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- Creators: Schumann, Robert, 1810-1856
Description
Rhythm is a work for percussion ensemble and narrator. The percussion ensemble includes five percussionists who each play multiple instruments. The narrator recites quotes from the book Meter as Rhythm by Dr. Christopher Hasty. The piece is in six parts with a short introduction (mm. 1-5). The structure is delineated by the quotes from Meter as Rhythm. The narrator describes an aspect of rhythm at the beginning of each section and the quote is sonically realized through the percussion ensemble.
This piece experiments with different timbres and rhythmic motives. Timbral variety is achieved through grouping instruments into woods, metals, and membranes and using combinations of those groups to delineate different sections and ideas. The rhythmic motives are based on the numbers 3, 5, and 7, and appear as rhythmic values, phrase lengths, and number of repetitions.
The first section states a definition of rhythm and contains all timbres and motives contained within the composition. The piece then explores the relativity of time and is represented by drums changing the speed of their notes. The third section discusses rhythm as repetition and is illustrated by repetitive rhythmic motives. The text then features rhythm as a subjective human experience and is reflected through polyrhythms played between ensemble members. What follows is a description of meter as a temporal measurement that is unchanged by rhythmic activity. By bringing back previous motives, this section reveals that all of the motives work within the same meter. In the final section, the performers play various subdivisions of the beat to show different aspects of proportion by dividing the beat in several ways.
This piece experiments with different timbres and rhythmic motives. Timbral variety is achieved through grouping instruments into woods, metals, and membranes and using combinations of those groups to delineate different sections and ideas. The rhythmic motives are based on the numbers 3, 5, and 7, and appear as rhythmic values, phrase lengths, and number of repetitions.
The first section states a definition of rhythm and contains all timbres and motives contained within the composition. The piece then explores the relativity of time and is represented by drums changing the speed of their notes. The third section discusses rhythm as repetition and is illustrated by repetitive rhythmic motives. The text then features rhythm as a subjective human experience and is reflected through polyrhythms played between ensemble members. What follows is a description of meter as a temporal measurement that is unchanged by rhythmic activity. By bringing back previous motives, this section reveals that all of the motives work within the same meter. In the final section, the performers play various subdivisions of the beat to show different aspects of proportion by dividing the beat in several ways.
ContributorsBush, Zachary (Author) / Rockmaker, Jody (Thesis advisor) / Rodgers, Rodney (Committee member) / Suzuki, Kotoka (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
Martin Ellerby (b. 1951) is a prominent composer for wind and brass bands, and his Euphonium Concerto and Baritone Concerto are among the best and most challenging works in the euphonium and baritone repertoire. This project aims to assist the performer in learning these important works by utilizing specific practice strategies.
Each work has been performed and thoroughly examined by the author in order to develop and offer specific strategies for learning each piece. This project utilizes identification of themes and motives, existing methods, suggested exercises, and suggestions from the premiere performers in order to develop a strategic practice regimen for learning these important works. The discussion of each movement begins with a brief thematic overview to identify the motives and ideas used to construct each movement. The musical content discovered through thematic and motivic identification is used to recommend modified exercises from Arban Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium edited by Joseph Alessi and Dr. Brian Bowman, Clarke’s Technical Studies for The Cornet by Herbert L. Clarke, The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, Scale and Arpeggio Routines for Undergraduate & Graduate College & University Students by Milt Stevens and Brian Bowman, and “The Carmine Caruso Method” as taught by Julie Landsman. Each exercise presented is aimed to target a specific challenge of the movement being discussed and will facilitate effective and efficient practice of each work.
Each work has been performed and thoroughly examined by the author in order to develop and offer specific strategies for learning each piece. This project utilizes identification of themes and motives, existing methods, suggested exercises, and suggestions from the premiere performers in order to develop a strategic practice regimen for learning these important works. The discussion of each movement begins with a brief thematic overview to identify the motives and ideas used to construct each movement. The musical content discovered through thematic and motivic identification is used to recommend modified exercises from Arban Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium edited by Joseph Alessi and Dr. Brian Bowman, Clarke’s Technical Studies for The Cornet by Herbert L. Clarke, The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, Scale and Arpeggio Routines for Undergraduate & Graduate College & University Students by Milt Stevens and Brian Bowman, and “The Carmine Caruso Method” as taught by Julie Landsman. Each exercise presented is aimed to target a specific challenge of the movement being discussed and will facilitate effective and efficient practice of each work.
ContributorsMarquardt, Benjamin (Author) / Swoboda, Deanna (Thesis advisor) / Eriscon, John (Committee member) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This fifteen-minute cyclical mass uses excerpts from the text of the Mass Ordinary and is laid out into five movements and across three different languages: Kyrie (Latin), Gloria (Chinese), Credo (English), Sanctus (Chinese), and Agnus Dei (Latin). Rather than following the tradition of celebrating devotion, this mass tells the story of the abuse of power in political and religious leadership. Movements sung in Latin represent the devout Christian base whose motives and inspiration remain pure and divine. The English movement, Credo, has been altered from the original and represents the manipulation and distortion of scripture, truth, and facts by self-serving leaders and politicians. Finally, Chinese movements represent those who are persecuted for their convictions and their identity.
