A significant body of solo literature for the trombone has been written in the last fifty years that draws as much from the jazz tradition as from that of European classical music. While much attention has been paid to these works' use of characteristic jazz rhythms, harmonies and melodic inflections, there has been little focus on timbre, the musical element that perhaps most readily distinguishes jazz from other styles of Western music. This paper focuses on the important role jazz timbres should play in a performer's interpretation of those works that are significantly influenced by jazz. It includes explorations of the significant differences in concepts of timbre between European classical music and jazz, some of the ways in which these timbral differences are produced, and methods by which performers can develop the skills necessary to produce these varied timbres. Particular attention is paid to the importance of timbre to idiomatically appropriate performances of two significant works from the solo trombone repertoire, Robert Suderburg's Night Set (Chamber Music III) and Richard Peaslee's Arrows of Time.

This document traces a link between Pedro Valls and Giovanni Bottesini by identifying traits of Homenaje à Bottesini that resemble techniques and musical characteristics of Bottesini's music, through the comparison of Valls' Homenaje à Bottesini to Bottesini's Fantasia sur La Sonnambula, focusing on the works formal, musical and idiomatic characteristics. This is supported by documented evidence of Bottesini's presence in Spain during Valls's lifetime and Pedro Valls contact with the Italian master of the double bass school of playing and teaching method. This study also proposes adjustments in the notation of Homenaje à Bottesini to more modern and player-friendly score indications, which will help its inclusion into the active double bass repertoire. This document examines performance practice(s) of the work and what advantages or disadvantages these practices have in playing the work, and to ultimately offer a clear pathway, a road map, to performers interested in delving into Pedro Valls's work, with a better idea of what Valls's style consists of and what approach to take when performing his works.

Concerto for Solo Percussion and Concert Band was commissioned by Staff Sergeant Rone Sparrow, a percussionist with the West Point Military Academy Band. Funding for the project was provided by the Barlow Foundation. The piece was premiered April 13, 2005 in the Eisenhower Hall Theater at West Point, New York. Rone Sparrow performed with the USMA band, and Colonel Thomas Rotondi Jr., Commander/Conductor, conducted the piece. The concerto consists of three movements, and each movement features a different instrument: the first features marimba, the second, vibraphone, and the third movement features the drum kit together with a rhythm section (piano, bass, and drums). In addition to the piece, the dissertation paper discusses important technical detail related to the piece, including: harmony, form, rhythm, programmatic ideas as they relate to motivic strands, and the process of generating and discarding material. The paper also focuses on a number of factors that were influential to the piece, such as postmodern philosophy.

The early music ensemble has evolved from a counterculture to a mainstream musical genre. Because of this early music is having to learn arts management. Once a unique force it now competes with other arts organizations for funding and audience. Unlike other arts groups, early music has little help from within to clarify non-profit management. Through three types of surveys that were e-mailed to 239 early music organizations and 20 early music societies, an assessment of what is currently happening with early music ensembles in terms of growth, funding and over all well-being can be made. The information obtained revealed that most early music ensembles have little or no training in how to run an organization. This inexperience is creating problems and changing the face of early music. Information from the surveys also reveals that even with the economic problems over the last three years, early music is continuing to survive.

The Six épigraphes antiques represent a cross-section of Debussy's creative output that traces the composer's germ-seed from his original setting of the work in 1901 as incidental music to accompany the recitation of several poems, to the four-hand piano version of 1914, and its consequent reduction for solo piano. What can be gleaned by the methods of derivation from his original sketches to the final, mature works is an understanding of Debussy's use of musical metaphor and his connection to the poetry - the Chansons de Bilitis of Pierre Louÿs. Embedded literary procedures create a new musical expression of the work whereby text and music become integrated. Rather than serving as accompaniment to the poems, the Épigraphes function as the primary vessel for the conveyance of these ancient scenes. Several of Debussy's hallmark symmetrical and structural moulds, such as the whole-tone, chromatic, octatonic, and mirroring techniques reflect the omnipresent symmetry of Classical Greece. Various other artistic creations emanated from the Épigraphes, most significantly the orchestration of Ernest Ansermet in 1939. A look at the techniques used by Ansermet for the augmentation of the piano work serves to extrapolate the multifarious layers relevant in performance. In order to facilitate the four-hand …

