Extension (open access)

Extension

Extension is a three-sectional, one-movement composition for orchestra exploring various permutations of a single motivic unit. The central priority has been to present this motive in a variety of textural situations with a harmonic accompaniment evolving from a macrotonal to a microtonal setting. Some of the devices utilized to realize this priority are mixed-instrument timbral combinations, tone clusters, multiphonics for brass and woodwinds, multiple stops for strings, and superimpositions of multiphonics. Extension is unique in two areas. First, the evolutionary progression from a macrotonal to microtonal harmonic texture is made possible by expanding the priorities of instrumental performing. Second, the use of multiphonics for full orchestra is unique to this work.
Date: December 1974
Creator: Ogilvy, James F.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Grimaldi (open access)

Grimaldi

Grimaldi is a synesthetic work composed of aural and visual media including noise, tone, electronic devices, lighting and theatrical events. It is designed for solo saxophone with an accompanying ensemble of eight wind instruments and four percussion. The most important aspect of the piece is its texture, which consists of constantly changing and interacting aural and visual events. The compositional process of Grimaldi began with the selection of a form constructed of two equal arches of unequal subdivision, and the designation of texture for each section. After these selections were made, the theatrical elements were selected, based on a traditional story about the clown Joseph Grimaldi (1787-1836). By gradually refining these general selections into specific notation, and by considering them as a whole rather than individually, consistent relationships were maintained.
Date: December 1975
Creator: Gibson, John (John Wesley), 1946-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Timbre Modulation Using a Digital Computer, with Applications to Composition (open access)

A Study of Timbre Modulation Using a Digital Computer, with Applications to Composition

This paper presents a means of modulating timbre in digital sound synthesis using additive processes . A major portion of the paper is a computer program, written in Pl/1, which combines this additive method of timbre modulation with several other sound manipulation ideas to form a compositional program. This program-which is named CART for Computer Aided Rotational Translation-provides input for the Music 360 digital sound synthesis program. The paper contains three major parts: (1) a discussion of the CART program's evolution; (2) a manual describing in detail the use of CART; and (3) two tape compositions realized using the program. An appendix contains the program listing and listing of the input cards that were used to produce the two compositions.
Date: December 1977
Creator: Hamilton, Richard L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Innocents Abroad: The Love Story of Mark Twain and Olivia Langdon (open access)

Innocents Abroad: The Love Story of Mark Twain and Olivia Langdon

Innocents Abroad, a musical for the stage, deals with events in the life of Mark Twain, 1867-1869, particularly his courtship of Olivia Langdon and his efforts to establish himself as a writer. It emphasizes his struggle to be true to his individuality and outspoken honesty while trying to win "Livy," the product of the society he satirized and often condemned. The book, based on actual events, contains much of Twain's humor and wisdom. The vocal score is written in a contemporary style, for various vocal combinations, including full chorus and includes piano accompaniments and chord symbols for guitar and bass.
Date: December 1978
Creator: Pack, Dallan M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The English Walnut Joke: A Composition for Dramatic Soprano and Band (open access)

The English Walnut Joke: A Composition for Dramatic Soprano and Band

The English Walnut Joke is a composition for concert band and dramatic soprano. The English Walnut Joke was based on a text of the same title by Alec Rowell and is divided into two movements with a total duration of approximately twenty-two minutes. The joke concerns itself with the dealings between a wood-chopper and a jongleur in medieval England and is related to the audience by a destitute factory worker (the dramatic soprano) in the early Industrial Age of that country.
Date: December 1980
Creator: Futterer, Kenneth Thomas
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mass/360 (open access)

Mass/360

Mass/360 is computer music in the sense that the audio tape was realized with a computer language for digital synthesis. This tape is combined with traditional choral and instrumental forces, and demonstrates only one technique available for the use of computers in composition. The work displays a number of elements which afford both unity and contrast. The arch span of the whole is supported by timbral, melodic, rhythmic, and textural parameters. Recurring events include tone clusters, chant-like melodies, angular melodies, and counterpoint. Special vocal effects are found in all movements, and the large scale tonicizing effect of the movement from f to b-flat gives the composition a sense of direction over a long temporal span. The single pitch (doubled unison/octave) arises as the major event in the work, and other events are generated from this element. The use of different formal designs within each movement corresponds to the natural textual divisions found in the liturgy, and affords a contrast from one movement to the next. The relationship of the Gloria/Qui Tollis to the Sanctus/Benedictus, which is not a mirror relation, contrasts with the chiastic design of the whole. Traditional contrapuntal devices juxtaposed against contemporary vocal techniques and the use of …
Date: December 1980
Creator: Bales, William K.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Land of Dreams (open access)

