Musicology Commons^™

Negative Dialectics In Elliott Carter: Toward An Adornian Aesthetics Of Carter's Music, Gregory J. Menillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an attempt to lay the groundwork for an Adornian aesthetics of Elliott Carter’s music. The first chapter suggests that Theodor W. Adorno’s negative dialectics is the most appropriate paradigm for understanding the material antagonisms that characterize Carter’s music over a quasi-Hegelian “unity of opposites” as suggested in the Carter scholarship. Chapter Two demonstrates this through an Adornian reading of key aspects of the first movement of Carter’s 1948 Sonata for Cello and Piano, the watershed work for Carter’s mature style. The third chapter addresses the issue of musical time in Carter from a philosophical perspective; it discusses …

Lliçons Magistrals, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

No seria pianista. Jo no arribaria mai a ser pianista. L’epifania va començar a cristal·litzar poc després d’haver arribat a Salzburg el 1982 amb intencions d’estudiar-hi piano. Com el narrador de la novel·la de Thomas Bernhard Der Untergeher (si es vol, el fracassat o el mediocre), jo havia quedat psicològicament gelat per la presència d’alguns dels millors pianistes del món. En poc temps, i sense capacitat de digerir-ho —tenia vint anys escassos—, havia vist i sentit en viu Alfred Brendel, Maurizio Pollini, Claudio Arrau i Bruno Leonardo Gelber, entre altres.

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …

Community Bands: Creating A More Accessible Community Band Experience Through The Use Of Multi-Level Repertoire, Cooper Neil

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This thesis hypothesizes that the use of multi-level repertoire in community bands will allow ensembles to more directly cater to their community member’s musical expectations while respecting the issue of time commitment for others. In this way, a community ensemble can become more accessible and, ideally, lead to a more diverse and representative group. Creating a volunteer community ensemble that accounts for musician’s available time, skill level, and desire for appropriate level of challenge is what this document seeks to address.

Three Etudes For Marimba And Pandeiro: Contemporary Marimba Music As A New Setting For The Brazilian Pandeiro, Eduardo Marques Do Prado

Doctoral Projects

The history of frame drums and idiophones has thousands of years. The modern versions of the pandeiro and the marimba are relatively new to those families of instruments. While the marimba found its niche in contemporary music, the pandeiro has been mostly used in Brazilian traditional music. The current project brings those two instruments together, allowing the pandeiro to express its versatility. Executing the intricate rhythms, uneven patterns, and alternating time signatures from within the Three Etudes for Marimba and Pandeiro is an example of what can be done with this amazing frame drum. These three pieces provide the pandeiro …

'Ahora Estamos Más Unidos': Claiming Resilience In The Musical And Visual Aftermath Of The El Paso Mass Shooting, Eduardo Garcia

Music ETDs

The El Paso Wal-Mart Mass Shooting on August 3, 2019, prompted swift response from the local community to create artistic spaces of remembrance. This study examines the musical (mariachi and corrido) and visual (altares, murals, and memorials) manifestations present at makeshift and formal memorials for the victims. I analyze how members of the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez borderland situated their artistic work in the aftermath of the shooting. I argue that these artists responded to the attack with symbolic acts of resilience rooted in cultural and collective memory, embodiment of trauma, and the lived experience of corporeal …

Production As Analysis In Commercial Music Recordings, Simeon P. Church

Composition/Recording Projects

Since the 1960s, scholarship of popular music in the fields of musicology and music theory has blossomed (Kajanová 2013). The inclusion of the social sciences and humanities in music analysis has allowed for new methodologies in commercial music analysis. Although new methodologies have been developed around popular song analysis, they are notably absent in the field of music production (Blake 2012, 1). In this thesis, I will assert that music production is an under-explored facet of commercial music that offers abundant opportunities for analysis.

