College of Arts & Humanities
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item The Many Faces of Paul Hindemith(2006) WANG, SZU-YING; Stern, James; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this project is to present selected violin pieces by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) against a backdrop of the diverse styles and traditions that he integrated in his music. For this dissertation project, selected violin sonatas by Hindemith were performed in three recitals alongside pieces by other German and Austro-German composers. These recitals were also recorded for archival purposes. The first recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on December 10, 2005, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park, included Violin Sonata Op.11, No. 1 (1918) by Paul Hindemith, Sonatina in D Major, Op. 137 (1816) by Franz Schubert, and Sonata in E-flat Major, Op.18 (1887) by Richard Strauss. The second recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on May 9, 2006, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Sonata in E Minor, KV 304 (1778) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in E (1935) by Paul Hindemith, Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.1 in G Major (1800-1802) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105 (1851) by Robert Schumann. The third recital, performed with David Ballena and Kai-Ching Chang on November 10, 2006 in Ulrich Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Violin Sonata Op.12 No.1 in D Major (1798) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.4 in C Minor BWV 1017 (1720) by J.S. Bach, and Violin Sonata Op.11 No.2 (1918) by Paul Hindemith. For each of my dissertation recitals, I picked a piece by Hindemith as the core of the program then picked pieces by other composers that have similar key, similar texture, same number of movements or similar feeling to complete my program. Although his pieces used some classical methods of composition, he added his own distinct style: extension of chromaticism; his prominent use of interval of the fourth; his chromatic alteration of diatonic scale degrees; and his non-traditional cadences. Hindemith left behind a legacy of multi-dimensional, and innovative music capable of expressing both the old and the new aesthetics.Item Unfolding: For Mixed Ensemble(2007-08-10) Gendelman, Juan Martin; Moss, Lawrence K; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A growing interest in the theatrical side of musical performance has been the genesis of this dissertation. Although intended as a piece that should make sense musically (in a concert situation, that is) Unfolding was created as a multi-disciplinary work, where I have explored some of the ways in which a musical piece is perceived when put together with elements that belong to other artistic fields. Within the scope of this dissertation, those fields included Dance, the Visual Arts (represented by the live video,) Architecture, and Theatre (acknowledging here that, even though Theatre never played an active role in the development of the piece, different kinds of theatrical resources stand out when Unfolding is performed). Some concepts were carefully treated throughout the creation process. The idea of considering Dancers and Musicians simply as Performers, and thus trying to make less obvious the division naturally imposed by their roles in the piece, was present at all times. Also, both composer and choreographer worked closely from the very beginning of the project, in an attempt to achieve a balanced influence from each field over one another. Architecture was also very important from the beginning as both acoustical and visual characteristics of the hall (Dance Theatre at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center) shaped the piece. The video, on the other hand, was treated in a more complimentary manner. Its creation took place only after music and choreography had their final appearance. Formally, the piece was originally conceived as a main development that starts after a Prelude and evolves through sections I, III, and V, being interrupted twice, in II, and IV. In reality, however, the mentioned development does not happen in a classical fashion. Instead, musical gestures and ideas unfold (hence the title) throughout I and III, reaching its highest point of tension shortly before the second appearance of the trumpet at the end of V. Instrumentation was also planned early, trying to force different performance situations between dancers and musicians through the use of a different number of instruments on each section. Consequently, the piece starts with a solo that soon becomes a duet (in the Prelude), followed with a trio that becomes a quartet (in I, considering the percussion as only one part), continues as a quartet throughout III, and grows up to a septet (in V) and eventually an octet when the trumpet appears. At the same time, the solo of II and the duet of IV, which is compositionally an extension of II, interrupt the growing nature of the group. The abrupt appearances of the trumpet in II, and III, and its final emergence at the end of the piece, are treated as means of formal unity. Because of the artistic nature of this project, its final conclusion may have many readings. As a composer, however, I have been taught by this experience that when dealing with a multi-disciplinary work, the earlier the creators (composer and choreographer, in this case) start working together, the stronger and more organic the connections between the disciplines will be in the piece.Item The Aesthetics of Motion in Musics for the Mevlana Celal ed-Din Rumi(2007-06-04) Vicente, Victor Amaro; Provine, Robert C.; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation investigates the concept of motion as a fundamental aesthetic element in the devotional music, dance, and rituals performed in honor of the celebrated thirteenth-century Persian mystic poet and saint, the Mevlana Celal ed-Din Muhammad Rumi. The main focus of the study is threefold. First, it investigates the prevalence of the notion of movement in Islamic music and culture, specifically within the Sufi communities of Turkey, in order to arrive at a broader understanding of the relationship between music, aesthetics, and worldview. Secondly, it explores how musical performance functions as a form of devotion or religious worship by focusing on the musical repertories performed in honor of a single holy figure, the Mevlana Rumi. Finally, it provides an ethnographic account of contemporary developments in Sufi musical culture in Turkey and across the world by describing the recent activities of the Mevlana's devotees, which