The English classical song is peculiarly native to Britain. It roots in the mystic elements of ballads and nature. It was the influence of the early English ballad, first spoken, then sung, then joined in the happy culmination of voice and melody to make a song that is immortal and unique in music.

This thesis undertakes a study of some of the historical origins and developments of the Southern Baptist Convention in relation to its music.

This work is a study of the historical and social background, the life and the compositions of Heinrich Schutz.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide translation of documents on lu from two primary sources for a study of the theory of ,lu, with the main focus on the interpretation and the signification attached to each of the twelve lu-pitch names. To establish the background information of the lu-10 system, an explanation of its acoustical properties is first presented. Based on the most important and widely used tonal system in ancient China -- the san-fen-sun-i system, the illustration is provided for the process of tone generation. Methods proposed by the main theorists who engaged in the discussion of the system of lu are presented. The introduction of the concept of yin and yang in reference to the twelve lu and the signification of the lu-lu system in relation to the human and natural world will also be discussed. The main body of this study is devoted to the translation of written references on the meaning of the twelve lu. The first part is the translation of the selected passages from The Anthology of the Historical Document of Ancient Chinese Music. edited by Tsai-Ping Liang; the second part is the translation of a modern exegesis from an article written …

Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) was a Czechoslovakian musician born in Prague, to a German-Jewish family, and whose life came to a premature end in 1942 at the Wülzburg concentration camp, near Weißenburg, Bavaria. Schulhoff’s life, compositional style, and two of his flute works are addressed in this dissertation: Sonata for flute and pianoforte, WV 86, and Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass, WV 75. Each work is considered as a discrete entity, and insight provided into the structure of the music; stylistic and compositional influences, form, phrase structure, and other aspects are discussed. The intended audience is the flutist seeking knowledge regarding the historical significance and performance of each piece. The analysis and summary of Schulhoff’s life and primary flute works will contribute to the understanding of performance scholarship of his music and provide a deeper understanding of the composer, from the perspective of musical and compositional style.

The research problems of this dissertation were: 1) A description of the perceived value of music in light of political undercurrents in Boston prior to and during the years under investigation, and 2) the profile of the constituency of the Boston School Committee and Committee on Music in 1837 and 1845. Questions addressed the effect of religious and moral concerns of the day on the decision by the School Committee in 1837 to try music in the curriculum, and the possible effect of religious politics on Lowell Mason's dismissal from the schools in 1845. In the minds of mid-nineteenth century Bostonians, religious and moral values were intrinsic to the very nature of music. Key members on the School Committee portrayed music as being spiritual yet nonsectarian in its influence. Therefore, the findings suggest that music was believed to provide common ground between opposing and diverse religious sects. Reasons given for Mason's dismissal by John Sargent, a member of the Committee on Music, showed parallels to H. W. Day's accusations in the press a year earlier that Mason had managed his position in a sectarian manner. Sargent's background supports the theory that religious politics were at work in Mason's dismissal. Although …

A comprehensive study of all nineteenth-century New Orleans composers is far beyond the scope of this paper. There are simply too many. An attempt has been made, however, to include as many possible in the text. Others, about whom there is insufficient information to include in a narrative, have been relegated to the appendix, where they are treated in the style of a biographical dictionary. The two most important and influential composers of the century, Gregorion Curto and Theodore von La Hache, are covered individually in chapters two and three, respectively. Their music represents all three of the important aspects of composition of the era: opera, salon, and sacred music. Louis Moreau Gottschalk, probably the most famous composer and performer of the period, has been omitted from this study (other than incidental references) because he has already received considerable attention from numerous other researchers. Likewise, another composer of note, Ernest Guiraud, has been omitted because, even though a native of New Orleans, he left America at an early age and never returned. He should more appropriately be considered in annals of French music. Research in this field, a vital part of the American musical heritage, is by no means complete. …

The purpose of this study is to trace the early development of a popular twentieth-century chamber music ensemble, the woodwind quintet. The first chapter concerns the history and background of the use of woodwinds in chamber music leading to the development of the quintet. The second chapter discusses the first compositions for this ensemble and their composers. An appendix provides musical examples illustrating the use of the instruments in the early woodwind quintets.

The purpose of the following study is to make to stylistic analysis, on the basis of form, harmony, melody, and rhythm, of the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra by Harl McDonald, a twentieth-century American composer. When a composer begins the composition of a concerto he is faced with a series of specific problems, e.g., the degree of prominence to be given the soloist in relation to the orchestra, the technique of the solo instrument, the traditional first movement sonata form, and the balance between solo and orchestra in regard to tone color and sound mass. By determining the elements of style typical of this particular work, the investigator aims to set forth in a general way to how the composer treated each of the problems stated above.The concerto for Two Pianos was selected for study because of its modernity and because of the writer's active interest in works for this medium.

