Musicology Commons^™

Exploring Maximalism In Music, Comparing The Selected Works Of Richard Strauss And Kanye West: Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

In the realm of music theory, many terms are used to simplify characteristics of musical compositions. Many of these terms become “ism’s” as a way to easily group many characteristics or techniques that composers implement. A well known ‘ism’ that is taught often in American music theory/history courses is minimalism, where composers made music with techniques like repetition, simplification, etc. This paper seeks to define another emerging ‘ism’ in music theory, Maximalism. This term broadly refers to the over exaggeration of compositional techniques in music, and their effects. I propose that in many ways the composers Richard Strauss and Kanye …

Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This is a twelve source annotated bibliography with sources regarding the clarinet pedagogy of professors Yehuda Gilad and Howard Klug. It features dictionary articles, dissertations, journal articles, musical scores, and video and audio sources.

Fear And Death In Schubert’S Lieder: Annotated Bibliography, Michaela Hertrich

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

The themes of death are common throughout the genre of German Lied. However, fear is a much more subjective emotion that is often overlooked in textual and musical analysis of death. Schubert’s works “Erlkönig” and “Der Tod und das Mӓdchen” both illustrate situations of death, but they also include a deep permeation of fear. However, fear is dealt with differently between these two works, both in terms of historical context and importance as well as in general harmonic setting. This annotated bibliography includes sources that describe in detail Schubert’s compositional style, his approach to both the text and musical setting …

Einstein On The Beat: Transcribing Electronic Dance Music Using Methods Of Minimalist Analysis, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This paper focuses on the transcription and methods of analysis for the modern musical genre of EDM, or electronic dance music. It takes a historical look at the origins of EDM in the early 1970s and explores how the compositional techniques of 21st century EDM producers are in fact similar to those of minimalist composers from the 1960s and 70s. By first establishing a common vocabulary to discuss the two genres, the paper will then examine compositions from both genres and attempt to provide a useful framework that can be used to analyze future catalogues of EDM.

How Have Classical Composers Written For And Adjusted Their View Of Viola Over Time? Annotated Bibliography, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

An annotated bibliography of a future research paper for MUAC 4000.

An Annotated Bibliography For Debating The ‘Authentic’ Use Of Vibrato In Early Bowed String Performance Practice, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Musicians debate daily the authentic execution of pretty much any music, especially historical styles, even among non-specialist performers. To be considered authentic, there is little consensus among musicians deciding upon a unified vision of accuracy. Maybe the idea of a strict authenticity threatens a musician’s fundamental understanding of musical expression. That discussion, alone, can become very personal in nature. For decades, semantic and philosophical discourses have driven the impetus to debate of what ‘authentic’ music is, and the answer is (mostly) clarified when you start to investigate minute and critical musical details.

Especially among period performance specialists, there tends to …

Same Old Song: An Analysis Of Adaptation And The Orpheus Myth In Musical Theatre, Aaron J. Wulf

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This bibliography is a brief examination of various adaptations of the myth of Orpheus and Euridice throughout the history of musical theatre and opera, specifically through comparative textual analysis of the scripts and libretti. In this examination, additions to or retractions from the original story, whether common to several adaptations or unique to a single source, will be analyzed. From these findings it will be possible to speculate on historical and contextual reasons for the unique shape taken by each adaptation, and to add to the conversation about the nature and purpose of adaptation in general as well as the …

Golan V Holder’S Impact On Orchestra Performance Programming: Annotated Bibliography, Craig M. Winston

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

This project will examine how changes in copyright law enacted with the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision on Golan v Holder affect the performance programming of American symphony orchestras. The court’s decision brought many previously public-domain, foreign works under copyright protections in accordance with the Uruguay Rounds Agreement Act; among the musical works were frequently performed pieces by composers such as Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. The result is that previously free or low-cost works would now have to be licensed or rented for performance at great expense to the performing group. I will seek to test a hypothesis proposed by legal …

Entropy In Music: An Analysis Of Shape Note Music In Terms Of Information Entropy, Kyle Major

