An Analytical Study of the Suite for Violin and Piano (1935), Op. 6, by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) (open access)

An Analytical Study of the Suite for Violin and Piano (1935), Op. 6, by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

The Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6 is one of the least-known compositions by Benjamin Britten. It has been considered unfavorably by critics and scholars due to its puzzling mixture of tonal and post-tonal elements. However, this dissertation argues that the suite is composed with a clear tonal framework, and its unique mixed tonal-post-tonal language justifies an in-depth analysis. This analytical study utilizes a linear progression technique - the voice leading produced by passing tones and neighbor notes around focal pitches - to identify tonal areas of the suite.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Lee, Hanjun
System: The UNT Digital Library

A Performance Guide to Zili Li's Viola Concerto No. 1 (2010)

The Viola Concerto No. 1 was commissioned in 2010 by Xidi Shen, a viola professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and composed the same year by Zili Li (b. 1938), a Chinese composer and violinist. For musical, cultural, and technical reasons, this little-known Chinese viola concerto strongly aroused my interest, leading me to use it as the research subject for my doctoral dissertation and to also introduce this work to Western violists. This dissertation provides a performance guide to Zili Li's Viola Concerto No. 1. By analyzing the Mongolian music topics used in the work as well as addressing its typical Mongolian-style string performance techniques, the dissertation should provide a foundation for viola players who wish to play the work but are not familiar with this specific style. In addition, I hope that it can serve as an inspiration to other string players who are playing works based on Mongolian music.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Chen, Fang
System: The UNT Digital Library
Saxophone Instruction by Women: Experiences of Achieving the Rank of Full Professor at Post-Secondary Institutions in the United States (open access)

Saxophone Instruction by Women: Experiences of Achieving the Rank of Full Professor at Post-Secondary Institutions in the United States

Since the first saxophone professor at the Paris Conservatory in 1858, saxophone instruction has primarily been a male-dominated field. Numerous sources detail the experiences, lives, and influence of male post-secondary saxophone instructors. Women have made great strides in the performance and instruction of the saxophone at the post-secondary level, but sources discussing their lives and experiences are limited. Saxophone instruction at the post-secondary level in the United States began in the late 1800s. As the instrument grew in popularity through the 20th century, more and more higher education institutions began incorporating the saxophone as an instrument for primary study. This increased the need for saxophone professors in the United States. In 1994, Elizabeth Zinn Ervin, became the first woman full professor. This was 40 years after the the first man, Larry Teal, held this rank. As of 2023, 15 women have achieved the rank of full professor. This document is intended to highlight several women saxophone instructors throughout the history of the instrument, and detail the thoughts and experiences of women saxophonists who have achieved the rank of full professor in the United States.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Heimann, Christa Marie
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Saxophone Meets Chinese Culture: A Guide to Works for Saxophone by Composer Zou Xiangping (open access)

The Saxophone Meets Chinese Culture: A Guide to Works for Saxophone by Composer Zou Xiangping

Zou Xiangping is one of the most significant Chinese composers who writes music for the saxophone. These works, however, are not well-known in the classical saxophone repertoire. The purpose of this dissertation is to help international saxophonists develop an enlightened understanding and ultimately, performance of two selected pieces by Chinese composer Zou Xiangping (邹向平) (b. 1951), Images of Yalong River for Alto Saxophone and Piano (雅砻江印:为中音萨克斯管和钢琴) and Song of Chuanjiang River Boatman for Saxophone Quartet (川江纤夫之歌: 为萨克斯管四重奏) (2022). The compositional background, the relevant introduction about Chinese culture, the manner in which the composer combined this with Western compositional techniques, and comprehensive performance advice of each piece are provided.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Zhang, Cehuai
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sonorous Andean Landscapes: A Performance Guide for Guevara Ochoa's "Yaraví, Danza y Huayno" (n.d) and Vivanco's "Fantasía Andina" (c. 1988) (open access)

Sonorous Andean Landscapes: A Performance Guide for Guevara Ochoa's "Yaraví, Danza y Huayno" (n.d) and Vivanco's "Fantasía Andina" (c. 1988)

