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.

When Schenkerian theory began to influence scholarly circles in the United States, the primary - although not the only - work to which scholars had access was Schenker's last monograph, Der freie Satz. Reading textual passages and examining the many musical graphs in the companion volume of examples influenced their concept of the fundamental structure as Schenker understood it, as well as the relationship of the other levels (Schichten) to the larger structure. The problem is that most of the second generation of Schenkerian scholars were reading the 1956 second German edition, not the 1935 first German edition. The second edition had been altered for textual and musical content by Schenker's student, Oswald Jonas - so there is already a disconnect between the original version and the text scholars were reading at that time (the 1950s, 60s, and 70s). Furthermore, many younger North Americans were insufficiently fluent in German to be able to read the work in the original language. In order to make Schenker's treatise accessible to English-speaking scholars, Ernst Oster set about translating the work into English, a task completed in 1979 just after his death. The text was based on the second German edition (ed. Jonas, Vienna, …

Nine universities in the United States with the greatest number of international students and having an accredited music program through the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) were selected. Survey research methodologies were used to identify the status of the international music students from East Asia in U.S. higher education institutions and to determine their attitudes toward their schools. Among East Asian international music students at US higher education institutions, the results indicated that the professor's reputation, scholarships, and the program's reputation were perceived as the most influential factors impacting the program choice; a good relationship with professors, good feedback from professors, and emotional stability were perceived as the most influential factors impacting academic success; and the professor's teaching, the professor's expertise, and the improvement of musical skills were perceived as the most influential factors impacting students' satisfaction level. The most problematic issues reported were the language barrier and the cultural differences between their host and own countries. In addition, many of the East international music students in this study noted financial difficulties.

Arnold Schoenberg's teaching career spanned over fifty years and included experiences in Austria, Germany, and the United States. Schoenberg's teaching assistant, Leonard Stein, transcribed Schoenberg's class lectures at UCLA from 1936 to 1944. Most of these notes resulted in publications that provide pedagogical examples of combined elements from Schoenberg's European years of teaching with his years of teaching in America. There are also class notes from Schoenberg's later lectures that have gone unexamined. These notes contain substantial examples of Schoenberg's later theories with analyses of masterworks that have never been published. Both the class notes and the subsequent publications reveal Schoenberg's comprehensive approach to understanding the presentation of the Gedanke or musical idea. In his later classes especially, Schoenberg demonstrated a method of analyzing musical compositions using illustrations of elements of the Grundgestalt or "basic shape," which contains the technical aspects of the musical parts. Through an examination of his published and unpublished manuscripts, this study will demonstrate Schoenberg's commitment to a comprehensive approach to teaching. Schoenberg's heritage of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music theory is evident in his Harmonielehre and in his other European writings. The latter include Zusammenhang, Kontrapunkt, Instrumentation, Formenlehre (ZKIF), and Der musikalische Gedanke und die Logik, …

Research has been conducted on Francis Poulenc and his prominent 20th century sonata for brass instruments. Poulenc and members of the French compositional collaboration known as Les Six have all been subjects of research. Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Horn Trumpet and Trombone is a crucial piece in the development of brass chamber music during the 20th century. As one of the first works written for modern brass instruments, it demonstrates a highly crafted compositional style representative of Poulenc's early period. Research includes background and historical significance of the Sonata, analysis of form and compositional techniques, biographical information on Francis Poulenc and the members of Les Six and a section on implications for the performance of the work. This study is necessary due to the lack of research available for the piece especially considering its relevance to the development of brass chamber music. This study explores the compositional style of Francis Poulenc and his contribution to the brass ensemble repertoire.

An examination of the historical treatises of Manuel Garcia II and Giambattista Mancini, scientific studies pertaining to glottal closure, and Vocal Function Exercises used in clinical speech pathology led to an exploratory study that attempted to increase the glottal closure in an untrained university male chorus using only choral voice building exercises. The exploratory study used a single group, pre-test post-test design, and data was recorded using audio recordings of the entire chorus as well as electroglottograph measurements of individual subjects. The data show an increase in glottal closure as measured by closed quotient values, and an increase in energy in the upper partials of the recorded acoustic signal from the chorus.