Honors Program Theses

This paper will be centered on a case study designed to probe a possible objective method for analyzing music that has already proven itself in the analysis computational systems: information theory. More specifically, this study has been conducted through the collection of data on information entropy in the genre of shape note music. The genre of shape note music has been chosen for its relative simplicity compared to other genres such as the classical symphony, which will render it significantly easier to analyze objectively. Information entropy as proposed by Claude Shannon, makes an excellent method for objective analysis because it …

Bass Is My Religion: Syncretic Spirituality And Navigating The Potential For Misappropriation Among Participants In Electronic Dance Music Culture, Daniel Backfish-White

Graduate Thesis Collection

At electronic dance music events in the United States, artists and attendees tend to appropriate religious and spiritual sounds, images, and dress, especially from India but also from elsewhere, to varying degrees. This project explicates the effects of adopting religious symbology, ethos, and atmosphere in the music and culture of EDM, specifically in bass music culture. It argues that although individual participants may adopt aspects of religious traditions in ways they perceive as authentic, the potential for misappropriation still exists. In other words, EDM culture creates opportunities for misappropriation that individual participants navigate in order to construct their own individual …

Symphony Of Nature: "Fall", Davis Cooper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This honors project is for an analysis paper based on one movement of an original music composition by the author in the realm of environmental sound art. The movement, entitled “Fall” from the Symphony of Nature, consists of hundreds of individual audio recordings of specific animals (such as an American Crow, Carolina Ground Cricket, and Gray Catbird), groups of animals (such as a choir of Ground Crickets, a murder of crows, and so forth), or geophonic sounds (such as a light rain on dry leaves, a several-miles-distant thunderstorm, or mid-to-high range audio spectrum wind). The analysis paper includes the rationale …

John Wesley Work Iii: Arranger, Preserver, And Historian Of African American Traditional Music, Kaylina Madison Crawley

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This study focuses on John Wesley Work III’s life and career in response to the scarcity of existing research and publication devoted to him. To expand the scholarship focused on Work and to deepen the history of African American artistry, this dissertation analyzes his additions to concert repertoire through his arrangements of spirituals, investigates his scholarship, and performance— including his activities as Director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers — and provides a foundation for further analytical study of African- American sacred music. Methodology utilized in this thesis includes construction of a biographical narrative based on primary sources and analysis of …

Songs For High Voice: An Annotated Guide To African Romances, Op. 17 By Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Makeda Danielle Hampton

Theses and Dissertations--Music

African Romances, Op. 17, composed in 1897 by African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), is a collection of seven songs for high voice that is uniquely both African and American. The lyrics of this song cycle were first published in the book Majors and Minors, a collection of poems published in 1895 by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906).

An analysis of resources supports that academic discourse in Black vocal music has been underrepresented due to the absence of centralized information, such as published scores, recorded materials, catalogs, and guides for study and performance. While in depth research focusing on the art …

Music Cognition And Cultural Meaning, Mikayla Kreider

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will analyze the new trend in musicology of understanding music as cultural metaphor in terms of cognitive theories on how musical meaning is created, specifically through the work of Candace Brower. Brower's theory states that meaning in music is created through bodily metaphor; "image schemas" of basic human experiences like walking and perceiving space are mapped onto music, which allows meaning to develop. This theory will be applied to the larger-scale cultural metaphors of "New Musicology," which approaches music through the lens of how it interacts with and reflects different cultural ideas and values. The project will attempt …

Furthering Cultural Understanding Through Music, Sophia Abukamail

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores the role that music plays in fostering cultural understanding and equity by discussing the sociopolitical implications of musical collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli musicians. In order to do this, the paper will dive into the history of the conflict between Palestine and Israel, detail instances of musical collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli musicians, show how music is helping to bridge the divide between these two cultures, and examine the intentions and consequences of such collaborations as they relate to music, politics, and society. The purpose of this project is to investigate the ways that music can affect …

Lives In Musicology: My Life In Writings, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Responding to an invitation from the editors of Acta Musicologica to tell the story of his life in musicology, Kofi Agawu describes his upbringing and early education in Ghana and his university studies in the UK and the US. In a career focused on teaching, research, and writing, he outlines a number of intellectual projects involving the analysis of African and European music. He ends by acknowledging renewed discussions of race and identity in the musical academy today, and hints at his own growing interest in African art music.

