Music Practice Commons^™

From Osbcurity To The Stage: A Stylistic And Pedagogical Exploration Of The Four Concert Etudes By Mikhail Bukinik, Luis Bernardo Castro

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines Mikhail Bukinik’s 4 Konzertetüden (concert etudes) for solo cello through both a stylistic performance and pedagogical approach. Despite Bukinik’s historical presence as a cellist and composer, these specific works have fallen into obscurity and remain largely absent from the standard pedagogical and performance canon. The research has two primary objectives. The first is to reintroduce these works to the modern repertoire, focusing on dissemination and performance practice. This involves a stylistic analysis of the four etudes, culminating in a recorded live performance during the lecture recital and the creation of a professional studio recording to serve as …

Music History 10100: A Thousand Years Of Listening, Sophia Stoyanovich

Open Educational Resources

A Thousand Years of Listening is an undergraduate music history course elective at Hunter College that introduces students to the history of Western art music from the medieval era to the present through focused listening and musical analysis. Designed for students with no prior musical training, the course develops critical listening skills while exploring major composers, genres, styles, and historical contexts. Through listening, discussion, writing, and a live concert experience, students learn to engage with music as informed and thoughtful listeners.

H. C. Robbins Landon (1926-2009): A Brief, But Grateful Tribute, David Wyn Jones

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Tribute honoring H. C. Robbins Landon on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Haydn’S Creation Challenge: A New Hypothesis About The Genesis Of Beethoven’S Ninth Symphony, Stefan Romanó

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

The article hypothesizes that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was the product of his decision to take up the challenge that Haydn’s Creation had confronted him with since his youth.  Haydn’s oratorio was immensely popular in Vienna and Germany during Beethoven’s time, more popular than Beethoven’s own music.  It represented the golden standard of musical perfection for Beethoven himself, who strove to equal it, but repeatedly felt that he had not yet jumped over the Creation hurdle.  He took up the challenge in the years 1816-18, when he began designing the first movement of his Ninth, as a replica to the …

The Message Of Resilience And Harmony: From War Camps To Modern Calls For Peace, Linlin Uta

Dissertations, 2020-current

Music has a unique power to either foster harmony and peace or contribute to discord and suffering, depending on how it is used. The role of music in three different wartime camps—the Bando Prisoner-of-War Camp in Japan during World War I, Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and Japanese American internment camps during World War II—illustrates both the dangers and the transformative potential of music. While these examples highlight the misuse of music as a warning, they also reveal how music, when used in a positive way, can offer valuable lessons for promoting global peace.

Moreover, in an environment …

A Description Of Zhao Zhang’S Nature No. 2 And Xiaoxuan Xu’S An Unusual Feast Of East, Sicheng He

Dissertations, 2020-current

This research presents a new path in the development of Chinese music by aiming to incorporate both modern Western and ancient Chinese influences in form, texture, tonality, topic, and other dimensions of style and structure. Two Chinese composers whose recent compositions for the piano share similar characteristics: Zhao Zhang (b. 1964; Nature no. 2, 2013) and Xiaoxuan Xu (b. 1990; An Unusual Feast of East, 2022). The research will discuss how Zhao Zhang and Xiaoxuan Xu accomplish this fusion of old and new in their recent piano works Nature no. 2, (2013) and An Unusual Feast of East, 2022. …

Compositional Techniques For Horror Film Soundtracks, Malia L. Hernandez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

With this paper, I aim to explore the history of horror film soundtracks and discover the various compositional techniques that are used to trigger physical responses from a viewer. I also intend to describe how horror scores have adapted and changed over time as our social and political climate continues to evolve by examining several different kinds of sources including academic studies, articles, and film reviews. While every viewer is different, a film scorer can properly build suspense by using specific compositional methodologies to briefly alter responses of the human mind and body.  This type of research would provide useful …

“It Takes A Big Thrust To Destabilize An Entrenched Practice”: On Taruskin And The Western Traditions, Ronit Seter

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

This memorial essay begins with a brief appreciation of Richard Taruskin’s The Oxford History of Western Music and its critical reception (Susan McClary, Charles Rosen). It continues with comments on the early stages of his career, noting his strategic pincer movement, that is, a pivot from his early research on Russian operas—to his 1980 groundbreaking JAMS article on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on the one hand, and a source reading book (Weiss-Taruskin, 1984) on the other. Both became essential for launching his career, and for our field. I then delve into several of Taruskin’s core ideas—about current and past …

