Matching Items (403)
ContributorsPagano, Caio, 1940- (Performer) / Mechetti, Fabio (Conductor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Performer) / Schuring, Martin (Performer) / Spring, Robert (Performer) / Rodrigues, Christiano (Performer) / Landschoot, Thomas (Performer) / Rotaru, Catalin (Performer) / Avanti Festival Orchestra (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-02
Description
It wasn’t long after the Chicago Opera Company postponed staging The Love for Three Oranges in December of 1919 that Prokofiev decided to create The Fiery Angel. In November of the same year he was reading Valery Bryusov’s novel, “The Fiery Angel.” At the same time he was establishing a closer relationship with his future wife, Lina Codina. For various reasons the composition of The Fiery Angel endured over many years. In April of 1920 at the Metropolitan Opera, none of his three operas - The Gambler, The Love for Three Oranges, and The Fiery Angel - were accepted for staging. He received no additional support from his colleagues Sergi Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Pierre Souvchinsky, who did not care for the subject of Bryusov’s plot. Despite his unsuccessful attempts to have the work premiered, he continued working and moved from the U.S. to Europe, where he continued to compose, finishing the first edition of The Fiery Angel. He married Lina Codina in 1923. Several years later, while posing for portrait artist Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, the composer learned about the mysteries of a love triangle between Bryusov, Andrey Bely and Nina Petrovskaya. It was then that Prokofiev’s characters took shape, reflecting the conflicting relationships in Bryusov’s real life and characters from the novel, as well as themes from Prokofiev’s own life.
This paper will discuss Prokofiev’s third opera, The Fiery Angel. In addition to brief biographical, character, and plot information, topics will include issues Prokofiev encountered with creating the libretto, the relationship between his real-life love triangle and that depicted in the opera, and the impact Prokofiev’s ever-evolving relationship with religion and the occult had on the work.
This paper will discuss Prokofiev’s third opera, The Fiery Angel. In addition to brief biographical, character, and plot information, topics will include issues Prokofiev encountered with creating the libretto, the relationship between his real-life love triangle and that depicted in the opera, and the impact Prokofiev’s ever-evolving relationship with religion and the occult had on the work.
ContributorsNikolovski, Vanja (Author) / DeMaris, Brian (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Caslor, Jason (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
After the passing of the Homestead Act in 1862, a large wave of immigrants arrived in Dakota Territory, most of them during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Two of the largest immigrant populations in the Dakotas were the Norwegians and Germans who had spent approximately the last hundred years living in isolated rural colonies in Russia, referred to as Germans from Russia or russlanddeutschen. This document examines the role of music in the lives of these ethnic groups from the 1862 to 1930, and includes the discussion of sacred music, especially hymns, secular music such as folk songs and dance music, and music’s place in the rural one-room schools that their children attended.
ContributorsGross, Kelsey (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Mills, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Since its inception, the American Broadway industry has flourished and grown to include numerous vocal styles and techniques. The early twenty-first century has seen a rapid increase in demand for collegiate courses and instructors pertaining to music theater. It has therefore become necessary for voice instructors to be equally comfortable teaching both music theater and classical techniques such as bel canto. This document serves as a resource for instructors seeking more information on defining and teaching vocal styles in music theater including legit, mix, and belt. The first two chapters address the following three questions: 1) What is bel canto and how does the technique function? 2) What is music theater as a vocal style and how do colloquial terms such as legit, mix and belt function within music theater? 3) Are the technical ideas behind bel canto and music theater really that different? The third chapter offers a curriculum for a semester-long course (a hybrid between a song literature class and a performance-based seminar) called Singing Music Theater Styles: From Hammerstein to Hamilton. This course shows the rich development tracing techniques of bel canto through techniques used in contemporary music theater. This document concludes with an annotated bibliography of major sources useful to both the instructors wishing to teach this course and the performers looking to expand their knowledge of singing music theater.
