This study examines the finale of Beethoven's choral symphony and focuses on its inspirations and aims to invoke critical theories involving genre, namely genre's "horizon of expectation", and lead to an enriched perspective that points toward a number of compelling aspects of the Choral Finale overlooked by previous commentators.

To look at the effect of free play on the musical improvisations of first, second and third grade children, 108 children were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. Subjects were tested using a researcher-designed instrument to elicit an improvisatory response. The control group then received regular music instruction (120 minutes every 2 weeks) and the treatment group received regular music instruction in conjunction with musical free play (100 minutes of instruction and 20 minutes of free play every 2 weeks). The treatment lasted 14 weeks. At the end of the treatment, all students were tested with the same testing instrument used for the pre test. Videotapes of the improvisations were submitted to three independent judges to rate for quality on a 5-point Likert scale. The change in ratings between pre and post tests were analyzed with an analysis of variance to determine if there were significant differences between the control and treatment groups. The analysis of the data revealed no significant difference in the change of ratings between control and treatment groups for the group as a whole, or for any particular grade level within the total group.

In their shared goal of communicating left-wing principles to children through music, Marc Blitzstein's Worker's Kids of the World (1935), Aaron Copland's The Second Hurricane (1937), and Alex North's The Hither and Thither of Danny Dither (1941) exhibit a fundamental unity of purpose that binds them both to each other and to the extensive leftist pedagogical efforts of their time. By observing the parallel relationship among these three children's works and contemporary youth organizations, summer camps, and children's literature, their cultural objectives and stylistic idiosyncrasies emerge as expressions of a continuously evolving educational tradition. Whereas Worker's Kids comes out of the revolutionary Communist aesthetics of the Composers' Collective and the militant activism of The Young Pioneers, The Second Hurricane and Danny Dither reflect the increasingly accommodating educational efforts of the American Popular Front.

An examination of the compositional style illustrative of the anti-collectivist ideology as found in Edison Denisov's Quatre Pièces pour flûte et piano. Includes a short history of Denisov's formal training, history of the Soviet musical environment, an overview of his creative output, and discussion of the anti-collectivist characteristics in his works. Defines the anti-collectivist doctrine as individual reaction to the totalitarian collective of the Soviet communist state of the twentieth century. Identification of eclectic compositional techniques, and how they represent individual expression under a totalitarian regime. Listing of Denisov's works with the flute in a primary role, interviews with Aurèle Nicolet and Ekaterina Denisov, correspondence from Denisov to Nicolet, and the manuscript score to Quatre Pièces pour flûte et piano follow as appendices.

While the word “pedagogue” may evoke a vision of an instructor who is dogmatic and set in his own ways, the word descends from Greek origins: ped “child” + agogos “leader.” A pedagogue is, by definition, literally the servant who escorts the child to and from school – the “pedagogue” accompanies the student on the journey for knowledge. True to this definition, Douglas Campbell is model pedagogue – one who gently guided his countless students throughout their musical journeys. As Professor of Music (Horn) at Michigan State University for 45 years, and Horn Instructor at Interlochen Arts Camp for 25 years, Campbell was a significant influence on many developing hornists. Following their study with him, Campbell's students eventually won orchestral and college teaching positions across the United States and throughout the world. Having influenced an extraordinary number of horn students during his tenures at Michigan State University and Interlochen Arts Camp, Douglas Campbell's life and career serve as an excellent example of contemporary horn pedagogy in the United States. This dissertation provides a detailed biography of Douglas Campbell and provides evidence of his contributions to American horn pedagogy, while documenting Campbell’s performing career with the Richards Quintet, which toured the …

Thesis studies the music and content of the opera La Traviata, focuses on the evolution of its heroine, Violetta Valéry. Carolyn Sue Finley traces the history behind the story and its reflection in the music.

This paper discusses De Rosenkavalier, an opera written by Richard Strauss through collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and its three leading female roles. Martha Hartman Whitmore divulges the historical background behind the work and compares the three soprano roles.

Recent Berlioz studies tend to stress the significance of the French tradition for a balanced understanding of Berlioz's music. Such is necessary because the customary emphasis on purely musical structure inclines to stress the influence of German masters to the neglect of vocal and therefore rhetorical character of this tradition. The present study, through a fresh examination of Berlioz's vocal-orchestral scores, sets forth the various orchestrational patterns and the rationales that lay behind them.

