Music
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Item The Rise and Fall of the Composing Violinist: Composition and Interpretation in Recital(2021) Sugiyama, Kei; Stern, James; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)On a program for a classical music recital today you will typically find the names of the performers, as well as the names of the various composers who wrote the music. At first, this seems perfectly ordinary, until we consider that there was a time when such a distinction between performer and composer was not always so ordinary. Today, musical composition and performance are seen as separate practices. Looking at the works that dominate the modern repertoire of today’s recitals, a disproportionate number of them are written by composers who also performed those very works themselves. This investigation has traced the history of the composing violinist back to the beginnings of the French Violin School of the 19th century. The composing violinist underwent a transformation into the interpreting and performance-oriented violinist in the latter half of the 19th century as a result of a growth in historical and interpretive performance practices popularized by the Hungarian violinist, composer, and pedagogue, Joseph Joachim. Composing violinists have contributed greatly to the modern violin repertoire and their works comprise a significant portion of essential learning materials for the consummate violinist. This dissertation explores such works, through scholarly examination and performance, composed by Niccolò Paganini, Eugène Ysayë, and Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. These are complemented by works written by composers associated with the rise of the interpreting violinist, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Finally, the program is completed with three original works composed by myself as a composing violinist.Item "AMBER LEAVES" FOR SOLO SITAR AND ELECTRONICS(2012) Regulski, Thomas; Delio, Thomas; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Amber Leaves is a composition for solo sitar and live electronics. The work constitutes a fusion between Western musical composition and Indian classical music, which I have been studying simultaneously for the past seven years. The sitar's music draws heavily upon its traditional performance technique, while also introducing a number of extended techniques developed specifically for this piece. Compositionally, I rely minimally on the tonal elements of Indian music, choosing instead an approach to tonality consistent with my recent work. The instrument is amplified by four loudspeakers, which are positioned in a square around the audience. At the same time, a microphone is picking up the sound and sending it to a computer, where it is modulated in various ways. Once processed, the computer sends the sound out to the same loudspeakers. The speakers themselves play an important role in the composition, as the sound is constantly moving from one to another. A large portion of the electronic processing occurs in a patch that I programmed in Max/MSP. The patch creates a variety of musical responses based on a real-time spectral analysis of the sitar performance. This initial process establishes a fundamental relationship between the synthesized sound and the sitar's music. Furthermore, I make use of the programming language Lisp to perform a number of algorithms that aid in the generation of these sounds.Item Constrict-Depart, String Quartet No. 1(2017) Green, Bradley Stuart; DeLio, Thomas; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Constrict-Depart is a piece for string quartet in two movements that lasts approximately fourteen minutes. The title refers to an overarching sonic theme within and across both movements that consists of the constriction and subsequent expansion of a vacillating pitch band. In addition, the form of each movement is defined by the constriction and expansion of the string registers. The title also refers to a constant push and pull between a self-imposed binary categorization of sonic materials. The binary categories of sound being explored are defined as noise (aperiodic sounds) and pitch (periodic sounds). In this context, noise is classified best as a sound or collection of sounds that offer no perceivable pitch, or a cluster of pitches (either within the same register or multiple registers) so dense that individual pitches become imperceptible. By contrast, pitched sounds would be classified as sounds in which there is a definite and perceptible frequency, or group of frequencies. In the piece, these categories of sound are set as two extremes on a spectrum, with noise on one end and pitch on the other, and are juxtaposed as extremes, and also as collections of sounds that fall between the two extremes of the spectrum. The piece is composed with the use of time frames, and the graphic notation was created specifically to allow for a greater degree of performance freedom than is generally possible with standard notation, while still maintaining a fixed formal structure that keeps the order of sound events the same from performance to performance. Each performer is to read from the full score, and the performers are instructed to realize their parts independently of the ensemble and to not attempt to coordinate attacks based on the visual relationship between their part and another part in the score (except where indicated). This independence allows for the music to occur naturally as a result of intermingling individual realizations, as opposed to general