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Description
The solo repertoire from the Light Music Era serves as an important link between the Classical and Jazz soloist traditions. These characteristics are best highlighted through an analysis of three solo transcriptions: Felix Arndt's Nola as performed by Al Gallodoro, Rudy Wiedoeft's Valse Vanité, as performed by Freddy Gardener, and Jimmy Dorsey's Oodles of Noodles, as performed by Al Gallodoro. The transcriptions, done by the author, are taken from primary source recordings, and the ensuing analysis serves to show the saxophone soloists of the Light Music Era as an amalgamation of classical and jazz saxophone. Many of the works performed during the Light Music Era are extant only in recorded form. Even so, these performances possess great historical significance within the context of the state of the saxophone as an important solo instrument in the wider musical landscape. The saxophone solos from the Light Music Era distinguish themselves through the use of formal development and embellishment of standard "song forms" (such as ABA, and AABA), and the use of improvisational techniques that are common to early Jazz; however, the analysis shows that the improvisational techniques were distinctly different than a Jazz solo improvisation in nature. Although it has many characteristics in common with both "Classical Music" (this is used as a generic term to refer to the music of the Western European common practice period that is not Pop music or Jazz) and Jazz, the original research shows that the saxophone solo music from the Light Music Era is a distinctly original genre due to the amalgamation of seemingly disparate elements.
ContributorsPuccio, Dan (Author) / Mcallister, Timothy P (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Pilafian, J. Samuel (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Throughout history, African-Americans have had to fight for their civil rights. There were many ways used to voice their opinions and advance the civil rights movement, including protests and marches. One very effective method was through music and the creation of jazz. Louis Armstrong was an innovator and major influence of jazz. His abilities as an artist were recognized by society, above his political position or class status.
The topic of my thesis is Louis Armstrong and his influence on society and the Civil Rights Movement. The intent is to demonstrate how Louis Armstrong aided the Civil Rights Movement by using his music to promote social justice and racial equality. The focus will be on the context of African-Americans, their social status, and rights from the early 1900s to the mid-1900s. I will connect this to important events in that time such as the fight against Jim Crow Laws and how Louis Armstrong played a role in ending segregation. He accomplished this by pushing the movement forward through speeches, fund-raising events, and his innovation of jazz. Armstrong’s gift was a form of swing jazz that advanced improvisation and emotion of music.
He was criticized for playing to segregated audiences and was thought to keep offensive stereotypes alive. However, Louis Armstrong battled against these conspiracies by performing fund-raising events and through public political stances against the oppression of African-Americans. As an example, he was outspoken about his disapproval of government and the public for their treatment of the nine African-American students enrolled at Little Rock. This resulted in the first time the school would be unsegregated between whites and blacks. Louis Armstrong worked hard in the fight against segregation and used his mastery of jazz to advance the civil rights movement. Finally, I will make a proposal as to how society can learn from Louis Armstrong and how to inspire new innovative forms of positively influencing society to help the less fortunate.
The topic of my thesis is Louis Armstrong and his influence on society and the Civil Rights Movement. The intent is to demonstrate how Louis Armstrong aided the Civil Rights Movement by using his music to promote social justice and racial equality. The focus will be on the context of African-Americans, their social status, and rights from the early 1900s to the mid-1900s. I will connect this to important events in that time such as the fight against Jim Crow Laws and how Louis Armstrong played a role in ending segregation. He accomplished this by pushing the movement forward through speeches, fund-raising events, and his innovation of jazz. Armstrong’s gift was a form of swing jazz that advanced improvisation and emotion of music.
He was criticized for playing to segregated audiences and was thought to keep offensive stereotypes alive. However, Louis Armstrong battled against these conspiracies by performing fund-raising events and through public political stances against the oppression of African-Americans. As an example, he was outspoken about his disapproval of government and the public for their treatment of the nine African-American students enrolled at Little Rock. This resulted in the first time the school would be unsegregated between whites and blacks. Louis Armstrong worked hard in the fight against segregation and used his mastery of jazz to advance the civil rights movement. Finally, I will make a proposal as to how society can learn from Louis Armstrong and how to inspire new innovative forms of positively influencing society to help the less fortunate.
ContributorsSchmerler, Cameron (Author) / Wells, Christopher (Thesis director) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Director Wes Anderson enlisted the talents of composer Mark Mothersbaugh for his first four films (1996-2004), but suddenly decided to turn to composer Alexandre Desplat for the following five films (2009-2021). The question arises as to why this would be the case. In this paper I explore the career backgrounds of Mothersbaugh and Desplat including their musical influences and styles. I then examine Mothersbaugh’s music for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Desplat’s score for The French Dispatch. I analyze the use of music in these films and how it relates to the characters, their feelings, and their thoughts as well as how the music is intertwined with Anderson’s unique direction style. Part of this investigation will highlight the musical styles used, the mixture between composed and borrowed music, and the function of the music in the film to discover the similarities and differences between the two composers. With this paper I hope to fill a gap in the literature on film studies focused on the work of Anderson.
ContributorsReynolds, Margaret (Author) / Feisst, Sabine (Thesis director) / Busch, Ashlee (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
The percussion jazz ensemble is a long-established yet rare component of 21st century percussion studios in the United States. While many American collegiate programs have percussion ensembles that perform jazz-based pieces, none are identified as a “percussion jazz ensemble.” This may be for a variety of reasons. Professors may not have considered adding a percussion jazz ensemble to their program because of its scarcity in American universities. Including such a class would be challenging if the instructors did not feel comfortable or familiar enough with jazz idioms and vernacular. Additionally, very few compositions or arrangements are available for this group. While there are several method books on jazz vibraphone, there are no pedagogical resources designed specifically for the percussion jazz ensemble. The purpose of this document is to provide historical context, curricula, resource materials, and arrangements necessary for establishing a percussion jazz ensemble at the collegiate level. The end result will be to demonstrate the importance of an ensemble such as this for aspiring percussionists and motivate institutions focused on Western classical music to incorporate jazz elements into their percussion program. Research conducted for this project was limited to academic universities, pedagogical approaches, and ensembles found only in the United States and will not include a survey of those outside this country.
ContributorsMoreau, Danielle (Author) / Smith, Jeffrey (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Many filmmakers have explored the sonic possibilities offered by experimental, avant-garde, and modernist music as it prospered in the mid-twentieth century. Fascinatingly, horror cinema, with all its eerie subject matter, has championed the use of experimental music in its films. Since the silent-film era, horror has stood much to gain by deviating from the normative film scoring standards developed in Hollywood. Filmmakers indebted to horror continually seek new sounds and approaches to showcase the otherworldly and suspenseful themes of their films. Numerous movies that challenged the status quo through transformative scoring practices achieved distinction among rival films. The rise of auteurist films in the 1950s further instigated experimental practices as the studio system declined and created a space for new filmmakers to experiment with aesthetic strategies. Film music scholarship has paid relatively little attention to the convergences between experimental concert music and horror scoring practices. This topic is crucial, especially horror’s employment of existing experimental music, as it has played a critical role in American filmmaking in the second half of the twentieth century. My thesis traces the relationship between horror cinema and experimental music. I survey the use of experimental music throughout the history of horror films and examine the scores for three films: William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010). With my case studies of these three films, I aim to fill a significant gap in film music scholarship, highlight the powerful use of experimental music textures and timbres and demonstrate this music’s significant role in cultivating new scoring practices that succeed in engaging, unnerving and shocking audiences of horror cinema.
ContributorsAle, Lea (Author) / Feisst, Sabine (Thesis advisor) / Saucier, Catherine (Committee member) / Schmelz, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021