Musicology Commons^™

The Soul Of Black Opera: W.E.B. Du Bois’S Veil And Double Consciousness In William Grant Still’S Blue Steel, Toiya Lister

Graduate Thesis Collection

In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), W.E.B. Du Bois theorized that black peoples were viewed behind a metaphorical “veil” that consisted of three interrelated aspects: the skin as an indication of African Americans’ difference from their white counterparts, white people’s lack of capacity to see African Americans as Americans, and African Americans’ lack of capacity to see themselves outside of the labels white America has given them. This, according to Du Bois, resulted in the gift and curse of “double consciousness,” the feeling that one’s identity is divided. As African Americans fought for socio-political equality, the reconciliation of these …

Reflections Of The Don: Zerlina's Empowerment Narrative And The Inclusion Of "Per Queste Tue Manine" In Don Giovanni, Sarah Miller

Graduate Thesis Collection

After the premiere of Don Giovanni in Prague, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte brought their opera to Vienna on May 7, 1788. One point of interest in the Viennese version of the score is the added duet “Per queste tue manine.” In this duet, the enraged Zerlina overpowers the bewildered servant Leporello with a handkerchief, a razor, and passion. She constrains the floundering fool and punishes him for his misconduct. In most modern performances, companies look no further than the Prague version of the score. Additionally, singers often portray Zerlina as either a mischievous temptress or a virginal …

Musicians Necrology, 1991-2018, Nathan Eakin, Paul Hahn, University Libraries, Washington University In St. Louis

WashU Libraries Publications

Nathan Eakin (1932-2000) first began the Gaylord Music Library Necrology file as a card file in the mid-1980s. In 1991, the project moved to a word processing file and in 1995, became available as a web page. The column formerly published in the Music Library Association’s journal, Notes, called the Necrology Index, was extracted from this Necrology file. Library Assistant Paul Hahn continued to update the necrology on the Gaylord Music Library’s website through 2018.

Music In The Northern Woods: An Archaeological Exploration Of Musical Instrument Remains, Matthew Durocher

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Archaeological and historical literature neglects music and sound. The quantity and distribution of musical remains found during archaeological excavations at Coalwood, a Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company (CCI) logging camp active from 1901-1912 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, addresses the importance of music to the people that lived there. Musical reed plates from harmonicas, concertinas, and accordions were recovered and examined. These musical remains have traditionally been ignored as a diagnostic artifact, but here, I use them as primary evidence to access the daily lives of people in the northern woods. To do this, I will present how CCI developed Coalwood …

Rethinking Interaction: Identity And Agency In The Performance Of “Interactive” Electronic Music, Jacob A. Kopcienski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document investigates interaction between human performers and various interactive technologies in the performance of interactive electronic and computer music. Specifically, it observes how the identity and agency of the interactive technology is experienced and perceived by the human performer. First, a close examination of George Lewis’ creation of and performance with his own historic interactive electronic and computer works reveals his disposition of interaction as improvisation. This disposition is contextualized within then contemporary social and political issues related to African American experimental musicians as well as an emerging culture of electronic and computer musicians concerned with interactivity. Second, an …

Paper Disc Record: A Consumption-Based Account Of Musical Identity, David Prescott-Steed

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Since 1991, I have been keeping a pen and paper list of my CD's, added to with each new purchase. With the increasing availability of digital media, not everything that I now listen to comes from a disc. Nevertheless, I have never bought digital music downloads, and so every new album purchase is a physical product with the band name and release title still added to the list. I keep it rolled up in a desk draw (the first composition-pages of which are yellowing nicely). The list comprises approximately 280 entries. Each entry until March 5, 2006 is numbered, by …

Gustave Vogt's Musical Album Of Autographs: A Scholarly Edition, Kristin Leitterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) was the most famous oboist in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. Throughout his career he played with the best orchestras in Paris, toured Europe widely, and also taught the next generation of oboists at the Paris Conservatoire from 1802–1853. Although many of the details of his life have been lost to history, he did leave behind a record of the esteem in which he was held. This is preserved physically in the form of an album of short musical compositions honoring Vogt, collected between 1831 and 1859. The album has never been published, and is in the …