includes members of the Mevlevi Order of Islamic mystics as well as adherents of other Sufi brotherhoods and followers of so-called New Religions or New Age. The primary research for this study involved two short one-month field trips to Turkey and India in 2002 and 2003, respectively, and a longer one year expedition to Turkey in 2004 and 2005, which also included shorter stays in Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt. Additionally, the dissertation draws directly from critical theories advanced in the fields of ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology, and ethnochoreology and focuses on the kinesthetic parameters of music, dance, trance, and ritual as well as on broader forms of socio-cultural movement including pilgrimage, cultural tourism, and globalization. These forms of movement are analyzed in four broad categories of music used in worship, including classical Mevlevi music, music of the zikr ceremony, popular musics, and non-Turkish musics.Item Musical Integration: The Stylistic Evolution of the Music of Cláudio Santoro as Observed in his Works for Piano(2007-06-03) Maibrada, Heloisa Almeida; Gowen, Bradford; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Brazilian composer Cláudio Santoro (1919-1989) is one of the major figures in twentieth-century Brazilian music. His musical legacy includes nearly five hundred compositions. Among them there are fourteen symphonies, several chamber works, concertos, vocal compositions, one opera, music for films, and seventy-three known works for piano solo. Beginning with his very first compositions, his intense and extremely idealistic personality, always searching for new ideas and new musical expressions, led him to explore diverse idioms in his music. His musical path began with an early twelve-tone period in the 1940s, defying the traditional nationalistic musical environment in the country. From there came a drastic turn to a nationalistic idiom, motivated by his social ideals. A more subjective nationalistic idiom in the late 1950s gradually led him to search for new musical paths. A period of experimentation with avant-garde techniques, including aleatory and electro-acoustic music brought him new resources and different colors to his music. In his late years Santoro integrated in his music all his personal searches into a deep and passionate idiom. The many prizes and international recognition he collected in all of his aesthetic periods are evidence of his great success as a Brazilian composer. The purpose of this study is to trace the musical evolution of Cláudio Santoro as may be seen in his piano works. Among his legacy for this instrument are included six sonatas, two sonatinas, thirty-four preludes, groups of short pieces and some individual works. As a basis for understanding the importance of Santoro's contributions to the Brazilian piano repertoire, a general historical account of the main developments in the music composed for this instrument in Brazil prior to Santoro's time is presented in the first section. Santoro's innovative personality and his characteristic compositional style deserve to be better known and studied, and his music, to be appreciated as one of the most powerful artistic expressions in Brazil.Item X Y Z CHAMBER MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR VIOLIN, VIOLONCELLO, DOUBLE BASS, MARIMBA, AND PERCUSSION(2007-06-13) Davis, Joshua Clinton; DeLio, Thomas; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This work features multiple meters sounding simultaneously and a harmonic scheme limited to four four-part interval collections. Each of the four interval collections sounds alone for severaL phrases before moving to another collection and before later sounding simultaneously with another collection. The pitch content of each interval collections is a major triad joined by one non-triadic pitch. The index of interval content for each of the four harmonic collections governs consistency throughout the work. A detailed formal scheme of the entire work outlining harmony, meter, and density of melodic activity was created before specific pitches and rhythms were composed. This scheme balanced the sequence of harmony, meter, and melodic density with varying levels of change that reflect duration considerations inspired by Fibonnacci's Golden Ratio.Item "Alan Lomax's iPod?": Smithsonian Global Sound and Applied Ethnomusicology on the Internet(2007-05-08) Font, David Octaviano; Dueck, Jonathan; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The phenomenon of digital music on the Internet marks a turning point in the way human beings make, listen to, and share music. Smithsonian Global Sound is, variously: 1) a digital music download service; 2) the central hub of a network of digital music archives; and 3) the Internet branch of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Like all things vital, Smithsonian Global Sound is also developing rapidly. This thesis synthesizes a brief history of the Smithsonian Global Sound project, explores some of the vital issues related to the project, and offers a series of observations and recommendations for the project's development. Tracing the roots of Smithsonian Global Sound back to early archival efforts by music scholars, Moses Asch's Folkways Records, the acquisition of the Folkways catalog by the Smithsonian, and the development and launch of Smithsonian Global Sound, the project is examined as a example of applied ethnomusicology on the Internet.Item "Over the Moon": The Creation and Development of Rent by Jonathan Larson(2007-05-03) Titrington, Elizabeth; King, Richard; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite its critical acclaim and commercial success, the hit musical Rent by Jonathan Larson has received scant attention in academic literature. The story of Rent has been told and retold in the popular media, but a look at Larson's own drafts, notes, and other personal writings adds another important and largely missing voice - Larson's own. In this study, I use the Jonathan Larson Collection, donated to the Library of Congress in 2004, to examine this seminal work and composer by tracing Rent's development and documenting Larson's creative process. My analysis of material from the Larson Collection and the interviews of others involved in Rent's development reveals the story of how this unconventional rock musical made it to the stage, highlighting the importance of vision, but also of revision and collaboration.Item El Rocío: A Case Study of Music and Ritual in Andalucía(2007-04-26) Poole, W. Gerard; Robertson, Carolina; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Music is central to the processional