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Description
A New Home is a multi-movement musical composition written for a chamber orchestra of flute, oboe, clarinet in B-flat, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C, trombone, bass trombone, percussion (1), pianoforte, and strings. The duration of the entire piece is approximately fourteen minutes (movement 1: four minutes; mvt. 2: four minutes and thirty seconds; mvt. 3: five minutes and thirty seconds). As an exercise in compositional experimentation, some of the musical techniques explored throughout the piece are harmonic planing or parallelism, ostinati, modality, chromatic dissonance, thematic transformation, mixed meter, and syncopation, as well as issues of orchestral blend, balance, and color.
The first movement, ironically titled “Don’t Panic,” highlights my initial anxieties on experimentation by creating hectic textures. The movement is structured around two main alternating sections of chromatic, chordal dissonance with more modal, melodic syncopation in addition to a developmental section, but a sense of rhythmic groove is prominent throughout. The second movement, “Still Here,” is a darker, more sensitive music as it explores various settings of its main thematic material interspersed with march-like episodes and a related secondary theme. The themes are organized around a diatonic scale that omits one pitch to comprise a six-note scale. The third movement, “Change of State,” recalls the modality and rhythmic liveliness of the first movement, and it bears a thematic relationship to the second movement. Much of the material also revolves around scales and mediant relationships to comprise an opening theme, a groove section, and an ethereal, glassy texture which ends the movement. Essentially, the piece closes with a calmer music in contrast to the brute force that opened the piece.
The first movement, ironically titled “Don’t Panic,” highlights my initial anxieties on experimentation by creating hectic textures. The movement is structured around two main alternating sections of chromatic, chordal dissonance with more modal, melodic syncopation in addition to a developmental section, but a sense of rhythmic groove is prominent throughout. The second movement, “Still Here,” is a darker, more sensitive music as it explores various settings of its main thematic material interspersed with march-like episodes and a related secondary theme. The themes are organized around a diatonic scale that omits one pitch to comprise a six-note scale. The third movement, “Change of State,” recalls the modality and rhythmic liveliness of the first movement, and it bears a thematic relationship to the second movement. Much of the material also revolves around scales and mediant relationships to comprise an opening theme, a groove section, and an ethereal, glassy texture which ends the movement. Essentially, the piece closes with a calmer music in contrast to the brute force that opened the piece.
ContributorsJones, Zachary William (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The work of collaborative pianists can vary widely, requiring a large spectrum of musical and foreign language skills. In addition, many non-musical skills are required of collaborative pianists in order to adapt to various types of work, the roles they assume, and the needs of the people they encounter professionally. Collaborative pianists usually develop good habits for survival on the job, but rarely receive preliminary training in capacities such as facilitation, maintaining objectivity in collaboration, asking good questions, and giving feedback effectively. The emerging field of teaching artistry offers a wealth of information for the development of these non-musical skills in collaborative pianists. The skills necessary for teaching artistry and collaborative piano frequently overlap, which is instructive for collaborative pianists as they prepare for their various musical and leadership roles. This paper explores shared practices between these disciplines, how they can enhance the activities of a collaborative pianist, and also help them develop skills as arts advocates. Advocating techniques for new music and audience engagement are addressed, as well as programming, content development and building teams around projects. The idea of the collaborative pianist becoming a teaching artist is also explored, as the diverse activities and experiences of a collaborative pianist can serve as valuable resources. All of these approaches to non-musical skills focus on building strong processes, leading to creative activities that are process-driven rather than product-driven. This study seeks to enrich activities of collaborative pianists through the application of teaching artist capacities and pave pathways for new, more effective professional collaborations.
ContributorsWitt, Juliana (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Whenever a text is transmitted, or communicated by any means, variations may occur because editors, copyists, and performers are often not careful enough with the source itself. As a result, a flawed text may come to be accepted in good faith through repetition, and may often be preferred over the authentic version because familiarity with the flawed copy has been established. This is certainly the case with regard to Manuel M. Ponce's guitar editions. An inexact edition of a musical work is detrimental to several key components of its performance: musical interpretation, aesthetics, and the original musical concept of the composer. These phenomena may be seen in the case of Manuel Ponce's Suite in D Major for guitar. The single published edition by Peer International Corporation in 1967 with the revision and fingering of Manuel López Ramos contains many copying mistakes and intentional, but unauthorized, changes to the original composition. For the present project, the present writer was able to obtain a little-known copy of the original manuscript of this work, and to document these discrepancies in order to produce a new performance edition that is more closely based on Ponce's original work.
ContributorsReyes Paz, Ricardo (Author) / Koonce, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Rotaru, Catalin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
ABSTRACT
"The Soul Unto Itself," a chamber music song cycle, was commissioned by the author, Rosa LoGiudice, and composed by William Clay, a doctoral candidate in composition at Arizona State University. The cycle was conceived and composed in the summer and fall of 2019. The chamber ensemble was a sextet comprised of Megan Law, mezzo-soprano, Kristi Hanno, clarinet, Emilio Vazquez, violin, Rittika Gambhir, bassoon, Nathaniel De la Cruz, double bass, and Rosa LoGiudice, piano, all based in Tempe, Arizona. The song cycle was premiered in a lecture recital on December 8, 2019 at Hammer and Strings Conservatory in Gilbert, AZ.
"The Soul Unto Itself" is a cycle of six songs based on poems of Emily Dickinson. The poems all have common themes of personal transformation achieved through the introspective observations of the poet. An unusual chamber ensemble was chosen to include instruments not commonly used in vocal chamber music in order to create a greater variety of musical colors and timbres. This project included the creation of the musical score, a live performance that was video recorded, and the research paper. This document discusses the process of working with the composer, rehearsing the music as it was being composed, and negotiating revisions necessary to make the music more effective in performance. Each song is discussed in detail, especially the connection between the music and poetry, the overall form of the song, revisions discussed and implemented, and important motivic relationships between the songs that unify the cycle. In summary, the process of collaborating with a composer is a rewarding experience for both the performers and the composer, as everyone is challenged to improve their craft and overcome obstacles to achieve a successful performance.
"The Soul Unto Itself," a chamber music song cycle, was commissioned by the author, Rosa LoGiudice, and composed by William Clay, a doctoral candidate in composition at Arizona State University. The cycle was conceived and composed in the summer and fall of 2019. The chamber ensemble was a sextet comprised of Megan Law, mezzo-soprano, Kristi Hanno, clarinet, Emilio Vazquez, violin, Rittika Gambhir, bassoon, Nathaniel De la Cruz, double bass, and Rosa LoGiudice, piano, all based in Tempe, Arizona. The song cycle was premiered in a lecture recital on December 8, 2019 at Hammer and Strings Conservatory in Gilbert, AZ.
"The Soul Unto Itself" is a cycle of six songs based on poems of Emily Dickinson. The poems all have common themes of personal transformation achieved through the introspective observations of the poet. An unusual chamber ensemble was chosen to include instruments not commonly used in vocal chamber music in order to create a greater variety of musical colors and timbres. This project included the creation of the musical score, a live performance that was video recorded, and the research paper. This document discusses the process of working with the composer, rehearsing the music as it was being composed, and negotiating revisions necessary to make the music more effective in performance. Each song is discussed in detail, especially the connection between the music and poetry, the overall form of the song, revisions discussed and implemented, and important motivic relationships between the songs that unify the cycle. In summary, the process of collaborating with a composer is a rewarding experience for both the performers and the composer, as everyone is challenged to improve their craft and overcome obstacles to achieve a successful performance.
ContributorsLoGiudice, Rosa Mia (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020