Musicology Commons^™

The Dilemma Of Empty Halls, Joanna Lauer

Musical Offerings

Today, live classical concert attendance is low, a fact which threatens the careers of professional musicians. This paper examines recent statistics of classical concert attendance, theories as to why attendance rates are low, marketing methods for target audiences, and finally, recommendations to solve the dilemma of empty concert halls. To encourage concert attendance, classical music must be tastefully marketed to present-day audiences through the experience of technically excellent, musical, and interesting live performances. Ultimately, the relationship between art and its audience (the consumer) reveals that the key to the dilemma is the audience.

A Herderian Perspective On Finland, Sibelius, And The Kalevala, Philip R. Cataldo

Musical Offerings

Situated amidst the revolutionary spirits of 19^th-century Europe, Finnish nationalists sought to bring an end to roughly half a millennium of foreign rule for their land and their people. According to the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, a community must have a common language and a common history in order to constitute a nation. At this time, Finland had neither. Although Herder’s political philosophy is considered crucial to understanding the nationalist movements that took place in Europe during this period, Finland’s peculiar success in attaining and sustaining independence has until this point remained unexplained relative to a Herderian …

Singing Planets Don't Sing; They Speak, Joanna R. Lauer

Musical Offerings

Ancient Greek philosophers conceived a theory called Music of the Spheres. This ancient theory progressed for almost one thousand years before finally proving itself untrustworthy. However, this examination uncovers an overlooked fact: the large amount of natural order in sound and music existing before the creation of man. Scripture reveals that God is a God of order, and an extensive amount of natural order is found in the universe. Evidence points to God being the creator of the universe. Specific examples of such evidence are the inherent order of sound laid out in pitches, interval ratios, the overtone series, the …

Is La Bohѐme A Verismo Opera?, Leah P. Bartlam

Musical Offerings

Verismo is an Italian term that came to be used in reference to literature, theatre, and opera during the end of the nineteenth century. According to William Berger, “verismo is often translated as ‘realism’ but the word is closer to ‘truth’ in Italian.” The term was applied to literature beginning in the 1870s, and began to be applied to opera during the 1890s. However, it has never been particularly well understood. Evaluating it today is especially difficult because the modern perceptions of the term are not quite the same as the original meaning. La bohѐme was composed by Giacomo …

Shakespeare's Philosophy Of Music, Emily A. Sulka

Musical Offerings

Shakespeare is one of the most widely read figures in literature, but his use of music is not usually touched on in literary discussions of his works. In this paper, I discuss how Shakespeare portrays music within the context of his plays, through both dialogue and songs performed within each work. In Shakespeare’s time, Boethius’s philosophy of the Music of the Spheres was still highly popular. This was the idea that the arrangement of the cosmos mirrored musical proportions. As a result, every aspect of the universe was believed to be highly ordered, and this idea is prominent throughout Shakespeare’s …

Coursing With Coils: The Only Orchestral Instrument Harder Than The French Horn, Sarah R. Plumley

Musical Offerings

Playing the horn has become not only more sophisticated and accurate, but simpler and more efficient for the horn player. The natural horn, used in a variety ways in early history, demanded an incredible level of skill and precision, more than our valved horn today in some ways because it required a more accurate ear, more embouchure dexterity, and the necessity of wrangling crooks for different keys. Thus, it required many practiced skills of the player that are no longer as necessary as they once were. This paper discusses each of these demands along with the history of the horn, …

Give My Regards To The Book, Kevin A. Hicks

Musical Offerings

This project is an analysis of the construction of American Musical Theatre. The research for this project has been drawn from direct quotes and writings from Musical Theatre writers, scores and scripts, and from historical books. Reading of these sources reveal principles of Musical Theatre writing which the authors use and the audience expects. This project analyzes how the book, lyrics, and music to a show are written and demonstrates that the writing of Musical Theatre has developed its own unique craft which is grounded in the book.

Ruling The Market: How Venice Dominated The Early Music Printing World, Elizabeth M. Poore

Musical Offerings

This paper attempts to prove that Venice was the main geographical center of music printing and publishing from the 1300s to the late 1500s using several economic, legal, and cultural factors. The primary research method was examining secondary sources on music printing, publishing, and European and Venetian history.

From the 1300s to the late 1500s, Venetian commercial trade and activity, including book publishing, reached unheard of levels. Venice held a powerful position in the European economy and its merchants were able to leverage this to great advantage when the new technology of printing became available. The specialized business of music …

Music In The Third Reich, Delora J. Neuschwander

Musical Offerings

Music played a prominent role in the rise of Nazi culture in Germany and was used extensively in propaganda and indoctrination of the entire country; the Nazi party brought music and politics together and sought to shape their ideal culture by elevating their ideas of pure music to the highest status and outlawing what they defined as inferior. This study addresses Hitler’s specific views on music and explores several of the factors and individuals that contributed to his views. His views were directly inferred into the core of the Nazi party. Hitler himself was an artist and felt that art …