Peruvian composers Armando Guevara Ochoa (1926–2013) and César Vivanco (b. 1949) borrow and transplant musical elements from Andean folk tradition into their compositions for the modern classical flute. Guevara Ochoa's Yaraví, Danza y Huayno and Vivanco's Fantasía Andina are solo flute pieces rooted in Peruvian folklore traditions and Andean instrumental performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide flutists with technical and interpretative guidance in preparing these pieces. Yaraví, Danza y Huayno, a suite of three short dances, and Fantasía Andina, a free-meter piece in an improvisational style, incorporate elements that utilize the performance techniques of Andean instruments, with use of quotations from traditional Andean folk music. References to quenas (traditional vertical flutes), zampoñas (panpipes), pututos (ceremonial natural horns), charangos (Andean guitars) and Andean harps are integrated within the works and fused with themes borrowed from iconic pieces such as El cóndor pasa, and traditional harmonic, melodic and rhythmic structures of the huayno (fast festive dance) and yaraví (slow melancholic song). The techniques and traditions borrowed from Andean folk music are not notated in these scores due to the limitations of musical notation. Performers are expected to portray the Andean musical identity of the composers' intent. This dissertation assists …
Date: December 2023
Creator: Romo Bocanegra, Jossecarlo
System: The UNT Digital Library
Utility Trombone Playing: A Practical Method for Students to Achieve Mastery of Alto, Tenor and Bass Trombone (open access)

Utility Trombone Playing: A Practical Method for Students to Achieve Mastery of Alto, Tenor and Bass Trombone

With the importance of versatility in freelance work in the world of trombone performance, along with increased competition for that work, the need for players to play alto, tenor, and bass trombones to a high level of proficiency has become more and more crucial. This, coupled with the growing number of orchestras looking to hire musicians who are highly competent on all three instruments means that university professors need to be able to teach all three instruments. This evolution of the job market is driving a need for pedagogical material that is specifically designed to address the unique challenges of practicing and performing at a professional level on the main three instruments in the trombone family. As of the time of writing, this material simply does not exist. This project aims to fill that instructional gap. It gives students and teachers a resource that outlines an approach for a four-year undergraduate course of study that allows for the development of the playing of each of the trombones individually and collectively, utilizing the strengths of one instrument to develop the other two. It will also allow for the exploration of the technical challenges that arise when playing and changing between instruments. …
Date: December 2023
Creator: Owner, Timothy Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Accessibility and Pedagogical Value in Virtuosic American Trombone Solo Literature: A Performance Guide to "Divertimento for Trombone and Band" (2012) by Jack Stamp (open access)

Accessibility and Pedagogical Value in Virtuosic American Trombone Solo Literature: A Performance Guide to "Divertimento for Trombone and Band" (2012) by Jack Stamp

This dissertation is an examination of Divertimento for Solo Trombone and Wind Band by renowned wind band composer and conductor Jack Stamp. The result of this study is the illumination of a 21st-century composition for solo trombone and band that is made accessible for future performers, accomplished by constructing original musical exercises that are influenced by current trombone pedagogical materials that have either been edited, annotated or created by current performers and pedagogues such as Joseph Alessi, Brad Edwards and Michael Mulcahy. The piece also incorporates 20th -century American wind band influences. The careful selection of pedagogical materials serves the purpose of making this challenging solo accessible for the advanced academic trombonist and can serve as a template for surveying advanced literature of the present and future. Additionally, the pedagogical materials selected for use in this dissertation were considered based on their value in the present academic trombone repertory. Thus, this performance guide reflects on the validity of the modern trombone pedagogical literature to guide a performer's study, interpretation, and performance of a 21st-century work for solo trombone.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Umholtz, Jeremiah L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guillaume Connesson's "Le Rire de Saraï" (2001): Stylistic Analysis Focusing on His Eclecticism (open access)

Guillaume Connesson's "Le Rire de Saraï" (2001): Stylistic Analysis Focusing on His Eclecticism

