Matching Items (35)
Description
The purpose of this project is twofold: to contribute to the literature of chamber ensembles comprising mixed wind, string, and percussion instruments by producing arrangements of three piano rags by William Bolcom; and to highlight Bolcom's pivotal role in the ragtime revival of the 1960's and 1970's. Through his influence as a scholar, composer, and performer, Bolcom (b. 1938), one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, helped garner respect for ragtime as art music and as one of America's great popular music genres. Bolcom's 3 Ghost Rags were written in the tradition of classic piano rags, but with a compositional sensibility that is influenced by the fifty years that separate them from the close of the original ragtime era. The basis for the present orchestrations of 3 Ghost Rags is the collection of instrumental arrangements of piano rags published by Stark Publishing Co., entitled Standard High-Class Rags. More familiarly known as the "Red Back Book," this publication was representative of the exchange of repertoire between piano and ensembles and served as a repertory for the various ragtime revivals that occurred later in the twentieth century. In creating these orchestrations of Bolcom's piano rags, the author strove to provide another medium in which Bolcom's music could be performed, while orchestrating the music for an historically appropriate ensemble.
ContributorsMelley, Eric Charles (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Russell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study catalogues symphonies for wind band from the origin of the genre in the late eighteenth century through 2014. Wind bands include any mixed wind group of eight or more players. Works using the word "symphony" or its derivatives in the title are included in the study. A total of 1342 works that fit these criteria were identified. An annotated bibliography (Appendix A) includes detailed information about 695 of these works. Such information was not available for an additional 621 wind band symphonies; consequently, these works are listed in a second appendix that includes a list of sources for each work so that future researchers might investigate them further. The final appendix lists 26 wind band symphonies that are no longer available based on the author's current sources.
The titles included in this study were found by examining many repertoire resources for the wind band, including previous studies of wind band symphonies and more comprehensive repertoire resources like the Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music and the website "The Wind Repertory Project." Details of each piece in the annotated bibliography were found in their scores whenever possible. Contact with composers and publishers, through both their websites and direct correspondence, played a major role in this part of the study. The classified bibliography in this document sorts all of these sources categorically for easy reference. All parts of this document are intended as tools for conductors wishing to research or program symphonies for wind band.
The titles included in this study were found by examining many repertoire resources for the wind band, including previous studies of wind band symphonies and more comprehensive repertoire resources like the Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music and the website "The Wind Repertory Project." Details of each piece in the annotated bibliography were found in their scores whenever possible. Contact with composers and publishers, through both their websites and direct correspondence, played a major role in this part of the study. The classified bibliography in this document sorts all of these sources categorically for easy reference. All parts of this document are intended as tools for conductors wishing to research or program symphonies for wind band.
ContributorsPease, Andrew Donald (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Reber, William (Committee member) / Saucier, Catherine (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This research paper examines the close relationships between the visual arts and music and the implications of curatorial practice upon the work of conductors. While some conductors consider suitability the prime (or only) factor in determining which music to perform, curators use many more criteria. Five elements of exhibition design are particularly germane to musicians including setting, subject matter, visual weight, compositional direction, and narrative. Each of these five elements is discussed in terms of its impact on concert design with a goal of providing additional criteria to the conductor when planning concerts. Three concert experiences, designed with these principles in mind, are presented as examples. Upon consideration of the elements of exhibition design separately and corporately, one arrives at a new appreciation of the concert as a unified experience--capable of being much more than the sum of its parts. The aim of effective concert design is to eliminate unintentional communication--to present music in the most complimentary manner possible. To this end, this study has implications for conductors at all levels.
ContributorsHoughtalen, Brandon (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne A (Committee member) / Ericson, John Q (Committee member) / Feisst, Sabine M (Committee member) / Russell, Timothy W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Convergences, one of the best known orchestral pieces by Marlos Nobre, was originally written in 1968 and scored for winds, percussion and piano; however, that version was neither performed nor published. Upon contacting the composer, the author learned that there was no performance-ready edition available. The purpose of this project, therefore, was to create a performance edition of Convergences Op. 28a by Marlos Nobre; to lead the premiere performance of the original version of the work; and to provide potential future performers with a descriptive analysis of the work, along with biographical information about the composer. After receiving revisions from the composer, the author created a new score, using a music notation program; the score appears at the end of this document. Additionally, performance parts were extracted from the new score. The analytical portion of this paper discusses the structure of the three movements (Vivo, Adagio, Vivo), their interrelationships, and the organic use of motivic transformation that binds the movements together. The work is approximately twenty-one minutes long and is scored for a small wind ensemble comprising: flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, six percussionists, and piano.
