The twentieth century has witnessed a renaissance in the composition of choral music. Not since the Baroque, has choral writing held the prominent position with composers that it has today. At the same time, English composers have regained a stature and influence they have not held since the time of Purcell. It was not until the time of Edward Elgar, Gustave Holst, and Ralph Vaughn-Williams that English music began to recover from the decline of the nineteenth century. Benjamin Britten has played a large role in both the choral renaissance and the recovery of English music.

One of the outstanding aspects of nineteenth-century romanticism was its preoccupation with the past. This interest in the music or the old masters has lasted well into the twentieth century, and one whose lifetime bridged the two centuries was the composer Max Reger (1873-1916). Reger's admiration for the music of the past pervaded his own works. His preference for contrapuntal textures and devices, his use of baroque forms, his distaste for program music--all bespeak Reger's especial interest in the old masters, particularly in 5. S. Bach. These qualities led some to regard him as the successor of Johannes Brahms, who held similar tenets. Because of his particular interest in composing for the organ, Reger was viewed as a "nineteenth-century Bach."

The Commedia dell'arte was a form of Italian comedy prevalent from about 1560 to 1760. It was rooted in the comedy of ancient Greece and Rome, and it first appeared during the Middle Ages. An example of this is the comic opera The Love for Three Oranges, scored by Sergei Prokofiev.

This study examines what makes a keyed brass instrument, early keyed brass instruments, and keyed brass instruments of today. Focuses on the Cornett, the Serpent, the Basshorn and Russian Bassoon, the Ophicleide, the Horn, the Keyed Trumpet, and the Keyed Bugle.

This study seeks to examine the history of the ricercare, specifically in the baroque era. In this work, all types of keyboard compositions that utilize imitative counterpoint have been examined. Late baroque fugues have been examined to determine which characteristics of the earlier ricercare remained in general use and which specific compositions contain elements causing them to resemble strongly the parent form.

Definitions of the trumpet, although disagreeing in certain details, generally concur in a fundamental precept: that the tube of the trumpet is cylindrical for the greater part of its length while flaring into a bell at its end. This study outlines the history of the slide trumpet in England.

The purpose of this study represents an illustration of the techniques of public relations in music education as well as the urgent necessity for their development. Especially during; this era, American public schools are faced with the problem of providing a balanced curriculum whose chief interests lie in subjects of a scientific nature. Educators feel that this type of training is not only necessary to keep the nation ahead or equated with others scientifically, but that it is inevitably the best in preparing the student for adulthood. Public school music, in many instances, has not lived up to its responsibilities in providing the kinds of music and the type of community service it should render. Consequently, many educators feel justified in either reducing or eliminating fine arts programs in their schools. It is necessary, therefore, that the music educator study measures of encouraging musical growth in his environment, and this growth can be assured through a study of the techniques and tools of public relations.