Musicology Commons^™

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 …

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

Music Theory, History & Composition Faculty Publications & Performances

No abstract provided.

Luigi Zaninelli: Rehearsing, Performing, And Conducting Selected Works 2005-2008, James Ernest Standland

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a resource for band conductors for rehearsing and performing band compositions of Luigi Zaninelli, specifically Three Dances of Enchantment, Prayer and Canto, and Dwarf of Venice. Certain decisions conductors make and even risks they take can make the difference in an ensemble's understanding of the music. This study provides an analytical view of Three Dances of Enchantment, Prayer and Canto, and Dwarf of Venice in terms of tempi, form, ensemble blend and balance, intonation, melodic lines, and conducting gestures.

Coincidence Theory: Seeking A Perceptual Preference For Just Intonation, Equal Temperament, And Pythagorean Intonation In Excerpts For Wind Instruments, Derle Ray Long

Dissertations

Coincidence theory states that when the components of harmony are in enhanced alignment the sound will be more consonant to the human auditory system. An objective method of examining the components of harmony is by investigating alignment of the mathematics of a particular sound or harmony. The study examined preference responses to excerpts tuned in just intonation, Pythagorean intonation, and equal temperament. Musical excerpts were presented in pairs and study subjects simply picked one version from the pair that they perceived as the most consonant. Results of the study revealed an overall preference for equal temperament in contradiction to coincidence …

Fantasy Variations On George Gershwin's Prelude Ii For Piano: An Analysis And Conductor's Guide, Brian Stevon Taylor

Dissertations

Donald Grantham has received much acclaim and awards for his compositions. Fantasy Variations proves to be noteworthy addition to his collected works and to the band repertoire. The work won the NBA/William Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest in 1998 and the ABA/Ostwald Award in 1999. The piece has received much acclaim and many performances with several commercial recordings. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the importance of the band music of Donald Grantham through an analysis of one of his award-winning works. Further, another aim would be to help more bands perform this noteworthy piece by assisting in …

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.

A Stylistic Analysis Of Six Pieces For Solo Piano By Rodion Shchedrin And A Stylistic Analysis Of Trespreludiosa Modo De Toccata, Dos Danzas Cubanas, And Estudio De Contrastes By Harold Gramatges, Amanda Virelles Del Valle

Dissertations

This document compiles stylistic analysis for performance of selected works by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin and the Cuban composer Harold Gramatges. The piano music of these composers has been gaining international acclaim since the 1950's. The unique harmonic language, the elements of folklore, and the virtuosity found in these pieces make them very attractive for performance and research.

The document unites two papers, each supplementing lecture recitals offered on April 16 and 28, 2008. In each paper, after a brief biographical summary and an account of the piano repertoire of the respective composer, the pieces are examined, and matters …

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.

Instrumental Tango Idioms In The Symphonic Works And Orchestral Arrangements Of Astor Piazzolla. Performance And Notational Problems: A Conductor's Perspective, Alejandro Marcelo Drago

Dissertations

Tango performance practices and notational conventions included in the orchestral works of Astor Piazzolla belong in two groups. The first is tango performance manner, or the specific way of rendering the written musical text; and the second is tango special effects, which could be defined as a group of non-traditional (for European music) instrumental techniques specific to tango music. Both groups are part of a performance style that has been poorly systematized, if at all, and kept alive only by means of face-to-face transmission. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify and analyze the challenges that Piazzolla faced while …

An Analytical Conductor's Guide To The Satb A Capella Works Of Arvo Part, Kimberly Anne Cargile

Dissertations

Arvo Part (b. 1935) is an Estonian composer whose works include film scores, piano and organ works, chamber music, choral/orchestral works, and unaccompanied choral works. This dissertation is limited to the composer's SATB a cappella works. During an eight-year "period of silence" from 1968 to 1976, Part ceased serious composition in order to find his true compositional "voice." During this hiatus, Part abandoned his Lutheran faith, converting to the Russian Orthodox Church, and discovered a fascination with sacred Medieval and Renaissance music, which had been denied him as a student in the USSR. These events, added to the lingering influence …

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 …

Reducing Attrition Rates In The Middle School Band Program: A Study Of Motivating Factors That Encourage Students To Be Successful In Playing An Instrument And Continuing In Middle School Band., Daphne Guill

Theses & Honors Papers

By discovering musical and non-musical factors that motivate middle school students to become successful in playing an instrument and continuing in band, directors will be able to reduce the attrition rates in their programs. Factors explored in this project included student motivation, improvement in skills, performance preference and social aspects. Pre-term and post-term surveys were created for students and their parents in grades sixth, seventh and eighth. Pre-term survey information contributed to the development and implementation of lesson plans, performance opportunities, and classroom activities. Post-term survey information was used to evaluate the extent to which student's needs and expectations for …

Samuel Adler Composer / Conductor In Residence, Samuel Adler

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Samuel Adler was born March 4, 1928, Mannheim, Germany and came to the United States in 1939. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in May 2001. He is the composer of over 400 published works, including 5 operas, 6 symphonies, 12 concerti, 8 string quartets, 4 oratorios and many other orchestral, band, chamber and choral works and songs, which have been performed all over the world. He is the author of three books, Choral Conducting (Holt Reinhart and Winston 1971, second edition Schirmer Books 1985), Sight Singing (W.W. Norton 1979, 1997), and The Study of …

The Diffusion Of Black Gospel Music In Postmodern Denmark: With Implications For Evangelization, Meaning Construction, And Christian Identity, Mark W. Lewis

ATS Dissertations

In recent decades the phenomenon of Black gospel music has diffused throughout much of Western Europe and beyond. Each year new gospel choirs are formed, attracting people of many religious and non-religious backgrounds, who in turn are impacted affectively and spiritually by the music through participation in rehearsal and performance settings. This is also the case in Denmark - a country reputed for being spiritually reserved and where church attendance is among the lowest in the Western world. Since around 1990, the proliferation of gospel choirs and music events, such as gospel festivals, gospel workshops, and gospel worship services has …

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.

Inspiration Plus Performance Equals Success: A Study Of Instrumental Music Participation And Its Effect On Fifth Grade Students In An Inner-City School, Gary E. Jack

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis examines the academic performance of inner-city elementary school children with the purpose of proving or disproving that exposure to instrumental instruction in addition to general music class enhances learning in the core areas of study, thus improving test scores and overall academic performance. The data collected and the results that come from this experiment are intended to represent only a small neighborhood in a fairly large city.

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 Collection Of John Mazzarella, Francesco Izzo

Verdi Forum

No abstract provided.

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 …

166 Years Of Verdi Biography, Gregory W. Harwood

Verdi Forum

No abstract provided.

From The Directors, Linda B. Fairtile, Francesco Izzo

Verdi Forum

No abstract provided.

In Memory Of Pierluigi Petrobelli, Roger Parker, Emanuele Senici

Verdi Forum

No abstract provided.

Motive, Key, Sonorità, And Tinta In La Forza Del Destino (1862), William Rothstein

Verdi Forum

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