ContributorsBruton, Sara (Author) / Weiss, Stephanie (Thesis advisor) / Feisst, Sabine (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
In 2006, composer James DeMars conceived of an opera when he began setting the Aztec legend known as Nican Mopohua, the “legend of Guadalupe.” Many inherent challenges arose as DeMars began to compose his first opera. His unfamiliarity with operatic writing and production, a preference for the aural elements of opera over visual ones, inexperience with dramatic textual writing, and insecurity in his ability to have it produced, encouraged him to detour from his operatic vision altogether and instead write an oratorio. Yet, his original operatic concept revealed itself through the music and text enough to encourage him and others to believe that his oratorio, Guadalupe: Our Lady of the Roses, could be produced on the operatic stage. Despite the oratorio’s success, DeMars persisted in realizing his original operatic vision and began the arduous task of rewriting his opera in 2012. To overcome the challenges, he relied heavily on the input of an “Operatic Advisory Council.” This group of dedicated colleagues and experts in the field of opera revealed to DeMars certain essential elements of opera that were absent from the oratorio, and through the course of three years advised and instructed the composer as he transformed his oratorio into an opera – something rarely attempted in the operatic repertoire. In this document, Chapter 1 discusses the formation of the Council, its members, and the expertise they offered. Chapter 2 presents the areas of concern the Council had during the process. Chapter 3 discusses the methods by which DeMars rectified the flaws in the oratorio’s visual aspects, the vocal writing, and the dramatic elements that needed attention. It also presents musical and textual examples of the adjustments and additions DeMars made during the transition, and discusses their effect on the opera’s staging, vocal writing and drama. The changes DeMars made under the guidance of the Operatic Advisory Council ultimately resulted in an operatic version of Guadalupe, which premiered at Arizona State University in November 2015.
ContributorsPeck, Andrew David (Author) / Britton, David (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Only in the world of acting can an individual be denied a job simply on the basis of their appearance, and in my thesis, I sought to explore alternatives to this through the concept of nontraditional casting and casting against "type", which included the presentation of a full-length production of the musical "Once on this Island" which I attempted to cast based on vocal quality and skill alone rather than taking physical characteristics into account. I researched the history and implementation of nontraditional casting, both in regards to race and other factors such as gender, socio-economic status, and disability. I also considered the legal and intellectual property challenges that nontraditional casting can pose. I concluded from this research that while nontraditional casting is only one solution to the problem, it still has a great deal of potential to create diversity in theater. For my own show, I held the initial auditions via audio recording, though the callback auditions were held in person so that I and my crew could appraise dance and acting ability. Though there were many challenges with our cast after this initial round of auditions, we were able to solidify our cast and continue through the rehearsal process. All things said, the show was very successful. It is my hope that those who were a part of the show, either as part of the production or the audience, are inspired to challenge the concept of typecasting in contemporary theater.
ContributorsBriggs, Timothy James (Author) / Yatso, Toby (Thesis director) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
A student-run theatre company would give students more opportunities to perform. as well as opportunities to direct, design, and produce something that is not usually available to us. The main goal of the topic is to create a student-run theatre company that would be able to support three to four minimal, low budget productions each year that are directed, designed, and performed by the students. These productions could be works that are new or out of the mainstream, one-act operas or musicals, works written or composed by our own students, or even standard repertoire. Productions could be minimal, with the focus being on direction and performances, or fully executed with lighting, sets, and costumes designed by the students. Whatever the format, the goal is to provide students with more opportunities in music theatre and opera. There are several components to this project. The first component is forming the student organization \u2014 the theatre company. While forming a student theatre company allows for more creativity and room to try different things, we must also figure out how to operate within the limits of a campus club. The second component is producing a show. To get a taste what our club would eventually be doing, the committee is essentially' producing a show with the guidance of Lyric Opera Theatre faculty. The third component is writing the actual thesis and preparing for my defense. Because this project is not a traditional research project, the end result will be more than a thesis paper. I hope to be able to show that Basement Collaborative has developed into an organization that will be able to sustain past my time here at ASU.