Uncovering The Confusing Influence Experts Have On Music Copyright Cases, Arata-Enrique Kaku

Honors Projects

Contemporary copyright decisions by Federal Courts perplex composers; am I the creative composer, or am I an infringer on someone else’s intellectual property? By forming a temporary monopoly to monetize new content, copyright protection incentivizes artists to be fruitful. In a creative field like music, an overly broad definition of copyrightable expression can lead to a “chilling effect” on creativity. This chilling effect is exacerbated by the great latitude given expert witnesses to claim infringement based on broad classifications of expressions. My paper addresses the question: To what extent should expert witnesses be probative when they extend ownership rights beyond …

A Discussion Regarding Various Animals' Abilities To Make Music And Move Rhythmically To Songs, Emilie R. Bufford

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project involves exploring the presence of music and rhythmic abilities in specific animal species. The main subjects are whales, sea lions, gorillas, elephants, birds, and mice. The goal of this project was to compare their abilities to those of humans, and overall, determine whether such abilities are considered musical. Cases where animals demonstrate the ability, both learned and innate, to move to a beat are analyzed, along with animals who demonstrate musical vocal abilities naturally in the wild. The previously unknown frequencies of whales, mice, and elephants, are brought to light. These findings bring up the possibility of even …

Musical Genre Identification And Differentiation Of Rock, R&B/Hip-Hop, And Christian Songs Through Harmonic Analysis, Nolan A. Foxworth

Selected Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to identify and distinguish musical genre through harmonic analysis. The genres of Rock, R&B/Hip-Hop, and Christian have been selected for this study. The top ten songs from each genre (as listed by Billboard’s Year End Charts) are analyzed and contrasted with those of other genres in an attempt to prove that harmonic analysis alone is sufficient to identify the genre of an unknown song. Heavy in analysis, this thesis will find structure in music and use that structure to more deeply appreciate not only the study of genre, but of music itself.

The Suzuki Method: Influences Of Shinichi Suzuki On Japanese Music Education, Moriah L. Richards

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will study the history of Japanese music education philosophies and pedagogy techniques. Specific focus has been given to the music education methods and philosophies of renowned Japanese music educator, Shinichi Suzuki. Suzuki’s views on the learning processes of children have greatly impacted the field of music education. Suzuki held the belief that the language acquisition process and the learning processes of children were intricately connected. He spent years applying his research to the field of music education. His resulting pedagogy techniques are now known as the Suzuki Method. The Suzuki Method, which has been adapted in various ways …

Kendrick Lamar And Hip-Hop As A Medium For Social Change, Diego A. Rocha

Student Publications

This paper provides a context and then analysis of Kendrick Lamar's albums as they relate to advocating and affecting social change. The purpose is to show through example how hip-hop (and music in general) can act as an avenue towards creating positive change for oppressed peoples.

Studio Magic: The Process, Value, And Ethics Of Remastering, Julian D. Anderson

Honors Projects

ABSTRACT

Due to the growth of recording technology, recorded music has become the most common form of music listening. Having high-fidelity audio is as important on audience perception of the music as the composition and the musical interpretation. As the process of recording and the final medium of the recording have advanced, the fidelity of the audio has increased, thus decreasing the listener’s awareness of the recording itself and bringing their attention to the music. However, older media is reparable to the extent that it can be remastered to decrease scrutiny on the product. What is worth remastering? What is …

A Pattern Mining Approach To Study A Collection Of Dutch Folk-Songs, Peter Van Kranenburg, Darrell Conklin

Papers

No abstract provided.