Le Rire de Saraï for flute and piano was written in 2001 by Guillaume Connesson. Although the composer's works have been commissioned and performed by numerous leading orchestras and musicians in Europe and the United States, his music is largely neglected by scholars. Despite the increasing popularity of Le Rire de Saraï, the piece also has never received scholarly attention. Therefore, an analytical study of the piece, its influences, and its context in Connesson's output will provide for a deeper understanding and informed performance of this significant element of the flutist's repertoire. Le Rire de Saraï, like much of the composer's music, is notable for the eclecticism of its language and its inspiration from an extramusical source. This study first discusses his biography, inspirational sources, and various musical influences, which provide essential background information to understand his musical world. This document then explores the story of Hagar and Sarah, which serves as the inspiration for the piece and how Connesson draws on the story without crossing into the domain of program music. Finally, the study examines the interactive elements of his eclecticism in the piece, such as French sensibility, American minimalism, Baroque toccata, and popular music.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Lee, Hyunjee
System: The UNT Digital Library

"Shanai Awaz": A Performance Guide and Piano Reduction of John Mayer's Oboe Concerto

John Mayer (1929-2004) was a British Indian composer and violinist. Despite his contributions to bringing Indian music to the West and his large output of works, the majority of his compositions remain largely unknown. This document focuses on Mayer's only oboe concerto, Shanai Awaz, which translates to "Sound of the Shanai" in Hindi. It is representative of his fusion of Indian and Western techniques. The performance guide helps the oboist navigate the fusion elements of the piece. Because no piano reduction of the score was made by the composer, the piece has likely not been performed since 1983. A piano reduction of the score was created as part of this dissertation to make it more accessible to oboists.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Merchant, Natasha K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Federico Alvarez del Toro's Marimba Concerto "El Espiritu de la Tierra" (open access)

An Analysis of Federico Alvarez del Toro's Marimba Concerto "El Espiritu de la Tierra"

In this paper, I analyze the musical content in Federico Alvarez del Toro's marimba concerto El Espiritu de la Tierra. This dissertation represents my analysis of features I hear in the composition, and does not reflect the composer's original compositional process. Commissioned by the governor of Chiapas, the piece was composed in collaboration with internationally renowned marimba virtuoso Zeferino Nandayapa and premiered in 1984 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City at Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato. The work has not been published and has been mentioned only briefly in scholarship. Particular attention in the analysis is given to indigenous and folk idioms from the southern region of Mexico combined with post-modern compositional techniques. My primary argument within the dissertation is that I believe the piece demonstrates a respect for tradition and heritage while concurrently utilizing non-traditional and contemporary compositional techniques. Analytically, I argue that two basic shapes are used throughout the piece, and I argue that the many cultural references within the piece solidify a preoccupation with the lineage of southern Mexico.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Hastings, Tyree
System: The UNT Digital Library
Antonio María Valencia's "Dúo en forma de sonata": An International Approach to Colombian National Music (open access)

Antonio María Valencia's "Dúo en forma de sonata": An International Approach to Colombian National Music

Antonio María Valencia (1902-1952) was one of the leading Colombian composers, pianists, and educators of his generation. His Dúo en forma de sonata (1926) for violin and piano serves as an early example of the composer's aesthetic. According to the programmatic description he sent to his mother, the Dúo depicts Valencia's "indelible impressions" of his homeland. Through structural and harmonic analysis, I examine the piece in relation to the composer's informal programmatic description. The analysis argues that the work poetically re-creates the landscape of Valencia's birthplace region through an international language, devoid of Colombian folk rhythms and melodies. Valencia proposes a different perspective on Colombian music as an alternative to the use of folk-based music elements that were predominant to Colombian music during his lifetime.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Villamil Gómez, Diego Esteban
System: The UNT Digital Library
Blurring the Boundaries of Chinese and Western Musical Language: A Harmonic and Form Analysis of Chen Qigang's "La joie de la souffrance" (2017) in Reference to the Compositional Influence of Olivier Messiaen (open access)

Blurring the Boundaries of Chinese and Western Musical Language: A Harmonic and Form Analysis of Chen Qigang's "La joie de la souffrance" (2017) in Reference to the Compositional Influence of Olivier Messiaen

