Music Theses and Dissertations

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    21st CENTURY AMERICAN TRUMPET SONATAS: THE PERFORMANCE PRACTICE AND PEDAGOGICAL INFLUENCES OF FOUR SONATAS
    (2024) Rudy, Brennan; Gekker, Paul C; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Sonatas for trumpet and piano have played an impactful role in the development of the trumpet as a recital instrument. Thorvald Hansen’s 1903 sonata for cornet and piano was the earliest sonata for our instrument, later leading to the first two sonatas for the Bb trumpet and piano in 1939 by German composer Paul Hindemith and Soviet composer Boris Asafiev. The first American sonata for trumpet and piano was written by Harold Shapero in 1940 and was dedicated to his teacher, Aaron Copland. These early sonatas led to other prominent 20th Century trumpet sonatas that were written by American composers Kent Kennan, Halsey Stevens, and Eric Ewazen. As a modern solo instrument, performance and pedagogical practices for the trumpet are strongly based on compositions of the 20th Century or earlier. As we are now almost 25 years into the 21st Century, trumpet sonatas and their composers have continued to evolve and create a lasting impact on the use of the trumpet and its pedagogy. This dissertation will discuss the pedagogical impacts and musical developments of several 21st Century sonatas for trumpet and piano. Accompanying this dissertation are four recordings of some of the most recently published trumpet sonatas from 2015-2023, each by American composers of diverse backgrounds. The four recorded sonatas previously had very few or no professional recordings and exemplify modern developments on traits originally established by composers of early trumpet sonatas. Through this dissertation and accompanying recordings, I hope to encourage the use of modern trumpet sonatas for application in pedagogical instruction, performances, and college and university juries and entrance auditions.
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    KALEIDOSCOPE: SELECTED MODERN DUOS FOR WOODWINDS AND PIANO BY AMERICAN COMPOSERS BETWEEN 1900-2000
    (2023) Adams-Park, Jihong; Sloan, Rita; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In the early twentieth century, there was a surge in the number of compositions written in America for woodwind and piano duos. This was a result of the demand for compositions to be written in a neoclassical style. Neoclassical style not only played a critical role in the proliferation of the American duo genre for woodwinds and piano but also facilitated the saxophone’s move into the musical mainstream as a classical concert instrument. This compositional spike in duo creation is also a result of twentieth-century musical eclecticism and should be taken as an important element in the development of American music. Influences such as modernism, folk idioms, jazz and popular music were adopted and fused with classical structures to make duo compositions more accessible to contemporary audiences. The popularity of this duo genre among American composers has been relatively steady and likely will continue to grow. Duo music for woodwinds and piano is accessible for audiences, and it is efficient for collaborations in chamber performance settings.Three recitals were prepared and presented respectively on February 28, 2022, at Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the University of Maryland, November 12, 2022, and January 21, 2023, at the Sunshine Cathedral Church in Fort Lauderdale. The first recital featured duo compositions that use innovative melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic integration between the flute and the piano. The works performed were Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 14 by Robert Muczynski (1961), Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op.23 by Lowell Liebermann (1987), Sonata for Flute and Piano by Samuel Zyman (1997), Canzone by Samuel Barber (1961), Night Soliloquy by Kent Kennan (1936), and Vocalise for Flute and Piano by Aaron Copland (1971). The second recital featured compositions for saxophone and piano: Sonata for E-flat Alto Saxophone and Piano by Paul Creston (1945), Picnic on the Marne by Ned Rorem (1983), Duo for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Walter Hartley (1964), Dittico for E-flat Alto Saxophone and Piano by Halsey Stevens (1972), and Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by John Worley (1975). The contrast among these compositions highlighted the major compositional styles from pre-1960 post-romantic to post-1960 contemporary style. The final lecture recital presented duo compositions with jazz influences composed in the mid- and late-1900s: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano No.2 by Gary Schocker (1999), Introduction and Allegro for Oboe and Piano by Alvin Etler (1952), Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op.29 by Robert Muczynski (1970), Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Leonard Bernstein (1941), and Quiet and Easy from Deep Ellum Nights by Simon Sargon (1991). Recordings can be accessed in the Digital Repository (DRUM) at the University of Maryland.
