Musicology Commons^™

Vaughan Williams On Music By David Manning (Review), Julian Onderdonk

Music Theory, History & Composition Faculty Publications & Performances

No abstract provided.

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 …

An Early American Family Of Flutists, Wendell Dobbs

Music Faculty Research

An overview of the history of a dynasty of flutists, flute manufacturers and music publishers established by English emigrant Edward R. Riley in New York. Riley and copperplate printer Thomas Adams formed the firm Riley & Adams in 1812. It is said that all his three sons became music publishers, music instrument manufacturers and retailers.

Tributes To Leonard B. Meyer: He Was The Very Model Of A Modern Musicologist, Alexander Rozin

Music Theory, History & Composition Faculty Publications & Performances

No abstract provided.

The Mass. Memories Road Show: Some Notes On Bridging And Bonding, Joanne M. Riley

Joseph P. Healey Library Publications

Four years ago, the Mass. Studies Project at UMass Boston launched a cultural heritage project that we dubbed the “Mass. Memories Road Show,” a real-world mashup of PBS’s Antiques Road Show (people bring their personal stuff to a local event for professional perusal) and the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project (digitize historic stuff and share it with the world). Our ambitious goal was – and still is! – to visit each of the 351 communities in Massachusetts, inviting residents to bring in photographs that reflect themselves and their families in that community. At the public “Road Show” events, we …

Medievalism And Exoticism In The Music Of Dead Can Dance, Kirsten Yri

Music Faculty Publications

In 1991, the alternative rock band Dead Can Dance released an album that caught the attention of music reviewers by constructing an aural allegiance to the Middle Ages. Suitably called A Passage in Time, the album was described as imitating medieval chant, troubadour music, Latin hymns and courtly songs and included Dead Can Dance’s hybrid medieval songs as well as performances of actual medieval repertoire. In modeling their songs and sounds after historical recordings of medieval music, Dead Can Dance also adopted some of the ideological parameters of these performances and historical reconstructions. Examining the output of Dead Can Dance …

The History Of The Marimba, Daniel Rager

Music Faculty Publications

The author presents an international and historical history of one of the earliest melodic percussion instruments made by man. His research suggests the instrument was widespread throughout Asia and Africa, although many other regions claim it to have originated in their country.

Known by many names and created from an endless array of materials, this paper reflects the marimbas evolution from the fourteenth century to present day. The writer’s research encompasses the marimbas social roles, musical functions, timbres and styles across many countries as well as its evolution into the twenty-first century.

Cover Songs: Ambiguity, Multivalence, Polysemy, Kurt Mosser

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The notion of a “cover song” is central to an understanding of contemporary popular music, and has certainly received its share of attention in writing about contemporary music, from the mainstream press to slightly more technical ethnomusicological studies such as “Cross-Cultural ‘Countries’: Covers, Conjuncture, and the Whiff of Nashville in Música Sertaneja (Brazilian Commercial Country Music)” (Dent, 2005). In many major U.S. cities, musicians make a living in “cover” bands, recreating the music of well-known groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U 2, the Who, ABBA, the Dave Matthews Band, the Grateful Dead, and others. Consumers …

Review Of Mozart’S Viennese Instrumental Music: A Study Of Stylistic Re- Invention, By Simon P. Keefe (Woodbridge, Uk, And Rochester, Ny, 2007) And Mozart’S Piano Music, By William Kinderman (Oxford And New York, 2006), John Platoff

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Composing Of "Musick" In The English Language: The Development Of The English Cantata, 1700-1750, Jennifer Cable

Music Faculty Publications

The cantata as cultivated by Alessandro Scarlatti and his contemporaries Alessandro Stradella and Giovanni Bononcini was the model for the early development of the English cantata, "which remained a solo vocal genre in England throughout the eighteenth century, namely 1710-1800. By focusing on specific musical elements, such as cantata format (recitative-aria-recitative-aria or aria-recitative-aria), song forms, motivic use, textual content, instrumental requirements and performance venues, the evolution of the English cantata can be observed during the first half of the eighteenth century, developing from a simple imitation of the Italian form to a genre in its own right.¹