Music Theory Commons^™

Volume 25, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Metrical Analysis And Rebarring Of Paul Creston's Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, Op. 19, Christopher Kyle Sweitzer

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

The Sonata For Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 19 is one of the most popular pieces in the saxophone literature, commonly played by professional saxophonists during their training. It features exciting rhythmic devices like irregular and mixed meter, the notation of which is the main focus of this paper. Although Creston often used irregular and mixed meter in his compositions, he rarely specifically notated them, choosing instead to use accents, beams, slurs, and other phenomenal cues at the musical surface to create the effect of these metric plans. Time signatures often remained constant throughout entire movements. Creston believed this would …

A Salience-Based Analytic Method Applied To André Jolivet’S Concertino For Trumpet, String Orchestra, And Piano, Martin G. Bolt

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

A SALIENCE-BASED ANALYTIC METHOD APPLIED TO ANDRÉ JOLIVET’S CONCERTINO FOR TRUMPET, STRING ORCHESTRA, AND PIANO

Martin G. Bolt, M.M.

University of Nebraska, 2010

Adviser: Stanley V. Kleppinger

André Jolivet’s music is eclectic, and his compositional process is often enigmatic. Broadly speaking, Jolivet’s music falls into that category of twentieth-century repertoire described as post-tonal and pitch-centric.

This thesis will provide an analysis of Jolivet’s Concertino for Trumpet, String Orchestra, and Piano. It thus serves as a model of an analytic approach for post-tonal pitch-centric music of the twentieth century. My analytical method is based on the theories of Fred Lerdahl posited …

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 …

Woodwind Extension Through The Systematic Use Of Microtonality And Electronic Manipulation Of The Instrument, Seán Mac Erlaine

Conference papers

This research questions how the expressive range of the saxophone / bass clarinet can be extended in new ways by employing both a systematic use of microtonality and electronic manipulation of the instrument.

The use of digital signal processing (DSP) is well advanced among certain music practitioners, most notably electric guitarists, extending that instrument’s expressive powers considerably. Woodwind instrumentalists have a huge unexplored potential to engage with new technologies, furthering the range, polyphonic voicings, loops, reverbs and general signal manipulation.

The marraige of these two disciplines with conventional woodwind practice greatly deepens the expressive range of the instrument while offering …

Volume 24, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Woodland Symphony For Chamber Orchestra, Curtis Pennington

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

1bis thesis entitled A Woodland Symphony for Chamber Orchestra presents a symphonic work written in three movements scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in B-flat, two trombones, harp, percussion {timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals), eight first violins, six second violins, four violas, four cellos, and two double basses. It represents the culmination of the Master of Music degree in Composition. In addition to the score of the symphony, there is an analysis of some key components of the symphony's harmonic language. These are contrasted with the harmonic …

Transformation In Rock Harmony: An Explanatory Strategy, Christopher Doll

Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic

Explaining one musical passage by saying it is a transformed version of another is a basic strategy of analysis. In this article, I explore this strategy specifically in regard to harmonic structures in rock music. By focusing on transformations that describe obvious musical experiences (as opposed to transformations that could be considered more rational than empirical in nature), I am able to explore the usefulness of concepts such as chord substitution and musical normality as they apply to our hearings, and as they apply to the ways in which we can make sense of our hearings via a notion of …

Music And Language: Exploring An Artificial Music Grammar, Erica R. Knowles

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Research regarding the brain mechanisms that underlie music and language processing supports two main interpretations: domain-specificity and domain-generality. Evidence from neuropsychology literature, specifically from amusia research, supports domain-specific mechanisms (Peretz & Coltheart, 2003) but recent neuroimaging and behavioral evidence supports overlapping mechanisms, especially for syntax processing (Patel, 2008). The present study used an artificial music grammar in order to test participants' ability to learn a new music grammar as well as to observe a possible interaction between music and language syntax processing. Although participants were able to learn the artificial music grammar, a language task was not affected by errors …

"Korean Psalm (Psalm 23)" For Tenor Voice And Piano, Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by Sang-In Han (tenor) and Dominic Dousa (piano). The work is a setting of selected verses of Psalm 23 in Korean. It was composed for Dr. Han's lecture recital of Korean Art Song.

"Departed Days" For Satb Choir And Piano, Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by the UTEP University Chorale, conducted by William McMillan.

The Olympic Singer: Integrating Pilates Training Into The Voice Studio, Veera Khare Asher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objectives of the document are to define potential synergies and benefits in the application of Pilates method physical training to versatile and high-level voice performance, and to develop an integrated vocal pedagogy-Pilates method to improve voice performance.

"Hymn Of Trust" For Satb Choir And Piano, Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by the UTEP University Chorale, conducted by William McMillan.

The Contributions Of Axel Jørgensen To The Solo Trombone Repertoire Of Denmark In The Twentieth Century, Andrew H. Converse

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

Axel Jørgensen is one of a few Danish composers who has contributed compositions to the solo trombone repertoire that gained an international and lasting reputation in the twentieth century. Jørgensen, like many Danish composers from the first part of the twentieth century, is often overlooked due to the imposing figure of Carl Nielsen. Jørgensen’s compositions, while not overly patriotic, give the trombonist a sense of the Danish Nationalistic Romantic style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Jørgensen was one of the first composers to write for the emerging slide trombone idiom in Denmark at the beginning of the …

"Mountain Song" For Viola And Piano (Lubbock, Tx), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by Renee Skerik (viola, Texas Tech University) and Susan Wass (piano, Texas Tech University).

