The composition 161 Glass is a 17-minute musical work with percussion, wind and brass instruments in which the intersection of mid-century architecture, and the art and culture of a dynamic city are inextricably linked. Through this paper, I explore the process of composing a musical work in relationship to the significance of site specific context. The paper begins by defining the concept of site specific art works; then reviews the discourse of the intersection of art, music and architecture. I then delve into the cultural and geographic context surrounding this project from the modern era through the present, and how those perspectives apply to the building and my piece. I reveal how the composition relates the musical ideas to the site. Finally, I describe the collaborative process between myself, the musicians and the Dallas Contemporary staff.

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.]

The guitar chord (a sonority based on the open strings of the guitar) is one of Alberto Ginastera's compositional trademarks. The use of the guitar chord expands throughout forty years, creating a common link between different compositional stages and techniques. Chapters I and II provide the historical and technical background on Ginastera's life, oeuvre and scholar research. Chapter IV explores the origins of the guitar chord and compares it to similar specific sonorities used by different composers to express extra-musical ideas. Chapter V discusses Ginastera's initial uses and modifications of the guitar chord. Chapter VI explores the use of the guitar chord as a referential sonority based on Variaciones Concertantes, Op. 23: I-II, examining vertical (subsets) and horizontal (derivation of motives) aspects. Chapter VII explores uses of trichords and hexachords derived from the guitar chord in the Sonata for Guitar Op. 47.

Doubling is defined as playing two instruments. It is becoming increasingly necessary for low brass musicians to double in the course of their careers. Euphoniumists often learn trombone, and trombonists learn euphonium. The instruments share several surface similarities but also differ in many significant ways. Interviews with six professional doublers highlight strategies for learning, teaching, and performing on both trombone and euphonium. Slide and valve technique, adjustment of intonation, tone quality, air usage, repertoire, and skill maintenance are all addressed. Trombone literature comprises a large part of the euphonium repertoire, due to the fact that most trombone pieces can be performed on euphonium. Euphoniumists should avoid playing pieces that require glissandi or extremely loud dynamics to be effective. Euphonium solos are generally too technical to be practical for trombonists to perform. Grøndahl's Concert pour trombone et piano ou orchestre is a standard piece for both instruments. When performing the piece on either instrument, it is helpful to practice the piece on both trombone and euphonium in order to tap into each instrument's strengths.

Ruggiero's contributions to contemporary music are noteworthy. They include 27 works written for solo instruments, voice, as well as chamber groups and large ensembles. This study serves as an annotated bibliography of selected works written for saxophone by Charles Ruggiero. They include a piece for large chamber ensemble, Dig: From Tunes My Grandmother Heard (2009), a trio for flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone titled Echoes of "Piano Red" (2006), two saxophone quartets, Dig: JSB 1 (2003), and Three Blues for Saxophone Quartet (1981), two works for alto saxophone and piano, Night Songs and Flights of Fancy (2005), and Strayhorn (1999-2000), one piece for soprano saxophone and piano, Interplay for Soprano Saxophone and Piano (1988), a single movement work for alto saxophone, piano, winds, and percussion, Dance Complusions (2004), one duo for tenor saxophone and percussion, Sizzlesax II (2001), one concerto for soprano saxophone and piano, Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra (1995, rev. 1999), and a trio for violin, alto saxophone, and piano, Dances and Other Movements (1983, rev. 1984). In addition, an analysis of Ruggiero's composition Interplay for Soprano Saxophone and Piano offers an insight into the compositional style of the composer.