Chen Qigang (b. 1951) is one of today's most representative and prolific Chinese composers. His works are regarded as setting a standard of excellence among Chinese composers in the twenty-first century. Like many Chinese composers of his generation, Chen combines in his works the traits of both Chinese traditional music and Western musical language. La joie de la souffrance (The Joy of Suffering) for violin and orchestra, composed for the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition in 2016–17, is one of his mature works that not only represents one of the great achievements of fusing Chinese and Western musical languages, but is also a major addition to the venerable tradition of Chinese concertos. By analyzing La joie de la souffrance as the nexus of old and new, East and West, I hope to provide not only insight into a valuable work of the twentieth-century violin concerto repertoire, but also a glimpse into some of the musical influences of a Chinese composer working in France in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. By extension, I hope to shed light on some of the factors, trends, and developments that have influenced Chinese composers in the early twenty-first century.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Xiong, Hanbin
System: The UNT Digital Library

Exploring Texas Music Educators' Health Literacy, Musician Health Literacy, and Intentions to Address the Health-Related Fine Arts TEKS in Ensemble Instruction Using the Newest Vital Sign, MHL-Q19, and Integrated Behavior Model

This study assessed music educators' health literacy, musician health literacy, and intentions to teach the health-related Fine Arts TEKS in ensembles. An online survey was developed using the integrated behavior model, Newest Vital Sign (NVS), and Musician Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHL-Q19). Texas music educators who taught secondary band, choir, or orchestra were recruited via email and social media. Results: This survey yielded N = 207 respondents, with 43%, 29%, 14.5%, and 13.5% teaching band, choir, orchestra, and multiple ensembles, respectively. Most participants (67.6%) demonstrated adequate health literacy by answering at least four items correctly on the NVS. Attitude (p =.47) and personal agency (p =.30) were significant predictors of behavioral intention, while perceived norm was not (R2 =.484). Including NVS total score and MHL-Q19 total score in the model showed that while both factors improved the model (ΔR2=.038), only NVS total score was significant (p =.26) in predicting behavioral intention. Music educators in this study had adequate health literacy, which may contribute to their intentions to teach health concepts in ensembles. However, future efforts to improve these intentions should focus on bolstering perceived norms and personal agency by providing music educators with opportunities to take charge of implementing these concepts …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Taylor, Meghan S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interpretation of "No-Re I" (2018) for Flute Solo by Gyu-Bong Yi: An Analytical Study of Korean and Western Fusion with Performance Suggestions about Extended Techniques (open access)

Interpretation of "No-Re I" (2018) for Flute Solo by Gyu-Bong Yi: An Analytical Study of Korean and Western Fusion with Performance Suggestions about Extended Techniques

This dissertation serves as an analysis and performance guide for No-Re I for Flute Solo (2018) by Gyu-Bong Yi (이규봉), a work that combines Korean elements and Western compositional techniques. The modern flute, developed in the mid-nineteenth century with the Boehm's Schema, has pushed the boundaries of the instrument through experimentation with new techniques, leading to numerous contemporary works presenting unique challenges for flutists. No-Re I includes passages with various extended techniques and unique combinations, requiring specific solutions to overcome the challenges they present. For example, this dissertation offers specific fingering diagrams and descriptions for executing the double trills used in No-Re I. Additionally, certain notations used by the composer may have limitations in projection or clarity, and this dissertation elucidates the composer's intent based on an interview and provides solutions for these limitations. This research also discusses the fusion of Korean and other East-Asian aesthetics with Western musical language including the works of Isang Yun (1917–1995), a Korean-born musical pioneer, who had a successful career as a composer and educator, especially elaborating on his unique compositional technique, the Haupttöne, which is based on tonal centers influenced by East-Asian philosophy, Korean folk music, and its unique characteristic of ornamenting the …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Yoon, Hyunsu
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Lost Jewel of Romanticism: Pedagogical Guide of Robert Kahn's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1886) (open access)

A Lost Jewel of Romanticism: Pedagogical Guide of Robert Kahn's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1886)