ContributorsZheng, Shuwen (Author) / Reber, William (Thesis director) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Harper, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This creative project documents the methods and challenges of writing three clarinet choir arrangements of different musical genres, and culminates into three clarinet choir scores with an upcoming performance date. The three pieces that were arranged are “Dinah” by Sam Lewis and Joe Young, “Laud ye the Name of the Lord” from Vespers by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and “Peace” by Jeremy Zuckerman. The goal of the project was to arrange these pieces for clarinet choir without making any major changes to the form or style of the original works. Scores to the final three arrangements are included within this document, as well as a brief description of the processes involved in writing them. While the pieces were being arranged, the techniques of arranging were studied concurrently by reviewing a text on arranging, other successful clarinet choir arrangements, fixing the challenges that were presented by the pieces to be arranged. Each piece required a few drafts: after being written to near-completion, they were played by live clarinet groups and recorded to hear how they sounded. After these recording sessions, the pieces would be further edited for readability, suitability for the instrument, and overall sound and effect. Major difficulties are also covered within the following paper, including why those issues arose and what methods were used to solve them. Each of the pieces helped to explore different aspects of arranging for clarinet choir, and each piece has turned into a pleasing arrangement that may be performed by a live ensemble. This creative project greatly improved the skills of the author and serves to stoke interest in arranging and composition.
ContributorsGerman, Lindsey (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis director, Committee member) / Gardner, Joshua (Thesis director, Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis presents a new study “Fostering Student Autonomy in the Collegiate Woodwind Studio” which gathered pedagogical techniques that collegiate woodwind professors use to foster student autonomy in their woodwind studios. This study defines “student autonomy” as an end-goal of education, in which students are “self-monitoring, strategizing, and taking responsibility for and ownership of the learning process.” A survey of questions concerning student autonomy was emailed to each of the appointed woodwind studio professors at ASU. Their responses are presented and analyzed in this thesis. The author hypothesized that the professors would show some understanding of various methods that can achieve student autonomy, but the study results showed that the professors had much knowledge and specific examples on how to achieve student autonomy in their studios. All of the participants cited examples of using indirect teaching, peer-learning, student-selected repertoire with teacher guidance, student goal-setting, and practical autonomy in their woodwind studios to facilitate student autonomy. About half of the participants cited examples of using student-to-teacher rapport, technology-mediated feedback, and diversified autonomy in their studios to facilitate student autonomy. Student-selected repertoire was by far the most popular method through which to foster student autonomy. This study found that further research is needed to prove if there is indeed a positive correlation between students who compose music for their woodwind lessons and their level of autonomous learning.
ContributorsBurton, Charlotte Elizabeth (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis director) / Gardner, Joshua (Thesis director) / N/A, N/A (Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis explores the various reasons that Broadway musicals fail, or "flop". It goes into detail on several musicals of different genres, and explains what their shortcomings were, whether it be a less-than-perfect book, a weak score, or a production team that was not experienced in the skills that it takes to put together a musical. It discusses how long the shows ran for, or if they ever made it into a Broadway house. It looks at what the audience reception was like for each show, and whether the shows were a success with the tough critics of Broadway. In addition to this, I have recorded several of my peers performing songs from the musicals I have discussed in the written portion of this thesis. This helps to educate an audience on what it would have been like for one of the flop's real performances. The videos also do a wonderful job of communicating what the show sounds like, and how it can make an audience feel or react. Lastly, it gives more insight into why the musicals they are from failed to thrive in front of a Broadway audience. Through my research, I have discovered that creating a musical is possibly one of the most difficult feats a team of creative people can accomplish. There are countless reasons for failure in these shows, but overall, I feel that every failure had something to offer, and because of that, are surely worth celebrating.
ContributorsUrias-Ramonett, Sedona Lee (Author) / Yatso, Toby (Thesis director) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05