Since its premiere in 1878, Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Concerto in G Minor has been underrated and held in low regard by musicologists, critics, performers and audiences alike. Vilém Kurz (1872-1945), a Czech pianist and pedagogue, revised and reworked the piano solo part to incorporate what he considered to be added brilliance and pianistic effectiveness. However, the revised version has not increased the popularity of the work. In recent decades, this concerto has begun to appear more often in the programs and recordings are currently available, utilizing either the original piano part or Kurz's revision or a combination of both. In order to gain a broader analytical perspective and achieve a more authentic interpretation of the piece, a thorough understanding of the relation between Dvořák’s work and Kurz's revisions is indispensable. This study examines these adaptations and compares them with Dvořák’s scoring in order to gain further insight to Kurz's musical intent and pianistic aims. Examples from all movements are evaluated vis-à-vis the original to determine their purpose and musical validity.

The Avatar for trumpet and piano by Dr. Steve Rouse is one of the most challenging compositions in the trumpet repertoire. Due to The Avatar's challenges and increasing popularity, a study is necessary to aid its performance. Each movement is performed on a different instrument: Bb piccolo (with an optional A piccolo part) for Nativity, Bb Flugelhorn for Enigma-Release and Bb trumpet for Rebirth. In addition, the performer must convey one of the work's possible programmatic meanings: (1) The Hindu belief of an Avatar and its life cycle, (2) the life of Christ or (3) the human lifecycle. Chapter 1 gives historical information about the work. Chapters 2-4 discuss each movement of The Avatar programmatically and pedagogically. Facets of each movement are analyzed including differences in programmatic choices, rehearsal techniques and sound concepts. Chapter 5 provides recording suggestions, including choosing a recording engineer, preparing and planning for a recording section, choosing a venue and the benefits of hiring a tonmeister.

Musical instruments are not static, unchanging objects. They are, instead, things that materially evolve in symmetry with human practices. Alterations to an instrument's design often attend to its ergonomic or expressive capacity, but sometimes an innovator causes an entirely new instrument to arise. One such instrument is the Chapman Stick. This instrument's history is closely intertwined with global currents that have evolved into virtual, online scenes. Virtuality obfuscates embodiment, but the Stick's world, like any instrument's, is optimally related in intercorporeal exchanges. Stickists circumvent real and virtual obstacles to engage the Stick world. Using an organology informed by the work of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, this study examines how the Chapman Stick, as a material "thing," speaks in and through a virtual, representational environment.

Keyphrases describe a document in a coherent and simple way, giving the prospective reader a way to quickly determine whether the document satisfies their information needs. The pervasion of huge amount of information on Web, with only a small amount of documents have keyphrases extracted, there is a definite need to discover automatic keyphrase extraction systems. Typically, a document written by human develops around one or more general concepts or sub-concepts. These concepts or sub-concepts should be structured and semantically related with each other, so that they can form the meaningful representation of a document. Considering the fact, the phrases or concepts in a document are related to each other, a new approach for keyphrase extraction is introduced that exploits the semantic relations in the document. For measuring the semantic relations between concepts or sub-concepts in the document, I present a comprehensive study aimed at using collaboratively constructed semantic resources like Wikipedia and its link structure. In particular, I introduce a graph-based keyphrase extraction system that exploits the semantic relations in the document and features such as term frequency. I evaluated the proposed system using novel measures and the results obtained compare favorably with previously published results on established benchmarks.

This dissertation examines the role of noise in shaping the form of several recent musical compositions. This study demonstrates how the contrast of noisy sounds and harmonic sounds can impact the structure of compositions. Depending on context, however, the specific use and function of noise can vary substantially from one work to the next. The first portion of this paper describes methods for quantifying noise content using FFT analysis procedures. A number of tests on instrumental and synthetic sound sources are described in order to demonstrate how the analysis system may react to certain sounds. The second part of this document consists of several analyses of whole musical works. Works for acoustic instruments are examined first, followed by works for electronic media. During these analyses, it becomes clear that while the use of noise in each work is based largely upon context, some common patterns do exist across different works. The final portion of the paper examines an original work which was written with the function of noise specifically in mind. The original work is put through the same analysis procedures as works seen earlier in the paper, and some conclusions are drawn regarding both the possibilities and limitations of …

