Four Rotations Pour Marimba (1996) by Eric Sammut has become one of the most important marimba compositions in serious concert solo marimba literature. Four Rotations Pour Marimba is a suite of four short pieces; each of them demonstrates a different musical character while incorporating similar compositional components and techniques. The goal of this thesis project is to create a stylistic analysis for providing the concert marimbist with insight into the interpretation of these four pieces and also giving composers a more in-depth understanding of Sammut's compositional method. This thesis includes a formal analysis and comparisons of compositional elements used in Four Rotations. A brief biography of Sammut and historical significance of Four Rotations Pour Marimba are also included.

The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a representative collection of jazz standards with improvised solos fashioned after the types of resources available for traditional jazz instruments, yet transcribed and adapted specifically for horn, hence, expressly designed to assist horn players in achieving greater success in jazz performance. By providing transcriptions and adaptations of significant performances from jazz history, horn players will have a resource with which they can better understand jazz performance practice. Featured artists include Miles Davis, Curtis Fuller, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Turk, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, J. J. Johnson, Stan Getz, and Milt Jackson. Song titles and albums are as follows: "Autumn Leaves," Somethin' Else (1958), "Blue Train," Blue Train (1957), "How High the Moon," Ella in Berlin (1960), "Lester Leaps In," Jazz at the Philharmonic (1949), "Lover Man," The Magnificent Charlie Parker (1951), "Moritat," Saxophone Colossus (1956), "Naima," Giant Steps (1959), "On Green Dolphin Street," Kind of Blue (1959), "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960), "Satin Doll," The Trombone Master (1957), "Stella by Starlight," Stan Getz Plays (1952), "Straight, No Chaser," Genius of Modern Music 2 (1951).

American composer Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch exists as the only classical music work of remembrance based on the topic of remembering homosexual victims of the Holocaust. The composer, after being approached by Mina Miller, wrote this 2007 composition as part of the Music of Remembrance concert series. The music of this work varies in style from a blazing swing dance to a haunting vocalise on "oo." Gene Scheer created the text, delivered in the work by the characters Manfred Lewin and Gad Beck, as a compilation of many influential stories from the documentary film Paragraph 175. For a Look or a Touch chronicles the horrendous treatment of homosexuals before, during, and after World War II. Chapters include an introduction to homosexual persecution during Hitler's reign, a look at current works of remembrance and how For a Look or a Touch came to fruition, an explanation of the texts created by Gene Scheer, a discussion on Jake Heggie's musical setting of this text, and avenues for possible future research. Appendices include text of the German anti-sodomy laws as written in Paragraph 175, the mission statement for the organization Music of Remembrance, transcripts from personal interviews with both …

The performance of vocal works using the twelve-tone technique requires thorough study of complex rhythms, non-tonal melodies, non-traditional notations, and specific musical terms. They generally also require advanced and varied vocal techniques. Twelve-tone vocal works often contain unusual features vital to the composer's intention. One of the premiere twelve-tone composers in the United States, Donald Martino (1931-2005) composed only two solo vocal works using the twelve-tone technique: Three Songs (1955) and Two Rilke Songs (1961). He has explored innovative and progressive uses of the twelve-tone technique, and composed music with particular methods of his own, later used by other composers. Three Songs, his first twelve-tone work, and Two Rilke Songs, the only twelve-tone song cycle in his mature style, present comparable features in his use of the twelve-tone technique, text setting, and notations. The variety of ways in which Martino uses these features in the song cycles is discussed in the performance guide. The intention of the present study is to help performers, especially singers, understand Donald Martino's two twelve-tone song cycles, and to aid in the preparation of an excellent performance. The study includes a study of historical context, the poems, and Martino's compositional and aesthetic approaches to setting …

Alfredo Casella's Serenata, op. 46 for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin and cello is a composition that received great acclaim at the time of its conception, it is all but unknown to modern audiences and performers. The Serenata has several historical influences from the French and Italian Baroque and Classical periods. At present, there is limited scholarship regarding the Serenata op. 46. The first section of this study presents a survey of historical information, current literature and methods of examination. The second section compares movements of the Serenata op. 46 to other historical forms of similar design. The third section provides a performance guide for the trumpeter and ensemble. Implications and suggestions for performance of the composition are provided for the trumpeter. This performance guide provides the trumpeter and ensemble with performance information to help facilitate an informed performance.

