Music Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2796
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Item HALF OF HUMANITY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY, ALSO: WORKS FOR VIOLIN BY WOMEN COMPOSERS(2018) Colgate, Laura; Salness, David; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The intent of this dissertation is to increase recognition of prominent and lesser-known women, living and deceased, composing high-quality violin literature. This performance dissertation consists of three recitals featuring works for violin solo or chamber works including violin by twenty-two women composers, living and deceased, and program notes containing pertinent biographical and compositional information. Many shorter compositions were included in an attempt to give further recognition to as many women as possible. Although women composers are still outnumbered by men, it is evident that more and more women are becoming successful in their careers as composers. More women are being recognized by established institutions, having their works recorded, performed by major orchestras, and receiving honors and commissions. However, it is clear that much work is still to be done before women composers are to be given the same recognition as their male counterparts. It is my intention to not only make these works more accessible but also to bring to everyone’s consciousness the marginalization of women composers in the classical music field and increase awareness of the lack of effort on the part of presenters, organizations, and musicians towards gender equity. It is my hope that this dissertation will energize and mobilize others to create a level playing field on which women composers are fairly represented.Item "Let Us Sing as We Go": The Role of Music in the United States Suffrage Movement(2016) Brandes, Roslyn Leigh; Warfield, Patrick R; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Music played a prominent role in the United States women’s suffrage movement (1848–1920). Suffragists left behind hundreds of compositions supporting their cause and historical accounts indicate that musical performances were common at suffrage events. With only a few exceptions, scholars have disregarded the music used in this movement, and have underemphasized its significance. This study examines the use of music in the suffrage movement from three perspectives: music with lyrics, titles, and images that espouse women’s enfranchisement; music performed at national suffrage conventions held by the National American Woman Suffrage Association; and music accompanying suffrage parades. Though the music used varies in each case, it is clear that music played an important role in unifying suffragists and underscoring the ideals and goals of the movement.Item Reading Lolita in Tehran: An Opera Based on the Book by Azar Nafisi(2011) Greene, Elisabeth Mehl; Wilson, Mark; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Reading Lolita in Tehran brings Azar Nafisi's bestselling memoir to the stage as a chamber opera, with a cast of eight singers, accompanied by flute, saxophone, piano, and cello. The libretto, co-written with Iranian-American poet Mitra Motlagh, retells Nafisi's experiences teaching Western literature after the Iranian Revolution, first in the classroom, and then in secret to a group of young women students. By reflecting the challenges of her reading group through the prism of Lolita, Gatsby, James, and Austen, Nafisi both paints a picture of the grim realities of Revolutionary Iran and shows how literature provides universal insights into the human condition. Through their experiences of love and loss, belonging and exile, Nafisi and her students find solace in literature; and through imagination the women create spaces denied to them by circumstances. The opera score draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including both the popular and folk music traditions of Iran, as well as music of the literature of Reading Lolita in Tehran, from Jane Austen to The Great Gatsby. Like the blending of past and present literary work in the novel, the music melds sounds from diverse geography and history into the contemporary opera form. The opera focuses on the six students in particular as representatives of the countless kaleidoscope stories of Iranian women seeking freedom. Their songs remind us that the simple liberties of reading and thought, education and identity, are precious and worth fighting for. Though the events take place in Tehran, the truths transcend all boundaries of language and culture.