Introduction, Ronit Seter, Ralph P. Locke

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Richard Taruskin—the single most prominent and influential musicologist of the past half-century—died on July 1, 2022 at age 77. This Colloquy consists of extended versions of papers presented on July 2, 2023, at the annual meeting of the Israeli Musicological Society, and additional essays by scholars who knew Taruskin personally. The essays engage in critical reflections on his personality, ethics, teaching philosophy, methodologies, and massive and skillful literary output. Moreover, they illuminate developments in musicology over the past fifty years, from its positivistic roots and its focus on Western canonical works to challenges from ethnomusicological practices, feminist theory, and anti-racism/colonialism.

Front Matter

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Pedro António Avondano: Il Mondo Della Luna. Naxos 660487-88, 2021., Ralph P. Locke

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

The world-premiere recording of Il mondo della luna by Pedro António Avondano consists of a highly skillful and alert performance by Portuguese musicians, including singers well trained in Italian. The recitatives were rehearsed in an unusual way, with the singers first speaking the lines rather than singing them. The experiment will be judged variously by different observers. The reviewer dislikes the frequent clash in pitch between voice and instruments, especially at cadences. But others have hailed the recording unstintingly.

Two Essays On Contemporary Music, Bálint András Varga

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Bálint András Varga (1941–2019) was an advocate for and a keen critic of contemporary music, first on radio, and later as an acquisitions editor for both Editio Hungarica and Universal-Edition. He interviewed many musical figures and planned to interview visual artists before he died. His interlocutors were impressed with Varga’s insightful questions and frequently answered them much more comprehensively than they would ones from standard journalists. These two essays were intended to be published in Varga’s third book, From Boulanger to Stockhausen: Interviews and a Memoir. The first, “What to Listen for in Music,” refers to Aaron Copland’s book of …

Undergraduate Voice Students’ Understanding Of The Vocalize And Its Purpose, Natalie H. Bazemore

Honors College Theses

This research discusses undergraduate voice students' understanding of vocalizes and their purpose. To discuss this subject, a vocalize has been defined along with its purpose analyzed. By discovering what methods voice teachers are using to prescribe vocalizes tells us how they are educating their singers on developing technical singing skills. This research was collected through a survey conducted in Qualtrics and was shared via social media voice teacher forums and collegiate music settings. This 5-10 minute long survey included participants that are either undergraduate voice students or undergraduate voice teachers. The teachers and students completed different surveys, both asking about …

Cantate Fratres: Forming And Sustaining Traditional Catholic Music, Liturgy And Culture In The Institute Of Christ The King Sovereign Priest, Reyers P. Brusoe

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is an understudied member of the Traditional Catholic and Latin Mass Communities whose unique approach to Catholic liturgy, culture, and formation offers a sustainable model for the Catholic Church's longevity and renewal. This study is the first of its kind, combining the theoretical positions of affect theory, ecomusicology/musical sustainability, and the musicology of religion to explore and explain the success of this growing classical community. This dissertation examines Church documents, theological literature, and multidisciplinary academic sources as a foundation for the study.             In studying the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, …

The Essence Of The Heart: Layered Human Experience In Eva Jessye’S My Spirituals, Jessica Brunet

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Much of the spiritual repertory has been transcribed as documentation of purely melodic and lyrical content, and many songs have been arranged by some of the greatest figures in twentieth- and twenty-first century music history, including Harry T. Burleigh, Hall Johnson, Margaret Bonds, and Jacqueline B. Hairston. On this roster of luminaries is Dr. Eva Jessye (1895-1992).