This dissertation discusses the potential of the snare drum as a solo concert instrument. Four pieces from a collection entitled The Noble Snare are used for demonstration ("Homily" by Milton Babbitt, "Composed Improvisation for Snare Drum" by John Cage, "Peeping Tom" by Dan Senn, and "The Noble Snare" by Stuart Saunders Smith). In the absence of many traditional musical devices (i.e. melody and harmony), alternative means of expression are used by the composer. Each piece is discussed with regard to its distinctive compositional approach and inherent performance issues. Information is also given pertaining to the background of the Noble Snare series. This includes: the inspiration for the project, editorial issues, and its influence on snare drum performance. Much of this research was completed through interviews by with author with Sylvia Smith, publisher of The Noble Snare and owner of Smith Publications.

Jake Heggie, American art song and opera composer, began his association with Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ when he composed Dead Man Walking, an operatic adaptation of her memoirs. Though from two very different backgrounds, the two developed a deep friendship and spiritual bond that provided the impetus for further compositions dealing with spirituality. Heggie adapted Prejean's meditations as a text for his song cycle The Deepest Desire in 2002, producing what he considers to be his finest work to date. Using The Deepest Desire as a gateway, this paper explores the social and cultural aspects of their association, revealing their personal perspectives on their relationship, collaborations, and shared sense of spirituality. Chapters include the biographies and spiritual philosophies of both Heggie and Prejean, Heggie's compositional style, Dead Man Walking, a performance analysis of The Deepest Desire, and the continuing influence of the relationship between Heggie and Prejean on Heggie's work. The appendix includes transcriptions of personal interviews with both individuals, Prejean's original meditation texts, correspondence with Heggie, Prejean, and Joyce DiDonato, and performance notes for The Deepest Desire derived from a musical coaching with the composer.

Many consider Gace Brulé (c1160-c1213) and Thibaut IV, Count of Champagne, (1201-1253) to have been the greatest trouvères. Writers on this subject have not adequately examined this assumption, having focused their energies on such issues as tracking melodic variants of individual works as preserved in different song-books (or chansonniers), the interpretation of rhythm in performance, and creation of modern editions of these songs. This thesis examines the esteem enjoyed by Gace and Thibaut in both medieval and modern times which derives from their exemplarity of, rather than difference from their noble contemporaries.

The purpose of this study was to describe 11th- and 12th-grade high school string orchestra students in Texas public schools in terms of their decision to enter the field of string orchestra teaching as a possible career choice or to pursue another field of study. Convenience sampling techniques were used to secure a study population of 1,683 high school string orchestra students. The Junior and Senior High School String Orchestra Student Survey (researcher designed) was used to gather demographic characteristics, students' perceptions on selected intrinsic/extrinsic work values, tangible elements of teaching, intrinsic characteristics of string orchestra teaching, and individuals assisting in students' career choices. Selected elements of teaching cited by students for their lack of interest in string orchestra teaching were also reviewed. Analysis procedures for descriptive statistics included measures of central tendency, crosstabulation, frequencies and percentages. Consistent with prior research, it was found that a larger number of female students over male students were interested in string orchestra teaching. Students interested in fields outside of string orchestra teaching reported higher class grades, more honors and advanced classes and higher SAT/ACT mean scores. Students interested in string orchestra teaching reported a higher percentage of brothers/sisters, mothers and fathers who played …

In 1939, composer Julia Smith's first opera Cynthia Parker dramatized the story of a Texas legend. Smith manipulated music, text, and visual images to make the opera accessible for the audience in accordance with compositional and institutional practices in American opera of the 1930s. Transparent musical themes and common Native Americans stereotypes are used to define characters. Folk music is presented as diegetic, creating a sense of authenticity that places the audience into the opera's Western setting. The opera is codified for the audience using popular idioms, resulting in initial but not lasting success.