On The Benefit Of Larynx-Microphone Field Recordings For The Documentation And Analysis Of Polyphonic Vocal Music, Frank Scherbaum

Papers

In a previous study Scherbaum et al. (2015) have demonstrated that recordings of body vibrations during singing contain all the essential information of a singer ́s voice regarding pitch, intonation, and voice intensity, but are practically unaffected by the voices of other singers (except for extreme situations). This allows the recording of the contribution of each singer while they are singing together. Because of these characteristics, Scherbaum et al. (2015) proposed the utilization of body vibrations recorded as an additional source of information for the documentation and analysis of traditional polyphonic vocal music. Questions remained, however, regarding the applicability of …

Proceedings Of The 6th International Workshop On Folk Music Analysis, 15-17 June, 2016, Pierre Beauguitte, Bryan Duggan, John D. Kelleher

Papers

The Folk Music Analysis Workshop brings together computational music analysis and ethnomusicology. Both symbolic and audio representations of music are considered, with a broad range of scientific approaches being applied (signal processing, graph theory, deep learning). The workshop features a range of interesting talks from international researchers in areas such as Indian classical music, Iranian singing, Ottoman-Turkish Makam music scores, Flamenco singing, Irish traditional music, Georgian traditional music and Dutch folk songs. Invited guest speakers were Anja Volk, Utrecht University and Peter Browne, Technological University Dublin.

A Search Through Time: Connecting Live Playing To Archive Recordings Of Traditional Music, Bryan Duggan, Jianghan Xu, Lise Denbrok, Breandan Knowlton

Papers

This poster describes new developments in the popular Tunepal project. Tunepal is a query-by-playing music score search engine used primarily by musicians on smartphones in traditional music sessions and classes. Using Tunepal, a musician can quickly identify the name of a melody being played and download the score for later study. Since 2009, there has also been a version of Tunepal that runs in a web browser that allows a musician to play a tune extract and find the name of the tune. Over the summer of 2015, we embarked on a project to redevelop the Tunepal website in HTML5. …

A Comparative History And The Importance Of Chamber Music, Aaron M. Sacks

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone presentation focuses on the role of chamber music in both social and academic contexts. Using examples from the past five centuries and including local examples, parallels and divergences are drawn to points of most import. The spotlight is upon three areas: a) what the role of chamber music was in the past, compared to today; b) why it is an important genre, to both musicians, as well as non-musicians, and c) in what ways more exposure to the form can be built. Much of the focus is on composers and their influence, but the impact of and upon …

This Machine Kills Fascists: Music, Speech And War, Robert J. Crisler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

This thesis examines the history and persuasive power of rhetoric through the mass medium of popular music from Woody Guthrie to the modern era. It focuses on the Vietnam War era as a particularly significant and prolific era of topical (“protest”) music. Through interviews with media observers, historians and veterans of the Vietnam war, it seeks to understand the relevance of rhetorical speech in music within an overall mass media context, both within that era and extending to the present day. Through contemporaneous accounts of the intent of the songwriters and artists, an understanding is gained of the intent to …

Movements, Music, And Meaning: A Comparative Analysis Of Cultural Narratives In Vietnam Era And Post-9/11 Anti-War Music, Jonathan Nathaniel Redman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the presence of widely circulating cultural narratives in the lyrics of approximately eighty anti-war songs from the Vietnam and post-9/11 eras. Unlike prior movements and music research, this thesis privileges culture over movements and views movements as cultural antennae both picking up on trends and cultural narratives, and broadcasting their own altered cultural meanings back into the “cultural airways.” It sees music as a cultural medium which acquires cultural meanings from its surroundings, alters those meanings, synthesizes new ones, and perpetuates old ones. Drawing on comparative and narrative analysis approaches informed by grounded theory techniques, this thesis …

Music-Play And Communication In Children With Autism And Their Families: An Ethnographic Study, Melanie Makovsky

Masters Theses

This is an ethnographic research study regarding the nature of commun-, ication, musical behavior, emotional expression, and social relationships in children with autism. Four children completed the study by participating in at least three private music-play sessions attended by the child, his or her mother, and the researcher. All music-play sessions were person-centered and child-led. A local public elementary school hosted the music-play sessions in the music classroom after school hours. In addition, the school supplied all the musical instruments used in the study. The researcher utilized the SCERTS Model assessment tool to examine each child’s abilities in socio-musical communication …

Cello Technique: A Result Of Cello Construction And Its Effect On Virtuosic Playing In The Works Of Dvořák And Pärt, Mineo P. Yasutake Mr.