If Eva Jessye is remembered at all, it is typically in the context of her role as choral director for the original production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1935). Among a litany of other accomplishments, however, Dr. Jessye also published a collection of …

Of Cicadas And Ducks: Humor In Emmanuel Chabrier's "Les Cigales" And "Villanelle Des Petits Canards", Hope V. Dornfeld

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This research project consists of a vocal performance of two songs from Emmanuel Chabrier’s “Barnyard Suite” (Volailleries), a song cycle on poems of Edmond Rostand and Rosemonde Gérard. It will be accompanied by program notes and a separate oral presentation that detail the research process and creative decisions inherent in presenting a work of musical performance art. The project will provide a broad historical context for Chabrier’s work, with special attention given to the role of humor in French art song. The first song presented, Les cigales, masterfully depicts cicadas and their raucous noises, while the second, …

From Cathedral To Concert Hall: The Evolution Of The Requiem Mass, Thomas Butler

Student Scholar Symposium

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine – Grant them eternal rest, Lord. These five words make up one of the most well-known texts in the classical music canon: the Requiem Mass. Built on foundations laid by church composers such as Machaut, Dufay, and Palestrina, eighteenth and nineteenth century giants like Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms popularized the Requiem setting as a concert work. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen compositions by Benjamin Britten, Gabriela Frank, and others, which include narrative elements in conjunction with the traditional Latin texts. My research on this topic explores how and why the Requiem Mass …

Haydn's Canonic Minuets, James S. Mackay

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Haydn composed many hundreds of minuets during his long career, enriching the courtly dance with compositional skill and ingenuity. One of the ways in which he sought to elevate the minuet genre was through contrapuntal artifice, including canon. The famous “Hexenmenuett” (“Witches’ Minuet”) from his “Quinten” Quartet, Op. 76 no. 2, dating from 1797, is the most famous of these works, in which the viola and cello duplicate the leading voice of violins I and II at the distance of an octave. Haydn’s interest in canonic minuets dates back to the early 1760s, however. Minuets from three early symphonies (Nos. …

Learning How To Practice Takes Practice, Micah Killion, Robert Duke

John J. Cali School of Music Scholarship and Creative Works

Effective music learning depends on effective music practice. Although time spent with teachers is an important component of young musicians’ development, time spent alone practicing is perhaps even more consequential. Researchers and teachers have offered many prescriptions about effective music practice, yet observations of young musicians’ actual practice reveal that their behavior in the practice room is often quite unlike what teachers envision. The most important aspects of effective practice are the thinking, perceiving, and decision-making that serve to organize how musicians spend their time. We discuss how to help students focus their attention in ways that lead to the …

Tradition, Individuality, And Innovation In Western Classical Music Performance: A Quantitative Analysis Of Bach’S Fourth Cello Suite Prelude, Clare Monfredo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Why do we seek out new performances of a commonly performed piece of music? An essential tradition of Western classical music (WCM) is the performance of canonical works by composers, an activity that requires the interpretation and execution of written scores by individual performers. In this practice, performers are not only expected to determine the composer’s “intentions,” but also somehow (paradoxically) share these in a “unique” performance interpretation. In musical education, performers are trained by teachers to create these “unique” interpretations by learning how to intuit composers’ intentions in a system that passes down interpretative traditions through master-apprentice one-on-one lessons. …

Art Management Of Batavia Madrigal Singer (Bms) In The International Choir Competition, Agustinus Arbi Putra, Hery Budiawan, Rien Safrina

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study aims to find out the management of the Batavia Madrigal Singers (BMS) choir, especially in achieving achievements at the international level. Batavia Madrigal Singers is a choir from Indonesia that is consistent in participating in and winning choir competitions at the international level. This study uses a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach through observation techniques, interviews, and literature studies. The results of the study show that the art management of Batavia Madrigal Singers includes (1) Planning, (2) Organization, (3) Leadership, and (4) Control. Based on the results of the research, it was found that Batavia Madrigal …

In Search Of A Granada School Of Lutherie, James Westbrook

Soundboard Scholar

A review of Alberto Cuéllar et al., La guitarra tradicional en Granada = Granada and the Traditional Guitar (Granada: Diputación Provincial de Granada, 2024).

Clarifying Issues Surrounding The “First” Jazz Recording, Mark C. Gridley

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Ten questions are answered regarding the first jazz recording, whether it was really the first, and if so, how it qualifies as jazz. They touch on the nature of swing feeling, the extent of improvisation in the recordings, the primacy of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the recordings of Wilbur Sweatman, and the comedy team of Harlan and Collins, and why the Original Creole Orchestra of Bill Johnson, featuring Freddie Keppard, did not record.