To look at the effect of free play on the musical improvisations of first, second and third grade children, 108 children were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. Subjects were tested using a researcher-designed instrument to elicit an improvisatory response. The control group then received regular music instruction (120 minutes every 2 weeks) and the treatment group received regular music instruction in conjunction with musical free play (100 minutes of instruction and 20 minutes of free play every 2 weeks). The treatment lasted 14 weeks. At the end of the treatment, all students were tested with the same testing instrument used for the pre test. Videotapes of the improvisations were submitted to three independent judges to rate for quality on a 5-point Likert scale. The change in ratings between pre and post tests were analyzed with an analysis of variance to determine if there were significant differences between the control and treatment groups. The analysis of the data revealed no significant difference in the change of ratings between control and treatment groups for the group as a whole, or for any particular grade level within the total group.

Music that is categorized as part of the Indianist movement in American music (ca. 1890-1925) typically evokes Native American culture, ritual, story, or song through compositional gestures. It may also incorporate Native American tunes. Amy Beach (1867-1944) is considered to have composed five Indianist works, but her Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, op. 80 has not been included as one of them. This thesis rethinks categorization of the piece, seeking the "Indian" in it through examination of its gestures, instrumentation, and relationship to contemporary Indianist compositions.

Thirteen original transcriptions and subsequent analysis of improvised solos performed by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. The transcriptions are analyzed in three categories: harmonic vocabulary, technical devices, and motivic use. Pervasive harmonic and melodic themes are presented and compared with phrases from improvisers such as Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker, as well as compositions by J.S. Bach and Johannes Brahms. Observations from the transcriptions regarding performance practice and techniques unique to Pedersen as well as the influence of the physical characteristics of the double bass are discussed. Pedersen's use of motivic development within a single solo is analyzed.

The preparation of prospective music educators is a very complex undertaking that culminates with the student teaching practicum. However, the music student teaching experience may have less predictable expectations and results than the curriculum that precedes the event. The two-fold purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the music student teaching practicum in the State of Texas in an effort to establish current levels of success as perceived by the music educators involved in the process and (b) to identify any potentially problematic areas which might be in need of attention or revision. Thirty-six music educators (12 university supervisors, 12 cooperating teachers and 12 student teachers) who were recently involved in the music student teaching practicum in Texas were chosen as the sample in this two-round Delphi study. The first round Delphi survey, based on related literature, achieved consensus on 79% of the 108 item responses, and 15 of the 22 unresolved items reached consensus in round two of the Delphi process. The 34 sample members who completed the study ranked a final item in the second Delphi round concerning suggestions for the improvement of student teaching. The respondents showed a very high opinion of the music student teaching …

The secular music of the Eastern European Jews is known today as klezmer. Klezmer was the traditional instrumental celebratory music of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews who eventually populated the Pale of Settlement, which encompassed modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Romania. Due to the rise of oppression and expulsion, many klezmer musicians or klezmorim immigrated to the United States between 1880 and the early 1920s. These musicians found work in klezmer bands and orchestras as well as Yiddish radio and theater. Some of the most influential klezmorim were clarinetists Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras who helped develop an American klezmer style. While the American style flourished, the popularity of pure klezmer began to diminish. As American-born Jews began to prefer the new sounds of big band and jazz, klezmer was considered old-fashioned and was in danger of becoming a lost art form. During the early 1970s, a reawakening study of klezmer developed. Henry Sapoznik, Lev Liberman and Andy Statman were instrumental in creating a klezmer revival in the United States. At the same time, Argentinean-born Israeli clarinetist Giora Feidman was popularizing klezmer in Europe. Klezmer had again become popular and the revival's impact on the concert hall was inevitable. Even though …