The Semiotics Of Tension In American Punk Rock, Christian Smith '22

Honor Scholar Theses

Punk rock is a musical subculture with numerous driving forces behind it. The countercultural values of the movement in addition to the demographics of its membership put it at odds against the larger parent culture of the United States. The tension that is created between the subculture and parent culture is evident through the symbolic language and imagery produced in Punk fanzines. Fanzines give a bottom-up view of the Punk rock movement in a unique way which allows for the observation of the created semiotic relationship and how it affects the daily lives of Punks living in the communities of …

Enchanting Music: How English Playwrights Use Music In Renaissance Witchcraft Plays, Alyssa Anders

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Music is an integral aspect of the Early Modern theater, but because most of this music is lost, scholars and students typically only analyze these works using literary theories. This approach does not allow for a full understanding these plays, which is especially true of witchcraft plays because witches typically utilize music for their spells. In this thesis, I am exploring the interdisciplinary connection of music and literature in the Jacobean witchcraft plays The Witch (c. 1616) by Thomas Middleton and The Tragedy of Sophonisba or The Wonder of Women (1604-1606). From my analysis of the existing music from The …

Telling Stories: An Analysis Of Speech-Melody Compositions And An Original Speech-Melody Composition For Wind Ensemble, Kevin Cheek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the compositional technique of speech melody and provides a brief historical overview of speech in music. This thesis also examines recent works (2005-2014) that have sourced their melodies from the spoken word and in turn creates an original composition for wind ensemble consisting of melodies sourced from recordings of members of United States military forces speaking about their lived experiences. In conjunction with the analytical and compositional aspects of this thesis, I also conducted an interview with Dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis (Jacob TV). i

Don't Lose Your Keys: Exploring The Transition From Harpsichord To Piano, Justice Post

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper explores keyboard technology in music from the Baroque era to today. Central focus is on the initial dominance of the harpsichord in Western music and how this shifted to the piano. Using this context of evolving instrumentation, the paper considers how this coincided with changing styles of music composition. Finally, the paper considers the question of how a keyboardist of today should handle music written in eras before the piano existed, and whether it is appropriate to perform harpsichord music using a modern piano.

Grrrls, Grrrls, Grrrls: Incorporating Feminist Theory Into Punk Rock Composition, Bryan M. Waring

Composition/Recording Projects

This project argues that one can make rock music with anti-sexist values by incorporating feminist criticism and gendered performance into the composition of punk rock music. To test this thesis, the history of feminism and its implementation within musical discourse were examined. Using feminist music theory as a lens for observation, several songs from female artists and mix-gender bands within the punk genre were analyzed. This was done in order to find similarities in compositional practices and to explore punk rock’s symbolic representations of gender. Areas covered were the expression of jouissance by the proto-punks, the use of détournement by …

Making Russian Music: Uncovering Pyotr Tchaikovsky’S Musical Ideas Through His Letters, Sydney Morrison

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is arguably Russia's most famous composer. Although his music is widespread, his immediate impact on Russian music in the 19th century is often overlooked or unknown by audiences. This paper examines what compositional and musical ideas Tchaikovsky used in his pieces and how he expressed them through his letters. Because of the relationships he had with his correspondents, Tchaikovsky had the means to develop and learn his unique compositional style. The most significant correspondents were his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, his brother Modest, and fellow composer Mily Balakirev. They enabled him to express and develop his musical …

Predicting And Composing A Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 Single With Descriptive Analytics And Classification, Matthew Deamon

Honors Projects

In late 20^th and early 21^st century Western popular music, there are cyclical structures, sounds, and themes that come and go with historical trends. Not only do the production techniques utilized reflect technological advancements (the Yamaha DX7, the Roland 808, etc.), the art form reflects contemporary cultural attitudes through lyrics and stylistic choice. Through this lens, pop songs can serve as historical artifacts for their unique ability to captivate listeners based on their generally acceptable and familiar elements, both upon release and with future audiences. It raises the questions: “Can a chronological analysis of artistic choices reveal trends …

Singing For The Red, White, And Blue: Nationalism In Country Music After 9/11, Laz Divine

Symposium of Student Scholars

On September 11th, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were struck by hijacked airplanes in a terrorist attack. The result of the attack spurred an overwhelming sense of despair and anger across the nation, leading to the resurgence of nationalist and patriotic themes in music. Since Country music serves as a tool to express unity, nostalgia, and the struggles of the working class, many turned to it to provide comfort. The theme of unity and struggle mixed with the resurrection of patriotism launched a new age in Country music with the creation of the …