Recital, Utep Faculty Recital Series (April 4, 2009), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A faculty recital presentation by Melissa Colgin-Abeln (flute), Orit Eylon (mezzo soprano), Michael Way (graduate student, cello) and Dominic Dousa (piano).

Conductor's Guide To Mark Camphouse's "To Build A Fire", Amanda L. Kastner

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is a guide to understanding and performing Mark Camphouse’s composition, To Build A Fire. The thesis includes a biography of Jack London and a literary analysis of London’s short story “To Build A Fire,” upon which the composition is based. Musical analysis of the Camphouse composition, rehearsal considerations, and performance considerations are also discussed. The literary analysis provides background for the composition and a starting platform for the musical analysis. The musical analysis parallels the composition with the short story. This analysis also provides some technical considerations of the instrumental parts. The rehearsal considerations include a rehearsal plan, …

"Mountain Song" For Viola And Piano (Cleveland, Oh), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by Renee Skerik (viola, Texas Tech University) and James Housman (piano, Oberlin College).

Solo Composition Recital (February 17, 2009), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

Faculty Compositon Recital, presented by Renee Skerik (viola, guest artist from Texas Tech University), the Texas Tech University Viola Choir, and Dominic Dousa (piano). Also included performance of Milhaud's "Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano". Performances of the following original compositions: "Mountain Song" "Two Pieces for Viola Choir" Sonata for Viola and Piano, 'From a Land Wild and Free'

"Evocations From The Plains" For Piano Quintet (El Paso, National Chamber Music Fesitval), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by the Biava String Quartet and Doris Stevenson (piano).

Microtonality As An Expressive Device: An 
Approach
 For 
The 
Contemporary 
Saxophonist, Seán Mac Erlaine

Dissertations

This dissertation provides a critical examination of the use of microtonality as an expressive tool for the improvising saxophonist and offers a new method for quarter-tone production drawing on cultural references from European art music, Arabic Maqam and Contemporary Jazz. The thesis is underpinned by an historical, musicological analysis of tuning systems and theory necessary for the performer of microtonal music. The dissertation is presented in three chapters. In Chapter One, a discussion of tuning theory and a history of temperament systems contextualises the current uses of equal temperament and extensions of it including the quarter-tone tempered system. Chapter Two …

Strategies For Music Learning, George Palton

Music Faculty Research

Article provides strategies on how to take a new and fresh piece of literature from being completely unknown to performance ready.

Red Detachment Of Women And The Enterprise Of Making ‘Model’ Music During The Chinese Cultural Revolution, Clare Sher Ling Eng

Faculty Scholarship

Artworks produced with official sanction during periods marked by turmoil and human suffering are challenging subjects for scholars who would like to discuss them in a fair and responsible manner. If they aestheticize the works’ form and political affiliation, how would they be doing justice to these works whose creation and content are so meshed with the politics of their time? On the other hand, can an approach that takes ideology into account be developed that does not appear to ignore, condone or support the odious acts of violence associated with those periods? This article explores the latter question with …

Volume 23, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Post-Structuralism And Music Theory (A Response To Adam Krims), Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

In a recent article in this journal, Adam Krims has argued that mainstream music theory, with its organicist bias, is fundamentally incompatible with post-structuralist thought. This commentary is a defense of theory-based analysis in a postmodern world.

The Historical Development Of The Modern Worship Song, Travis Doucette

Senior Honors Theses

For centuries, followers of Christ have used music as a channel of communicating their love and adoration towards their Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, the use of music with God’s people is encouraged throughout the pages of Scripture. In the Old Testament, the psalmist writes, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy.” In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Throughout Christian history, wherever there has been renewal, revival and restoration, fresh songs of praise and worship have followed and …

A Critical Review Of Violin Solos Section Of The Nyssma Manual, Di Su

Publications and Research

The New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) runs an annual evaluation of students' musical performance. The purposes of the evaluation are to promote music programs in the schools and communities of New York State, and to provide a means of objective evaluation of musical performance. The evaluation is influential because the selections of participant for All-State, All-County, and other music festivals are mainly based upon NYSSMA scores. To familiarize the evaluation criteria and to prepare students to meet the requirements, New York State music teachers use the "NYSSMA Manual" as an important teaching guide. Aiming at future revisions, this …

'Ii. Running With The Wind' From "Two Pieces For Flute And Piano", Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by Melissa Colgin-Abeln (flute) and Dominic Dousa (piano) at the annual beginning-of-year Faculty Departmental Recital.

"Two Pieces For Flute And Piano" (Paris, France), Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A performance of my original composition by Melissa Colgin-Abeln (flute) and Dominic Dousa (piano) at a recital that was part of the Atelier Concert Series.

Recital, American Ambassador's Residence In Paris, France, Dominic Dousa

Selected Works Temporary Series

A recital presentation by Melissa Colgin-Abeln (flute), Maurizia Dalla Volta (flute), and Dominic Dousa (piano). An invited performance by the American Ambassador in Paris.