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Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano was composed by Paul Schoenfeld (b.1947) in 1990 as a showpiece, spotlighting the virtuosity of both the violin and piano in equal measure. Each movement is a modern interpretation of a folk or popular genre, re- envisioned over intricate jazz harmonies and rhythms. The work was commissioned by violinist Lev Polyakin, who specifically requested some short pieces that could be performed in a local jazz establishment named Night Town in Cleveland, Ohio. The result is a work that is approximately fifteen minutes in length. Schoenfeld is a respected composer in the contemporary classical music community, whose Café Music (1986) for piano trio has recently become a staple of the standard chamber music repertoire. Many of his other works, however, remain in relative obscurity. It is the focus of this document to shed light on at least one other notable composition; Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano. Among the topics to be discussed regarding this piece are a brief history behind the genesis of this composition, a structural summary of the entire work and each of its movements, and an appended practice guide based on interview and coaching sessions with the composer himself. With this project, I hope to provide a better understanding and appreciation of this work.
ContributorsJanczyk, Kristie Annette (Author) / Ryan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Beginning with the publication of Moneyball by Michael Lewis in 2003, the use of sabermetrics \u2014 the application of statistical analysis to baseball records - has exploded in major league front offices. Executives Billy Beane, Paul DePoedesta, and Theo Epstein are notable figures that have been successful in incorporating sabermetrics to their team's philosophy, resulting in playoff appearances and championship success. The competitive market of baseball, once dominated by the collusion of owners, now promotes innovative thought to analytically develop competitive advantages. The tiered economic payrolls of Major League Baseball (MLB) has created an environment in which large-market teams are capable of "buying" championships through the acquisition of the best available talent in free agency, and small-market teams are pushed to "build" championships through the drafting and systematic farming of high-school and college level players. The use of sabermetrics promotes both models of success \u2014 buying and building \u2014 by unbiasedly determining a player's productivity. The objective of this paper is to develop a regression-based predictive model that can be used by Majors League Baseball teams to forecast the MLB career average offensive performance of college baseball players from specific conferences. The development of this model required multiple tasks: I. Data was obtained from The Baseball Cube, a baseball records database providing both College and MLB data. II. Modifications to the data were applied to adjust for year-to-year formatting, a missing variable for seasons played, the presence of missing values, and to correct league identifiers. III. Evaluation of multiple offensive productivity models capable of handling the obtained dataset and regression forecasting technique. IV. SAS software was used to create the regression models and analyze the residuals for any irregularities or normality violations. The results of this paper find that there is a relationship between Division 1 collegiate baseball conferences and average career offensive productivity in Major Leagues Baseball, with the SEC having the most accurate reflection of performance.
ContributorsBadger, Mathew Bernard (Author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
For this project, I analyzed both the amount of overuse injuries or repetitive stress injuries occurring in college baseball and tried to understand why they were happening so frequently. I interviewed over a dozen people to get thoughts and messages on the subject from a variety of people from current college players, to Major League players, to current college coaches. While I spent the majority of the project working on the research and interviews of how these injuries effect college athletes, I always spent time speaking with journalists about the proper ways they go about reporting on injuries, especially those within college athletes. I found data that showed that the average rate of fastballs in Major League Baseball is going up and that is indirectly affecting the way in which players and specifically pitchers are learning to play as they go through college baseball. I got valuable perspective on how the game changing is affecting the injuries that are so common today. The most common occurring repetitive stress issue in baseball has been happening most with pitchers so much of the project is tailored toward the views of some of the best pitchers in college baseball. I found out how college pitchers are taking care of their bodies and using the offseason to help regain strength. Why do some pitchers not take as long an offseason as others? How intense is the pressure to stay healthy in college, as many of these athletes are pursuing professional baseball? What is the mental toll these student-athletes have on a day-to-day basis? All these questions and more are answered in the paper. Included in the long-form paper are all of the full transcripts from the interviews with players, coaches, trainers, doctors, and reporters.
ContributorsWerner, Robert Joseph (Author) / Kurland, Brett (Thesis director) / Dieffenbach, Paola (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Samuel Máynez Prince (1886-1966), was a prolific and important Mexican musician. Prince’s musical style followed the trends of the nineteenth-century salon music genre. His compositions include lullabies, songs, dances, marches, mazurkas, waltzes, and revolutionary anthems. Prince’s social status and performances in the famed Café Colón in Mexico City increased his popularity among high-ranking political figures during the time of the Mexican Revolution as well as his status in the Mexican music scene.
Unfortunately there is virtually no existing scholarship on Prince and even basic information regarding his life and works is not readily available. The lack of organization of the manuscript scores and the absence of dates of his works has further pushed the composer into obscurity. An investigation therefore was necessary in order to explore the neglected aspects of the life and works of Prince as a violinist and composer. This document is the result of such an investigation by including extensive new biographical information, as well as the first musical analysis and edition of the complete recovered works for violin and piano.
In order to fill the gaps present in the limited biographical information regarding Prince’s life, investigative research was conducted in Mexico City. Information was drawn from archives of the composer’s grandchildren, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música de México, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. The surviving relatives provided first-hand details on events in the composer’s life; one also offered the researcher access to their personal archive including, important life documents, photographs, programs from concert performances, and manuscript scores of the compositions. Establishing connections with the relatives also led the researcher to examining the violins owned and used by the late violinist/composer.
This oral history approach led to new and updated information, including the revival of previously unpublished music for violin and piano. These works are here compiled in an edition that will give students, teachers, and music-lovers access to this unknown repertoire. Finally, this research seeks to promote the beauty and nuances of Mexican salon music, and the complete works for violin and piano of Samuel Máynez Prince in particular.
Unfortunately there is virtually no existing scholarship on Prince and even basic information regarding his life and works is not readily available. The lack of organization of the manuscript scores and the absence of dates of his works has further pushed the composer into obscurity. An investigation therefore was necessary in order to explore the neglected aspects of the life and works of Prince as a violinist and composer. This document is the result of such an investigation by including extensive new biographical information, as well as the first musical analysis and edition of the complete recovered works for violin and piano.
In order to fill the gaps present in the limited biographical information regarding Prince’s life, investigative research was conducted in Mexico City. Information was drawn from archives of the composer’s grandchildren, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música de México, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. The surviving relatives provided first-hand details on events in the composer’s life; one also offered the researcher access to their personal archive including, important life documents, photographs, programs from concert performances, and manuscript scores of the compositions. Establishing connections with the relatives also led the researcher to examining the violins owned and used by the late violinist/composer.
This oral history approach led to new and updated information, including the revival of previously unpublished music for violin and piano. These works are here compiled in an edition that will give students, teachers, and music-lovers access to this unknown repertoire. Finally, this research seeks to promote the beauty and nuances of Mexican salon music, and the complete works for violin and piano of Samuel Máynez Prince in particular.
ContributorsEkenes, Spencer Arvin (Author) / McLin, Katherine (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Jiang, Danwen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016