Jesus Woodlą́Ą́Jí Sin: Sounding A Self-Determined Navajo Christian Church, Renata Yazzie

Music ETDs

Jesus Woodlą́ą́jí’ Sin: Navajo Hymns of Faith, the first and only extensive Navajo hymnal, was published in 1979. This hymnal contains 365 hymns for congregational singing, translated into the Navajo language. The Navajo Hymnal Committee, responsible for the seven years of intensive translation work, formed in 1972 under the direction of Reverend Dr. Paul Redhouse (1925-2019), an ordained Navajo minister within the Christian Reformed Church. Redhouse wholeheartedly believed that Navajo people had the right to worship in their own language and argued that pre-issued English hymnals by outside church leaders were not suitable for obvious reasons—a language barrier. Through …

The Early Lieder Of Josephine Lang: A Comparative Study, Rachel E. Cisneros

LSU Master's Theses

Josephine Lang's contribution to nineteenth-century song has been increasingly recognized in recent scholarship. This is largely because of Harald Krebs’s and Sharon Krebs's groundbreaking book, Josephine Lang: Her Life and Songs (2007). In their book, Krebs and Krebs draw information about Lang’s life from two early biographies, the first written during Lang’s lifetime by Ferdinand Hiller and the second written after her death by her son Heinrich Adolf Köstlin. Primary sources fill in the gaps that these two nineteenth-century biographies left open. For example, the letters between Lang and her correspondents also reveal much about her social reputation, financial hardships, …

King Behind Colonial Curtains: Kasilag And The Making Of Filipino National Culture, Paul Gabriel L. Cosme

International Studies Honors Projects

Filipino National Artist Lucrecia “King” Kasilag sought to preserve folk cultures and melded these with her Western training to produce works—scholarly, pedagogical, and compositional—that shaped national music and culture. This thesis is a critical biography that combines perspectives from postcolonial studies, political economy, and musicology to highlight forces that shaped Kasilag’s life while illustrating her successes and shortcomings on national culture. Through this biography, I argue, Filipino national culture must originate from intersectional struggles and negotiation among elites and masses; that this culture is about both resistance and acceptance—a national culture that is syncretic and quintessentially dynamic.

New Transcription For Cello And Piano Of The “Sonata For Violin And Piano” By Uruguayan Composer Hector Tosar, Including A Performance Edition, Analysis, And Biography, Jose Pedro Romero-Ottonello

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This paper accompanies my transcription for cello and piano of Héctor Alberto Tosar Herrecart’s Sonata for Violin and Piano. It presents a brief study of Tosar's life, documenting his study with various composers in Uruguay and elsewhere, influences on his evolving compositional style, and an analysis of the sonata itself. I examine the manuscripts of other works by Tosar to provide an understanding of his musical language, including his “Serie sinfónica: en cuatro movimientos,” “Sinfonía no. 2 para orquesta de cuerdas,” “Sonatina no. 2. Solitude,” and “Salmo CII: para coro y orquesta.” The purpose of this project is to document …

L'Homme Arme: A Tradition Of Contrafactum, Lauren Moseley

Student Scholar Showcase

Contrafactum, the replacement of text in a song, and L’homme Arme impacted music both in the 1450s and today. Although their usage changed and dwindled, musicians never stopped using contrafactum and L’homme Arme in their works. With the intent of improving music pedagogy and performance, the purpose of this research was to investigate L’homme Arme and contrafactum and their usage today. The particular problems of this study were to (1) examine contrafactum and L’homme Arme in medieval and renaissance music; (2) explore the use of contrafactum today; and (3) arrange a piece of music that combines a sacred and a …

From Operetta To Broadway, Katelyn Blue

Student Scholar Showcase

Music compositions transitioned from the performance of operettas to Broadway musicals, as did musical study on a collegiate level. Although Universities did not begin teaching musical theater when the genre originally emerged, Broadway musicals have become a part of “classic” American repertoire. With the intent of improving music pedagogy and performance, the purpose of this research is to investigate the history of the Broadway musical in University settings. The particular problems of this study were to (1) explore the transition from operettas to musicals; (2) trace the development of musical theatere in collegiate study; and (3) to describe the University …

