In Nomine Domini is an eighteen-minute composition for two chamber orchestras with two soloists using real-time interactive signal processing techniques. The first chamber orchestra is scored for flute (piccolo), English horn, trumpet in C, trombone, two percussionists (cowbells, wood blocks, tenor drum, suspended cymbal, gongs, tam-tam, temple blocks, tambourine, snare drum, timbales, and bass drum), horn in F (soloist), viola, and string bass. The second chamber orchestra is scored for oboe, clarinet in Bb (bass clarinet in Bb), bassoon, tuba, two percussionists (crotales, two marimbas, vibraphone, chimes, and tom-toms), piano (soloist), violin, and cello. Real-time interactive signal processing techniques are achieved through the use of a stereo multiple-effects signal processor and a personal computer running MIDI interactive software. The work is based upon the four-hundred and seventy-five year old in nomine composition tradition begun by John Taverner in the Benedictus of his Mass Gloria tibi Trinitas (1520) and continued in over one-hundred and fifty Renaissance settings. In Nomine Domini consists of three movements: "Taverner* derived from the Benedictus of the Mass Gloria tibi Trinitas (1520), "Byrd" derived from the Benedictus of William Byrd's Five-voice Mass (1592), and "Tye" derived from Christopher lye's In Nomine XIII "Trust" (1578). In Nomine Domini …

Five Seasons is a musical work for flute and percussion. The flutist alternately performs on the C flute with a B foot, alto flute, piccolo, and bass flute in each movement. The percussionist also plays different instruments in each movement: the vibraphone for Mid-Summer; the xylophone for Fall; the woodblock, temple block, and cowbells for Spring; the glockenspiel for Summer; and the marimba for Winter. The five movements of this work - Mid-Summer, Fall, Spring, Summer, and Winter - are based on a combination of Eastern performing practices with Western instruments. The musical characteristics are based on the techniques of fifteenth-century (e.g., isorhythmic technique) and twentieth-century Western music.

Sona of Pi-Pa is a composition set to a poem to be performed by soprano and mixed instrumental ensemble. The formal plan is through-composed and the organization of each individual piece is largely determined by the structure of the poetic text. The text, drawn from Song of Pi-Pa by Po Chu-i, depicts the story of how the poet became overwhelmed by the chance hearing of a virtuosic performance of a woman playing the pi-pa. The general characteristics of the work reflect the assimilation of certain non-western musical and philosophical influences. Traditional western compositional techniques are also employed in the treatment of thematic materials, musical form, instrumentation, and the developmental process. The total performance time for this composition is approximately twenty-six minutes.

Breaking Through is a single-movement composition for symphony orchestra based on a fourteen-note melody. Every harmonic and melodic figure except the bass line is derived from this source melody. The structure of the work is based on a number of musical dichotomies that work on both local and large-scale levels. The local dichotomies contrast consonance with dissonance and ambiguity with clarity (in respect to texture and rhythm). The dichotomy of two-part form versus three-part form and the dichotomy of simplicity versus complexity operate on the large scale. The unity lended by the single source melody coupled with the contrasts furnished by the aforementioned dichotomies allow Breaking Through to be both coherent and interesting.

Soar! is a musical composition written for wind ensemble and computer music. The total duration of the work is approximately 10 minutes. Flocking behavior of migratory birds serves as the most prominent influence on the imagery and local structure of the composition. The cyclical nature of the birds' journey inspires palindromic designs in the temporal domain. Aesthetically, Soar! portrays the fluid shapes of the flocks with numerous grains in the sounds. This effect is achieved by giving individual parts high degree of independence, especially in regards to rhythm. Technically, Soar! explores various interactions among instrumental lines in a wind ensemble, constructs overarching symmetrical structures, and integrates a large ensemble with computer music. The conductor acts as the leader at several improvisational moments in Soar! The use of conductor-initiated musical events in the piece can be traced back through the historic lineage of aleatoric compositions since the middle of the twentieth century. [Score is on p. 54-92.]