This document aims to add diversity to advanced violin repertoire being taught and performed. Specifically, this project revives late German Romantic composer Robert Kahn (1865-1951) and argues for his violin sonatas to be included in standard violin repertoire due to their immense pedagogical wealth. Kahn was a prolific composer and left behind a large collection of pieces including twenty-five chamber works, the majority involving string instruments. Yet Kahn is rarely performed and hardly known to modern violinists. His works embody the late Romantic style in their expression, harmony, form, and drama and deserve renewed recognition. This document narrows its focus to Kahn's Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 5 and provides an extensive pedagogical guide for violinists. The guide includes chapters on both collaborative and technical challenges that exist within this piece. The collaborative chapter offers guidance and suggested rehearsal techniques for both instruments regarding balance challenges throughout the first movement. The technical chapter provides exercises for violinists on how to approach several difficult passages within the first and third movements. This project includes an interview conducted by the author with Julia Bushkova and Arsentiy Kharitonov, the first artists to record all three Kahn Sonatas. The transcript of …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Hines, Molly J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises: Understanding the Prevalence and Purposes within the Collegiate Voice Instructor Population (open access)

Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises: Understanding the Prevalence and Purposes within the Collegiate Voice Instructor Population

Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTEs) have been a topic of research and interest among voice specialists for over three decades. An SOVTE is "any exercise in which the vocal tract is made partially closed at or near the lips." When this kind of occlusion occurs there are numerous consequences that follow, but of primary interest is a beneficial change of impedance. These beneficial changes are still being studied, but efficiency in phonation, as well as a shift in the configuration of the vocal folds during phonation are two significant findings thus far. Efficiency in vocal production is paramount to a performer's vocal health. Therefore, a dissipating impedance or a hindering reactance would be undesirable. Research over the last three decades has largely addressed the degree of reactive inertance possible through such impedance and its health benefits on the speaking and singing voice. The performing arts health aspects of these benefits are increasingly relevant to professional voice users. Although research on SOVTEs has become plentiful and widely available to voice teachers, it is unknown how or if this population is digesting the current performing arts health research and implementing it within their vocal instruction. Understanding the extent to which SOVTE science …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Sullivan, Kristen Janell
System: The UNT Digital Library
Two Flute Works by Chen Yi and Their Musical Integration of Western and Chinese Cultures and Styles (open access)

Two Flute Works by Chen Yi and Their Musical Integration of Western and Chinese Cultures and Styles

The purpose of this study is to analyze two of Chen Yi's works that include flute. She was raised in China and later studied in the United States, leading to a compositional output notable for its combination of Eastern and Western musical elements. Her unusual early experiences, such as experiencing the Chinese Cultural Revolution, working in rural areas, studying the violin, playing the piano in the orchestra, and being influenced by Western modernists, became her musical inspirations in her later compositional career. Focusing on the composer's Three Bagatelles from China West and Woodwind Quintet No.3, this study explores how the composer links Chinese traditional folk tunes to Western compositional techniques, as well as Western flute techniques to Chinese musical styles. Since the folk tunes in the first movement, Introduction, and third movement, Miao Dances, of Woodwind Quintet No. 3 are the same as those used in the second and third bagatelles of Three Bagatelles: Nai Guo Hou and Dou Duo, both are studied, presenting how they relate to each other.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Guan, Peiyi
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adaptation and Validation of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale for Use with Musicians (open access)

Adaptation and Validation of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale for Use with Musicians

Identity is a powerful concept that influences behavior and health. For over thirty years, researchers in sport psychology have been using the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) as a research instrument providing insights into the relationships between athletic identity and health variables. While musician identity is recognized as an important factor to be investigated in relation to occupational health, there are no known robust instruments like the AIMS in music psychology research. The current study aimed to adapt and validate the athletic identity measurement scale for use with musicians. The AIMS history includes episodes of modifications for performance enhancement of the instrument that resulted in five different models. The validation process includes evaluating the psychometrical properties across all five models. The sample included student musicians and non-student musicians (N = 1040). The traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method were used. The exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and robust weighted least squares (WLS) was utilized to explore a new method of estimation that was known to resolve issues consistent with the CFA and ML method. The goodness-of-fit indices of CFA and ESEM were compared. The results showed that the MIMS is a reliable and valid …
Date: December 2022
Creator: Zuhdi, Nabeel
System: The UNT Digital Library
Integrating Body and Mind Awareness into the Pedagogy of Expiratory Breathing, Large Intervallic Leaps, and Altissimo Production when Performing the Alto Saxophone (open access)