Sounds Of Space: Utilising The Sonic Language Of Space Music In Music Production, Chris Lambert

Postgraduate

Research examining the relationship between popular music and outer space has largely focused on lyrical themes, visual aesthetics, cultural meanings, and science-fiction film soundtracks. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the sonic devices through which popular music represents the cosmic and extra-terrestrial. This study addresses that gap by identifying and analysing the sonic language of space music across a broad range of popular music traditions from the 1950s to the present. Using thematic analysis of musical texts and a practice-led research methodology, the project examines recurring sonic signifiers associated with outer space, sciencefiction futurism, and imagined extra-terrestrial environments. Through …

The Saxophone In Classical And Popular Music (Honors), Dylan Propheter

Papers

The Saxophone instrument family has achieved widespread success and recognition in the context of jazz and popular music, but has a more complex role in the western classical music tradition. Instrument maker Adolph Sax invented the Saxophone in the 1840’s while living in Paris. Thanks to Sax’s connections to prominent figures in 19th century France, the instrument family saw initial success despite severe pushback from competing instrument makers and composers. Though it never became a standard instrument in the orchestra, it did have material written for it, including some notable solo pieces. That success did not continue, however, and by …

Program Notes. Basically Bach! Camerata Milwaukee. Shorewood, Wi. March 26, 2022., Marianne Kordas

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Festival Of Form: Score, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

"A Festival of Form" was both an event at Bridwell and Perkins School of Theology and a conceptual piece of music that lasted several days. In this rendering, the "piece of music" was articulated in a fluid combination of activities that included works by other composers, including John Cage. The activities involved--from lectures, conversations, and meals to actual performances of both short works and especially the world-record breaking rendition of "Organ2/ASLSP" played by Christopher Anderson--comprise the entirety of "A Festival of Form" as performance piece. The challenge of this work is that unlike nearly any other music, it is purposely …

Thank You, Richard — And Yes, She Did!, Brian Jeffery

Soundboard Scholar

New documentary evidence shows that Sor's pupil Natalie Houzé performed with him in public on February 29, 1832.

De Profundis: Deep Personal Grief Precipitates Musical Masterpieces, Karen A. Demol

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

La Ricarda, Mestres Quadreny I L'Experimentalisme Musical Català Dels Anys Seixanta: De Com L’Arquitectura Va Esdevenir Música I La Música, Arquitectura, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Eren uns temps magnífics per a la creació: els concerts semblaven obres de teatre i les obres de teatre, concerts. Els músics feien d’actors i aquests havien de fer de músics. I la distinció entre el públic i els intèrprets també es diluïa, si és que no s’eliminava del tot. Els semiòlegs —o són semiòtics?— havien explicat que en tot acte comunicatiu hi havia un emissor, un missatge i un receptor; i precisament d’això es tractava, d’eliminar aquestes distincions. Ah, i en molts casos, tampoc no hi havia escenari, ni sala de concerts.

Hearing Faith: Music As Theology In The Spanish Empire, Carolina Sacristán Ramírez

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for Andrew Cashner, Hearing Faith: Music as Theology in the Spanish Empire. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions 194. (Leiden: Brill, 2020).

From Rumi To The Whirling Dervishes: Music, Poetry And Mysticism In The Ottoman Empire, Walter Feldman

Music & Performance in Muslim Contexts

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, whose life and mystical poetry provided the inspiration for the Mevlevi Sufi order, is one of the world's best-known poets.

Yet the centuries-long musical tradition cultivated by the Mevleviye remains much less known. In this deeply researched book, renowned scholar Walter Feldman traces the historical development of Mevlevi music and brings to light the remarkable musical and mystical aesthetics of the Mevlevi ayin – the instrumental and vocal accompaniment to the sublime ceremony of the 'Whirling' Dervishes.

This accessible introduction to the relationship between music and the performative elements of Sufi practice presents the biographies of the …