This examination of Ralph Vaughan Williams' song cycle to poetry of Alfred Edward Housman, "On Wenlock Edge," will follow primarily two avenues of approach. First, following a brief biographical sketch of Vaughan Williams' career prior to the composition of "On Wenlock Edge," will be a discussion of Vaughan Williams' and Housman's respective aesthetic philosophies. In order to lay the background for certain salient characteristics of this cycle, parallels as well as differences in their artistic thinking will be explained. Secondly, a poetic analysis will precede the musical analysis of each song in order to differentiate between the original intent of the poet and the interpretation of the poetry by Vaughan Williams.

Inasmuch as this investigator can determine, no major study has been done concerning music's relation to the "isms" selected for this discussion. The contemporary interest in the movements themselves has been so widespread that the documentation of them, in scattered accounts, is enormous. It is disappointing that these records provide little or no information about the musical aspects of the movements; the graphic and literary accounts, on the other hand, have been accorded generous treatments. Since futurism, cubism, and surrealism, in their origins, were oriented toward the visual and literary arts, it is not surprising that these two aspects would receive the greatest amount of attention. The meager attention to music and the distortion of its role in the movements, as has largely been the case, has created an artistic imbalance, This writer's efforts have been directed toward an exhaustive search for factors which have, in some way or other, linked music with these movements. Musical futurism has been the easiest to identify, although its underlying theories are not always clear, since the futurists, in explaining their theories, were not always convincing, perhaps even to themselves. This writer's main attempt has been to interpret ideas that were frequently vague and …

Alan Berg's two musical settings of Theodor Storm's poem"Schliesse mir die Augen beide" have received little in the way of scholarly analytical attention. The three major chapters of this thesis deal with the two settings on three different levels. Chapter II surveys the political and cultural milieu in which Berg functioned as a young composer of Lieder in the years 1900-1910. Chapter III examines the special quality of lyricism which is often attributed to Berg and his works. Chapter IV provides more definitive and complete musical analyses of the two settings than have heretofore been available. The question of what role songwriting played in the development of Berg's compositional process is addressed in the conclusion.

The Chorale Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach are outstanding examples of his ingenuity. The existing data on the Chorale Cantatas are distributed throughout numerous volumes by many scholars. They have written much about the cantatas in general but not so much specifically about the chorales in them. In this thesis, the emphasis is on the chorales and Bach's treatment of them in the Chorale Cantatas. An historical approach to the cantata and the chorale is given as a preliminary to the treatment of the chorale in the chorale cantata. This was done that the reader might have a better understanding of them. The necessary material for this thesis was gathered from dictionaries, music lexicons, books, articles and the music principally in the Bach-gesellschaft edition. The material is organized according to the following plan: 1. The Church Cantata and its origin; the development of the Church Cantata in Germany; the use of the cantata in the worship service. 2. The Chorale, its origin and development; its changes as a result of the Reformation; its use in church services, and its use in musical composition. 3. Bach's treatment of the Chorale in musical forms. 4. Bach's treatment of the words of the …

This study deals with the four-composer Polish musical association, Young Polish Composers' Publishing Company, which became commonly known as the group Poland in Music. Young Poland in Music is considered by Polish and non-Polish music historians to be the signal inaugurator of modernism in Polish music. However, despite this most important attribution, the past eighty-odd years have witnessed considerable confusion over the perceptions of: 1) exactly who constituted the publishing company, 2) why it was founded, 3) what the intentions of its members were, and 4) the general reception its members' music received. This paper addresses and resolves this multiple confusion. Chapter I presents an introductory survey of the political, socio/cultural, and musical developments of Poland between 1772 and c1900, the period of the Polish Partitions through the beginnings of the "Young Poland" era. Chapter II presents a discussion of the facts surrounding the founding of the publishing company, as well as a discussion of the eighty-odd years of historical misinterpretations that have developed about the composers' company and its relationship to "Young Poland in Music." Chapter III discusses the interpersonal relationships of the composers and other persons directly involved with them and their company, and the impact that these …

Though perhaps we shall never know the music to which these religious lyrics were written, the poems have never ceased to be the source of inspiration for the spirits of men since they were first sung. Each psalm seems to have an underlying purpose with a personal message for each reader. In the Book one can find a reply to every sort of question, for the Psalms are filled with expressions of emotion brought about by all human experience. The collection of these 150 songs or psalms makes up what is known as the Hebrew hymn-book or the Book of Psalms.