Integrating Body and Mind Awareness into the Pedagogy of Expiratory Breathing, Large Intervallic Leaps, and Altissimo Production when Performing the Alto Saxophone

Specific movements within the pelvic floor, abdomen, diaphragm, ribs, and spine are show to be associated with either inspiration or expiration when playing the alto saxophone. These movements support tone production during the performance of large intervallic leaps and altissimo register notes. During expiratory breath, specific vocal-tract formations and movements are show to be adaptive with either the higher and lower registers. Anatomical areas studied include the glottis, larynx, pharynx, velum and soft palate, tongue arch, and tongue proximity to the reed. Flouroscopy and endoscopic research by Watkins, Pattnoede, and Jordheim challenge common pedagogical advice for palm-key and altissimo register notes such as using a high tongue arch, fast air and the "ee" vowel. Literature by historical and even current pedagogues do not clarify their use of the terms "larynx" or "throat." In the context of their writing those terms could ambiguously mean oropharynx, laryngopharynx, glottis, neck muscles or vertical position of larynx. Mental tension, fear, and negative inner dialogue are shown to cause reflexive and tension-based movement. These issues negatively impact the formation and direction of adaptive vocal-tract movements for large ascending intervallic leaps and altissimo-register note production. Repeated failure by a student can provoke negative self-talk as well …
Date: December 2022
Creator: Kelley, Brandon Matthew
System: The UNT Digital Library
Developing a Pedagogical Model for Twentieth Century Flute Repertoire (open access)

Developing a Pedagogical Model for Twentieth Century Flute Repertoire

Modern flute pedagogy tends to focus on repertoire which utilizes or builds upon tonal and Romantic stylistic conventions, largely ignoring works that disregard or reject these conventions until later in student's education. This lack of stylistic diversity in commonly studied works from the first half of the twentieth century can be problematic when students are approaching avant-garde or modernist repertoire for the first time, as they are unfamiliar with the style and technical needs of the pieces. This dissertation provides a style guide and progressive curriculum for the avant-garde repertoire of the early- and mid-twentieth century to help students bridge the gap from commonly-studied early-twentieth century repertoire to Post-War Modernist works. The curriculum and style guide are accompanied by an overview of avant-garde musical styles prominent in Europe and American between the 1890s and 1970s, a discussion of the pedagogical challenges of avant-garde repertoire, and two performance guides for avant-garde pieces included in the curriculum, Diaphonic Suite No. 1 by Ruth Crawford and Variations for Solo Flute by Ursula Mamlok.
Date: August 2022
Creator: Maker, Anne Marie Dearth
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Guide to the Performance and Study of "Dialogue de l'ombre double" (1985) by Pierre Boulez (1925-1916) (open access)

A Guide to the Performance and Study of "Dialogue de l'ombre double" (1985) by Pierre Boulez (1925-1916)

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) composed Dialogue de l'ombre double for clarinet and live electronics in 1985. This same year, Alain Damiens of Ensemble InterContemporain premiered and recorded the work with the help of Andrew Gerzso of Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM). The piece alternates between pre-recorded and live sections that are performed with varied levels of amplification and reverberation creating a dialogue between the parts. Boulez also includes detailed instructions for the spatialization of the pre-recorded tracks that play through six equidistant speakers that surround the audience. Furthering the complexity of this work, it is available in two published versions: version aux chiffres arabes (Arabic numeral version) and version aux chiffres romains (Roman numeral version). Each version includes much of the same musical material, but arranged in a different order. Performance of Dialogue de l'ombre double requires extraordinary technical facility and musical understanding from the clarinetist, the dedicated involvement of a highly qualified sound technician, and the use of a spacious, technologically equipped performance venue. This performance guide aims to facilitate greater accessibility and understanding of this challenging work, in order to encourage widespread performance of this extraordinary piece.
Date: August 2022
Creator: Miller, Brooke Laurie
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as Told by a Friend" upon Alfred Schnittke's Compositional Style as seen through His "Fuga for Solo Violin" (1953) (open access)