Jules Massenet's mélodies feature a distinct vocal treatment regarding musical prosody through his eight song cycles, including Poëme d'Avril, Poëme Pastoral, Poëme du Souvenir, Poëme d'Amour, Poëme d'Hiver, Poëme d'un Soir, and Quelques Chansons Mauves, and a collection, Expressions Lyriques. These mélodies show the influence of the trend of salon music and the high-level poetry from the poetic movements of romanticism, Parnassianism, and symbolism. This study deals with Massenet's mélodies relating to the prosody idea, which is conspicuous in his vocal treatment. His melodic styles feature four distinct aspects of vocal treatment including lyrical, recitative or parlando, melodramatic, and déclamation rhythmée, and represent the idea of musical prosody of phonetic, syntactic, and semantic aspects. Massenet's other musical idioms such as harmony, form, and piano treatment, are also closely related to the prosody matter as a semantic aspect, reinforcing the poetic mood and content. In this study, each melodic style related to French versification is examined in detail. The musical analysis regarding the other musical idioms on selected examples presents the semantic feature of prosody idea. The brief review of French versification and opinions regarding the performance are included. Massenet's contribution to the genre of mélodie, with the prose melody and …

Scholars have considered Italian chamber recitative laments only a transitional phenomenon between madrigal laments and laments organized on the descending tetrachord bass. However, the recitative lament is distinguished from them by its characteristic attitude toward the relationship between music and text. Composer of Italian chamber recitative laments attempted to express more subtle, refined and sometimes complicated emotion in their music. For that purpose, they intentionally created discrepancies between text and music. Sometimes they even destroy the original structure of text in order to clearly deliver the composer's own voice. The basic syntactic structure is deconstructed and reconstructed along with their reading and according to their intention. The discrepancy between text and music is, however, expectable and natural phenomena since text cannot be completely translated or transformed to music and vice versa. The composers of Italian chamber recitative laments utilized their innate heterogeneity between two materials (music and text) as a metaphor that represents the semantic essence of the genre, the conflict. In this context, Italian chamber recitative laments were a real embodiment of the so-called seconda prattica and through the study of them, finally, we more fully able to understand how the spirit of late Renaissance flourished in Italy in …

An analysis of the transformation from Stravinsky's opera The Nightingale to The Song of the Nightingale, a symphonic poem by the same composer. The text includes a brief history of Stravinsky's life and the genesis of The Nightingale and The Song of the Nightingale. The bulk of the dissertation discusses actual changes employed by Stravinsky (with score examples). Patterns of modifications are identified and discussed as they relate to the composer's change of attitude in orchestration. The analysis focuses on overall patterns of alteration imposed by Stravinsky and their perceived effectiveness achieving a symphonic aural outcome.

The first purpose of this study was to investigate whether different modeling conditions (Aural and Aural/Notated Transcription) produced significant differences for improvisation achievement. Another purpose was to investigate whether music learning theory-based improvisation instruction had an effect on students' self-efficacy for improvisation and for instrumental music. Participants (N = 76) from an accessible population of 6th through 8th grade instrumental music students were assigned to either an aural model group or an aural and notated transcription model group based on scores from Gordon's Harmonic and Rhythmic Readiness Records (1998). All students were administered two researcher-designed self-efficacy scales before and after a 10 treatment session music learning theory-based improvisation instruction. Following the treatment sessions, each participant was individually recorded and assessed by three experienced music educators. The posttest improvisation scores were subjected to an ANOVA, while the pretest to posttest scores of the students' self-efficacies for music improvisation and instrumental music were subjected to two repeated measures ANOVAs. The Bonferroni technique was used to adjust the alpha level from .05 to .017. The statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in improvisation achievement for the modeling conditions of aural and aural/notated transcription. Further statistical analyses showed there were significant …

This paper investigates the influence of jazz on the nine solo trumpet compositions of the French composer Eugène Bozza (1905-1991). Bozza, like many other French composers in the first half of the 20th century, combines traditional elements of western European art music with innovations of American popular music. While Bozza holds a prominent role as a composer of solo trumpet literature in the mid-20th century, little has been written about the influence of jazz in his works. This paper traces the influences of American jazz upon French composers and analyzes the elements of jazz within Bozza's compositions for solo trumpet by comparing them to conventions employed by jazz composers.