One of the greatest mysteries in the history of music is the castrato singers of the Baroque era. Castration has existed for many thousands of years, but for the first time in history, it was used for artistic purposes. Who were these men who seemingly gave up their masculinity for the sake of music? By examining the time period and circumstances in which these musicians lived, an answer may be found. Exploring the economic, social, and political structure of the 17th and 18th centuries may reveal the mindset behind such a strange yet accepted practice. The in-depth study of their lives and careers will help lift the veil of mystery that surrounds them. Was their physical sacrifice a blessing or a curse? Was it worth it?

The aim of this study is to introduce the contemporary German composer, Xaver Paul Thoma, and his composition, Ich bin in Sehnsucht Eingehüllt on the poems of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger. This study explores the possible reasons behind Thoma's decision to set the poems, as well as the circumstances and significance of the poets' life and poetry, made known through Thoma's composition. An analysis of each song is included, emphasizing especially the relationship between text and music.

Theodore Leschetizky's singular pianistic legacy survives to this day because of his revolutionary pedagogical methods and his compositions for the piano repertory. The amalgamation of these two aspects formed his distinctive contributions to the fields of piano and piano pedagogy and left an indelible mark on the history of the instrument. His students lead an impressive list of the greatest artists of the previous century, each influencing the evolution of pianism with their own remarkable style and personality. While Leschetizky was arguably without peer as a pedagogue, many pianists today are unaware of the vast number of compositions that he wrote. These pieces were intended not only for the concert stage, but also as a very specific pedagogical repertoire that he used within his own teaching studio. This repertoire comprises a vital component of the Leschetizky legacy, albeit one which is often slighted in comparison. It is imperative that the pianists of our current generation understand the dual aspects of his contribution to our art form, in order to fully grasp the way in which he has changed the face of pianism. The purpose of this dissertation and lecture recital is to enumerate the various aspects that constitute the dual …

Galileo's Eyeglass is a celebratory work for full orchestra with standard instrumentation commemorating Galileo Galilei's discoveries of the four largest moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn in 1610. The composition is approximately 14 minutes in duration, and although divided thematically into four parts, the music is continuous. The work exhibits primarily a blend of contemporary styles and compositional elements, yet it is rooted in traditional tonality; furthermore, the piece is interspersed with references to Galileo's life and times, including quotations of a toccata composed by the scientist's brother, Michelangelo Galilei, transcribed from lute tablature. Chapter 1 of Part 1 investigates relevant historical threads extracted from the backdrop of Galileo's life, from reflections on the events that shape the musical program, to the selection and preparation of the period music composed by Galileo's brother. Chapter 2 discusses specific musical components of Galileo's Eyeglass, including form, musical quotations, motivic and thematic material, harmonic language, orchestration, and notation. Chapter 3 examines the principal philosophical themes behind the composition, including expressions of victory of a life well lived in spite of many obstacles. Part 2 contains the orchestral score.

During World War II the composer Kurt Weill was in America writing for the Broadway stage. On August 27, 1943, he became an American citizen and was eager to volunteer his talent to the American war effort. Among his many wartime musical contributions are fourteen songs, all with war-related texts, which can be divided into three distinct groups: the American propaganda songs (8), the German propaganda songs (2), and the Walt Whitman songs (4). It is the purpose of this paper to present a comparative analysis of a representative group of these war songs (two from each group) in order to illustrate Weill's musical versatility. The American propaganda songs were written in a purely popular song style; sung by Broadway actors; directed toward an American audience; with texts by the Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and the Hollywood movie executive Howard Dietz. The German propaganda songs were written in a cabaret song style; sung in German by Weill's wife, Lotte Lenya; directed toward a German audience behind enemy lines; with texts by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht and the German cabaret writer Walter Mehring. The Four Walt Whitman Songs were written in a classical art song style; sung by classically …

This qualitative study investigated four monolingual, English-only speaking Caucasian elementary music teachers and their reflections regarding instruction of English language learners (ELL). The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate the teaching practice and curricular decisions of elementary music teachers who instruct Hispanic ELL students. The investigation was conducted during a nine-week period, and data collection included classroom observations, phenomenological interviewing, and teacher audio journals. None of the teachers had prior education or pre-service preparation in teaching music to ELL students. The major theoretical base from which the study was developed was the reflective teaching theory of Donald Schön (1983). The main research question was: "What are the participating teachers' reflections about their curricular and pedagogical decisions when teaching ELL students?" Following a description of the elementary music teachers' reflections on practice with ELL students, the study revealed that the majority of elementary music teachers had a lack of preparation and ELL music curriculum, and negative perceptions of the placement program for ESL students. Despite these factors, the teachers made attempts to include ELL students in all music activities. This study showed that while one teacher accommodated specifically for the ELL students' learning, three out of four teachers …

