Music Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2796
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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.Item Transcriptions and Arrangements of String, Vocal, and Woodwind Repertoire Adapted for Trombone(2014) Omelsky, Stephen Paul; Votta, Michael; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As a trombonist and teacher of music, it is essential to be knowledgeable of standard and current trombone repertoire. Although there are some brilliant works for the instrument such as concertos by Ferdinand David and Lars Eric Larson, the amount of repertoire available to trombonists is small compared to that available to other instruments. This dissertation focuses on solo and chamber music originally composed for strings, voices or woodwinds, and later transcribed for trombone. My intention is to expand the trombone repertoire for college level players by presenting music that has artistic merit and that will advance the education of trombone students. The first recital featured music originally for strings, the second consisted of music originally for voice, and the final recital featured music originally for woodwinds. Each recital included music of all style periods, from either the Renaissance or baroque through the twentieth century. While most of the music I performed was for solo trombone and piano, The Bach Cello Suite No.2 was for unaccompanied trombone, and there were two chamber works including a Corelli Trio Sonata and a brass quintet arrangement of a madrigal by Gesualdo. Performance and detailed research of this repertoire has opened up new depths of musical knowledge and understanding for me. In studying string, vocal, and woodwind repertoire I explored each instrument's technical and musical accessibilities, unique approach to phrasing, limitations, and learned how composers from different time periods wrote for them. This project will serve as a pedagogical guide by exposing repertoire of various musical instruments and time periods, in conjunction with standard and new trombone repertoire.Item The Legacy of Oboist and Master Teacher, Robert Bloom(2014) Ryon, Janna Leigh; Hill, Mark; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Robert Bloom (1908-1994) was legendary in the education and performance world. Often hailed as one of the last performers of the Golden Era of classical music and a favorite of conductors ranging from Stokowski to Stravinsky to Shaw, Bloom was an orchestral oboist and English hornist, oboe soloist, chamber musician, teacher (Eastman, Yale, Hartt, Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard and Philadelphia's University of the Arts), composer, conductor, editor of masterworks of the 18th century, and, as a founding member of the Bach Aria group, a seminal influence in the post-WWII revival of Baroque music in America. In The Robert Bloom Collection and the Art of Robert Bloom CD and video archives, we see what his musical ideals were in 1)18th-century performance practices, 2) writing new music for the instrument and commissioning new works, and 3) and transcribing music for the oboe and English horn. As an oboist, I believe it is important that Bloom's teachings, historical performance practices and ideas for expanding repertoire are propagated. Therefore, the works chosen for this dissertation illustrated this legacy. My recitals included 1) some of Bloom's published 18th-century baroque elaborations (his term for ornamentation), as well Baroque works which I have elaborated, 2) works written by him and by other oboists/composers (Labate, Roseman) as well as a flute/oboe duo that I commissioned by Dr. Marcus Maroney and 3) transcriptions by both Bloom and myself (Bach, Donizetti, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Telemann). In these three dissertation recitals, I hope to have illustrated some of Robert Bloom's lasting contributions and impact on the oboe world, and to have demonstrated the potential for carrying forward this legacy by studying his teaching and emulating his example.