A Discussion Of Rodion Shchedrin’S Ten Piano Pieces, Op. 20, Wei Mo

Dissertations, 2020-current

Russian composer and pianist Rodion Shchedrin (b. 1932) is considered one of the most successful contemporary Russian composers. He established his reputation at a young age. This document will discuss Shchedrin’s early musical style as reflected in his Ten Piano Pieces, Op. 20, a collection of ten pieces composed between 1952 and 1961. By analyzing the structure, harmony, and character of these pieces, this document aims to explore the commonalities among them and explore the distinctive appeal of Shchedrin's music.

Elements Of Greek Identity In The Eight Dances From The Greek Islands By Yiannis Constantinidis, Afroditi Mitsopoulou

Dissertations, 2020-current

The purpose of this research is to present elements of Greek style and identity in the composition for solo piano, Eight Dances from the Greek Islands (Οκτώ Νησιώτικοι Ελληνικοί Χοροί, για πιάνο) (1954) by Yiannis Constantinidis. What is regarded as Greek national identity? How was it formed and developed throughout the centuries, and what compositional techniques did Greek composers before Constantinidis use in their works to define Greek identity? A topic examined in this document was the construction and deconstruction of Greek identity, and the question addressed was whether Greek identity can ultimately be defined. Constantinidis (1903-1984) was …

Don V Moses: In Memoriam, Michael Deane Lamkin, Michael E. Ruhling

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

The Haydn and music communities are saddened by the passing of Don V Moses on March 12 at age 88. Dr. Moses was a tireless conductor, scholar, and ambassador of Haydn music performance, and encouraged the forming of the Haydn Society of California and its expansion into the Haydn Society of North America. His legacy continues with the Eisenstadt Classical Music Festival which he founded in 1975 and which will celebrate its 50^th anniversary this coming August.

"Come Tempesta In Mar": Awe And Terror In Haydn’S Sacred Music, Clive Mcclelland

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Haydn’s so-called Sturm und Drang symphonies are renowned for exhibiting a range of disruptive features. While some commentators have attempted to link this with a personal crisis in Haydn’s life, there is no evidence to support the idea. Furthermore, it is misleading to make an association here between stormy musical writing in general and the German literary Sturm und Drang. The principal musical topos that Haydn employs is one that I have termed tempesta, and its origins lie in the storm scenes of Baroque opera. Here there was often a supernatural association involving a deity either as instigator …

An Interdisciplinary Analysis Framework For Found Object Experimental Music, Erin Demastes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Found object experimental music consists of compositions and performances created with objects not intended for musical performance. Found objects can range from appliances and household items to power tools and consumer products to souvenirs and heirlooms. Although these objects are used with the intent of creating musical compositions, new characteristics that are not found in traditional music emerge. One major characteristic that differentiates found object music from traditional music is that the objects have inherent cultural associations and meaning outside of their use in the composition. While an analysis of the sonic structures and scores of found object experimental music …

Reassessing Haydn’S Orfeo In The Theatre, Dorian Bandy, Caryl Clark

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Haydn’s last opera, L’anima del filosofo (The Soul of the Philosopher), is a highly unusual retelling of the Orpheus myth. Written for London in 1791 to a libretto by C. F. Badini, the opera was never staged during the composer’s lifetime. Shut down in rehearsal and banned from performance, the opera never reached the stage because many of its themes—including the apocalyptic storm at the end—piqued British anxieties towards events unfolding in revolutionary France. The opera finally premiered in 1951, with Maria Callas singing the role of Euridice. Universal Edition prepared the performing material from sources photographed behind …

Echoes Of Chinese Tradition: A Guide To Mandarin Diction Through Fixed-Ipa And Traditional Phonology, With Insights Into Intertwined Intonation Contours Of Chinese-American Art Songs, Xiaoming Tian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents a comprehensive guide to Mandarin Chinese diction and articulation, rooted in traditional Chinese phonology and articulated through Fixed-International Phonetic Alphabet (Fixed-IPA). It unfolds in two primary segments, with the initial section delving into the historical underpinnings and phonetic nuances of traditional Chinese opera singing. This inquiry not only systematically introduces Chinese pronunciation rules but also illuminates the influence of traditional Chinese opera elements on contemporary Chinese art songs and operas. This part also reflects upon the significant strides made in Chinese language Romanization since the Wade-Giles system's introduction in the 19th century, discussing how it facilitated literacy …