coordination.Item Move, for string quartet, piano, percussion and electronics(2016) Sheil, Geoffrey; Fry, James; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)MOVE is a composition for string quartet, piano, percussion and electronics of approximately 15-16 minutes duration in three movements. The work incorporates electronic samples either synthesized electronically by the composer or recorded from acoustic instruments. The work aims to use electronic sounds as an expansion of the tonal palette of the chamber group (rather like an extended percussion setup) as opposed to a dominating sonic feature of the music. This is done by limiting the use of electronics to specific sections of the work, and by prioritizing blend and sonic coherence in the synthesized samples. The work uses fixed electronics in such a way that allows for tempo variations in the music. Generally, a difficulty arises in that fixed “tape” parts don’t allow tempo variations; while truly “live” software algorithms sacrifice rhythmic accuracy. Sample pads, such as the Roland SPD-SX, provide an elegant solution. The latency of such a device is close enough to zero that individual samples can be triggered in real time at a range of tempi. The percussion setup in this work (vibraphone and sample pad) allows one player to cover both parts, eliminating the need for an external musician to trigger the electronics. Compositionally, momentum is used as a constructing principle. The first movement makes prominent use of ostinato and shifting meter. The second is a set of variations on a repeated harmonic pattern, with a polymetric middle section. The third is a type of passacaglia, wherein the bassline is not introduced right away, but becomes more significant later in the movement. Given the importance of visual presentation in the Internet age, the final goal of the project was to shoot HD video of a studio performance of the work for publication online. The composer recorded audio and video in two separate sessions and edited the production using Logic X and Adobe Premiere Pro. The final video presentation can be seen at geoffsheil.com/move.Item The Israeli Violin since 1948(2015) Draiblate, Netanel; Salness, David; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The focal point of this project is researching the role of key Israeli composers through compositions written during the first two decades of the State of Israel. The dissertation explores the influences that led the composers to write a specific piece, whether it served as a personal dedication or perhaps reflection on current events happening in Israel contemporaneous to the times. Key questions include: Where are the origins of each composer and what brought them to Israel? Was there a connection between the Israeli composers and prominent violinists during the compositional process?Item Alms for Soprano and Orchestra(2014) Pierson, Joel; Gibson, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Alms is a song cycle for soprano and orchestra in four movements, using five poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay as text. The poems are Alms, Afternoon On A Hill, Bluebeard, First Fig, and Second Fig. Due to the brevity of First Fig and Second Fig, I set these poems as one movement. The instrumentation is 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, 4 percussion (including timpani), harp, piano, and strings. I have been drawn to the poetry of Millay for many years, and have set a few of her poems in the past. While Millay was not a progressive in terms of poetic structure or meter, her subject matter was groundbreaking, and her works contain an alluring balance between modernism and tradition. This balance runs somewhat in parallel to my music, which maintains some semblance of tonal structure, while also venturing into more contemporary techniques. A product of the Jazz Age, I believe that some of Millay's artistic perspective has a home in my music, which relies on jazz harmony and shows great appreciation of early twentieth-century popular and art music. The roots of this particular piece come from a desire to create a large orchestral work which has an underpinning of jazz harmony, but without most of the rhythmic or cultural associations that are attached to composing "jazz". I employ ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, so typical of jazz, but not in terms of chord progressions moving by fifths or resolving with a conventional sense of voice leading. Much of the harmony is voiced without regard for the traditional hierarchy of tonal music, despite the fact that the chords and progressions themselves contain almost exclusively "tonal sounding" chords. The purpose of composing this way is to create textures which are both unpredictable and contemporary, yet approachable by a listener who has little exposure to present-day art music. This is how I interpret the work of Millay - a modern artistic endeavor which still has roots in tradition.Item Above the Horizon, for orchestra(2011) Jaskot, Matthew Joseph; Wilson, Mark E; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Above the Horizon is a two-movement composition for orchestra of roughly sixteen and a half minutes. The piece explores a variety of musical characteristics that have been important in my recent work, including the textural difference between active and static music. In this piece, I try to find various ways of superimposing these seemingly contrasting ideals. For example, a section of music that is not driven by pulse or harmonic change and is therefore static