This thesis concerns African-American fife and drum band music, a pre-blues genre that was a fixture at summer picnics in the Mississippi hill country from the late nineteenth century through most of the twentieth century. The picnics held a unique place in African-American life, a crossroads of juke joints and churches, blues and gospel, individuality and family. Using the African-American paradigm of a Saturday night / Sunday morning people, I describe the Otha Turner Family Picnic, the last picnic to feature fife and drum band music, locating it and the music in-between the secular and sacred aspects of African-American life from both a musical and a social standpoint.

Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae, Opus 68, composed by Ernst Krenek in 1941, is a musical work that is difficult to analyze and classify due to its fusion of contrasting musical styles. The pervasive dissonance of the work shows its modern twelve-tone organization, yet other aspects more closely resemble the sacred music of the early Renaissance. Analysis of Lamentatio solely in terms of the atonal twelve-tone system belies the work's full complexity and range of expression. While the twelve-tone system is the basis for the organization of the work, Krenek radically modifies the system to allow for more possible combinations of tones through an innovative technique he calls "rotation." The primary objective of this study is to consider the influence of early Renaissance sacred music, particularly that of Johannes Ockeghem, on certain aspects of Lamentatio, including the text, pitch organization, form and structure, rhythm and meter, and expressive markings. The study reveals that though the pitch organization is based on the twelve-tone system, Krenek uses the increased flexibility granted by his rotation technique to create implications of the modal system of the Renaissance. In the other aspects considered, the music of Lamentatio also bears clear Renaissance influences. A thorough understanding of these …

Helen Kotas was an accomplished musician and teacher who helped open the door for women in major US orchestras. In 1941 the Chicago Symphony hired its first female brass musician, principal hornist Helen Kotas. With that daring move, she became a pioneer for her gender in the major orchestras of North America. Despite her many contributions to the musical community, Kotas's life has not been researched and documented. This paper looks at Helen Kotas's career as well as a glimpse at her life and personality. In addition to documenting her life, this dissertation attempts to show at least a portion of Kotas's philosophy of teaching and horn playing. She was an accomplished horn soloist and studied the literature extensively. Kotas performed in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Woman's Symphony Orchestra, and Leopold Stokowski's All-American Youth Orchestra. Kotas was hired by Fritz Reiner as third horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony. When Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, heard that Helen Kotas was going to Pittsburgh, he insisted that she audition for the CSO. Kotas auditioned on the Concerto for Horn by Richard Strauss and the concertmaster said, "Hire her!" She performed as principal horn with the orchestra until Artur …

The inspiration for The Fallow Ground is the time period of the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840s) and, in particular, the life and impact of one of the period's central figures: Charles Grandison Finney. Finney was a lawyer-turned-evangelist whose preaching style led to explosive and emotional conversions and helped spread the fire of revival throughout the state of New York and eventually throughout the country. In The Fallow Ground I have taken different events from Finney's life and the revivalist culture to create musical analogs that examine and critique the events within a twenty-first century musical aesthetic. Quotation and allusion of revival period hymns play a significant part in The Fallow Ground. Inspired by the works of Ives, Crumb, Ligeti, and Schnittke, quotation is used in this piece to develop or subvert the material, thus creating different contextual meanings from familiar material. In this way, the quotation not only alludes to an idea outside of the piece, but also casts a critical view of that idea by its placement in the context of the piece. Concerning the instrumentation, The Fallow Ground is written for what is commonly called the Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion) with male soloist. …

The oratorio August 4, 1964 is a twelve-movement work for orchestra, chorus, and four soloists written by Steven Stucky. The premise for the libretto, adapted by Gene Scheer, is the confluence of two events during one day (August 4, 1964) in the life of Lyndon B. Johnson. Although the main idea of the libretto focuses on these two events of this one day, many cultural references of the 1960's in general can be found as well, such as quotations from the well-known song "We Shall Overcome." Stucky borrows from a motet he wrote in 2005 for another quotation source utilized in this oratorio, "O Vos Omnes." My goal in this thesis is to reveal and analyze the many different levels of quotations that exist within August 4, 1964, to explore each quotation's individual function within the oratorio (as a cultural gesture, commentary or remembrance), and to examine the structural coherence that emerges as a result of their use within the oratorio.

