Music Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2796
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Item Four X Three: Unconventional Contemporary Chamber Music Trios Featuring Solo Trumpet(2024) Rye, Dylan; Gekker, Paul C; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although the trumpet has been largely absent from the instrumental color palette used by composers of chamber music, the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have spawned new conceptions of the trumpet in the context of the chamber music trio. Recent chamber music features extremely diverse instrumental combinations, producing novel compositional effects and technical demands on performers. A study of developing ideas about the trumpet in the chamber music environment tracks the trumpets’ growing acceptance in the chamber music sphere and its recent liberation from the confines of the brass family. Analysis of two twentieth century chamber trios with solo trumpet shows that advancements in trumpet design and technique have made the instrument suitable in many instrumental contexts, and that modern composers have used it to great effect in “neo-tonal” music. Examination of two twenty-first century chamber trios with unorthodox orchestration tracks contemporary composers' evolving use of the trumpet.Item VIOLA FROM IRAN: CONTINUING AND EXPANDING THE TRAJECTORY OF A RICH CULTURAL HISTORY(2019) Hesabi Amnieh, Kimia; Murdock, Katherine; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Middle Eastern country of Iran has been home to thousands of years of art, poetry, and music. The history of classical music of Iran can be traced back to 3000 BCE. This rich history has inspired the composition of a vast variety of music in different genres and styles. While there has been some scholarly research on the topic of Iranian classical music, the contemporary music of Iran largely remains an unknown territory to Western audiences. In the current social and political climate in the United States, there is an urgent need to open a new window into Iran through the arts. Most news in the U.S. regarding Iran appears to create a negative image, portraying it as a country that lacks culture, stability, and the desire for peace. Additionally, there is a gap in knowledge about Iran specifically when discussing the arts. This gap exists not only in an academic setting through scholarly work, but also with regard to performing and displaying works by Iranian artists. This dissertation introduces works composed for viola by Iranian contemporary composers and aims to display a wide range of styles and approaches in contemporary Iranian music. These works include commissions, U.S. premieres and world premieres; some were performed on a recital and some were included in a recording project. Each chapter of this document highlights one composer and their represented work in this project. The recital and the recording project can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).Item EXTENDED-RANGE OBOE: THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL AND MUSICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN 19th-CENTURY AND CONTEMPORARY OBOE REPERTOIRE(2016) Lowell, Alison; Hill, Mark; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)I believe that the purpose of expanding the oboe’s repertoire is to not only create original compositions, but to also utilize technical advancements in order to achieve access to a wider range of repertoire through the art of transcription. This paper examines the various paths to achieving such expansion, including utilizing unique performer skills, use of auxiliary instruments, advancements in the instrument itself and musical developments that challenge the perception of the oboe’s solo role in a particular era of music history. The oboe need not be relegated to the confines of a compositionally limited stereotype. The goal of my “extended-range” dissertation project is to expand the “range” of programmable repertoire, with a focus on music in both the 19th and 21st-centuries, while simultaneously expanding the technical capabilities and expectations of the modern oboe—in part by exploiting the new possibilities of the recently invented low-A extension key.