ContributorsPereira, Diogo Ahmed (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Pagano, Caio (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Russell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Although music is regarded as a universal language, it is rare to find musicians of different ages, ability levels, and backgrounds interacting with each other in collaborative performances. There is a dearth of mixed-ability-level wind band and string orchestra repertoire, and the few pieces that exist fail to celebrate the talents of the youngest and least-experienced performers. Composers writing music for school-age ensembles have also been excluded from the collaborative process, rarely communicating with the young musicians for whom they are writing.
This project introduced twenty-nine compositions into the wind band and string orchestra repertoire via a collaboration that engaged multiple constituencies. Students of wind and string instruments from Phoenix’s El Sistema-inspired Harmony Project and the Tijuana-based Niños de La Guadalupana Villa Del Campo worked together with students at Arizona State University and composers from Canada, Finland, and across the United States to learn and record concertos for novice-level soloists with intermediate-level accompaniment ensembles.
This project was influenced by the intergenerational ensembles common in Finnish music institutes. The author provides a document which includes a survey of the existing concerto repertoire for wind bands and previous intergenerational and multicultural studies in the field of music. The author then presents each of the mixed-ability concertos created and recorded in this project and offers biographical information on the composers. Finally, the author reflects upon qualitative surveys completed by the project’s participants.
Most the new concertos are available to the public. This music can be useful in the development and implementation of similar collaborations of musicians of all ages and abilities.
This project introduced twenty-nine compositions into the wind band and string orchestra repertoire via a collaboration that engaged multiple constituencies. Students of wind and string instruments from Phoenix’s El Sistema-inspired Harmony Project and the Tijuana-based Niños de La Guadalupana Villa Del Campo worked together with students at Arizona State University and composers from Canada, Finland, and across the United States to learn and record concertos for novice-level soloists with intermediate-level accompaniment ensembles.
This project was influenced by the intergenerational ensembles common in Finnish music institutes. The author provides a document which includes a survey of the existing concerto repertoire for wind bands and previous intergenerational and multicultural studies in the field of music. The author then presents each of the mixed-ability concertos created and recorded in this project and offers biographical information on the composers. Finally, the author reflects upon qualitative surveys completed by the project’s participants.
Most the new concertos are available to the public. This music can be useful in the development and implementation of similar collaborations of musicians of all ages and abilities.
ContributorsBrooks, Melanie Jane (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Caslor, Jason K (Thesis advisor) / Belgrave, Melita (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
I believe the human mind is not an accurate reproducer of objects and events, but a tool that constructs their qualities. Philosophers Bowman Clarke, James John, and Amy Kind have argued for and against similar points, while Daniel Hoffman and Jay Dowling have debated cases from a psychological perspective. My understanding of their discourse surfaces in Cognize Normal-Like Pleez, a video installation designed to capture the enigmatic connection between perceivers and the things they perceive. The composition encapsulates this theme through a series of five videos that disseminate confusing imagery paired with mangled sounds. The miniatures operate in sequence on computer monitors set inside a haphazardously ornamented tower. Though the original sources for each video communicate clear, familiar subjects, the final product deliberately obscures them. Sometimes sounds and images flicker for only brief moments, perhaps too fast for the human mind to fully process. Though some information comes through, important data supplied by the surrounding context is absent.
I invite the audience to rationalize this complexing conglomerate and reflect on how their established biases inform their opinion of the work. Each person likely draws from his or her experiences, cultural conditioning, knowledge, and other personal factors in order to create an individual conceptualization of the installation. Their subjective conclusions reflect my belief concerning a neurological basis for the origin of qualities. One’s connection to Cognize’s images and sounds, to me, is not derived solely from characteristics inherent to it, but also endowed by one’s mind, which not only constructs the attributes one normally associates with the images and sounds (as opposed to the physics and biology that lead to their construction), but also seamlessly incorporates the aforementioned biases. I realize my ideas by focusing the topics of the videos and their setting around the transmission of information and its obfuscation. Just as one cannot see or hear past the perceptual barriers in Cognize, I believe one cannot escape his or her mind to “sense” qualities in an objective, disembodied manner, because the mind is necessary for perception.
