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- All Subjects: Music
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Arizona State University
- Resource Type: Text
Description
In order to cope with the decreasing availability of symphony jobs and collegiate faculty positions, many musicians are starting to pursue less traditional career paths. Also, to combat declining audiences, musicians are exploring ways to cultivate new and enthusiastic listeners through relevant and engaging performances. Due to these challenges, many community-based chamber music ensembles have been formed throughout the United States. These groups not only focus on performing classical music, but serve the needs of their communities as well. The problem, however, is that many musicians have not learned the business skills necessary to create these career opportunities. In this document I discuss the steps ensembles must take to develop sustainable careers. I first analyze how groups build a strong foundation through getting to know their communities and creating core values. I then discuss branding and marketing so ensembles can develop a public image and learn how to publicize themselves. This is followed by an investigation of how ensembles make and organize their money. I then examine the ways groups ensure long-lasting relationships with their communities and within the ensemble. I end by presenting three case studies of professional ensembles to show how groups create and maintain successful careers. Ensembles must develop entrepreneurship skills in addition to cultivating their artistry. These business concepts are crucial to the longevity of chamber groups. Through interviews of successful ensemble members and my own personal experiences in the Tetra String Quartet, I provide a guide for musicians to use when creating a community-based ensemble.
ContributorsDalbey, Jenna (Author) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / McLin, Katherine (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The German pianist and composer Johannes Brahms (1883-1897) wrote more than 122 works for a wide variety of ensembles and genres. Despite this remarkable productivity, and his widely heralded talent for innovation and technique as a composer, few of his works have been arranged for solo guitar, and these have focused primarily on his simpler, more melodic works. Conventional wisdom is that his music is "too dense" to be played on the guitar. As a result, there are no arrangements of orchestral works by Brahms in the standard repertoire for the guitar. In arranging Brahms's Serenade in D Major, movt. 1 for the guitar, I provide a counter argument that not all of Brahms's orchestral music is too dense all of the time. In Part I, I provide a brief overview of the history of, and sources for, the Serenade. Part II describes a step-by-step guide through the process of arranging orchestral repertoire for the solo guitar. Part III is an examination of the editing process that utilizes examples from the guitar arrangement of the Serenade in order to illustrate the various techniques and considerations that are part of the editing process. Part IV is a performance edition of the arrangement. In summary, the present arrangement of Brahms's Serenade, op.11 is the beginning of a conversation about why the "guitar world" should be incorporating the music of Brahms into the standard repertoire. The lessons learned, and the technical challenges discovered, should help inform future arrangers and guitar performers for additional compositions by Brahms.
ContributorsLanier, William Hudson (Author) / Koonce, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18, 1918 into the Madiba clan in Mvezo, Transkei, South Africa. Mandela was a lawyer by trade and a freedom fighter who envisioned freedom and equality for all South Africans regardless of race. In 1965, Mandela was imprisoned at Robben Island for twenty-seven years for treason and terrorist activities against the South African apartheid regime: he was assigned prison numbers 46664. In 1992, Mandela was released from prison and two years later not only became the first democratically elected president of South Africa, but also its first black president. "Madiba 46664" is an eight-minute chamber work scored for flute, oboe, clarinet in B-flat, and bassoon; vibraphone, and two percussionists; piano; violins, violas, and celli. The work blends traditional South African rhythms of the drumming culture with elements of Western harmony and form in contrasting textures of homophony, polyphony and antiphony. "Madiba 46664" utilizes Mandela's prison number, birthdate and age (at the time the composition process began in 2013) for the initial generation of meter, rhythm, harmony, melody, and form. The work also shares intercultural concepts that can be seen in the works of three contemporary African composers, South Africans Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph and Andile Khumalo, and Nigerian Ayo Oluranti. Each section represents a period of Mandela's life as a freedom fighter, a prisoner, and a president. The inspiration stems from the composer's discussions with Mandela soon after his release from prison and prior to his presidency. These lively discussions pertained to the state of traditional music in then apartheid South Africa and led to this creation. The conversations also played a role in the creative process.
ContributorsMabingnai, Collette Sipho (Composer) / DeMars, James (Thesis advisor) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Humphreys, Jere (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra was conceived in February of 2013, and conceptually it is my attempt to fuse personal expressions of jazz and classical music into one fully realized statement. It is a three movement work (fast, slow, fast) for 2 fl., 2 ob., 2 cl., bsn., 2 hrn., 2 tpt., tbn., pno., perc., str. (6,4,2,2,1). The work is approximately 27 minutes in duration. The first movement of the Concerto is written in a fluid sonata form. A fugato begins where the second theme would normally appear, and the second theme does not fully appear until near the end of the solo piano section. The result is that the second theme when finally revealed is so reminiscent of the history of jazz and classical synthesis that it does not sound completely new, and in fact is a return of something that was heard before, but only hinted at in this piece. The second movement is a kind of deconstructive set of variations, with a specific theme and harmonic pattern implied throughout the movement. However, the full theme is not disclosed until the final variation. The variations are interrupted by moments of pure rhythmic music, containing harmony made up of major chords with an added fourth, defying resolution, and dissolving each time back into a new variation. The third movement is in rondo form, using rhythmic and harmonic influences from jazz. The percussion plays a substantial role in this movement, acting as a counterpoint to the piano part throughout. This movement and the piece concludes with an extended coda, inspired indirectly by the simple complexities of an improvisational piano solo, building in complexity as the concerto draws to a close.