The sacred anthem has had a unique conception and development that compares readily to that of other major forms of sacred music. Since an abundance of this music is used in our services, it is the purpose of this study to trace the history of the anthem from its origin in the early Tudor period to its culmination in the works of William Byrd. A special study will be made of the anthems by this master of the form.

Chapter I of this thesis details contemporary historical views on the origins of the violin and its terminology. Chapters II through VI study the methodologies of makers from Italy, the Germanic Countries, the Low Countries, France, and England, and highlights the aspects of these methodologies that show influence from one maker to another. Chapter VII deals with matters of imitation, copying, violin forgery and the differences between these categories. Chapter VIII presents a discussion of the manner in which various violin experts identify the maker of a violin. It briefly discusses a new movement that questions the current methods of authentication, proposing that the dual role of "expert/dealer" does not lend itself to sufficient objectivity. The conclusion suggests that dealers, experts, curators, and musicologists alike must return to placing the first emphasis on the tradition of the craft rather than on the individual maker.

It is the intent of this thesis to shed a new investigative light upon a musician whose importance as a creative personality and aesthetician has been sorely underestimated or at least unappreciated by fellow musicians and audiences of his own and succeeding generations, a musician who formulated a new musical aesthetic which involved the utilization of compositional techniques diametrically opposed to those which had held dominant influence over the musical world for more than half a century, a musician who attempted to fuse the Italian sense of form and clarity with Teutonic profundity, complexity, and symbolism. This musician was Ferruccio Busoni. This thesis will concentrate on the history of the Faust legend and Busoni's final work, his opera Doktor Faust (c. 1924), the creative problems opera imposed upon Busoni, and his attempt to solve them vis-a-vis his own personal aesthetic.

George Frederick Handel is one of the most important composers of oratorio in musical history. Between the year 1704, when he composed his Passion According to Saint John, and 1757, the year of his last oratorio, The Triumph of Time and Truth, Handel composed twenty nine works which have at one time or another been classified as oratorios. Only those works that are considered by all authorities as oratorios and are based on the Old Testament or Jewish history are included in this study. Handel writes solo roles for the tenor voice in all of the sixteen oratorios included in the study with the exception of the revision of Esther and in Deborah. The musical and dramatic function of the tenor solo roles varies with each oratorio. The significance of the tenor roles fluctuates with the dramatic impact of the story related by the oratorio and is completely dictated by it. Handel used all solo voices with concern for the best over all theatrical effect foremost in mind. To place in proper perspective his use of the tenor voice in relation to the other solo voices, such factors as the musical and dramatic importance of the tenor roles, character types …

This thesis describes how music affects the group dynamic of children living in congregate homes in Texas

Pablo Minguet y Yrol's Academia Musical of 1752, M891 in the Bíblioteca Nacional of Madrid, is a loosely organized collection of tutors for thirteen musical instruments: guitar, tiple, mandola, cittern, bandurria, psaltery, clavichord [i.e., keyboard], organ, harp, violin, transverse flute, recorder, and flageolet. The tutors concerning the guitar and related instruments are by far the most comprehensive; topics covered include basic playing technique, figured-bass accompaniment, and notation, both mensural and tablature. Most musical examples are given in both types of notation. The thesis is a complete translation of the Academia Musical, including the texts of the illustrations, with an introductory commentary giving the historical background of music education in eighteenth-century Spain, a brief review of European musical-instrument tutors in general, and an analysis of Minguet's tutors in particular.

This doctoral dissertation discusses music criticism in the New York Times and the New York Tribune from 1851-1876.

The concert arias of Mozart are probably among the least known works of this genius among composers, yet they represent no small part of his musical output and are scattered throughout every period of his life. He composed a total of fifty-seven in all, the first when he was only nine years old and the last one in the final year of his life. Mozart's fifty-seven concert arias are divided among the four voice groupings as follows: one for alto, eight for bass, ten for tenor and thirty-eight for soprano. Of these soprano arias one (K. 569)l is lost and two (K. 307 and K. 308) are merely ariettas on French texts. It is with the eighteen arias for normal male voice that this discussion will be primarily concerned; arias for the castrati voice will not be considered.

In music, the term verismo usually refers to a realistic or naturalistic movement in Italian operas of the late nineteenth century. From the dawn of Italian opera four features have been manifested--umanita (humanism), sincerity (sincerity), passione (passion), effetto (not only theatrical effect but the supreme dramatic moment). The elements of verismo are among the characteristics present in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi where they reached a zenith of development. It is upon these veristic aspects, as identified in the second chapter, that the operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci were based. Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata richly exhibit these elements of verismo which have been identified in the fourth chapter.