In recent years, the use of the cimbasso has gained popularity in Giuseppe Verdi opera performances throughout the world. In the past, the tuba or the bass trombone was used regularly instead of the cimbasso because less regard was given to what Verdi may have intended. Today, one expects more attention to historical precedent, which is evident in many contemporary Verdi opera performances. However, the tuba continues to be used commonly in performances of Verdi opera productions throughout the United States. The use of the tuba in the U.S. is due to a lack of awareness and a limited availability of the cimbasso. This paper demonstrates the pedagogical and aesthetic differences between the use of the tuba and the modern cimbasso when performing the works of Giuseppe Verdi operas.

Isang Yun (1917-1995) embraced a masterful combination of two elements derived from his life: his Korean cultural upbringing and Western musical traditions. This dissertation explores Yun's distinctive style through an analysis of his Kontraste: Zwei Stücke für Violine Solo. Following the introduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 contains a brief biography of Isang Yun, and explores the compositions of his Korean period (1917-1955) and his European period (1956-1995). It also discusses how Yun's musical styles changed during these two periods as a result of important life events and due to cultural and political influences. Chapter 3 examines Korean instruments such as Kayakem, Hae-Kem, and Pak; discusses Nonghyun (traditional string techniques of ornamentation in Korean music); and introduces Korean performance techniques. This chapter also provides explanations of these concepts, illustrated through various examples. A subsequent discussion illuminates Yin-Yang theory and Jeong-Jung-Dong, both elements of Taoist philosophy that influenced Yun's compositional style. This is followed by explanations of Hauptton and Umspielung, two compositional techniques that Yun developed and employed in Kontraste. Yun created the idea of Hauptton to reflect the Korean traditional concept of a single note. He used the term Umspielung ("playing around" in German) to describe his interpretation of the four …

The initial composition of the Fifth Symphony in E-flat Major, Op. 82 was undertaken as a commission to celebrate the composer's fiftieth birthday. Unhappy with the initial efforts, two revisions were then performed; the first was in 1916 and the final revision in 1919. Despite the larger form of the work seeming to have been changed between the 1915 and 1919 versions, the smaller gestures of thematic expression in both versions remained similar. On the surface, it had appeared that the composer had eliminated a movement, changing the 1919 version into a three movement form. This view was not challenged by the composer at the time, and since the earlier versions had either been withdrawn or destroyed, there was no way to compare the original efforts to the final product until recently. In comparing the 1919 version to the original, a definite strong parallel can be seen between the two - despite the changes to form, rearrangement of melodic material, and the seemingly different number of movements. However, the parallel is enough that the 1915 version can be a guide to classifying the 1919 version, an act that has eluded many scholars since the 1920s. Most importantly, comparing the two …

The Concerto for Trombone, written in 1763 by Georg Christoph Wagenseil, is a piece in 2 movements for alto trombone and chamber orchestra. The orchestration consists of 2 parts for violin, 1 part for viola, cello and string bass, 2 French horn parts and 2 parts for flute. It is the first concerto form solo work for the alto trombone and was written during a time when wide use of this instrument had been diminished from centuries past. The Concerto for Trombone helped mark the beginning of a time when the musical expressiveness of the trombone began to be noticed in chamber genres where such attention had been lacking in previous decades. Chapter 2 examines the life and musical background of the composer. Chapter 3 discusses the history surrounding the possible origin of the Concerto and its performance history. Chapter 4 provides analytical insights into the construction and format of the piece. Chapter 5 details the creation of an urtext edition of the Concerto. Chapter 6 concludes this document with a performer's guide to the work based on the urtext edition of the solo trombone part to create the performance edition. This performance edition of the work includes historically informed …