This study is focused on an analysis of two single-subject ricercare in the keyboard music of Johann Jacob Froberger and examines possible pathways to the development of the Baroque fugue. This dissertation is divided into three parts. Chapter I contains the purpose, significance of this study and composer, as well as characteristics of the seventeenth-century single-subject ricercar. Chapter II details and examines Froberger's two ricercare. Finally, a conclusion of this study is presented in Chapter III. Two appendixes are included in this dissertation: a list of the single-subject ricercare of Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Johann Jacob Froberger; and an analysis of the two single-subject ricercare, FbWV 407 and FbWV 409, by Johann Jacob Froberger.

This essay describes a pattern oriented data structure, or PODS, as a system for storing computer music data. It organizes input by sequences or patterns that recur, while extensively interlinking the data. The interlinking process emulates cognitive models, while the pattern processing draws specifically from music cognition. The project aims at creating open source external objects for the Max/MSP software environment. The computer code for this project is in the C and Objective-C computer programming languages.

Claude Debussy is considered one of the most influential figures of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Among the various works that he wrote for the piano, Children's Corner and La Boîte à joujoux distinguish themselves as being evocative of childhood. However, compared to more substantial works like Pelléas et Mélisande or La Mer, his children's piano music has been underrated and seldom performed. Children's Corner and La Boîte à joujoux were influenced by a series of eclectic sources, including jazz, novel "views" from Russian composers, and traditional musical elements such as folk songs and Eastern music. The study examines several stylistic parallels found in these two pieces and is followed by a discussion of Debussy's use of musical quotations and allusions, important elements used by the composer to achieve what could be dubbed as a unique "children's wonderland."

Mahler's Ninth Symphony, since its premier in 1912, has sparked much debate about its programmatic meaning. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the Adagio and an examination of the controversy of the farewell story. In the process of the analysis I have compared my findings to some of the important authors in Mahler's field such as Vera Micznik, Henry-Louis de La Grange, and Christopher Orlo Lewis. Some of the conclusions are that a closer investigation of the music is necessary and that the programmatic reading of the farewell story can be appropriate.

Pain and performance anxiety (PA) are common problems among string players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess and compare PA and prevalence rates and locations of pain in violinists, violists, cellists, and bassists. Subjects completed a questionnaire that included sections on demographics, musical background, practice habits, musculoskeletal problems, non-musculoskeletal problems, and PA. Anthropometric data were gathered on all 115 subjects. Results show that there are differences in both pain and PA across instrument groups. Violinists reported the highest number of pain sites, followed by violists, bassists, and cellists. The left shoulder was the most-often reported pain site, followed by the neck and right shoulder. Aching was the most cited term selected to describe pain. Several anthropometric indices were significantly correlated with pain, notably right thumb to index finger span in both cellists and bassists. In all instrument groups, at least one pain site was significantly correlated with one of four PA questions. Results warrant the development of intervention strategies and further study of the relationship between pain and performance anxiety.

Dream of a Thousand Keys is a concerto for piano and orchestra, which consists of four movements presenting multiple dimensional meanings as suggested by the word "key." I trace the derivation of Korean traditional rhythmic cycles and numerical sequences, such as the Fibonacci series, that are used throughout the work, and explore the significant role of space between the soloist and piano that are emphasized in a theatrical aspect of the composition. The essay addresses the question of musical contrasts, similarities, and metamorphosis. Lastly, I cover terms and concepts of significant 21st-century compositional techniques that come into play in the analysis of this work.