Land of Dreams

LAND OF DREAMS is an opera in one act based on poems by the English poet William Blake. The work is for chamber orchestra, dancers, and an actor, as well as the vocal cast listed below. Cast of Characters Thomas Soprano The Father Baritone The Nurse Alto The Mother Mezzo Soprano The opera divides into eight sections with a total performance time of approximately forty minutes. Each section represents a different stylistic approach to the musical material. This juxtaposing of various styles is reflective of the eclectic nature of the text. The setting is England around 1800, the scene is a child's (Thomas) bedroom. All of the dramatic action takes place in this room in the various stages of the conscious (awake) and unconscious (asleep) states of the child's mind.
Date: December 1983
Creator: Sanders, Greg
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A New Song (open access)

A New Song

A New Song is a sacred contata in four parts written for mixed chorus, soloists, narrator, congregation, and chamber ensemble consisting of organ, brass ensemble, and percussion. It is designed to be performed within the limitations of a church sanctuary. The text is taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible. The four parts are based on prophecies found in the book of Isaiah and the fulfillment of these prophecies as found in the New Testament books of Matthew, Luke, and John. The texture and orchestration throughout the contata change according to the mood of the text. For practical performance purposes, vocal parts are based on traditional harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic patterns, leaving the more complex patterns to the instrumental parts.
Date: December 1983
Creator: Remley, Rebecca D. (Rebecca Danner)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Postcard from Cairo (open access)

A Postcard from Cairo

A Postcard from Cairo is a chamber work for three performers (flute/soprano saxophone, vibraphone/conga, and electric guitar) supported by stereo tape and two digital sequencers. The musical content is a montage of Arabian, Indian, Spanish, and Moroccan ethnic music, combined with avant-garde sounds. The score reflects a mixture of traditional and contemporary elements featuring extensive use of improvisation and repetition. Each player is required to coordinate his responses in a variety of ways. Cues are governed by an analog clock, and pulses are provided by the tape/sequencer background.
Date: December 1984
Creator: Luis, Paul R. (Paul Reinaldo)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Psalm 23 (open access)

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is a sacred work in four movements, written for women's chorus (SSAA), a tenor solo and a chamber ensemble consisting of flute, oboe, trumpet, percussion, timpani, and string quartet. It is designed to be performed as a portion of a church service or in concert. The text, Psalm 23 from the Bible is sung in Chinese, and the verses of the Psalm are arranged as follows: Movement 1, Verse 1, General musical characteristics: pastoral; Movement 2, Verses 2-3, General musical characteristics: peaceful; Movement 3, Verses 4-5, General musical characteristics: agitated; Movement 4, Verse 6, General musical characteristics: majestic. The form, tonal structure and harmony of each movement are influenced by the characteristics of an original synthetic scale.
Date: December 1985
Creator: Man, Stanlas Ping Kwan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mysterium Cosmographicum, for Orchestra, Narrator/Actor, and Computer Music on Tape (open access)

Mysterium Cosmographicum, for Orchestra, Narrator/Actor, and Computer Music on Tape

Mysterium Cosmographicum is a musical chronicle of an astronomy treatise by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Kepler's Mysterium cosmographicum (Tubingen, 1596), or "Secret of the Universe," was a means by which he justified the existence of the six planets discovered during his lifetime. Kepler, through flawless a priori reasoning, goes to great lengths to explain that the reason there are six and only six planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) is because God had placed one of the five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octa-, dodeca-, and icosahedron) around each orbiting body. Needless to say, the publication was not very successful, nor did it gain much comment from Kepler's peers, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). But hidden within the Mysterium cosmographicum. almost like a new planet waiting to be discovered, is one of Kepler's three laws of planetary motion, a law that held true for planets discovered long after Kepler's life-time. Mysterium Cosmographicum is a monologue with music in three parts for orchestra, narrator/actor, and computer music on tape. All musical data structures ape generated via an interactive Pascal computer program that computes latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates For each of the nine planets as seen From …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Keefe, Robert Michael
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Vox Organalis (open access)

