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- Genre: Masters Thesis
Cage’s United States Bicentennial compositions – and his other pieces created in the 1970s and 1980s – have received little attention from music scholars. Unique and provocative works within his oeuvre, these compositions raise many questions. Why was Cage commissioned to write these works? How did Cage pay tribute to this celebratory event in American history? What socio–political meanings are implied in these pieces? In this thesis I will provide political, cultural, and biographical contexts of these works. I will further examine their genesis, analyze their scores and selected performances, reflect on their meaning and critical implications and consider the reception of these works. My research draws on unpublished documents housed in the CBC’s archives at McGill University, the archives of C. F. Peters, the New York Public Library and it builds on research of such scholars as David W. Bernstein, William Brooks, Benjamin Piekut, and Christopher Shultis. This thesis offers new information and perspectives on Cage’s creative work in the 1970s and aims at filling a significant gap in Cage scholarship.
Music therapy is a highly effective treatment when used in the care of persons with dementia (PWD) and singing in particular is found to be calming and pleasurable to PWD. Seniorsing.net is a music-based application for use in memory care that provides a fun and interactive sing along activity for PWD. Developed by a music therapist, the application is designed to engage the user in singing along with recorded song performances while lyrics are displayed on the device screen. Seniorsing.net is accessible on any mobile device and is intended to provide a positive musical experience for PWD, whether listening or singing along. This study was conducted to test the design aspects of the application for use with PWD and their caregivers. Eighteen dyads of participants/caregivers were recruited from the senior community. Participants were observed interacting with seniorsing.net by the music therapist to provide an understanding of the usability of seniorsing.net and to collect information on the responses of PWD to seniorsing.net. Caregivers were given the opportunity to evaluate seniorsing.net via survey. The parameters that were measured included visual clarity and appeal, audibility, clarity of directions and usability by PWD and their caregivers. Observations of participants showed positive interactions with the application. Over 64% of participants independently engaged in singing with the application and over 50% of participants were able to activate features of the application with minimal assistance. Caregiver feedback was also positive. Most caregivers strongly agreed or agreed to the effectiveness of the design and its ease of use with PWD. 100% of caregivers found the song performances to be appropriate and comfortable to follow and sing. Caregivers gave suggestions for improvement of seniorsing.net, such as including more song choices and having more written directions on some of the screens. In conclusion, seniorsing.net was found to be enjoyable and easy to use by PWD and their caregivers.
Keywords: Dementia, Music Therapy, Singing, Technology
With over a century of culturally established associations for different musical sounds, the narrative properties of film scoring powerfully influence how societies and cultures perceive themselves through film. Film scoring in mainstream culture functions as a form of social practice in which consumers dictate the market that producers create for, while the ideas and philosophies portrayed in film shape consumer audiences’ perceptions of what their societies look like. A surge of discourse in the 21st century surrounds issues of representation and inclusivity in mainstream media, including what constitutes appropriation versus appreciation in film scores using non-Western music traditions. Recent postcolonial ethnomusicological theory demonstrates that collaboration and co-authorship are inclusive ways that can both avoid the pitfalls of colonialist power structures and also create autonomy for participating marginalized groups. My research examines four contemporary films of the 21st century--Kung Fu Panda 3, Moana, Black Panther, and The Breadwinner--and the collaborations between film composers and source musicians that establish cultural and racial musical narratives. I analyze various musical techniques these composers learned through the collaboration process with contributing source musicians and the resulting musical space each film’s soundtrack created for the representative demographic. This discourse opens other avenues of exploration into how mainstream media and the “global imagination” informs cultural music identities. I conclude my research with examples of film scores appearing outside cinema in social musicality; these examples demonstrate the impact that inclusivity in film scoring has on many areas of mainstream culture, especially in racial representation discourse.