pilgrimage of El Rocío, which attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Andalusia, Spain, late each spring. The pilgrimage affords a unique view, in microcosm, of the relationships between music and ritual from both ritual-studies and ethnomusicological perspectives. Based on extensive fieldwork and other research, this dissertation explores the nexus of the Catholic ritual system in Andalusia, flamenco, and the specific music of El Rocío: the Sevillanas Rocieras. That nexus becomes clear through exploration of three particular features of the pilgrimage: (1) the devotional processions that generate a single, focused, collective emotion; (2) the Andalusian musical form called the palo; and (3) the informal musical gatherings called juergas, which take place nightly along the route. Analysis of structural and morphological relationships between ritual, music, and emotion yields surprising realizations about how these three elements come together as embodied aesthetics within a communitas to generate popular culture. Another important finding of this work is the necessity of placing, at the center of the inquiry, the religious experience—including the curious Andalusian phenomenon of the “chaotic” emotional procession and its role within the overall pilgrimage and ritual system. The dissertation concludes with two theoretical positions. The first addresses the process of “emotional structuring” and its role within the musical rituals of El Rocío and, by extension, Andalusia. The second advances a theory of ritual relations with potential application to ritual systems beyond Andalusia. The author presents both positions within an evolutionary framework based on the tenets of biomusicology, neurophenomenology, and Peircean semiotics.Item Irving Lowens and the Washington Star: The Vision, The Demise(2007-04-26) Holly, Janice E.; Davis, Shelley G; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Irving Lowens (1916-1983) was a polymath who possessed an extraordinary intellect and boundless energy. A musicologist of first rank, he made seminal contributions to the study of music in America. Founder of the Society for American Music (formerly the Sonneck Society) and, through his affiliation with the Library of Congress, a leader in the mid 20th-century endeavors of the Music Library Association, he also contributed immeasurably to progress in American musicological enterprise. Having labored throughout his life as educator, composer, librarian, scholar, world traveler, de facto ambassador, and even chess player, Lowens is especially suited for designation as a public intellectual. Self-described as "bookish," Lowens was by virtue of long established habit an inveterate reader and writer. Having transplanted himself, by circuitous route, from his native New York City to Washington, D.C., he became a regular reader of the Washington Star, then newspaper of record in the nation's capital. In December 1953, Lowens penned a letter to the editor praising the work of the Star's new music critic Day Thorpe. Shortly thereafter, the Irving Lowens byline made its first appearance in the newspaper. Thus began a relationship that dramatically changed Lowens's professional life, and ultimately helped to change, for the better, the musical landscape of Washington. This dissertation chronicles the symbiotic relationship forged between Irving Lowens and the Washington Star, from its quiet beginnings through its years of achievement in supporting, upholding, and respecting concert life in the nation's capital, and, finally, to its sad dénouement. Chapter One, a biography, details Lowens's professional life as a music critic and his contributions to the performing arts in Washington, D.C. Chapter Two records the Star's collaborative role as a force for musical good in the nation's capital. Chapter Three brings to light the Star's struggle to survive amid the turmoil of changing times and changing ownership. Chapter Four outlines the circumstances surrounding Lowens's failed fight to maintain the Star's classical-music coverage in Washington. Chapter Five demonstrates the power of Lowens's pen, even as he loses his battle for music at the Star. Although both Lowens and the Washington Star are long since gone, their legacy lives on in the current, vibrant culture that is musical Washington.Item 45 Concert Etudes on the Themes of Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Johannes Brahms(2007-04-25) Miller, Brett; Miller, Gregory; Sparks, Rich; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The composition of these etudes was influenced by Franz Strauss' pedagogical study, 17 Concert Studies for Valve-horn after themes from Beethoven. Strauss' etudes were designed as pedagogical tools to enhance his students' abilities on the horn as well as to enable greater ease in the performance of the works of Beethoven. Strauss borrows themes from Beethoven, each of which is woven into an etude designed around specific technical goals. Each etude is designed as a concert piece, rather than a repetitive technical etude. The etudes of particular interest are those Strauss has composed based on Beethoven's Second Symphony, Fifth Symphony, and Sixth Symphony. Strauss has taken challenging symphonic passages from each, creating etudes that contain the original excerpts, while pushing them far beyond the level of their inherent difficulty. Following Franz Strauss' example, this project involves the creation of 45 concert etudes that are based on themes from the works of Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Johannes Brahms. Each etude focuses on particularly demanding technical or musical challenges that horn players encounter in preparing these works for performance or audition. Each etude is composed in a manner that is stylistically coherent with the composer upon whose theme it is based. While striving to make each etude extremely challenging, each etude is composed so that it could be performed as an unaccompanied recital piece. Each etude pushes the technical envelope past the excerpt upon which it is based, whether the etude is based on articulation, dynamic control, transposition, lyricism, or pure finger technique. It is intended that achieving mastery on a particular etude will directly translate into an overall ease in performing the work upon which it is based. Furthermore, these etudes will develop technique that musically liberating than constant repetition of a particular excerpt. Therefore, these etudes are not only beneficial to those who are learning the orchestral literature from the ground up, but for those who need a new way in which to practice and to enhance their understanding of a particular excerpt.