The poet of this cycle, Sydney Vernon Petersen, was a man who faced great adversity during Apartheid. The title of this cycle, Alleenstryd, is an Afrikaans term for 'a struggle alone.' Petersen was of mixed heritage or "Coloured" and born in South Africa in 1914. He died in 1987. His most important works in Afrikaans poetry were published between 1948 and 1965. This cycle specifically focuses on the relationship between the poet and his community, the isolation he endured within that community, the depths of despair he felt and how he overcame those obstacles to finally achieve a sense of self-worth. This group of poems, first published as an anthology by Tafelberg Press in 1979, became the source of inspiration for the composer Hendrik Hofmeyr. The purpose of this research is to identify the significant social, political and musical influences on the composer which contributed to the composition of Alleenstryd (1996), especially the significance of his self-imposed exile. Also, the Afrikaans language, a derivative of 17th century Dutch, is a language dear to its speakers but not widely accessible or familiar to most other nations. Hopefully this research will provide more information and make the language, its composers and the …

Research on the origins of the violoncello reveals considerable dispute concerning the existence and identity of its ancestor, the bass violin. This study focuses on the classification of the sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century bass violin by means of the following criteria: construction, early history and development, role due the social status of builders and players, use within the violin band, performing positions, and defining terminology. Accounts of inventories, organological treatises, music theoretical writings, lists of households and royal courts, descriptions of feasts, reports of choreographies and iconographical examples confirm the bass violin's presence in the late sixteenth century and beyond. Three of the earliest unchanged extant organological examples embody, complement and corroborate the bass violin's identification, and conclude the essay.

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.

Augeries is a multi-channel electro-acoustic composition for flute, clarinet, percussion, and tape. It is intended to be diffused through an 8-channnel playback system. Inspired by the first four lines of William Blake's Augeries of Innocence, Augeries captures the qualitative aspects of Blake's poetry by presenting the listener with an equally aperspectival aesthetic experience. The small-scale structure reflected on the large-scale form - the infusion of vastness and expansiveness into the fragile and minute. Augeries incorporates techniques of expansion and contraction, metonymic relationships, dilation and infolding of time, and structured improvisation to create an experience that is designed to explore the notion of musical time, and to bring to the listener the sense of time freedom. The critical analysis suggests that the increase in the notions of musical time, the aesthetics with which they conform, and the new time forms created, encapsulate communicative significance. This significance exists within a horizon of meaning. Semiotics illuminates an understanding of the structuring techniques used to render time as an area of artistic play. Understanding the aesthetics and mechanisms through which these techniques can be used constitutes a shared horizon of meaning. The concepts of cultural phenomenologist Jean Gebser, as explicated in The Ever-Present Origin, …

During the 20th century, chamber works for harp expanded to include significantly different instrumentations, like flute, voice and harp. Indeed, a body of works for flute, voice, and harp began to develop mainly through the commissioning efforts of ensembles comprised of these instruments. This study of George Crumb's Federico's Little Songs for Children for flutes, soprano, and harp considers the unique advantages and challenges of this instrumentation and offers specific suggestions for performance. Attention to various compositional elements of Federico's Little Songs for Children, especially as they relate to the text, is also helpful in preparing to perform this work. The form, pitch material, and text-painting in the work allow for special opportunities to convey meaning to audiences in ways that do not rely on traditional tonal relationships. Accompanying the shift away from traditional tonal relationships, the development of the harp repertoire in chamber and solo settings during the 20th century also led to the development of many extended- techniques for this instrument. For the most part, these techniques have been described and given various notational symbols but not discussed in detail with regard to execution. Federico's Little Songs for Children itself requires several unique extended-techniques. Recommendations are given in …

Geonyong Lee, the composer of Mass for AILM, is a well-known composer in Asia whose main interest lies in choral music. He has composed numerous choral works which are highly diverse in their nature. This study introduces the choral composer Geonyong Lee to the West. The significance of Geonyong Lee's Mass for AILM is the display of Asian inflection in a traditional setting of the mass ordinary. Lee's Mass for AILM employs melodic and rhythmic aspects of traditional Philippine folk songs, a Japanese mode, traditional Korean music, and various Asian percussion instruments. This study explicates these Asian influences and how Lee utilized them in his Mass for AILM.

Niels Viggo Bentzon (1919-2000) is the most significant composer in the post-Nielsen period of Danish piano music. Bentzon's Third Piano Sonata, Op.44 was composed in 1946 and is considered by Mark L. Lehmann to be one of the great piano sonatas of the twentieth century. Not only does this sonata reflect Hindemith's ideas, but it also reveals Bentzon's unique style that successively empowers his innovative features. By applying Hindemith's theory, this study offers a way of understanding this piece and demonstrates the relevance of Hindemith's theory as a tool for analyzing the sonata. Chapter 1 presents the significance of the study, the state of research, the purpose of the study, and method. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical analysis of Bentzon's Third Piano Sonata, Op. 44. With a discussion of each movement, this analytical chapter traces Hindemith's influences: Bentzon organizes the four movements with a clear formal structure, a mediant relationship between the first movement and the rest of the movements, and a motivic coherence of each movement. Also, this chapter demonstrates how Bentzon follows Hindemith's way of chord construction and harmonic progression. This chapter provides insight into Bentzon's original style that facilitates an understanding of the tonal organization of each …