Music: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Program Notes And Translations, Kelly Frailly

Honors Projects

This project consists of program notes about sixteen pieces of music that I publically performed on April 10th, 2016. These notes are comprised of research done about each piece on the program, its composer, the history of the era in which the song or aria was composed, and an analysis of the text. The pieces ranged from Baroque operatic arias all the way to twenty-first century musical theater works. I have also included translations of all of the foreign language pieces.

Missa Yielu: Music In The Dagara Mass, Karin Rau

Masters Theses

This paper explores the music of Dagara Masses in Ghana. The Dagara people are defined and described according to the geography of their land and linguistic dialects spoken in the region. A discussion of cultural indicators highlights traditional occupations, family structure, and social practices. Dagara musical practices are outlined by function and include descriptions of instruments and how they are played. Examination of indigenous religious beliefs describe the behaviors, values, and symbols that permeate Dagara life. A summary of the Dagara's encounter with Christianity sets the scene for present-day celebrations of the Mass. Through observation and interview, research was conducted …

Music As Narrative In American College Football, John M. Mccluskey

Theses and Dissertations--Music

American college football features an enormous amount of music woven into the fabric of the event, with selections accompanying approximately two-thirds of a game’s plays. Musical selections are controlled by a number of forces, including audio and video technicians, university marketing departments, financial sponsors, and wind bands. These blend together in a complex design that offers audible and visual stimulation to the audience during the game’s pauses. The music chosen for performance in these moments frequently communicates meaning beyond entertainment value. Selections reinforce the game’s emotional drive, cue celebrations, direct specific audience actions, and prompt behaviors that can directly impact …

Report On Ams, Kenneth M. Cotich, Holly Gardinier

Faculty Papers and Conference Presentations with CGU Graduate Co-authors

This presentation summarizes and evaluates the American Musicological Society's website as a reference tool for music scholars. Evaluation methods used come from Laurie Sampsel (2012) and Holly Gardinier (2015).

Searching For Modeling Of Stravinsky's Petroushka In Poulenc's Rapsodie Nègre: Poulenc's Use Of Popular Forms And Techniques In His Earliest Work, Jeremy Rover

Senior Theses

Why does the view that French composer Francis Poulenc was a musical hack and a fraud continue to be discussed today? To get to the bottom of this, we need to look at the evidence available and find proof to back up these claims. In the predominant research on Poulenc, many scholars mention musical themes and quotations linked to other composers, but most of these claims aren’t backed up with specific examples or score studies. Therefore, in this paper I attempt to trace the “crime” to its source by showing Poulenc’s possible borrowing of harmonies, thematic material, styles, and rhythms …

Virtuoso Violinist Maud Powell: Enduring Champion For American Women In Professional Music, Sarah Joy Pizzichemi

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

Maud Powell, the first great American virtuoso violinist, sparked a change in the spirit of the advancement of classical music throughout North America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This document addresses gender inequality present in the classical music profession during Powell’s lifetime. It also explores the roles women occupied in the public and private spheres in Western art music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. More specifically, it investigates the life of virtuoso violinist Maud Powell through her activism and interest in American women in professional music.

The document is divided into three parts. After a …

The Evolution Of The Cello Endpin And Its Effect On Technique And Repertoire, William Braun

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

This document investigates how the concept of a lifting device has evolved into the modern endpin that is a now a standard part of the cello. The endpin has a unique history that, prior to this writing, has not yet been fully documented. The evolution of the endpin has caused significant changes to cello technique, as its use, or lack of, alters the basic posture and setup of the instrument on the cellist’s body. Written and iconographic evidence show that endpins and other lifting devices have been used throughout all eras of the cello’s history. There are many instances when …

The Intersections Of Music, Love, And Worship, Jacob C. Wessel

Senior Honors Theses

When a right understanding of the doctrine of love infiltrates the art of music in the event of corporate worship, an opportunity arises for a unique synergism of knowledge, emotion and relationships. These qualities are paramount in the doctrine of love and practice of corporate worship, and they are especially encouraged by the powers of music. An exploration of these three aspects of love—knowledge, emotion and relationships—is here provided with special attention to the opportunity music and worship provide for intersections between them.