In the composition Archetypal Dreams, musical imagery is created through motifs and ideas that represent the symbolic messages of the unconscious. These motifs are introduced, developed, transformed, and overlapped in contrapuntal dialogue. This unfolding of material grows in significance and complexity building to a resolution of tension. The relationship of motifs to the row is re-established and the row is reconstructed. In this manner the conscious and unconscious elements of the personality are symbolically reconciled. The four movements of the work are entitled: I. Primordial Images; II. Archaic Remnants; III. Mythological Motifs; IV. The Process of Individuation

Symphony No. 1 "Concertante" is a work of approximately twenty-two minutes duration for chamber orchestra. The work is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling English horn), B-flat clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, F horn, trombone, tuba, percussion, harp, piano (doubling celesta), solo violin, solo viola, solo cello, solo double bass, and strings.The percussion battery, which is to be played by one performer, includes three timpani, vibraphone, orchestra bells, xylophone, chimes, suspended cymbal, bass drum, snare drum, and two triangles. One group of instruments, including the eight winds, percussion, and the four solo strings, is treated primarily in a soloistic manner although it also functions as a part of the ensemble. The remaining group, piano, harp, and strings, functions primarily as an accompanying group although it does get some soloistic treatment. The work is in four movements, each of which uses the traditional symphonic form. Movement I is in sonata-allegro form, movement II a simple ternary "song" form, movement III a scherzo and trio, and the final movement is a theme and variations. These traditional forms apply only to thematic use and development, however, for the tonal scheme is developed in a broader design which unfolds throughout the course of the four …

Cenotaph is a work of fifteen minutes duration for solo tape realized on the Synclavier Digital Music System at the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia. All of the sound materials in the work consist of resynthesized timbres derived from the analysis of digital recordings of seven different human voices, each speaking the last name of one of the Challenger astronauts. The work's harmonic resources are derived in a unique way involving partitioning of the octave by powers of the Golden Section. The work is in a single movement divided into three sections which function as prologue, action, and epilogue, respectively. This formal structure is reinforced by differentiation of harmonicmaterials and texture. Although Cenotaph cannot be performed "live" and exists only as a recording, a graphic score is included to assist analysis and study.

Sacred Symphony is a work for orchestra, chorus and 8 soloists. It is scored for three horns in F, three trumpets in B flat (1st doubling trumpet in C), tenor trombone, bass trombone, percussion, celesta, piano and strings. The percussion consists of suspended cymbal, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, bass marimba, tenor drum, snare drum, bass drum, two slit drums (4 tom-toms if unavailable), small triangle, and finger cymbals. The work is in three movements: Sanctus, Beatitudes (Matt. 5: 3-12) and Gloria. The Sanctus primarily gives glory to God the Father while the Beatitudes are Christ's own words. The Gloria acts as a culmination of the previous two movements because it gives glory to both the Father and the Son.

Distant Thoughts: Dreams and Reflections, A Suite for Symphonic Winds, is a seventeen-minute work composed for the high school level wind ensemble. The instrumentation is based on the typical high school band resources. Instrumentation includes piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, two bassoons, four trumpets, four horns, two trombones, bass trombone, two euphoniums, two tubas, timpani, and four percussionists.

This thesis explores an experimental music approach to writing autobiography. As a composition, Pilgrim Carnival took place as a travelling series of events. The central event was a sound installation for a blindfolded audience. This essay is a description of that series of events as well as a discussion of similar precedents in interdisciplinary art. Beginning with Luigi Russolo and Marcel Duchamp, aspects of autobiography are examined in both noise music and the concept of the ready-made artwork. Body Art of the 1970s, particularly the work of Marina Abramovic, is also tied into the idea of the ready-made artwork as an explicitly autobiographical example. The hybrid form of Pilgrim Carnival and the concept of ready-made autobiographical music create ongoing potential for new work.