Vox Organalis

Vox Organalis is a concerto for organ and orchestra. It employs an ensemble comprising the compliment of wind, percussion, and string instruments normally available within a contemporary symphony orchestra with augmented brass and woodwind sections. It is intended to be performed with a large organ such as might be found in a symphony hall or large church. The work is in two movements, and its intended performance time is twenty-five minutes. Use of the concerto format within Vox organalis results in a new approach to organizing the interaction between the solo part and the orchestral accompaniment. The organ part is notated in traditional metered notation, but the orchestral notation is organized in units of clock time (seconds). The horizontal spatial arrangement of the orchestral notation corresponds to the timing of the metered organ part. Pitch organization in Vox Oraanalis is derived from a twelve-tone row based upon the natural harmonic series. Several techniques of serial composition were used to organize and select elements of the tone row for use in the construction of the work. Use of the tone row for horizontal and vertical pitch structures provides unity to the pitch organization of the work. Vox Organalis is constructed in …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Baczewski, Philip
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gestures and Fields (open access)

Gestures and Fields

Gestures and Fields is a twenty minute work for chamber orchestra and dancers. It is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling English horn), Bb clarinet (doubling Eb clarinet), bassoon Bb trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, percussion, piano, and strings. The percussion consists of a suspended cymbal, large tam-tam, 5 temple blocks, xylophone, marimba, tumba, snare, tenor drum, 4 tom-toms, bass drum and timpani. The work is in 5 movements, each inspired by an abstract expressionist painting: Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock, Light, Earth and Blue by Mark Rothko, Mahoning by Franz Kline, Vir Heroicus Sublimus by Barnett Newman, and Excavation by Willem de Kooning.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Muncy, Thomas R.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Requiem for Netted Fish: An Intermedia Composition for Choir, Harp, and Dance (open access)

Requiem for Netted Fish: An Intermedia Composition for Choir, Harp, and Dance

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.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Hill, Jeanne E. (Jeanne Elizabeth)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Sneetches (open access)

The Sneetches

The Sneetches is a theater piece for children based on the Dr. Suess story The Sneetches (Random House, New York, 1961). It is scored for narrator, flute, B6 clarinet, bassoon, violins I & II, viola, and cello with optional staging. The staged version of The Sneetches requires two to six actors/dancers, appropriate scenery and props, and the active participation of children from the audience, preferably ages eight or under. The Sneetches is essentially through-composed. The overall form of the music is shaped primarily by the events portrayed in the narrative. Although individual subsections may have traditional forms, they should not be viewed as independent movements of a larger work, but rather as fragments of a whole.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Schneider, Gregory Alan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Symphony no. 1 (open access)

Symphony no. 1

The Symphony has been composed using traditional Korean idioms and Western style four-movement arrangement. The Symphony requires Western instrumental forces. The discussions about Far Eastern music raised by Western and Eastern scholars, and about some Korean rhythmic aspects, articulations, and ornamentations help explain how the Symphony is constructed. The pitch materials, melodic styles, rhythm, form, and structural materials that are used in the composition are presented. Heterophony, embellishment, articulation, and mutation are also discussed.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Oh, Seykyu
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Two Movements from the Delphic Suite: A Composition for Orchestra (open access)

Two Movements from the Delphic Suite: A Composition for Orchestra

Delphic Suite is a composition for orchestra that depicts specific events narrated in Homer's epic tale, Odyssey. For the purpose of this thesis the second movement, Raid on Ismarus, has been omitted so as to focus on the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic structures of the first movement, Lament from Troy, and the third movement, Ruler of the Winds. Each of these musical parameters will be analyzed in order to illustrate the Suite's imitation of compositional techniques exemplified in the music of Homer's era, and the musical results obtained by juxtaposing those parameters upon a twentieth-century tonal scheme that provides the Suite with an eclectic ambience.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Walczyk, Kevin, 1964-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Beneath the Dancing Moon: A Composition for Woodwind and Percussion Ensemble (open access)

Beneath the Dancing Moon: A Composition for Woodwind and Percussion Ensemble

The composition is scored for the following instruments: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and a large percussion section requiring 7 performers. Beneath the Dancing Moon is a programmatic piece in one movement form composed of 5 continuous sections. It depicts a night scene when the elves begin to dance beneath the moon. Later, the moaning ghosts from the dark forest and the witches with brooms come to join them. They dance furiously until the moon disappears, the sea stops dead and all the dancers suddenly vanish. The approximate performance time is 17 minutes.
Date: December 1992
Creator: Pang, Law Ma Rome Anne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Reflection (open access)

