Weber’S Second Clarinet Concerto, Christopher Charles Bowmaster

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document provides a biographical sketch of Marcel Tabuteau’s life beginning with his childhood and extending to his retirement from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Curtis Institute of Music. The sketch provides a thorough timeline explaining how each colleague, teacher, student, and ensemble influenced his phrasing system.

Following a series of handwritten notes completed by Tabuteau in his native language in chapter two, application of the system to Carl Maria von Weber’s Second Clarinet Concerto takes place in chapters three to six. The four portions of the system used are the Interrogative/Affirmative/More-Affirmative, Note Grouping, Up and Down Gestures, and Phrasing …

Music Technology, Gender, And Sexuality: Case Studies Of Women And Queer Electroacoustic Music Composers, Justin Thomas Massey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document aims to contribute to the established scholarship that highlights the role gender and sexuality has with one’s fundamental relationship to composition and music technology. The profession of electronic music composition and music production are strongly associated with notions of power and control, as much of this technology was built during the World Wars and Cold War. These aggressive views have created gendered language and metaphors in the field. Metaphors are the primary way in which we accommodate and assimilate information and experience to our conceptual organization of the world. It is at the source of our capacity to …

The Hard Bop Trombone: An Exploration Of The Improvisational Styles Of The Four Trombonist Who Defined The Genre (1955-1964), Emmett Curtis Goods

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the improvisational stylings of Curtis Fuller, Locksley “Slide” Hampton, Julian Priester and Grachan Moncur III from 1955 through 1964. In part one of this study, each musician is presented through their improvisational connections to J.J. Johnson, the leading trombonist of the Bebop era. His improvisational signatures are then traced through to the musical innovations of the Hard-Bop Trombone Era. Source material for this part of the study includes published books, dissertations, articles, online sources, discographies and personal interviews. Part two of this paper analyzes selected solos from each of the four subjects to identify the defining characteristics …

The English Voyage Of Pietrobono Burzelli, Evan A. Maccarthy

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Praised by poets, scholars, and fellow musicians of his day, the singer, lutenist, and teacher Pietrobono Burzelli (ca. 1417–97) achieved international renown for his skill at improvisational performances on plucked instruments. Until recently, archival documents recorded his presence at many courts on the Italian peninsula and as far away as the Hungarian court. Documents until now unknown to musicologists reveal that Pietrobono also traveled to England. In August 1466 he signed a will and testament in advance of a risky trip “ad partes Anglie” that he was planning to begin the next day.

The testament offers new information about Pietrobono’s …

The Life And Work Of Barbara Nissman, Giuliana Paola Contreras Ampuero

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper focuses on the life and work of American concert pianist Barbara Nissman (b. 1944). Her extensive work as a performer, writer, lecturer and guest clinician makes Nissman one of the most accomplished artists of our time. This paper is the first comprehensive look at Nissman’s career and her diverse contributions to piano study and performance as a leading expert on the piano music of Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), Béla Bartók (1881-1945), and Franz Liszt (1811-1886). As an overview of Nissman’s life and career, this paper provides both a thorough presentation of Nissman’s contributions and serves …

Lynne Ramsey, Violist: Biography, Pedagogical Background, Teaching Techniques, And Career Advice, Ignacio Cuello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document explores teaching methods, career advice, and major influences that shaped the professional course of the violist Lynne Ramsey. Ramsey teaches viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is first assistant principal viola in the Cleveland Orchestra. For over thirty years, she has taught countless viola students in the US while maintaining a full-time performance career.

The introductory chapter covers Ramsey’s biographical and educational backgrounds during her time as a student of Ramon Scavelli, David Dawson, and Karen Tuttle. It is worth mentioning that Tuttle was the primary student of one of the best-known violists in …

Salvaging The Style Of Frei Aber Einsam In The Music Of Brahms: Proposing A Historically Informed Performance Practice For The Three Sonatas For Violin And Piano Of Johannes Brahms, Opp. 78, 100, And 108, Phillip Alexander Ducreay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis explores scholarship relevant to assembling a historically informed performance practice of Brahms’s three Violin Sonatas, Opp. 78, 100, and 108 in the nineteenth-century Germanic violin tradition of which, Joseph Joachim was its greatest proponent. This inquiry, which primarily examines surviving evidence of Joachim, his pedagogical ilk, and the circle of Brahms, engages with a variety of 19th and early 20th century Germanic musical and textual evidence, including nineteenth-century musical editions, correspondence and other archival materials, and early recorded performances to propose a historically informed style. In presenting this historiography of materials relevant to forming a historically informed interpretation …