In Vienna from about 1918 until the 1930s, contemporaries perceived a high point in the music-historical significance of Mahler's works, with regard to both the history of compositional style and the social history of music. The ideas and meanings that became attached to Mahler's works in this milieu are tied inextricably to the city's political and cultural life. Although the performances of Mahler's works under the auspices of Vienna's Social Democrats are sometimes construed today as mere acts of political appropriation, David Josef Bach's writings suggest that the innovative and controversial aspects of Mahler's works held social value in line with the ideal of Arbeiterbildung. Richard Specht, Arnold Schoenberg, and Theodor Adorno embraced oft-criticized features in Mahler's music, regarding the composer as a prophetic artist whose compositional style was the epitome of faithful adherence to one's inner artistic vision, regardless of its popularity. While all three critics addressed the relationship between detail and whole in Mahler's music, Adorno construed it as an act of subversion. Mahler's popularity also affected Viennese composers during this time in obvious and subtle ways. The formal structure and thematic construction of Berg's Chamber Concerto suggest a compositional approach close to what his student Adorno described …

Benjamin Britten is a renowned and prolific English composer, well known for his operas and vocal works. He did, however, also compose five works especially for the cello as a solo instrument of which the Sonata in C for Cello and Piano Op. 65 was the first. He was inspired by one of his musical contemporaries, the remarkable Soviet cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Rostropovich was famous for his amazing artistry which propelled him to become one of the most prominent cellists in the world during his time. Thus Britten, who had previously only composed for cello as part of ensembles, created this sonata specifically thinking of Rostropovich and his outstanding skill as a cellist. The premiere of the sonata took place in July 1961 at the Aldeburgh Festival and it was a great success. However, despite Britten's reputation as an outstanding composer and the significance of the sonata, this sonata has been performed infrequently. Britten utilized many challenging techniques and adapted them innovatively in the composition, and perhaps performers may be reluctant to choose this work due to the complexity and challenge inherent in the composition itself. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a practical guide for students and …

GranCloud is new application for the generation of real-time granular synthesis in the SuperCollider programming environment. Although the software was initially programmed for use in the interactive composition Creo, it was implemented as an independent program for use in any computer music project. GranCloud consists of a set of SuperCollider classes representing granular clouds and parameter objects defining control data for the synthesis. The software is very flexible, allowing users to create their own grain synthesis definitions and control parameters. Cloud objects encapsulate all of the control data and methods necessary to render virtually any type of granular synthesis. Parameter objects provide several simple methods for mapping grain parameters to complex changing data sets or to external data sources. GranCloud simplifies the complex task of generating granular synthesis, allowing composers to focus less on technological issues and more on musical considerations during the compositional process.

Watershed I/IV, for Solo Percussion and Real-time Computer Spatialization was composed in 1995 by Pulitzer prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds. This work is a 25-minute choreographed music drama for one multiple-percussionist, in which Reynolds incorporates the musical transformation of percussion instrument families, the physical gestures of the performer, and the spatialization of processed sounds around the audience. This dissertation addresses several aspects of Watershed, which include: the expressive intent and extra-musical concepts; the formal organization, and several non-musical tools that Reynolds utilized in designing the piece (e.g. logarithmically derived sequences); the primary musical motives; the instrument setup and how the resulting physical gestures contribute to the musical intent; and the real-time computer spatialization. Throughout the document, specific musical passages are demonstrated with notated musical examples and embedded video/audio clips. In addition, transcripts of my interviews with composer Roger Reynolds, percussionist Steven Schick (premiere performer of Watershed) and engineer/technician Greg Dixon (engineer for my performances of Watershed IV) are also included.

This study compares Busoni's two original piano compositions, Indianische Fantasie for piano and orchestra (Indian Fantasy), op.44, and Indianisches Tagebuch (Indian Diary) Book I. They represent Busoni's late period of maturity and new aesthetical points of view on music. Both pieces are originated from Natalie Curtis's The Indian's Book, and particularly the Indian Diary is very closely related to the Fantasy, for three of the four pieces in the former work directly quote sections from the latter. To provide clear understanding of the composer's intention in creating two different versions from the same origin, this research examines how Busoni demonstrates his aesthetical ideas of new music in these two Indian piano compositions throughout structural and formal analysis. Busoni's adaption of Indian folk song in these works for the piano aimed at integrating Indian folk element with his personal harmonic language, both of which emphasized freedom in nature.