The Reflection

The Reflection is a piece of chamber music that describes the human nature through the use of different "meanings" in music. By using various leitmotifs and different compositional techniques, the music becomes a helpful tool to reflect meanings. On the other hand, this piece uses one special idea, which is that the whole piece can be explained in terms of visual arts. Each primary motive represents a "primary color" that reflects various "moods" or "emotions." Through using combinations and mixtures of color, different "sceneries" are formed. Furthermore, The Reflection has three basic aspects: the function of transmitting messages through music; the exploration of different functions of fifth; and the emphasis of meaning, sound effect and timbre.
Date: December 1992
Creator: Wu, Yuk Yee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Crucifixion (open access)

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion, a composition for three vocal soloists, four-part mixed chorus, and instrumental ensemble, is a setting of passages taken from the four Gospels of the Holy Bible. It describes the mocking of Christ and includes the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross. It uses serial technique in the structuring of pitches and rhythm. Special attention is paid in designing and combining pitch and rhythm to create monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic textures. Besides traditional performance techniques, the work employs some modern vocal and instrumental techniques.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Yang, Chuan-Tsing
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
House in Heaven (open access)

House in Heaven

House in Heaven is a theatrical piece for five solo voices (one soprano, two mezzo sopranos, one baritone, and one bass), two trumpets, four French horns, one trombone, two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, string orchestra, vibraphone, timpani and a synthesizer which produces pipe organ sound. The composition consists of an introduction followed by a single act in three Scenes. The piece employs the cyclical device in engaging themes associated with particular characters. The texture grows from simple alternating dialogues to arias and, finally, to tutti passages in which all voices are combined to form a quintet, at the climactic point of the entire composition, which occurs at the end of the piece. The scenes depict imaginary events in a Church and at a flower garden. Rear-stage slide projections are used to project the scenes of these locations, and lighting is used to emphasize actions, characters and changes of scene. The singers also serve as actors. The duration of this work is approximately 20 minutes.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Gan, On C. (On Cally)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ka: a Composition for Chamber Orchestra in One Movement (open access)

Ka: a Composition for Chamber Orchestra in One Movement

Ka is a one movement composition for chamber orchestra consisting of three sections. The work's harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials are derived from the Chinese I Ching ("Book of Changes"). The middle section was composed with the aid of a computer program written by the composer. The program generated the interval sequence arrays forming the harmonic basis for the piece. Ka is scored for flute, oboe, B𝄬 clarinet, bassoon, French Horn, trumpet, trombone, three percussionists, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The score is 62 pages with a 39 page analysis preceding the score. Ka has a duration of approximately 10 minutes with no pauses between sections.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Morgan, Christopher R. (Christopher Robert)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Riders to the Sea (open access)

Riders to the Sea

Riders to the Sea is a chamber opera in one act of approximately 40 minutes in duration. The single act is divided into six scenes that progress without pause. The vocal parts are comprised of 2 sopranos, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 baritone, and an off-stage chorus of men's voices (tenor I, tenor II, baritone, and bass; two per part). The orchestra will be comprised of winds (1-1-1-1-1), brass (2-2-1-1), strings (2-2-2-2-1), piano, 2 percussionists, and tape, that will be used to provide a continuous background of surf and wind sounds. Authentic Irish folk songs are threaded throughout the work, generally functioning as a background element, while twentieth-century compositional techniques are utilized primarily for special effects.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Carson, Michael, 1959-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Breakdown (open access)

Breakdown

Breakdown is a 17 minute, single movement work for orchestra in five sections. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 Bb trumpets, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, piano, and strings. The percussion consists of a tam-tam, 5 break drums, 4 timbales, 2 gourds, chimes, marimba, vibraphone, snare drum, 2 field drums, bass drum and tympani. The inspiration for this work is the poetry of Bruce Weigl which deals with many facets of the Vietnam experience. One particular work from his collection Song of Napalm, the poem "Breakdown", provided the basis for the emotional and structural content of the music. There are two primary sources of pitch material in the music of Breakdown, both of which have links to the Vietnam War. The name of a soldier who was killed in Vietnam, Miles Cooper, was used to generate a basic pitch set and a series of variation sets that provide much of the harmonic and melodic material in Breakdown. There derived sets are supported by the use of phrases and motives from the hymn Jewels, which celebrates the love of God for his children, and providesan indirect link to the subject …
Date: December 1994
Creator: Kappaz, Philip C., 1956-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library