Music Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2796
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Item The Ford Foundation-MENC Contemporary Music Project (1959-1973): A View of Contemporary Music in America(2013) Covey, Paul Michael; Davis, Shelley G; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Challenging the widespread belief that serial or otherwise atonal composers dominated the United States' contemporary music scene of the 1950s and '60s (a situation named the “serial tyranny” by Joseph Straus), this study of the Ford Foundation-funded Contemporary Music Project (CMP) concludes that tonality was prevailingly considered an acceptably “contemporary” compositional orientation at the time (1959-1973). The evidence examined includes music by the 73 composers-in-residence the CMP placed in public school systems and communities nationwide, as well as syllabi and lesson plans for 90 Project-sponsored courses on purportedly “contemporary” music, also spread throughout the country, most at college level. Both the former and the content of the latter are placed in tonal or atonal categories, and the result tabulated. The study is in four main parts: Part 1 gives a working definition of tonality and discusses the Project's early stages (1959-63), when it was called the Young Composers Project and featured only composer residencies. Throughout discussion of these residencies, the Project's absence of bias with regard to style is highlighted. Part 2 details its expansion, as the CMP, to include educational programs such as Seminars and Workshops (1964-1966). Part 3 concerns the Institutes for Music in Contemporary Education (IMCE)--which included experimental musicianship courses at 33 universities--and the final years of school system residencies. Part 4 outlines the Project's final years, which continued workshops and moved composer residencies from schools to communities. The study's account of the content of the CMP's educational programs provides a statistical image of the contemporary canon as of the mid-to-late 1960s: the works and composers from within then-living memory that were considered most significant. Tonal music forms unambiguously the greater portion of this canon, and is also prevalent within the output of the resident composers, a group including many later well-known names. In addition to these findings, the study documents the remarkable collaboration of numerous significant composers and other musical figures, with various individual proclivities, on a massive undertaking that had both the goal and effect of cultivating and promoting contemporary music in a full and open-minded range of styles.Item THE GARDEN OF THE UNIVERSE: A TONE POEM FOR ORCHESTRA(2010) Rhee, Ka Young; Moss, Lawrence; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Through The Garden of Universe, I would like to combine my religious faith as a Christian with my identity as a Korean composer to create a new synthesis in contemporary music. The title came from the conversation with my mother. After listening to my In the Presence of the Lord for piano, she told me that it was like walking with God in his garden of the universe. I was inspired by the words "the garden of the universe", and this turned out to be the title of my dissertation. The 1st movement, The Garden, opens with a "heavenly" C major chord in string harmonics, harp bisbigliando, marimba tremolo, and clarinets. The chord is gradually infiltrated by a F# major tonality symbolizing the emergence of life (Rehearsal A). Rehearsal B (playfully) depicts the play of animals, insects, and birds. The C major chord returns Rehearsal C (tranquillo). Near the end of the 1st movement, a descending harp arpeggio leads to a solo violin cadenza combining the C and F# tritone chords. Following the cadenza, the 2nd movement, Chaos, begins with a chromatic motive treated contrapuntally by solo basses. The scripture reads "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. " A high E hovers over the rumbling basses like the Spirit of God. This high E is re-enforced by piccolo, celesta, harp, and piano. The upper strings, timpani, and low woodwinds gradually enter in a depiction of increasing chaos. Its climax leads attacca into the 3rd movement, In Praise of Universal Harmony. This movement begins solemnly with a steadily accelerating percussion figure symbolizing the word of God. The Scripture reads "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. ", and "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ." In my music this leads to a spirit of rejoicing. From Rehearsal I, "Praise the LORD. , five traditional Korean rhythmic patterns from Samullori (percussion ensemble) emerge. These are Rehearsal I to J: Gutgeori Jandan; Rehearsal K to L: Ban Gilgunak in Yeongnam Garak; Rehearsal M to N: Byeolgeori, Dalgeori in Yeongnam Garak; Rehearsal O to P: Excerpted Jangdan from Seoljanggu Garak; and Rehearsal Q to U: Jjak Soe in Uttari Pungmul. Just before the last rhythm, beginning with Rehearsal Q, the opening C major chord reappears. There is a "war" between the C and F# chords. The F# major is brought into the C major "fold" through triadic tritone progressions. The use of a Fibonacci series between Rehearsal I and O facilitates this "Progression."