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- Creators: Schuring, Martin
- Status: Published
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the events surrounding the creation of the oboe and its rapid spread throughout Europe during the mid to late seventeenth century. The first section describes similar instruments that existed for thousands of years before the invention of the oboe. The following sections examine reasons and methods for the oboe's invention, as well as possible causes of its migration from its starting place in France to other European countries, as well as many other places around the world. I conclude that the oboe was invented to suit the needs of composers in the court of Louis XIV, and that it was brought to other countries by French performers who left France for many reasons, including to escape from the authority of composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and in some cases to promote French culture in other countries.
ContributorsCook, Mary Katherine (Author) / Schuring, Martin (Thesis director) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This document serves as a comprehensive project centering on a new performing edition of Pierre Danican Philidor’s (1681-1731) Trio Suite No. 2 in E Minor of 1722, one of a collection of six trio suites presented to the French court, following a series of earlier, more well-known suites (1716-1718). The project itself contains a performance edition with a fully realized harpsichord part, a recording featuring entirely modern instruments in modern pitch with a special attention to period affect and style, and finally a written document contextualizing the Philidor family, the French court establishment, and helpful performance practice guidelines for musicians. The purpose of this project is: to both bring to light and make accessible the music of this member of the Philidor clan, to encourage a greater understanding of this family and their musical place in the French establishment, and to build a bridge between the specialization of Historically Informed Performance (HIP) and the modern instrumentalist, particularly conservatory students and professionals unfamiliar or uncomfortable with this material. Ideally, the result will be more frequent programming of French court chamber repertoire such as this work in non-specialist settings and venues. Such programming goals should not detract from HIP and the period instrument field, but rather help this music to expand in interest across a wider classical music audience, and thus by extension also expand interest in the historical performance movement.
ContributorsJohnson, Michael (Author) / Schuring, Martin (Thesis advisor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Schmelz, Peter J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Ruth Gipps was an English composer, performer, and conductor whose unique experiences and opinions shaped her compositional output and the musical world around her. Gipps was a conflicted individual throughout her life, facing challenges as an outsider in almost every area of her professional life: child prodigy turned adult musician, outspoken conservative English composer positioned against a new international style, and woman in a male-dominated space as an orchestral performer and conductor. Perhaps as a result of her many struggles, she developed internal dissonances between her beliefs, her words, and her actions. These inner conflicts, manifesting in her musical voice as well as her work as a conductor, greatly impacted her career and oeuvre. Despite her inner turmoil, Gipps was always passionately and unapologetically expressive of her personality and beliefs, refusing to compromise or change her behavior even when it negatively impacted her reputation and opportunities. It was this intensity and dedication that enabled her to positively impact musicians in her life, whom she deeply cared about, and to communicate with performers and listeners of her compositions. This document reviews the literature about Gipps, which includes two books by Jill Halstead as well as several dissertations. Information from these sources directly addressing Gipps as well as other pertinent literature is used to explore the disconnects and conflicts that characterized Gipps’s life and music. A discussion of four of Gipps’s oboe family works, Kensington Gardens Suite, op. 2 (1938), The Piper of Dreams, op. 12b (1940), Oboe Concerto in D minor, op. 20 (1941), and Threnody, op. 74 (1990), relates these impactful conflicts to Gipps’s unique musical voice and her contributions to oboe repertoire.
ContributorsDeMouy, Laura Anne (Author) / Schuring, Martin (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Buck, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) was a French composer and conductor. Given his position of importance during his life alongside César Franck, Claude Debussy, and Camille Saint-Säens, Pierné’s musical oeuvre has largely gone unrecognized in the modern musical canon. Scholarly literature on Pierné is severely limited; currently, there is only one identified biography about Pierné, written in French by author Georges Masson ain 1987. To date, no formal analysis exists of Pierné’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Opus 36 (1900). This document provides an account of Pierné’s life and style, gleaned in particular from this author’s original English translation of Masson’s definitive text. It also delivers the first known scholarly musical analysis of the sonata. Each chapter discusses a particular movement in depth, considering the elements of Structure, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, and Texture, while illustrating contextual trends and potential influences across all three movements. The document concludes with the author’s original score analysis charts as well as a comprehensive bibliography. The discussion herein illuminates aspects of Pierné, and specifically his sonata for violin and piano, to promote greater awareness of a composer whose work merits elevated recognition beyond his current reputation of semi-obscurity.
ContributorsQuiring, Andrew Marshall (Author) / Campbell, Andrew M (Thesis advisor) / Rodgers, Rodney (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021