Hearing Ourselves Speak: Finding The Trans Sound In The Ohio River Valley, Gwendolyn Patricia Saporito-Emler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis discusses at length the experiences of four interviewees, selected for being both musicians as well as transgender people. From the author’s shared perspective as a trans woman, this work addresses the issues and boons of being trans musicians. It reflects their experiences, both positive and negative, as well as provides conjectural analyses of the respondents’ shared stories. It identifies common themes, issues regularly experienced by trans people, and offers arguments on why ending this hate is so vitally essential.

"A Long Life In Music:" The Career And Legacy Of Ann Schein, Anthony William Gray

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper is devoted to the life, career, teaching and legacy of the celebrated pianist Ann Schein. Having led a remarkable career spanning more than six decades, Schein was taught by such towering figures as Mieczysław Munz, Arthur Rubinstein and Dame Myra Hess and has in turn influenced countless musicians through her own teaching. This research paper includes a detailed portrait of Schein through a biography, an interview with Schein, and interviews with six of her former students from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University: Dr. Matthew Bengtson, Ms. Ya-Ting Chang, Dr. Inna Faliks, Dr. Mansoon Han …

#Canceled: Positionality And Authenticity In Country Music’S Cancel Culture, Gabriella Saporito

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

From its beginning in film and television and its early adoption by Black Twitter, cancel culture has become a phenomenon in the era of social media. Marked by the popular hashtags #cancel, #canceled, #[InsertNameHere]isOverParty, and #Surviving[InsertNameHere], cancel culture is a practice which involves publicly denouncing and/or shaming a person or company when they do something that is considered offensive or objectionable. It saw a resurgence in the era of #MeToo that has not slowed down in an age dominated by social media presidents and global pandemics. Cancel culture has also seen a recent re-adoption by the political right, which begs …

Fostering Music Performers In The 21st Century: A Contemporary Professional Perspective Toward A New Curricular Agenda For Graduate Study In Music, Andre Januario

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

What if the core curriculum for graduate students in music performance were designed to prepare students to succeed in the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This dissertation offers a hypothetical answer: a structured and systematic academic curricular framework for music graduate students of performance of concert music (especially those in terminal degrees, such as doctoral students), along with music instructors, professional music performers, school administrators, and college professors, seeking to prepare such students for achieving and maintaining a music career more in keeping with the current work environment, especially those skills demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the …

A Foundation For Collaboration: An Analysis Of Robert Schumann’S Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Kailang Zhan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper provides an analysis of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe offering historical information and insights into each of the sixteen songs. The analysis includes the English translation of the texts and discussion of the form of each song as well as highlights of the special moments of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic structure in relation to Schumann’s setting of each poem. The analysis provides a foundation for collaborative skills for the singer and pianist for the study and performance of Dichterliebe. In addition, the paper includes brief biographies of Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine and background information on the poetry and …

Va Ser Homosexual, Chopin?, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

A hores d’ara, el més sorprenent de tot és que l’homosexualitat de Chopin sigui notícia. Però no hi ha dubte que ho és, i molt. El darrer rebombori l’ha aflamat un documental radiofònic suís de dues hores de durada del pianista i escriptor Moritz Weber en el qual compila i escenifica fragments de cartes homoeròtiques del compositor polonès. (Vegeu, al final d’aquest escrit, algunes referències a la web).

Characteristics Of The Structure Of Quartet Cycles And Their Interpretation (On The Example Of The Works Of The Vienna Classics), Anvar Raimdjanov

Eurasian music science journal

The string quartet is central among the chamber instrumental ensembles. Despite the limited number of participants, the quartet ensemble is self-assembling, requiring no addition and harmonic support from a multi-voice instrument like the piano. The leading position of the string quartet in the panorama of other types of ensembles is well known. The highly developed quartet art has been widely spread in all countries of the world, including Uzbekistan. High-artistic quartet literature is an integral part of concert programs and educational repertoire of all levels of musical formation of stringers.