This dissertation describes a compositional model rooted in cross-influential methodology between complementary musical compositions that share generative source material. In their simultaneous construction, two composition pairs presented challenges that influenced and mediated the other's development with respect to timbre, transposition, pitch material, effects processing, and form. A working prototype first provides a model that is later developed. The first work Thema is for piano alone, and the companion piece Am3ht is for piano and live computer processing via the graphical programming environment Max/MSP. Compositional processes used in the prototype solidify the cross-influential model, demanding flexibility and a dialectic approach. Ideas set forth in the prototype are then explored through a second pair of compositions rooted in cross-influential methodology. The first work Lusmore is scored for solo contrabass and Max/MSP. The second composition Knockgrafton is scored for string orchestra. The flexibility of the cross-influential model is revealed more fully through a discussion of each work's musical development. The utility of the cross-influential compositional model is discussed, particularly within higher academia.

Pleroma is a digital drama: a work composed of digital animation combined with electroacoustic music, presenting an original dramatic narrative. Pleroma's dramatic elements evoke both the classical form of tragedy and the concept of perceptual paradox. A structural overview of the drama and its characters and a plot synopsis are given to provide context for the critical discussion. Analytical descriptions of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture Op.62 and Mahler's Symphony No. 9 are provided to give background on tragic form and Platonic allegory in music. An investigation into the elements discussed in the analysis of the instrumental works reveals several layers of possible interpretation in Pleroma. Dramatic elements allow for tragic narratives to be constructed, but they are complemented by character associations formed by pitch relationships, stylistic juxtapositions, and instrumentation. A copy of the dramatic text is included to supplement the multimedia production.

Pleroma is a digital drama: a work composed of digital animation combined with electroacoustic music, presenting an original dramatic narrative. Pleroma's dramatic elements evoke both the classical form of tragedy and the concept of perceptual paradox. A structural overview of the drama and its characters and a plot synopsis are given to provide context for the critical discussion. Analytical descriptions of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture Op.62 and Mahler's Symphony No. 9 are provided to give background on tragic form and Platonic allegory in music. An investigation into the elements discussed in the analysis of the instrumental works reveals several layers of possible interpretation in Pleroma. Dramatic elements allow for tragic narratives to be constructed, but they are complemented by character associations formed by pitch relationships, stylistic juxtapositions, and instrumentation. A copy of the dramatic text is included to supplement the multimedia production: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc33228/

Fractus I is a composition for trumpet in C and live electronic sound. The electronics were primarily created using SuperCollider, an environment and programming language for real time audio synthesis. This project investigates SuperCollider's pattern and task functionality as a means of supporting and enriching the compositional process. Fractus I develops several different code architectures in order to randomize as well as synchronize various musical elements. The piece exploits SuperCollider as both an audio synthesis tool and a performance conduit. Additionally, the nature of SuperCollider's patterns and tasks influences the form and content of the composition. The project underscores SuperCollider as a powerful, versatile and open-ended tool for musical composition and examines future directions and improvements.

About 8.3% of individuals diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) are diagnosed with comorbid depression, a higher rate than the general adult population. This project examined the differences of depression symptoms experienced between diabetic and matched non-diabetic individuals and the relationship of daily activity and nutrition behaviors with depression between these groups. The 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was utilized to assess: depression symptoms, diabetic glycemic control as measured by glycoginated hemoglobin (HbA1c), amount of physical activity, percentage of macronutrients, daily frequencies of foods consumed, and the use of nutritional food labels to make food choices. A sample of diabetic (n = 451) and non-diabetic individuals (n = 451) were matched to on age, gender, ethnicity, and education. The diabetic individuals experienced greater depression on both continuous and ordinal diagnostic variables. Counter to expectation, there was no relationship observed between depression and HbA1c in diabetic individuals, r = .04, p > .05.

Although Magdeburg cantor Heinrich Grimm was frequently listed among prominent musical figures of the early seventeenth century such as Heinrich Schütz, Johann Hermann Schein, and Michael Praetorius in music lexica through the nineteenth century, he has almost disappeared from modern scholarship. However, a resurgence in Grimm studies has begun in recent years, especially in the areas of biographical study and compositional output. In this study, I examine the yet unexplored music-analytic perspective by investigating the stylistic characteristics of Grimm's 1631 motet, Unser Leben wehret siebenzig Jahr'. Furthermore, I compare his compositional technique to that of his contemporaries and predecessors with the goal of examining the work from both Renaissance and Baroque perspectives.

