Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- Creators: Norton, Kay
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Illuminating Silent Voices: An African-American Contribution to the Percussion Literature in the Western Art Music Tradition will discuss how Raymond Ridley's original composition, FyrStar (2009), is comparable to other pre-existing percussion works in the literature. Selected compositions for comparison included Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra, Op. 278 (1949); David Friedman's and Dave Samuels's Carousel (1985); Raymond Helble's Duo Concertante for Vibraphone and Marimba, Op. 54 (2009); Tera de Marez Oyens's Octopus: for Bass Clarinet and one Percussionist (marimba/vibraphone) (1982). In the course of this document, the author will discuss the uniqueness of FyrStar's instrumentation of nine single reed instruments--E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, B-flat contrabass clarinet, B-flat soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and B-flat baritone saxophone, juxtaposing this unique instrumentation to the symbolic relationship between the ensemble, marimba, and vibraphone.
ContributorsThompson, Darrell Irwin (Author) / Sunkett, Mark E (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Little, Bliss (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
W.A. Mozart was a masterful creator of music and drama as well as a keen observer of human relationships. Librettists were enamored of his ability to bring their words to life with his music. His truthful portrayal of human relationships, particularly involving women, was highly influenced by his own life experiences. Through these relationships he learned to create characters and music that clearly depict female sibling relationships in the eighteenth century. A review of educational opportunities for women during the eighteenth century, Mozart's personal relationships, as well as selected roles in his operas will help to explain Mozart's portrayal of the eighteenth-century female sibling stereotypes. While Mozart's self-centeredness is well documented in biographies by Cliff Eisen and Ruth Halliwell, and the argument can be made that he surrounded himself with females who fulfilled his needs, he was often drawn to operas in which he could advocate musically for a female character's liberation from the overbearing influence of powerful men. Although Mozart's "musically empowered" women appear in nearly every opera, for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the characters of Così fan tutte's Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and Le Nozze di Figaro's Countess. First, however, a closer analysis of Mozart's early life and his relationships with his sister and mother is necessary. The ways Mozart set characters created by DaPonte and Beaumarchais cannot be separated from the ways he was taught to appreciate females in his family of origin. Social structure during the eighteenth century dictated a woman's education, responsibility to her family, and therefore, played a fundamental role in defining her life. This situation often created expectations within the birth order that had an impact on sibling relationships as well as individual personalities. Many social and familial influences are represented through the operas of Mozart. Così fan tutte (January 26, 1790) and Le Nozze di Figaro (May 1, 1786) both contain a central female sibling relationship that reflects aspects of Mozart's relationships with women throughout his life.
ContributorsWalker, Anne (Author) / Doan, Jerry (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / May, Judy (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Reber, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010