Expanding on the concept of Richard Wagner's Gesamptkunstwerk, The War Poems was written to combine various elements for an intermedia composition, including music, five slide projectors, lighting, and costume. Text used in the piece was taken from the writings of the English World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon.

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the development of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the early career of Leopold Stokowski.

The compositions to be considered in this study have been divided into three periods, corresponding with certain times in the life of Alfredo Casella. There is enough consistency of style in the compositions of each period to justify this division. The first period, characterized by lyricism and virtuosity, includes the works written in Paris after Casella left the Paris Conservatory. The second period, with its chromaticism and dissonance, comprises his output during the first years after his return to Italy. The third period begins with the close of World War I. In this period Casella returns to a classic style which is firmly embedded in an extended tonal system. The compositions of this period combine various ideas and styles gathered through the years and blend them into works marked by maturity, sincerity, and originality.

Due to the increased importance of music in everyday life, the expanding enrollment in most colleges brought on by the return of war veterans, and the ever increasing popularity of dance music, more and more schools are incorporating dance bands as part of their musical program in connection with their recreation and college promotion activities. Since this is more or less a new development, it is of interest to all school administrators to see just what is being done in regard to dance music in the schools. Therefore, it is the purpose of this study to determine the extent and usage of popular dance bands in colleges at the present time, and to present certain problems which are apt to confront the administrator of such an organization.

The problem which is reported in these pages represents an attempt to bring into one work a critical and analytical survey of the material currently available in the field of music therapy. There is such a wealth of new material, especially since the termination of the war, that the necessity for a new and up-to-date compilation of material is evident. The objective of this thesis is to collect general information as to the theory and practices of music therapy, rather than to secure for purposes of statistical analysis great numbers of detailed items in regard to a technique that has not yet been carried to a point where it can be standardized. However, this compilation does include some actual experiments which have been conducted in hospitals with the object of determining the effect on physical and mental patients of certain musical compositions and certain instruments.

Ravel' s "Tombeau de Couperin," a suite for piano, was published in 1918 by Durand. Its first performance was in the Salle Gaveau in Paris in April, 1919. Shortly afterwards Ravel scored four of the six movements of the piano suite for small orchestra, composed of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns in pairs, English horn, trumpet, harp, and strings, The new version was introduced in America in 1920. The four orchestrated movements, Prelude, Forlane, Menuet, and Rigaudon, have no programmatic content and the titles identify the forms used. "Le Tombeau de Couperin" is a souvenir of World War I. Each movement is dedicated to the memory of a French soldier fallen in battle. The "Tombeau" form dates from the seventeenth century and is a musical "homage" to Francois Couperin, clavecinist of Louis XIV, and one of the great names of French music. "The separate movements, cast in eighteenth century dance forms often used by Qouperin have been described as "tonal wreaths," not too somber nor too profuse, laid with tenderness on an unforgotten tomb." This piece represents Ravel's extreme effort to express himself in the simplest possible manner. The music is subtly archaic; form, line and texture artfully suggest …

This dissertation asserts the value of James Lyon's Urania to the field of American music history as a vital contribution to the development of music in the British colonies prior to the War for Independence. While previous scholarship acknowledges Urania's importance as the first publication in America to contain music by a native-born composer, this study argues that its subscription list and selection of anthems (both of which were new to the field of American music publishing) contribute to the status this compilation is due. The confluence of the English chapel tradition and American singing school tradition contributes to the theological universality and accessibility of its twelve anthems. An introductory chapter discusses the secondary literature upon which this study is based - notably that of Oscar Sonneck and Richard Crawford - and posits applications for the idea presented herein beyond the field of musicology. Chapter 2 provides biographical information on James Lyon and contextualizes Urania within the broader framework of the English chapel tradition and the American singing-school tradition. Chapter 3 discusses the marketability of music in colonial America and explores the biographies of the subscribers to Urania using modern databases. Chapter 4 concerns the confluence of music and sacred …