may be animated by active musical gestures such as tremolandi, trills or repetitions of single pitches. This technique helps to provide a constant sense of energy even within the slower, more reflective sections. Another important characteristic involves using timbre changes to transform single pitches and/or larger harmonic units. The orchestral medium, with its broad spectrum of colors, was a logical choice for this aesthetic consideration. The first movement, Cloud Formations, considers how the registral placement of pitch affects the resulting sound of similar harmonies, mainly through the opposition of open-spaced harmonies and cluster chords. The piece can be divided into three main formal sections, the first of which slowly unfolds the primary harmonic material, an openly spaced five-pitch chord that expands in a wedge-shaped motion. The second section shifts the focus to clusters, concentrating the pitch material into narrower but densely packed registral bands. The third section combines ideas from the previous two and leads to a forceful orchestral tutti before a short coda ends the movement. The second movement, Fireworks, consists of an energetic sound world that is motivated by the initial brass chords. The reiteration of these chords leads to the first of three main formal sections, where an underlying sixteenth note pulse that is irregularly accented provides a background for multiple layers of music. A contrasting second section lacks a regular pulse, is more chromatic and focuses on high and low registral extremes. The final section begins with a single trill-like figure before forceful repetitions of dense harmonies, rushing scalar gestures and repeated yet staggered pitch patterns provide the material for the end of the piece.Item Resonance(2010) Slegowski, Eric; DeLio, Thomas; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Resonance is a composition for flute, cello and piano that is comprised of four unique, yet interrelated movements. These create an overarching form of expansion and contraction over the course of the work. The movements connect with one another on both a micro- and macro-structural level. Each reflects one stage in the evolution of a typical sonic event: "attack", "compression", "growth", and "echo". At the most basic level, relationships can be perceived through the duration and instrumentation in each of the movements. Duration of the four movements in minutes is 3,5,8, and 3 respectively. Movements one and four are most obviously affiliated through duration, both being three minutes. Also, they are clearly linked in that they are both written for solo instruments. Placing movements two and three in a subset with movement one yields a duration series of 3,5,8 that illustrates an overall expansion in proportional length. Moreover, this evolution is perceptible by the use of the instruments: movement one is essentially a flute solo; movement two intersperses passages that use all three instruments simultaneously with long solos; and movement three makes prominent use of all of the instruments in combination. These three movements create an asymmetrical evolution, which is resolved in movement four, returning to a predominantly solo texture. Registral and textural connections also play a role in unifying the movements. Movement I ("Attack") is characterized by a rapid and fragmented texture as well as a large-scale shift upward in register, while its counterpart Movement IV slowly shifts downward and the solo cello uses a predominantly sustaining texture. Movement II ("Compression") begins with a slight upward shift in register before beginning a long descent. Movement III ("Growth") expands on the upward motion of movement one by increasing the overall range, beginning in the lowest register of the bass flute and gradually shifting to the upper register of the piccolo. The fundamental relationships among the movements discussed above result in an organic evolution that characterizes the work in its entirety. The principal organizational strategies of Resonance outlined above fashion an organic evolution that spans all four movements and unifies the piece.Item The Effects of Gender and Grade Level on the Compositional Processes of Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grade Students(2009) Kurtz, Jonathan David; Carter, Bruce A; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of grade level and gender on the amount of time early adolescents spent on selected compositional processes (exploration, repetition, development, and silence). This study serves as an extension of the Kratus (1989) study that examined the compositional processes used by 7, 9, and 11-year-olds. For this study, 30 students in grades 6, 7, and 8 were given 10 minutes to compose a piece of music on an electronic keyboard. Following the composition time, students were asked to play their compositions two times in a row. The time spent on the compositional processes of exploration, development, repetition, and silence was analyzed quantitatively by the researcher and two independent judges. Analysis showed no significant relationships between grade level and the use of compositional processes. No gender differences were found, and all students in grades 6-8 were able create a composition to some degree. Although no significant main effects were observed, analysis of the mean time spent on the process of development indicates that a trend may exist in which older students spend more time developing ideas than younger students.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.