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Andrejs Jurjāns as Symbol of Latvian Identity: Native Folk Songs in his Large-Scale Symphonic Works (open access)

Andrejs Jurjāns as Symbol of Latvian Identity: Native Folk Songs in his Large-Scale Symphonic Works

This thesis presents a study of Andrejs Jurjāns' significant symphonic works as informed by a native musicologist, Professor Jānis Torgāns, and illuminates Jurjāns' role within the cosmopolitan framework of nationalism in music.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Švalbe, Erika Lynn
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bohuslav Martinu: An Examination of Selected Chamber Music Involving the Clarinet (open access)

Bohuslav Martinu: An Examination of Selected Chamber Music Involving the Clarinet

The discussion dealt with stylistic influences, compositional techniques, and performance considerations of chamber music involving clarinet composed by Bohuslav Martinu and included a performance of three of his works: Quartet. for clarinet, horn, cello, and side drum, Madrigals for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, two bassoons, and piano. The selections performed and discussed in the lecture show compositional growth of the composer through the three periods of his life in which he composed chamber music which included winds. These three time periods are 1923-40 during his residency in Paris, 1941-56 during his residency in the United States, and 1957 until his death in 1959 when he returned permanently to Europe.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Walzel, Robert L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel : A Bridge between Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms (open access)

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel : A Bridge between Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms

This thesis is a study of four compositions written by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, older sister of Felix Mendelssohn. Her music is compared with four pieces composed by Felix. This study shows that Fanny was a gifted and creative composer, even surpassing Felix and predating Brahms with her compositional ideas and progressive uses of harmony. Despite her excellent education and recognition among those who knew her well, she did not publicize her talent in any way because of pressure from her father, Abraham, and Felix to stay within the prescribed societal confines of wife and mother.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Tarpenning, Emily
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of the Influence of Evaluator Background on Appraisals of a Music Lesson Using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (open access)

An Investigation of the Influence of Evaluator Background on Appraisals of a Music Lesson Using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System

This study's purpose was to investigate the differences in scores and written comments given by two appraisal groups in their evaluation of a music teacher using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (TTAS). One appraiser group had musical training while the other group specialized in other subjects. Analyses of both group's appraisal scores showed no significant differences. An examination of the written comments revealed that both appraisal groups focused on the same aspects of the lesson and used similar vocabulary. The TTAS instrument was a consistent measure of generic teacher behaviors in the music lesson, but it did not measure specific music teaching behaviors or encourage suggestions for improving musical instruction.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Bohnstengel, Carol
System: The UNT Digital Library
Olympic Dances by John Harbison, a Lecture Recital together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of D. Holsinger, P. Granger, K. Husa, B. Rands, R. Vaughan Williams, and Others (open access)

Olympic Dances by John Harbison, a Lecture Recital together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of D. Holsinger, P. Granger, K. Husa, B. Rands, R. Vaughan Williams, and Others

John Harbison's Olympic Dances was composed in 1996 and premiered in February 1997. The work was written as a piano score before it was orchestrated for a wind ensemble of 25 winds and two percussionists.The first section of the paper focuses on the various influences that have affected Harbison's compositional style. The composer's educational background includes several prominent teachers whose instruction had great impressions. Special emphasis is placed on those characteristics of Harbison's style that are most prominent in the work with which this paper is concerned, Olympic Dances. Olympic Dances was commissioned by the College Band Directors National Association and premiered at the CBDNA Twenty-ninth National Conference in Athens, Georgia, in a collaborative performance of the University of North Texas Wind Symphony and Pilobolus Dance Theatre. The second part of the paper presents an historical overview of CBDNA commissioning projects along with a summary of the genesis of the commissioning of Olympic Dances. The primary focus of the study appears in the third section of the paper. An analysis of the four movements of Olympic Dances is presented with attention to the objective elements of harmonic and melodic structures along with a focus on orchestration and scoring. This section …
Date: December 1997
Creator: Kohlenberg, Kenneth Howard
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Use of the Clarinet in Selected Viennese Operas, 1786-1791, With Three Recitals of Selected Works by Brahms, Muczynski, Benjamin, Widor, Hindemith, and Others (open access)

The Use of the Clarinet in Selected Viennese Operas, 1786-1791, With Three Recitals of Selected Works by Brahms, Muczynski, Benjamin, Widor, Hindemith, and Others

In an appendix section, three notable arias have been transcribed for two clarinets, voice, and piano. A further evaluation of Classical period opera orchestration will aid modern performers and musicologists in their understanding of what clarinets and clarinetists were able and expected to do.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Thrasher, Michael, 1972-
System: The UNT Digital Library