Bulgaria, though a fairly small Eastern European country, boasts an ancient history of folk traditions and music; however, very few notated works exist due to the people's primitive lifestyle throughout Bulgaria's history. Singing and dancing as well as creating instruments from wood and animal skin were considered an integral part of everyday life, equal to cooking, sewing, herding, or farming; in fact, one almost always accompanied the other. Thus, more than 1500 years of folklore was orally passed on and preserved generation after generation; however, nothing was notated until only very recently when Bulgarians realized the cultural and national value of their history. After the liberation from Ottoman Rule (1453-1877) a nationalist movement spread throughout the Balkan countries, which resulted in the emergence of Bulgarian composers. Music and songs from the local folk traditions evolved, developed, and - with notation - became the foundation for the vocal and instrumental music of the so-called first generation of Bulgarian composers. Around the turn of the century, many Bulgarian artists and musicians traveled to Western Europe (mostly Austria, Germany, and Russia) and upon their return, their artistic output created an original mixture of Bulgarian national folk with influences from Western classical music. After …

The following chapters concern the development of bands of musical wind instruments in Europe and America. These groups may be most conveniently divided into two main classes of bands, military and civilian. Military bands may be defined as those organizations directly under governmental or army rule. This large class of bands includes: brigade bands, regimental bands, post bands and service bands. Brigade bands in early English history comprised two or more regimental bands, each regiment maintaining several bands. These groups were also popular in colonial America. In turn, each regiment of the military (army) had units of companies including troops, batteries, or cavalries. The units were authorized to maintain bands in their respective companies; fife and drum bands were also included. Certain bands of these companies were stationed permanently at military headquarters; these are referred to as post bands. In this country an increase in the number of regular army bands (infantry, cavalry, and artillery) has been marked since the latter part of the nineteenth century. These army bands and those of other branches (navy, marine corps, air force, coast guard, etc.) are included under the general name of service bands. The second main class includes a large group of …

This paper discusses the development of jazz that occurred in the Storyville district of New Orleans. Bernard Norman Rose explores the history of the area and the influences that resulted in a synthesis of music.

Based on the poetry of Jehanne Dubrow, professor of English at the University of North Texas, Stateside: An opera in one act uses the mythology of Penelope and Odysseus to tell a story of a modern day military wife. David T. Little's opera Soldier Songs, Sarah Kirkland Snider's song-cycle Penelope, and Stateside are dramatic musical works influenced by the genre, instrumentation, and formal structures of popular music that broadly deal with the emotional and internal elements of military life. These three works prioritize narrative structure of the text in relation to character, and employ elements of popular music harmony, melody, and structure. The critical essay analyzes selections from Soldier Songs and Penelope and explains the compositional process of Stateside. The creative document consists of the full score of Stateside: an opera in one act.

The Dido myth has evolved and been adapted by many cultures over the centuries. Each Dido was altered to fit the needs of its creator, their society and customs. Despite these variations, every Dido retelling is derived from the Virgilian Dido, historical Dido, or chaste Dido narrative, or a combination of these stories. The pasticcio opera, Ópera armónica al estilo italiano que se intitula Dido y Eneas draws on the general Virgilian plot but emphasizes the chaste Dido narrative. The changes in the plot of Dido y Eneas reflect societal gender norms, theatrical conventions, and historical figures, specifically Queen María Luisa Gabriela, from eighteenth-century Spain. The Dido of Dido y Eneas can be divided into two main personas: Dido the queen and Dido the lover. Her arias, which come from preexisting Italian operas, convey the dramatic text very well. However, no matter what persona Dido portrays, she never fully loses control nor lets her passions rule her actions. Even in the moments before her suicide, her aria, "Punta intrepida," lacks the overt emotionality found in the popular Dido lament made famous by Purcell. This thesis aims to situate Dido y Eneas within the history of the Dido narrative and gender …

The Concerto for Bassoon by Andrzej Panufnik is a valuable addition to bassoon literature. It provides a rare opportunity for the bassoon soloist to perform a piece which is strongly programmatic. The purpose of this document is to examine the historical and theoretical context of the Concerto for Bassoon with special emphasis drawn to Panufnik's understanding of religion in connection with Polish national identity and the national struggle for democratic independence galvanized by the murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984. Panufnik's relationship with the Polish communist regime, both prior to and after his 1954 defection to England, is explored at length. Each of these aspects informed Panufnik's compositional approach and the expressive qualities inherent in the Concerto for Bassoon. The Concerto for Bassoon was commissioned by the Polanki Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was premiered by the Milwaukee Chamber Players, with Robert Thompson as the soloist. While Panufnik intended the piece to serve as a protest against the repression of the Soviet government in Poland, the U. S. context of the commission and premiere is also examined. Additionally, the original manuscript and subsequent piano reduction are compared. Although the Concerto for Bassoon has been subject to formal analysis by …

This paper highlight the history of the German folk-song and its influence on the work of composer Johannes Brahms. Barbara Gilbert Williams discusses the rise, fall, and rival of the folk-song as an art form and how it and poetry is incorporated into Brahms's compositions.