The dissertation consists of two parts: (1) the essay and (2) the composition. The essay elucidates the composer's creative process of the orchestral works, The Heidegger Collection. The Heidegger Collection has five movements. The titles of each movement are derived from the key philosophical concepts from Heidegger's most significant writing, Being and Time: (1) State-of-Mind, (2) Idle-Talk, (3) Moment-of-Vision, (4) Dread, and (5) Being-towards-the-End. The essay discusses the meanings of the five concepts, and explains how I express my reaction to Heidegger's thinking through music composition. The essay also discusses the essential musical language of The Heidegger Collection, such as interval cycles, polyrhythmic patterns, algorithmic elements, portamento effects, chaos theory, and oriental influence.

Earth Ascending is a composition in three movements scored for female voice, electroacoustic music, and video. Composed in the Year 2000, Earth Ascending lasts approximately sixteen minutes and was created specifically for live performance in which all three elements combine to create a sonic and visual environment. As such, no single element has greater importance than any other, with each of the three performing forces assuming a foreground role at various times throughout the work. Earth Ascending is defined by a single poem written by contemporary female British poets Jeni Counzyn, Jehanne Mehta, and Cynthia Fuller. The movements are named according to the title of each poem: Earth-Body, Light-Body; Wringcliff Beach; and Pool. The movements are separated in performance by five seconds of silence and black on the video screen. The paper accompanying the score of Earth Ascending is divided into five chapters, each discussing in detail an element central to the composition itself. The Introduction presents background information, general ideas, and approaches undertaken when creating the work. Chapters 1 through 3 investigate in detail the content of the electroacoustic music, voice, and video. Chapter 4 discusses scoring techniques, revealing approaches and methods undertaken to solve issues relating to notation …

Thomas Jefferson: Life Lines is a five movement composition based on excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's personal letters. The material presented focuses on the intimate, human qualities of the man. The musical treatment of this material illuminates and amplifies different aspects of the inner Jefferson. The music is as diverse and varied as Jefferson's interests. The style, tone and form of the music are directly tied to Jefferson's words. Two fundamental components of Jefferson's being, the rational mind and the emotional heart, are musically portrayed in the introduction of the first movement. The music that follows in the first and all subsequent movements is derived from these two components. The first movement contains eight brief excerpts that highlight different aspects of Jefferson's mindset. Each of the remaining movements focuses on a single subject: The second movement, the death of Jefferson's wife, Martha; the third movement, Monticello; the fourth movement, a dialogue between Jefferson's head and heart; and the fifth movement, Jefferson's belief in the free mind. The music is presented by a chamber ensemble of twenty-two performers: five woodwinds (flute, oboe, two B-flat clarinets, bassoon), five brass (two french horns in F, trumpet in C, trombone, tuba), two percussionists, piano, four …

Snow Spell is an interactive composition for erhu, flute, cello, piano, and Max/MSP interactive computer music system. This one-movement piece, Snow Spell, is intended to depict the beauty of a snow scene by presenting four different impressions of snow envisioned by the composer through music. The definition, history, and significance of interactive music are explored. Various modes of interactivity to control signal processing modules, and technical considerations for signal routing and level control in the interactive computer music system are also explored. Chinese music elements in Snow Spell including pentatonic scales, glissandi, and quotations from the Chinese folk tune River of Sorrow are investigated.

Sinfonia is a two movement work for chamber string orchestra and percussion consisting of at least five violins I, five violins II, five violas, five cellos, three string basses, and three percussionists playing timpani, two suspended cymbals, one small crash cymbal, 2 triangles, tambourine, woodblock, five temple blocks, snare, two tom-toms, 2 glockenspiels, xylophone, and chimes. The first movement is approximately nine minutes long, the second lasts five and one third minutes making a total of approximately fourteen minutes and twenty seconds.