I invite the audience to rationalize this complexing conglomerate and reflect on how their established biases inform their opinion of the work. Each person likely draws from his or her experiences, cultural conditioning, knowledge, and other personal factors in order to create an individual conceptualization of the installation. Their subjective conclusions reflect my belief concerning a neurological basis for the origin of qualities. One’s connection to Cognize’s images and sounds, to me, is not derived solely from characteristics inherent to it, but also endowed by one’s mind, which not only constructs the attributes one normally associates with the images and sounds (as opposed to the physics and biology that lead to their construction), but also seamlessly incorporates the aforementioned biases. I realize my ideas by focusing the topics of the videos and their setting around the transmission of information and its obfuscation. Just as one cannot see or hear past the perceptual barriers in Cognize, I believe one cannot escape his or her mind to “sense” qualities in an objective, disembodied manner, because the mind is necessary for perception.
ContributorsLempke, John Paul (Author) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Thesis advisor) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Stover, Chris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This document accompanies new recordings of four recent sonatas for trumpet and piano. The project’s objective is to promote these works, while providing a comprehensive resource for potential performers. The four sonatas were selected based on their appeal to modern audiences. Composers Brendan Collins, Luis Engelke, William Rowson, and Christoph Nils Thompson each represents a different country, and they offer significant contributions to the trumpet repertoire. Each sonata expertly features the trumpet by highlighting its lyricism, virtuosity, and ability to cross genres.
The accompanying document draws upon interviews with the four composers, which reveal insights into the compositional process and provide details that performers will find useful. This document also offers in-depth musical descriptions, allowing performers to enhance their understanding of each sonata. The principal component of the document is the performer’s guide: Advice is presented directly to the trumpet player that has been garnered from the composers’ interviews, study of the music, and the author’s thoughts on preparing the music. To help other young musicians better comprehend the recording process, the author’s own experience is detailed. Ultimately, this document provides a window into the lifespan of the four sonatas; from their initial composition through the various stages of studying and rehearsing, culminating with the experience of recording these works for the first time.
The accompanying document draws upon interviews with the four composers, which reveal insights into the compositional process and provide details that performers will find useful. This document also offers in-depth musical descriptions, allowing performers to enhance their understanding of each sonata. The principal component of the document is the performer’s guide: Advice is presented directly to the trumpet player that has been garnered from the composers’ interviews, study of the music, and the author’s thoughts on preparing the music. To help other young musicians better comprehend the recording process, the author’s own experience is detailed. Ultimately, this document provides a window into the lifespan of the four sonatas; from their initial composition through the various stages of studying and rehearsing, culminating with the experience of recording these works for the first time.
ContributorsKlein, Garrett Lane (Author) / Hickman, David R (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy K (Committee member) / Hill, Gary W. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Para Mi Alma is a composition for chamber wind ensemble comprised of an Introduction, two dance movements, and a concluding movement featuring the full ensemble in a chorale-like finale. This piece follows the narrative of an abusive relationship, and the emotional rollercoaster that one experiences during the self extrication and consequential rebirth of identity. Para Mi Alma (For My Soul) is scored for chamber wind ensemble with the following instrumentation: piccolo/flute, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon; soprano, tenor, and baritone saxophone; trumpet, trumpet/flugelhorn, horn in F, tenor and bass trombone; double bass, and three percussionists - marimba/congas, auxiliary percussion (wind chimes, suspended cymbal, triangle, bass drum, snare drum, double cowbell, tam-tam), and timpani/timbales. The duration of this work is approximately 11’00”.