The Influence of Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as Told by a Friend" upon Alfred Schnittke's Compositional Style as seen through His "Fuga for Solo Violin" (1953)

Alfred Schnittke was a prolific and nuanced musical figure of the twentieth-century, contributing significantly to the fields of musical philosophy and composition. One of his most researched contributions, that bridges both disciplines, is his definition and implementation of the compositional technique, polystylism. His 1971 essay, "Polystylistic Tendencies in Modern Music," served as the first serious discussion of the term, providing a narrower definition, differentiating it from other techniques, and discussing its importance in the oeuvre of twentieth-century artists. Schnittke is also known for his fervent desire to overcome the gap between Ernstmusik (serious music) and Unterhaltung (music for entertainment). This lifelong pursuit, combined with polystylism, lead him to create an eclectic catalogue that championed the ideas it was pioneering. However, there is little research done on the 1947 literary work that served as a creative catalyst to all these ideas: Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus: The Life of German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as told by a Friend. In contrast to other telling's of the Faust legend, Mann's version features a composer-protagonist, Adrian Leverkühn, who sells his soul for twenty-four years of creative musical-genius. During this time, Leverkühn composes numerous successful works, even developing a new system of musical composition. Mann's telling …
Date: August 2022
Creator: McKamie, Mark Alexander
System: The UNT Digital Library
Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita for Solo Flute, BWV 1013 Transcribed and Arranged for Guitar: A Musico-Rhetorical Performance Guide (open access)

Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita for Solo Flute, BWV 1013 Transcribed and Arranged for Guitar: A Musico-Rhetorical Performance Guide

The main purpose of this dissertation is to offer classical guitarists an additional analytical technique for interpreting and performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. While this mode of analysis can be successfully applied to any of the instrumental works by Bach frequently transcribed and performed by guitarists, I have chosen for this study my recent transcription of the Partita in A minor for solo flute traverso, BWV 1013. With a continuo-based, harmonic realization of the Partita, I contribute to the existing guitar repertoire by offering a new transcription of this work, while demonstrating how historical concepts of rhetorical structure and aesthetics found in relevant primary source material can inspire a new approach to analysis, transcription, and performance practice. In this way, my investigations create additional perspectives for classical guitarists regarding the analysis and performance of this work, while complementing traditional harmonic analysis and subject labeling. Although it is my hope that this new transcription of the Partita will serve as an important contribution to the existing literature, the main purpose of this dissertation resides in the musico-rhetorical analytical technique and its implications on performance practice for classical guitarists.
Date: August 2022
Creator: Burns, Bryan Keith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mastery in Colonial and Post-Colonial Brazil: José Maurício Nunes Garcia's (1767-1830) Use of Trombone in His "Missa De Santa Cecília" (1826) (open access)

Mastery in Colonial and Post-Colonial Brazil: José Maurício Nunes Garcia's (1767-1830) Use of Trombone in His "Missa De Santa Cecília" (1826)

Padre José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was perhaps the most prolific, revered, and successful composer in 18th and 19th century colonial and postcolonial Brazil. Padre José Maurício's favor with King Dom João VI, the Portuguese Royal Court, and a catalogue of hundreds of compositions, is validation of his success, yet there is comparatively little academic research and recognition in comparison to his European contemporaries. Padre José Maurício's employment of the trombone within his ambitious capstone, his Missa de Santa Cecília showcases his recognizable and original compositional language. The influence of two contemporaries of Padre José Maurício, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), had an integral and clear influence on the Missa de Santa Cecília without resulting in rote imitation. Mozartian text emphasis, independent part writing, technical demand, and traditional use of the trombone for sacred or supernatural imagery were synthesized by Padre José Maurício swiftly and originally. Simultaneously, Rossinian orchestration, close scoring, limited range, subverted structural arrivals, and emulated percussive effects were personalized and employed by Padre José Maurício. His insular development and instantaneous adaptation of new orchestration and theatrical models yields trombone writing that is idiomatic, in alignment with sacred and symphonic tradition, and essential to the …
Date: August 2022
Creator: Davis, Zachariah Tyler
System: The UNT Digital Library