Unlike other song composers of the 19th century, Pauline Viardot wrote in many languages and national styles. Her songs, "Haï Luli!," "In der Frühe," "Morirò," "La nuit monte/ Già la notte," "Canción de la Infanta," "Юноша и дьва," "Le Rêve de Jésus," are examples of Viardot's ability to compose in many languages and national styles.

From 1966 to1976, science fiction films tended to depict civilizations of the future that had become intrinsically antagonistic to their inhabitants as a result of some internal or external cataclysm. This dystopian turn in science fiction films, following a similar move in science fiction literature, reflected concerns about social and ecological changes occurring during the late 1960s and early 1970s and their future implications. In these films, "dystopian" conditions are indicated as such by music incorporating distinctly modernist sounds and techniques reminiscent of twentieth-century concert works that abandon the common practice. In contrast, music associated with the protagonists is generally more accessible, often using common practice harmonies and traditional instrumentation. These films appeared during a period referred to as the "New Hollywood," which saw younger American filmmakers responding to developments in European cinema, notably the French New Wave. New Hollywood filmmakers treated their films as cinematic "statements" reflecting the filmmaker's artistic vision. Often, this encouraged an idiosyncratic use of music to enhance the perceived artistic nature of their films. This study examines the scores of ten science fiction films produced between 1966 and 1976: Fahrenheit 451, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, THX-1138, A Clockwork Orange, Silent Running, …

In 1993, American percussionist and composer B. Michael Williams published Four Solos for Frame Drums. This collection is considered the first work written exclusively for solo frame drum in Western notation. Williams primarily modeled his solos around traditional rhythms and techniques from Middle Eastern musical traditions as well as Glen Velez's virtuosic style of playing frame drums. He also drew influence from the music of South India and Sub-Saharan Africa. Williams intentionally combines the aforementioned elements as a means to expose his students and audience members to the music and drumming of these regions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of select compositions for solo frame drum by B. Michael Williams in order to assist future performers in making well-informed interpretive decisions. The analysis will highlight the compositional style, structural components, technical demands and important performance considerations of four pieces by Williams: Quatrinity, Etude in Arabic Rhythms, Another New Riq and Rhythmic Journey no. 1: (From Conakry to Harare).

Dan Beaty (1937-2002) was a prolific composer, pianist, researcher, educator, and writer. His large compositional output included chamber works, choral works, songs, orchestral pieces, electronic music, and keyboard works. Beaty was well versed in traditional Western music as well as the more avant-garde and perplexing idioms of the twentieth century. Beaty's compositions reflect the many fascinating, if not always popular, musical trends of his time. His music encompasses styles from serial to jazz, shows compositional influences from Arnold Schoenberg to Indonesian music, and demonstrates thought-provoking and highly intellectual craftsmanship. This document explores several of Beaty's songs through a discussion of the composer's life and compositional process. Songs included in this document are Three Weeks Songs, October, November, A Sappho Lyric, Love Song, That Night When Joy Began, and War Lyrics. This document was written to accompany the author's DMA Lecture-Recital at the University of North Texas. Unfortunately, Beaty's vocal music was never published and is mostly unknown. One goal of the project was to initiate interest in Beaty's songs. Through this document, Lecture-Recital, and additional performances, considerable strides have been made to bring Beaty's songs to new audiences throughout the United States. In addition, the author has received permission from …

The first part of the paper states the problem of the double bass not being incorporated into the chamber music program at many universities and the resulting lack of skills that can only be developed through this discipline. The double bass is trying to catch up with the other string instruments as it has been historically ignored, misunderstood and not as developed musically and technically. The historical background and current state of research are being examined to understand why this problem occurred in the first place, noting the vast amount of chamber music repertoire that is unknown and identifying some important but underperformed works. Further the pedagogical benefits of playing chamber music are discussed in order to realize the vital importance of integrating the double bass into the curriculum at major universities. Specific examples from the four major style periods are discussed in detail to show the benefits of studying this repertoire. Finally an implementation process is suggested to help change the current state of chamber music neglect as it pertains to the double bass.

Rete Mirabile is my new installation piece combining scientific principles with live computer generated music. The title is a Latin term meaning "Wonderful Net," which I use to refer to the highly convoluted network of biological data that drives my installation. The sonification of data, computer modeling of biological processes, kinetic sculptures, and user interactivity are central parts of the installation. The paper is organized as follows: First, brief history of the forerunners that inspired my work is given. This includes a short discussion on how John Cage and David Tudor influenced current artists works, and how those works have influenced my own work. Then I review current installation works that share similarities with my own. Finally, a detailed discussion and analysis of the construction and function concludes the paper.