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    Representative Works from the Italian, French, and American Schools of Double Bass Playing
    (2016) Saunders, Ian S.; Stern, James O; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Each successive stage in the double bass’s history required the instrument to adapt to shifting musical aesthetics and technical demands. As a result, arrays of interesting (and sometimes disparate) approaches have emerged in the form of schools, intellectual traditions governed by playing concepts, and national aesthetics. The emergence of each of these various schools contributed to the history and development of the instrument, yet scholarship on the matter is exiguous. By studying and understanding different schools, one becomes aware that generations of pedagogues contributed to the foundation of modern-day mastery. Furthermore, an appreciation of contextual aesthetics and innovations brought forth by these intellectual traditions can inform modern renditions of pieces from these distinct schools. This dissertation focuses on three schools: the first international school created by the Italians, the lost significance of the French school, and the evolution of the American school. Music associated with each school was featured in three recital programs. The first two recitals were performed in the Smith Lecture Hall, and the third in the Ulrich Recital Hall, all at the University of Maryland. A re-recording of George Onslow’s String Quintet No.26 in c minor, Op.67 from the second recital took place on April 4, 2016. Recordings of all three recitals can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).
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    A Century of American Solo Trumpet Music
    (2014) McNamara, Anne Kovarik; Gekker, Chris; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    As a perpetual student of the trumpet's history, pedagogy, and literature, I always try to find new resources and pieces to learn in order to effectively perform and teach at a high level. My dissertation focuses on major American works for the instrument. Through my selection of characteristic repertoire, I explore pieces that provide landmark examples of the evolution of American trumpet music. The organization of my recitals is chronological. My first recital features music from the early twentieth century (1912-1951), the second features music from the middle of the twentieth century (1956-1988), and the third features music from the late twentieth century to the present (1992-2013). My dissertation includes music other than pieces for solo trumpet and piano. While six of my pieces are for this instrumentation, one is for cornet and piano (originally for cornet and band), one is for flugelhorn and piano, five are chamber works involving various instrument combinations including strings and percussion, one is for unaccompanied trumpet and one is for unaccompanied flugelhorn. Performance and careful analysis of these works reveal certain trends in American trumpet music of the past century. Many of the pieces included here contain elements of jazz such as ragtime rhythms, wa wa effects, and stylistic inflections. Other pieces show a strong influence from Aaron Copland's compositional style. His penchant for quartal and quintal harmony has become synonymous with the American sound; other composers such as Halsey Stevens, Kent Kennan, Eric Ewazen, and Jim Stephenson have used similar musical material in the works I have selected.
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    Compositions for Flute by American Students of Nadia Boulanger
    (2004-04-26) Dunnavant, Jessica Guinn; Montgomery, William; Music
    Throughout the twentieth century, young American composers made a pilgrimage across the Atlantic Ocean to study their craft with Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). Many of them wrote substantial, interesting works for flute, and this dissertation focuses on performances of a selection of those compositions. Boulanger's life is well documented, as is her reputation for helping her students find their own musical voices. In this project she serves as a lens through which three generations of American composers may be viewed. This topic brings together a wide variety of flute music in almost every style imaginable. A selection of music to perform was made because the amount of music far exceeds the amount of available performance time. A list of Nadia Boulanger's American students was primarily derived from the website nadiaboulanger.org and from composers listed in the two editions of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. These lists are far from comprehensive and other notable flute composers have been added. The following is an alphabetical list of the works that were performed: Alexander's Monody, Amlin's Sonata, Bassett's Illuminations, Berlinski's Sonata, Carter's Scrivo in Vento, Cooper's Sonata, Copland's Duo, Dahl's Variations on a Swedish Folktune, Diamond's Sonata, Erb's Music for Mother Bear, Finney's Two Ballades, Glass's Serenade, Kraft's A Single Voice, La Montaine's Sonata, Lewis's Monophony I, Mekeel's The Shape of Silence, Piston's Sonata, Pasatieri's Sonata, Rorem's Mountain Song, and Thomson's Sonata. The works were grouped stylistically to form four recital programs. The compositions chosen for performance were written between 1933 and 2000 and include some of the more popular works of flute literature as well as lesser-known compositions. Included in the written part of this performance dissertation is a list of American students of Nadia Boulanger as well as a list of those composers who wrote for the flute. Annotations and timings from my performances are provided for the compositions that were publicly performed, and biographical information is included for those composers.