It should be noted that there is a stable demand …

Arganun (Organon) - In The Outlook Of Medieval Eastern Thinkers, Saodat Djurabekova

Eurasian music science journal

The Uzbek people have a very rich, worthy ancient history. The discoveries by many scientists and archaeologists of our country confirm the huge contribution of Central Asia to the development of human beings. During very long years of historical development, many great scientists in the fields of science, culture and art came out among our people. They have gratefully served for the progress of mankind. In this way, they raised the status of the nations of the East. Oriental scholars in their musical brochures, tried to comment not only on the musical-theoretical and practical sciences of the East, but also …

In Studying The History Of Uzbek Music Culture The Place Of The Bayoz, Khumoyun Khaydarov

Eurasian music science journal

In many branches of musicology, especially in covering information on the issue of macom, scientific works, brochures, and various handwritten sources are mainly used. It is noteworthy that today bays also serves as a necessary source for studying music, especially our traditional music. In addition, it should be noted that bayez is effectively used in the “Ustoz - shogird” (Teacher-Pupil) education system, and plays a special role in the formation of the curriculum and the performance of singing. The article discusses the above points.

Influence And Innovation: Beethoven's Impact On The Sonatas For Piano And Cello By Mendelssohn And Chopin, Patrick T. Bellah

Dissertations, 2020-current

The bulk of the scholarship in this paper centers around Beethoven’s five sonatas written for piano and cello and how he established a new normal within the genre. This is evidenced by what are arguably the two most noteworthy sonatas for the same instrumental medium, written by Mendelssohn and Chopin, following Beethoven’s death. I posit that the five sonatas written by Beethoven establish a series of models upon which the latter two works by his successors are based.

Chapters two and three of this document are separated into subsections that detail the plausibility of Beethoven’s influence through circumstantial evidence, musical …

Monitored Freedom: Swing Rhythm In The Jazz Arrangements Of Roland Dyens, Milton Mermikides

Soundboard Scholar

This paper provides an analysis of jazz swing in the work of classical guitarist and composer Roland Dyens. Drawing on Dyens’s published and recorded arrangements of jazz standards, I study both his notation and his performance of swing, starting with a preliminary study of his collection Night and Day and proceeding to a detailed analysis of Nuages—his notated arrangement and four recorded performances. To provide context for Dyens’s stylistic referents, I analyze Django Reinhardt’s 1940 ensemble performance of Nuages. Throughout the discussion, I utilize digital audio analysis and models of microtiming to reveal Dyens’s sophisticated understanding and execution …

Sor's Guitar Music—A Fresh Start, Erik Stenstadvold

Soundboard Scholar

This article addresses the considerations and decisions that underlie a new critical edition of Sor’s guitar music that is being prepared by the author. Sor’s oeuvre for guitar survives almost exclusively in early printed editions, not autograph manuscripts, so such a task begins with a reassessment, based on historical and text-critical criteria, of which editions he was likely to have been involved in himself and which we can therefore trust the most. As a result, this new edition partly uses different original sources as models than other modern editions. Meissonnier’s later versions of opp. 1–23 from 1826, claimed to be …

Soundboard Scholar No. 6: Editor's Letter, Jonathan Leathwood

Soundboard Scholar

An introduction to the contents of this issue.

Unraveling The Discussion Entre Les Carulistes Et Les Molinistes (Paris, 1828), Damián Martín-Gil

Soundboard Scholar

In 1828, the French guitarist Charles de Marescot published a small booklet called La Guitaromanie, a collection of pieces for the guitar. It includes a caricature, entitled Discussion entre les Carulistes et les Molinistes, in which two opposing bands of guitarists are engaged in a fierce fight. Although, several scholars have proposed a variety of possible motives for such a shocking image, this issue has never been subjected to close examination. The article analyses the veracity of the known theories, making for the first time a comparative study between the method books of both Ferdinando Carulli and Francesco …