Stellar Ouintet is a composition in five movements (Prologue, Allegro, "...Of Stars", Rondo, Epilogue) for two violins, viola, violoncello, and harpsichord. It makes extensive use of constellations , a term used in this work to denote arrangements of pitches in spatial notation. This method of notation is derived from actual astronomical constellations. The score makes use of both real and freely constructed constellations which are rotated around their own central axis. The score is 90 pages long with a 28 page analysis preceding the score. The work has a performance time of approximately 18-20 minutes

This work is a setting of two poems by E.E. Cummings for chamber orchestra and mezzo-soprano soloist. The approximate durations of the first and second movements are respectively seven and one half, and six minutes. The music was inspired by the poetry and attempts to highlight the cyclic syntax which hallmarks Cummings' style. The first poem ("pity this busy monster, manunkind,") presents a sarcastic analysis of the progress of society. The compositional techniques used in the first movement involve elements of ostinato and fragmented motivic development to punctuate the penetrating message of the poem. The second movement ("these children singing in stone a") offers a marked contrast in texture and is a peaceful resolution to the agitated frustration of the first poem. Chromaticism is an essential element in defining the melodic and harmonic style. The vocal writing is largely declamatory and presents the vocalist with challenges of tessitura, intervallic complexity and extended technique.

MCABC 0475 is the first composition generated by MCABC (Music Composition Aided by Computer), a computer program written in PL/1. Its duration is approximately 14 minutes. Using a North Texas State University computer library program, the full score and parts were drawn by the CALCOMP plotter. The text, which discusses processes and procedures in developing MCABC 0475, as well as indeterminacy, aesthetics of computer composition, and pro gr am user information, was printed by the IBM 1403 line printer using an ALA chain which has both upper and lower case characters.

Animations is a composition in six movements (Fish, Seals, Birds, Cats, Zebras, Snakes) for percussion and computer music on tape. One percussionist performs on various percussion instruments: two suspended cymbals, crotales, triangle, vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, three bongos, snare drum, field drum, large tom-tom, bass drum, kettle drum, temple blocks and vibraslap. The computer music on tape employs sampled sounds in a MIDI sequencing environment. The melodic and harmonic materials for the piece are derived from a matrix of twelve heptatonic scales. The individual movements are notated using both traditional and proportional notation systems. The score is 37 pages long with a twenty-two page analysis preceding the score. Animations is approximately nine minutes in duration.

This single movement work is written for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets in Bb, bass clarinet in Bb, 2 bassoons, alto saxophone in Eb, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in Bb, trombone, euphonium, tuba, contra bass, and 3 percussion. The approximate length is eight minutes. Both traditional and proportional systems of notation are employed. The entire piece is freely chromatic with some implications of whole tone and other nondiatonic scales. The harmonies are tertian yet have no functional tonal basis. Changing meters with asymmetrical divisions are used in all sections except C and E, which have time indications (in seconds) for each measure with subdivisions to aid the conductor. There are seven major formal divisions: A B transition C retransition A' D E.

Concertino for Jazz Clarinet. Electric viola and Symphonic Orchestra is a composition of approximately fifteen minutes' duration, and is scored for two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two Bb clarinets, two bassoons, four F- horns, two Bb trumpets, three trombones (third bass), two percussionists, solo Bb clarinet, solo electric viola and strings. The piece is divided into two movements; Andante and Canon. Concepts derived from jazz music are employed in, for example, harmony and improvisation in the solo parts, whereas the orchestration is mainly traditional. The piece is written for two great Swedish instrumentalists; Putte Wickman, clarinet, and Henrik Frendin, viola. Stylistically this work is difficult in the orchestral parts, since it uses concepts from two different musical styles, jazz and classical. Influences originate from such wide-ranging composers as Mozart, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Chick Corea.

Three Ideas is a collection of three one-act (musical) plays intended to be performed either as a series or as separate pieces. In order for them to be performable in either of those ways, they need some sort of unifying fabric running throughout the collection, yet they must remain individually strong enough to stand alone outside the context of the series and still seem complete. The concepts Tonal and Nagual, Bell's Theorem, and Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind were chosen because of their theatrical possibilities as well as their philosophical implications. All three of the concepts deal with an unknown, or at least unseen, force that has a strong influence (possibly control) over our actions and the actions of objects around us. This force could possibly radiate from within ourselves, or it could be completely outside us.

In the Midst of Spoils is a setting, for SATB choir and small instrumental ensemble, of the poem "Blight," by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson's poem contrasts modern man's exploitative attitude toward nature with the more reverent attitude assumed by ancient or primitive cultures. This setting is in a single movement, approximately twenty minutes in duration, consisting of fifteen distinct sections.