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 …

The censorship of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is a familiar story to musicologists, but reception of the opera is not frequently mentioned. Examining the reception of a work can bring a work's relative importance into focus. In this thesis, German literary and reception theorist Hans Robert Jauss's model of the horizon of expectations is applied to reviews of American productions of Lady Macbeth. Curiosity about communism following the Great Depression in 1930s, America and American music critics' knowledge that Soviet composers worked for the Soviet regime led to the belief that Lady Macbeth was officially approved export from the Soviet Union. When the article condemning the opera as a Western formalism appeared in the Soviet magazine, Pravda, Americans needed to adjust their understanding of Lady Macbeth as a socialist expression. Following the work's revival in San Francisco in 1981, the influence of Solomon Volkov's Testimony is prevalent in many reviews. Many reviewers use Volkov's narrative of Shostakovich as covert dissident of the Soviet Union to assert that the censorship of the opera was about the content of the plot and not the music. Following the Soviet rejection of the work, American critics tried to claim Shostakovich for the …

Because of the nature of the poetry, the interpretation of Banalites in this study has involved certain subjective decisions. These deductions were, nevertheless, colored by statements of the poet, the composer, and authorities on each. This is not to imply, however, that this is the only interpretation. Both poet and composer have given evidence that their creation requires a subjective response on the part of the interpreter. This is perhaps the greatest challenge offered by the work.

The first of any formal education in music that can be found from the records or from the memories of those who were present at the time was the singing school. One ranch in the Blair community has files in which records were found of all import ant events of the school and community life. These files relate the coming of the singing school regularly every summer. Shaped notes were taught front hymn books. At the end of the course, a certificate was given to those who graduated. The teacher of the school then moved on to the next engagement.

The purpose of the lecture was to investigate the historical and musical heritage of the Moravian Church, with a particular interest in the works and players of the American Moravian Trombone Choir. The historical overview of people, customs, and practices is traced from its beginnings with the Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia through the Northern Germany settlement of Herrenhut and the establishment of the American Moravian colony at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The musical life of the church is represented by a discussion of the early hymns of the founding fathers in Bohemia and the subsequent instrumental music of the Moravian trombone choir in America. The trombone choir played chorales that were used to call the congregation to order, announce important visitors to the town, and provide music at special occasions. Anthems were played by trombones (when players were available) in regular church services, or outside when it was necessary to double voice parts. Concerted music was played in the Bethlehem Collegium Musicum. Biographies of the players of the 18th and 19th century trombone choirs provide information attesting to the proficiency and dedication of these musicians. A list of players who contributed to the trombone choir movement since the 19th century is included, …

The increasing importance of music as a therapeutic benefit in mental hospitals has prompted this study. Numerous unscientific reports and papers concerned with music therapy have been published; however, material based upon controlled experiments and results is available which has proven valuable in the study of this growing aid for mental patients. The reference material in the following chapters has been organized and limited to objective reports produced by those who have devoted their interest and time to the facts about the use of music as a therapeutic agent in mental hospitals.

Thesis analyzes the concepts of ultra-rationality and anti-rationality as pre-compositional techniques and then compares and contrasts the two. John W. Petersen discusses the development and use of the two techniques and their impact on the history of music.

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

The Commedia dell'arte was a form of Italian comedy prevalent from about 1560 to 1760. It was rooted in the comedy of ancient Greece and Rome, and it first appeared during the Middle Ages. An example of this is the comic opera The Love for Three Oranges, scored by Sergei Prokofiev.

It is the object of this paper to review Sir Edward Elgar's life as a composer, and to discuss and study the thematic elements of his oratorio, "The Apostles." To understand and evaluate the significance of any person's rise to fame in his own field, it is necessary to reconstruct the surroundings from which he came. If a study of the musical conditions had been made when Elgar's development as a composer was starting to draw attention, it would have been noted that the British public was prepared to listen to music in newer forms only if it was from a country other than England. There was very little done or said to encourage any music in a modern character if it was composed by someone from England.