The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to compare the effects of three different composition tasks with varying degrees of structure on pre-service music teachers’ creative self-efficacy as composers and their instructional self-efficacy as pedagogues of composition; and 2) to describe through pre-service music teachers’ talk perceptions of composition and their experiences completing the three composition tasks. Participants (N = 29) were music education majors from three different sized universities in the northern-central region of the United States. At the beginning of the study, the participants answered a researcher-design self-efficacy questionnaire that measured (a) their self-efficacy as composers and (b) their self-efficacy as teachers of composition. Next, they composed three compositions of various task structures (unstructured, poem, and rhythm). Immediately after completing each task they again completed the self-efficacy questionnaire. Statistically significant mean differences between the pre-task administration of the measuring instrument and all three composition tasks were found for the pre-service teachers’ compositional self-efficacy. Statistically significant mean differences were also found between the unstructured task and the rhythm task, but not between the rhythm and poem tasks or the unstructured and poem tasks. For the pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy as pedagogues of composition question, the results were also statistically …

The first purpose of this study was to investigate whether different modeling conditions (Aural and Aural/Notated Transcription) produced significant differences for improvisation achievement. Another purpose was to investigate whether music learning theory-based improvisation instruction had an effect on students' self-efficacy for improvisation and for instrumental music. Participants (N = 76) from an accessible population of 6th through 8th grade instrumental music students were assigned to either an aural model group or an aural and notated transcription model group based on scores from Gordon's Harmonic and Rhythmic Readiness Records (1998). All students were administered two researcher-designed self-efficacy scales before and after a 10 treatment session music learning theory-based improvisation instruction. Following the treatment sessions, each participant was individually recorded and assessed by three experienced music educators. The posttest improvisation scores were subjected to an ANOVA, while the pretest to posttest scores of the students' self-efficacies for music improvisation and instrumental music were subjected to two repeated measures ANOVAs. The Bonferroni technique was used to adjust the alpha level from .05 to .017. The statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in improvisation achievement for the modeling conditions of aural and aural/notated transcription. Further statistical analyses showed there were significant …

Secondary choral directors often demonstrate a wide variety of organizational, instructional, and musical skills to promote and nurture thriving programs. Among the many tasks executed, choosing repertoire might be viewed as one of the most important duties performed. Material chosen for study is often the vehicle through which curricular concepts are taught. Multiple factors might influence middle school choral directors’ beliefs about repertoire choices. Ironically, repertoire choices might or might not reflect educators’ actual teaching philosophies; nevertheless, these decisions could influence student learning. This study surveyed a stratified random sampling of Texas middle school choral directors who participated in the 2010 University Interscholastic League Concert and Sight-reading competition (n = 209). Seventy middle school choral directors participated in the study. Each director took an online survey and indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with 14 statements concerning repertoire choice. Many of the belief statements showed teachers were overwhelmingly in concordance with their beliefs (92.9%). Results indicated that beliefs were similar, regardless of who chose the curriculum or the amount of discussion perceived in undergraduate training. The only belief statement that continually showed differences between teachers concerned students’ ability to vote on repertoire.

During the years of the Holocaust, song literature was needed to fulfill the unique needs of people caught in an unimaginable nightmare. The twelve years between 1933 and 1945 were filled with a brutal display of man's inhumanity to man. Despite the horrific conditions or perhaps because of them, the Jewish people made music, and in particular, they sang. Whether built on a new or an old melody, the Holocaust song literature continues to speak to those of us who are willing to listen. This body of work tells the world that these people lived, suffered, longed for vengeance, loved, dreamed, prayed, and tragically, died. This repertoire of songs is part of the legacy, the very soul of the Jewish people. This study contains a brief look at the historical circumstances, and through the song literature of Hirsh Glick, Mordechai Gebirtig and Simon Sargon, life within the ghetto, the concentration camp, the decisions families had to make, the choices to fight back against incredible odds, the place of faith within this nightmare, and a look at the lives and works of the composers themselves.