Each movement portrays a stage in the relationship, and the mental state of the person experiencing abuse. The Introduction begins with a piccolo solo and marimba accompaniment, and gradually builds to the full ensemble; this section of music illustrates the moment that relational ties to the transgressor are cut — a split second of clarity and space before the spiral of anxiety and overwhelming thoughts of self deprecation invade. Movement I is a salsa, representing the dance of two people entering into a relationship. The meter changes and hemiolas serve to upset the underlying groove and create rhythmic tension, while the surface of the music appears unscathed. Finally the dance is interrupted by an aggressive bass solo, which initiates the transition to Movement II. This transition serves to remind the listener of the Introduction, and the dissolution of the relationship; it is characterized by chaos and confused clusters of melodic lines and dissonant harmonies. Movement II is a tango, representative of the emotional extremes of heartbreak, anger, confusion, and shame. The conclusion of the Tango directly segues into Movement III, which features a short brass chorale before building to include the full ensemble. Movement III portrays the support system of family and friends, and personifies the collective effort that takes place in healing and growth.
Each movement portrays a stage in the relationship, and the mental state of the person experiencing abuse. The Introduction begins with a piccolo solo and marimba accompaniment, and gradually builds to the full ensemble; this section of music illustrates the moment that relational ties to the transgressor are cut — a split second of clarity and space before the spiral of anxiety and overwhelming thoughts of self deprecation invade. Movement I is a salsa, representing the dance of two people entering into a relationship. The meter changes and hemiolas serve to upset the underlying groove and create rhythmic tension, while the surface of the music appears unscathed. Finally the dance is interrupted by an aggressive bass solo, which initiates the transition to Movement II. This transition serves to remind the listener of the Introduction, and the dissolution of the relationship; it is characterized by chaos and confused clusters of melodic lines and dissonant harmonies. Movement II is a tango, representative of the emotional extremes of heartbreak, anger, confusion, and shame. The conclusion of the Tango directly segues into Movement III, which features a short brass chorale before building to include the full ensemble. Movement III portrays the support system of family and friends, and personifies the collective effort that takes place in healing and growth.
ContributorsVincent, Katelyn Rae (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This project examines the relationship between individuals' musical preferences and the amount of musical education they have received, as well as some other supporting variables. Data was collected from 43 participants regarding general and musical background information. Participants then listened to eight musical samples and answered a series of related questions. These sets of data were compared to investigate how musical preference varies with changes in background information, principally the level of musical education received. Musical preference was gauged in part according to a system which relied more on discrete musical features than common genre categorizations. The population studied was made up of honors students from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University. The research questions addressed are: is musical preference dependent on level of musical education; if so, how; and what are some possible explanations for any relationships? This study was conducted in order to obtain a clearer understanding of the nature of musical preference which may be of use to musicologists and modern musicians alike. Results indicated that musical education does have an effect on musical preferences and listening habits, but that this effect is not correlated in any straightforward relationship, and there are likely more diverse issues at play.
ContributorsKauffman, Parker Stone (Author) / Mantie, Roger (Thesis director) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Advances in computational processing have made big data analysis in fields like music information retrieval (MIR) possible. Through MIR techniques researchers have been able to study information on a song, its musical parameters, the metadata generated by the song's listeners, and contextual data regarding the artists and listeners (Schedl, 2014). MIR research techniques have been applied within the field of music and emotions research to help analyze the correlative properties between the music information and the emotional output. By pairing methods within music and emotions research with the analysis of the musical features extracted through MIR, researchers have developed predictive models for emotions within a musical piece. This research has increased our understanding of the correlative properties of certain musical features like pitch, timbre, rhythm, dynamics, mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC's), and others, to the emotions evoked by music (Lartillot 2008; Schedl 2014) This understanding of the correlative properties has enabled researchers to generate predictive models of emotion within music based on listeners' emotional response to it. However, robust models that account for a user's individualized emotional experience and the semantic nuances of emotional categorization have eluded the research community (London, 2001). To address these two main issues, more advanced analytical methods have been employed. In this article we will look at two of these more advanced analytical methods, machine learning algorithms and deep learning techniques, and discuss the effect that they have had on music and emotions research (Murthy, 2018). Current trends within MIR research, the application of support vector machines and neural networks, will also be assessed to explain how these methods help to address the two main issues within music and emotion research. Finally, future research within the field of machine and deep learning will be postulated to show how individuate models may be developed from a user or a pool of user's listening libraries. Also how developments of semi-supervised classification models that assess categorization by cluster instead of by nominal data, may be helpful in addressing the nuances of emotional categorization.
ContributorsMcgeehon, Timothy Makoto (Author) / Middleton, James (Thesis director) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12