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- All Subjects: Les Trompettes de Lyon
- Status: Published
Description
Yannis Constantinidis was the last of the handful of composers referred to collectively as the Greek National School. The members of this group strove to create a distinctive national style for Greece, founded upon a synthesis of Western compositional idioms with melodic, rhyhmic, and modal features of their local folk traditions. Constantinidis particularly looked to the folk melodies of his native Asia Minor and the nearby Dodecanese Islands. His musical output includes operettas, musical comedies, orchestral works, chamber and vocal music, and much piano music, all of which draws upon folk repertories for thematic material. The present essay examines how he incorporates this thematic material in his piano compositions, written between 1943 and 1971, with a special focus on the 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese. In general, Constantinidis's pianistic style is expressed through miniature pieces in which the folk tunes are presented mostly intact, but embedded in accompaniment based in early twentieth-century modal harmony. Following the dictates of the founding members of the Greek National School, Manolis Kalomiris and Georgios Lambelet, the modal basis of his harmonic vocabulary is firmly rooted in the characteristics of the most common modes of Greek folk music. A close study of his 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese not only offers a valuable insight into his harmonic imagination, but also demonstrates how he subtly adapts his source melodies. This work also reveals his care in creating a musical expression of the words of the original folk songs, even in purely instrumental compositon.
ContributorsSavvidou, Dina (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Little, Bliss (Committee member) / Meir, Baruch (Committee member) / Thompson, Janice M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Performances of three prominent, full-time brass chamber ensembles (the Canadian Brass, Mnozil Brass, and Trompettes de Lyon), are studied for their inclusion of entertainment outside the bounds of traditional music performance. The various additions include acting, choreography, novel changes in instrumentation, props, technical exhibitions, audience interaction, and inherently humorous arrangements. These are identified, categorized, and analyzed for frequency of use. Representative scenes from each ensemble are compared for similarities with the intent of establishing general rules for the usage of each non-traditional element. Differences in overall show structure, compared to that of traditional chamber ensembles, are also discussed.
In a separate component of this project, the author wrote an original show based on the above research, and performed it with the Grand Valley State University Faculty Brass Quintet. The process of creation and observations of rehearsal and performance settings are included in this document to guide the efforts of other prospective show-writers.
In a separate component of this project, the author wrote an original show based on the above research, and performed it with the Grand Valley State University Faculty Brass Quintet. The process of creation and observations of rehearsal and performance settings are included in this document to guide the efforts of other prospective show-writers.
ContributorsWilson, Alexander Mitchell (Author) / Hickman, David (Thesis advisor) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Little, Bliss (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017