Requiem for Netted Fish is an intermedia composition for sixteen-voice SATB choir, harp, six dancers, slide projections, and lighting. The text, taken from the poetry of Anna Akhmatova and Carolyn Forche, presents a universal, womanly rage against human repression and destruction. The poetry finds aural interpretation in sound, and visual interpretation in movement and lighting. Poetic inspiration contributes to the integration of elements in the work, as does the impulse-exchange method of coordinating mediums, which allows the dancers control of the timing of events. The resultant interdependent relationships necessary for performance contribute to the integration of the composition. The duration of this intermedia work is approximately fifteen minutes.

Although the most well-known collaborations of William Plomer and Benjamin Britten are the three church parables (or church operas) - Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace, and The Prodigal Son - by the time of the completion of Curlew River in 1964, the librettist and composer had been working together for well over a decade. During that time, they had completed the opera Gloriana and had considered collaborating on three other projects: one a children's opera on Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod, one on an original story of Plomer's called "Tyco the Vegan," and one on a Greek myth (possibly Arion, Daedalus and Icarus, or Phaëthon). Far from being footnotes to the parables, these early collaborations established Plomer and Britten's working relationship and brought to light their common interests as well as their independent ones. Their successive early collaborations, therefore, can be thought of as a conversation through creative expression. This metaphor of conversation can be applied both to successive collaborations and to the completed Gloriana, in that the libretto and the music can be seen as representing different interpretations of both major and minor characters in the opera, including Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. …

The aim of this dissertation is to lay the groundwork for an integrated approach to violin instruction for children who are not being groomed explicitly for professional careers as instrumentalists. The study presents a particular focus on the age of middle school children, in order to showcase a more specialized and definitive result of research without, however, distinguishing between advantages and limitations of different age groups of children who study music and learn to play the violin. My first goal is to craft a sample method of teaching with a premise that not all students studying music must or need to become professional musicians in their future. I promote an approach based on the premise that music has universal value available to all and that any kind of music education encourages the growth, personality development, and imagination of children. My second goal is to explore how music education functions in 21st century western culture. Research is based on teachings and methods established by Suzuki, Kodaly, Jaques-Dalcroze, and Orff, among others.

The present study does not attempt to present a complete or exhaustive survey of the myriad spatial orchestrational devices occurring in the symphonic and operatic repertoire. Rather, the study is limited to an examination of the specified use of the trumpet as an offstage instrument in selected representative works. The study's purpose is to identify trends in the use of this orchestrational device, to serve as an aid to the trumpeter in matters of interpretation, and to provide a practical reference for the solution of acoustical and technical problems common to the performance of spatially conceived music in the orchestral literature.

In recent years scholars have begun to re-evaluate the works, writings, and life of Robert Schumann (1810-1856). One of the primary issues in this ongoing re-evaluation is a reassessment of the composer's late works (roughly defined as those written after 1845). Until recently, the last eight years of Schumann's creative life and the works he composed at that time either have been ignored or critiqued under an image of an illness that had caused periodic breakdowns. Schumann's late works show how his culture and the artists communicating within that culture were transformed from the beginning to the middle of the nineteenth century. These late works, therefore, should be viewed in the context of Schumann's output as a whole and in regard to their contributions to nineteenth-century society. Schumann's contributions, specifically to the genre of the song cycle from 1849 to 1852, are among his late compositional works that still await full reconsideration. A topical study, focusing on three themes of selections from his twenty-three late cycles, will provide a critical evaluation of Schumann's compositional output in the genre of the song cycle. First, Schumann's political voice will be examined. The political events that led to the mid-nineteenth-century revolutions inspired crucial …

I, Blavatsky is a one-act opera based on the life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a nineteenth-century Russian princess and co-founder of a religious organization called the Theosophical Society. The libretto, by the composer, involves a cast of three principal soloists and minor roles for six more singers who are also participants in a small chorus. The text format features free verse alternating with regular, rhymed strophes. Accompaniment is provided by a piano. Melodic structure combines some nineteenth-century Romantic idioms with twentieth-century style. Most of the melodic and harmonic material was intuitively composed to express the text. Rhythmic and stylistic contrasts are accomplished in the representation of the extensive travels of the main character. Stage directions involve a stylized set, several scenes requiring minimal set changes, magical effects to represent that facet of Blavatsky's life, and onstage costume changes for several characters. Approximate duration is one hour.