ContributorsSneider, Elliot (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This paper and its accompanying recital examine three solo vocal works by Italian composer Alfredo Casella (1883-1947): "Larmes" from Cinq Mélodies (Op. 2); "Mort, ta servante est à ma porte" from L'adieu à la vie: Quatre lyriques funèbres extraites du "Gitanjali" de Rabindranath Tagore (Op. 26); and "Amante sono, vaghiccia, di voi" from Tre canzoni trecentesche (Op. 36). Each of these songs is discussed as representative of Casella's three compositional periods. A fourth song, "Ecce odor filii mei" from Tre canti sacri per baritono et organo (Op. 66), is also examined, as an end-of-life composition. Some of the more important solo vocal works composed in each period are mentioned to show where the four selected songs fit into Casella's compositional output and to suggest music for further study or repertoire.
ContributorsGordon, Stefan (Author) / Mills, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Committee member) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The normal playing range of a brass instrument includes a definitive stopping note in the instrument's low register. However, players have the ability to manipulate their lips to extend the low range beyond this point; notes sounding below an instrument's normal playing range are called pedal tones. The history of pedal tones in trumpet performance and pedagogy has long been a source of confusion and misinformation. Consequently, this paper also discusses the educational value of using pedal tones, includes a brief history of players and teachers who have formulated pedal tone exercise methods, and examines their use within the six most influential method books that promote the use of pedal tones. The six books are Original Louis Maggio System for Brass by Carlton MacBeth, Double High C in 37 Weeks by Roger Spaulding, Systematic Approach to Daily Practice by Claude Gordon, Trumpet Yoga by Jerome Callet, James Stamp Warm-Ups +Studies by Thomas Stevens, and The Balanced Embouchure by Jeff Smiley.
ContributorsRodriguez, Malachy Sean (Author) / Hickman, David (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
DescriptionThe purpose of this project is to explore the influence of folk music in guitar compositions by Manuel Ponce from 1923 to 1932. It focuses on his Tres canciones populares mexicanas and Tropico and Rumba.
ContributorsGarcia Santos, Arnoldo (Author) / Koonce, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Rotaru, Catalin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study investigates ways in which music teachers make personal sense of their professional selves and their perceptions of their places within the broader landscape of music education relative to other types of music teachers in school and community settings. A social phenomenological framework based on the writing of Alfred Schutz was used to examine how participants constructed a sense of self in their social worlds and how they both shaped and were shaped by their social worlds. Eight music teachers participated in this study and represented differing types of music teaching careers, including: public school general music teaching and ensemble directing; independent studio teaching and teaching artistry; studio lessons, classes, and ensembles at community music centers; church ensemble directing; and other combinations of music teaching jobs throughout school and community settings. Data were collected from in-depth interviews, observations of the music teachers in their various teaching roles, and artifacts related to their music teaching positions. Research questions included: Who do the participants conceive of themselves to be as music professionals and music teachers; How do they construct and enact their professional selves, including their teaching selves; How is their construction of professional self, including teaching self, supported and sustained by interactions in their social worlds; and, What implications does this have for the music profession as a whole? After developing a professional portrait of each participant, analysis revealed an overall sense of professional self and various degrees of three role-taking selves: performing, teaching, and musical. Analysis also considered sense of self in relation to social worlds, including consociates, contemporaries, predecessors, and successors, and the extent to which performing, teaching, and musical selves were balanced, harmonized, or reconciled for each participant. Social worlds proved influential in terms of participants' support for sense of self. Participants who enacted the most harmonized, reconciled senses of self appeared to have a professional self that was grounded in a strong sense of musical self, enabling them to think and act flexibly. Participants whose professional selves were dominated by a strong sense of teaching or performing self seemed confined by the structures of their social world particular to teaching or performing, lacked a sense of musical self, and were less able to think and act flexibly. Findings suggest that active construction of consociate relationships throughout varied social worlds can support a balanced, reconciled conception of self, which informs teaching practice and furthers the ability to act in entrepreneurial ways.
ContributorsBucura, Elizabeth (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Landes, Heather (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Due to the recent inclusion of a semi-regular "News from Latin America" column since 2007 in The Clarinet magazine and an increased emphasis on world music genre performances at the International Clarinet Association's annual ClarinetFest, Latin American clarinet compositions have become increasingly popular. Consequently, Latin American performers and composers are receiving more attention and recognition than ever before. The contemporary repertoire for clarinet increasingly includes works highlighted at the ClarinetFest international festivals, and many clarinetists express interest in finding new Latin American compositions. In order to supplement this growing Latin American repertoire and to introduce the life and works of Peruvian composer Armando Guevara Ochoa (1926-2013), this project presents a brief biography of the composer, a discussion of his musical style, and new editions of his popular works transcribed for clarinet. A recording of these works is included in an appendix to this document. Prior to this research, much of the scholarship written about Guevara Ochoa was in Spanish. While most sources and scholars relate that Guevara Ochoa composed over 400 works, the whereabouts of fewer than 200 are currently known. This project will supplement Guevara Ochoa's clarinet literature and raise awareness of his compositions in English-speaking countries.
ContributorsPalmer, Katherine H (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 18 (1888), was the last major work of chamber music by Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Although for only two instruments, the Sonata reflects Strauss's growing interest in symphonic writing both in his tone poems and orchestral songs, anticipating his style of orchestration and his expressive use of tone colors. This study examines instances of orchestral writing in the piano and makes suggestions for their performance. An overview of Strauss's compositions, from his early chamber music to the `heroic' symphonic works, places the Sonata in context. An analytical description of each of the Sonata's three movements shows the structure and content of this large work and provides the framework for examination of the orchestral effects in the piano. Comparison of excerpts from the Sonata with passages from Strauss's orchestral writing in Don Juan (1889), "Cäcilie," "Morgen!," and "Lied der Frauen" leads to suggestions for the collaborative pianist of ways to re-create the various orchestral effects.
ContributorsNixon, Thomas (Pianist) (Author) / Ryan, Russell R (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Committee member) / Hamilton, Robert (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014