The clarinet works of Marcel Mihalovici (1898-1985) represent significant contributions to the twentieth-century clarinet repertoire. Metric and rhythmic variability, melodic primacy, counterpoint, structural clarity, and elements of Romanian folk music permeate his writing and reflect a highly developed musical language. Mihalovici's educational background and cultural heritage provide important clues toward understanding his artistic legacy. His clarinet works are musically demanding and contain some of the most technically challenging passages in the repertoire, while at the same time, exhibit a distinctively French style influenced by traditional Romanian music. Mihalovici's writing follows familiar but variable formal procedures and conveys a diverse, modally influenced approach to tonality. While his harmonic language is frequently dissonant, his clarinet music offers a unique variety of musically rewarding styles.

Death, as a subject, has been treated extensively throughout history, both in literature as well as in music. The focus of Memento mori is to portray the inevitability of death through music. The first part of the document is an essay exploring the topic of death, its inevitability, unpredictability and the fragility of life. This section also includes a number of examples of composer's whose works have influenced the composition of the piece. The title of the work is meant to reflect that death catches up with all of us and that humans no matter how invincible they feel at certain stages of life will, eventually, succumb to death. The second part of the document is the notated orchestral score. The work is for full orchestra and solo violoncello. It is in three acts that loosely resemble three stages of life; Youth followed by life in adulthood and finally death. The work is not programmatic and the piece's formal structure varies from a traditional concerto, for although comprised of three distinct acts, there are no pauses between them. The entire work is meant to be dark and morbid and the specter of death looms throughout the piece.

This document addresses the cultural and significance of the battle villancico, El más augusto campeón, and its historical, social, and musical contexts within the villancico genre of the Latin American Baroque. This study focuses on the villancico, El más augusto campeón, and explores the possible origins of the text and its relevance to the political and social structure of Cuzco's San Antonio Abad Seminary. Other areas of investigation are the musical analysis of the score and performance practice issues that surface when making choices as a conductor. Considering the seminal position villancicos held in the catechization of the Incans, in part due to their popular nature, the study of a representative example of this significant genre lends further insight into how important the villancico was to the ordinary and feast services of Peruvian (and, by association, Latin American) churches. While within the villancico's textual and musical structure one reads the obvious reflection of peninsular Spanish Catholic culture, its application to the criollo subculture carries an even more striking relevance.

The purposes of this study were to describe the characteristics of the changing male voice in 4th, 5th and 6th grade students using Cooksey's maturation stages and, to compare the age-of-onset of the male voice change in African American, White, and Hispanic male students. Participants included volunteer 4th (n = 61), 5th (n = 73), and 6th grade male students (n = 63) from 2 urban elementary schools, 5 suburban elementary schools, 1 suburban middle school and 1 urban middle school in the North Texas region. The three ethnic groups represented in this study were: African American (n = 62), White (n = 58), and Hispanic (n = 77). Results indicated that approximately 46% of 4th grade participants, 62% of 5th grade participants, and 67% of 6th grade participants were classified as changing voices. A descriptively larger percentage of African American participants were classified as changing voices than Hispanic and White participants. Also, a larger percentage of African American and Hispanic participants were descriptively classified in the more advanced stages of the voice change than White participants. Urban African American, White, and Hispanic participants had a larger percentage of males classified as changing voices than suburban African American, White, and …