Nihilism is often associated with feelings of despair, hopelessness and meaningless. It is certainly true that once the implications of this philosophy become apparent that these feelings are valid. However, this reaction is merely the first stage of dealing with nihilism and stopping here fails to examine the various types of nihilism that deal specifically with knowledge, ethics, metaphysics, truth, and art. Nihilism at its base is a philosophy that recognizes the history of human thought and what it means to be and to think. My focus is the way in which a completed nihilism is in fact an emancipatory act and the implications it has for art and the artist in the 21st century.

This dissertation is a performance guide for the euphonium solos Pearls I and Pearls II, written by Roland Szentpali. This performance guide allows performers to better understand the jazz styles within each movement and provides them with a resource for performing these particular pieces as well as other jazz influenced pieces. This performance guide is specific to euphonium repertoire and written for euphonium performers and educators. This is also a resource for a solo work in the repertoire that is performed regularly as well as a new work that will soon be published. A brief history of the development of euphonium repertoire and the influence of jazz is provided. The performance guide analyzes each movement and provides insight to extended techniques, common performance problems, errata, and jazz styles that each movement is based on. The guide also provides several suggestions for interpretation and for performance preparation. Illustrations from the scores have been provided for each example.

Lowell Liebermann, born in New York City in 1961, is one of America's most distinguished living composers. In addition, he often conducts and performs as pianist in his own works. His musical language is unique and unmistakably rooted in the grand tradition of Western music; however, his style combines old and new, simple and complex, emotional and intellectual aspects. It combines tuneful, catchy melodies with a rich harmonic language, all framed by a strong formal design. This study begins with presenting primary information on this concerto excerpted from an interview with Lowell Liebermann. This interview served as a reference for subsequent sections, and a transcript of the interview is appended to the end of this study. In the third chapter, the musical language of the composer is discussed. Chapters four and five constitute the main body of this dissertation. The goal of these two chapters is to understand the basic three-pitch motive of the work, to demonstrate how it operates at various levels, and to see how the raw material corresponds at a larger structure level. It is the author's hope that this study will guide performers to better understand Liebermann's Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 12.

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

Hungarian pianist, composer, conductor, teacher and administrator, Ernst von Dohnányi (Ernö Dohnányi in Hungarian), was considered one of the most versatile musicians and the first architect of Hungary's musical culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. Dohnányi composed the Four Rhapsodies, op. 11, between 1902 and 1903, and among his many piano compositions, op. 11 are regarded as some of his most substantial works. Without directly imitating the earlier works of Liszt and Brahms, Dohnányi contributed to the rhapsody tradition with op. 11 by using his own unique stylistic compositional elements in the textural and formal structure. Texture and form are the most indicative characteristics of his rhapsodic language because of the improvisational nature that permeates his compositional style in the rhapsodies. In this dissertation the works are examined from within its textural and formal structure. Within texture, rhythm and accompanimental figurations are examined. Each rhapsody's structural organization, including references to eighteenth-century forms, and the cyclical elements in the work is analyzed. Background information on Dohnányi and a brief history of the rhapsody in the 19th century is also included.

Frederic Woodman Root was a vocal pedagogue and writer of the late nineteenth century. He wrote over eighteen books on vocal pedagogy, and numerous articles on singing. Since his death, most of his works have fallen into obscurity. The purpose of this document was to codify the vocal pedagogy of Frederic Woodman Root, discussing his particularly thorough methodology, and to bring his methods back into the public eye. His method is broken down into the various components of basic musicianship, the General Principle, the Three Vowel Forms, registers, breathing, and agility. Examples from Root's exercises are included and discussed.

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

The focus of this study is to provide a clear understanding of Vaughan Williams' Violin Concerto in D Minor. In terms of form and compositional technique, this concerto is particularly challenging, because of Vaughan Williams' use of rhythmic motives and modes. This study is undertaken through an analysis. For a better understanding, a historical background, including overall form of each movement and key relationships, is explored and discussed. Then, Vaughan Williams' use of a ritornello-like motive, melody and modality as unifying elements is also identified and examined. In identifying the major features of Vaughan Williams' compositional style of this violin concerto, musicians will be able to understand better his unique musical expression. This study may serve as an introduction to the music of Vaughan Williams for musicians and society worldwide. It is hoped that it will motivate all violinists to perform this concerto more frequently.