Trance and house music are sub-genres within the genre of electronic dance music. The form of breakdown, buildup and anthem is the main driving force behind trance and house music. This thesis analyzes transcriptions from 22 trance and house songs in order to establish and define new terminology for formal devices used within the breakdown, buildup and anthem sections of the music.

The oratorio August 4, 1964 is a twelve-movement work for orchestra, chorus, and four soloists written by Steven Stucky. The premise for the libretto, adapted by Gene Scheer, is the confluence of two events during one day (August 4, 1964) in the life of Lyndon B. Johnson. Although the main idea of the libretto focuses on these two events of this one day, many cultural references of the 1960's in general can be found as well, such as quotations from the well-known song "We Shall Overcome." Stucky borrows from a motet he wrote in 2005 for another quotation source utilized in this oratorio, "O Vos Omnes." My goal in this thesis is to reveal and analyze the many different levels of quotations that exist within August 4, 1964, to explore each quotation's individual function within the oratorio (as a cultural gesture, commentary or remembrance), and to examine the structural coherence that emerges as a result of their use within the oratorio.