In a Romantic song cycle or songbook, songs tend to share many common ideas because they are used to set to the poems from one collection written or collected by one author. Many composers designed the same motivic or structural elements to a group of songs for unity, and sometimes they made chronological narratives for the series of poems. Music theorists have tried to find out a way of giving a sense of unity or narrative to the songs in a song cycle or songbook by analyzing its musical language and text setting. They have suggested plausible explanations for the relationships among the songs in a song cycle or songbook, and some theorists have traced the tonal movements and provided a visual explanation for them. Hugo Wolf's two volumes of the Italienisches Liederbuch (1890-91, 1896) were set to the forty-six poems from Paul Heyse's well-selected works. Wolf's way of selecting poems from Heyse's collection seems inconsistent, and his song ordering in the both volumes does not show evident rules. However, a closer study for relationships between the songs could widen our perspective to comprehend the whole songbook as a unified storyline. This study selected the first four songs from each …

This dissertation addresses specific theoretical issues within Gotkovsky's Eolienne. She was a student of Messiaen, and his influence is evident in Eolienne, but at the same time, Gotkovsky's compositional voice is both personally distinctive and reflects l'esprit de temps of the twentieth century Parisian musical world. The research provides extensive analytical insight into Gotkovsky's musical language in Eolienne, specifically her use of symmetrical scales, emphasis on timbre, and formal constructs. Because there are limited scholarly resources available on the subject of flute and harp chamber music, and a small amount of biographical information on Gotkovsky, this dissertation is a significant contribution within the area of chamber music for flute, both historically and theoretically. It provides an analysis of Gotkovsky's musical language and the analysis gives performers access to musical-theoretical information previously unavailable.

The history of the saxophone and its development as a performance medium in Japan is short when compared with other European countries and the United States. In this short history, the saxophone performance level in Japan has increased dramatically. At the same time, compositions for the saxophone by Japanese composers have gained more popularity in the world as can be seen in the program of the World Saxophone Congress and the North American Saxophone Alliance conference. The saxophone history in Japan, including contributions of Arata Sakaguchi (1910-1997), Ryo Noda (b.1948), and Nobuya Sugawa (b.1961), is discussed in order to understand the increase of performances of pieces for saxophone by Japanese composers. The success of many original compositions, especially those that incorporate the synthesis of Eastern and Western music, is another significant element examined in this document. Yoshimatsu approaches music for classical saxophone as a new genre. He seeks all possible sounds that the saxophone can create - beautiful tone to "noise like" - in his compositions. The blending of other musical styles in one piece is one of Yoshimatsu's compositional styles, which can be observed in Fuzzy Bird Sonata; however, he does not limit himself to a single style. This …

Ida Gotkovsky, a student of Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger, composed for nearly every instrument, voice, and ensemble. Although Gotkovsky's Concerto for Trombone is a monumental work for the trombone it is rarely performed and recordings are scarce. There is a general lack of scholarly attention to the music of Ida Gotkovsky, however, the technical and aesthetic quality of her music merits further examination. Previous studies of Gotkovsky's music focused on the analysis of individual compositions. However, much more can be learned by examining a work within the context of her general compositional output. Gotkovsky's compositional style includes extensive musical self-borrowing. The goal of this project is to demonstrate melodic and textural similarities and differences within her music to inform performance practice and to establish interest in her music. The context in which Gotkovsky reuses her music is significant and can provide additional musical insight. An informed awareness of her extensive use of self-quotation familiarizes the performer with her compositional language in a variety of musical settings. Such familiarity with her musical style leads to an improved and artistically educated performance.