The turmoil of the Chinese movements is characterized by atonality and fast tempos with contrasting, meditative, lyrical B sections. The outer Latin movements contain the familiar Kyrie and Agnus Dei texts in triple canon with the orchestra. The English middle movement is simultaneously familiar and awkward, with harmonies that almost function, under an altered Credo text. After an aria-like passage, the orchestra takes the “I believe” figure and manipulates it in a modal fugato, culminating in a climactic version of the main motive. A repeated double-dotted quarter note—sixteenth-note rhythm followed by a fast tremolo in the castanets make up the central “bangu motive.” This motive is derived from traditional Beijing Opera, in which the bangu is the principal percussion element. As a rhythmic motive, fragments of it appear in every movement and in several different instrument groups. These fragments undergo various transformations before a version of it arrives as the final Agnus Dei rhythmic figure.
The turmoil of the Chinese movements is characterized by atonality and fast tempos with contrasting, meditative, lyrical B sections. The outer Latin movements contain the familiar Kyrie and Agnus Dei texts in triple canon with the orchestra. The English middle movement is simultaneously familiar and awkward, with harmonies that almost function, under an altered Credo text. After an aria-like passage, the orchestra takes the “I believe” figure and manipulates it in a modal fugato, culminating in a climactic version of the main motive. A repeated double-dotted quarter note—sixteenth-note rhythm followed by a fast tremolo in the castanets make up the central “bangu motive.” This motive is derived from traditional Beijing Opera, in which the bangu is the principal percussion element. As a rhythmic motive, fragments of it appear in every movement and in several different instrument groups. These fragments undergo various transformations before a version of it arrives as the final Agnus Dei rhythmic figure.
ContributorsXu, Eric (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / Meyer, Jeffery (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
“OUT.” is a song cycle for bass and piano that follows the coming out process of a young homosexual who has been raised in a politically and religiously conservative corner of American culture. This character was taught from a very young age that anything or anyone of a queer nature was inherently wrong and should be avoided and scorned. The story arc captured in this seven-movement work is only a small portion of what the character ultimately goes through as they mature. This portion of their narrative has been isolated with the hope of embodying a queer character of strength, and this piece begins with the character knowing, understanding, and having already come to terms with their own sexuality. The story outlined in this song cycle is one of hardship that ultimately leads to triumph, as a demonstration that overcoming queer suppression is an achievable goal.
ContributorsGreenhalgh, Jedd (Author) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Thesis advisor) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Roumain, Daniel B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This work explores the blurring and eradication of boundaries – whether the boundaries are musical, social, cultural, linguistical, or political. I wanted to create a work that would explore the boundaries of my own dual identities, such as Mexican or American, or masculine or feminine, and that of my varied interests, such as popular, jazz, and European art music. After half a year of work, Sueño-Vibrant is the dazzling, whirlwind of a result (“vibrant” is pronounced just as it is in English).
I worked with poet Marco Piña because we share many similarities in our artistic philosophies, owing to our mutual identities as bilingual Chicanxs. Considering the poems themselves, for me, “Bastardized Spanglish Translations” reveals an individual recovering from the end of a romantic relationship, whereas “Night Song” is about the self-discovery of one’s identity. By pairing these two poems, I create a polarity between the texts themselves, to highlight that the shaping of identity is both an internal and external process.
In the cantata, we travel from the mourning and mysterious “Do My Eyes Lie” to the Mexican folk-styled “Ya me voy;” the arduous and painful “Ban Me From Balancing;” the indie- and jazz-inspired “Soon I’ll Be Home;” the introspective choral work “Night Song;” and the dissonant and disoriented “This Song Keeps Skipping.” I complete the work with “Adiós, Amor,” where these seemingly disparate feelings, genres, ideas, and identities are tied together and explored to fruition through a variety of styles and genres, from the salsa, to the opera chorus. With this work, I invite audiences to consider their own identities and those of others, and to embrace the social dissonances that happen both within us and around us.
I worked with poet Marco Piña because we share many similarities in our artistic philosophies, owing to our mutual identities as bilingual Chicanxs. Considering the poems themselves, for me, “Bastardized Spanglish Translations” reveals an individual recovering from the end of a romantic relationship, whereas “Night Song” is about the self-discovery of one’s identity. By pairing these two poems, I create a polarity between the texts themselves, to highlight that the shaping of identity is both an internal and external process.
In the cantata, we travel from the mourning and mysterious “Do My Eyes Lie” to the Mexican folk-styled “Ya me voy;” the arduous and painful “Ban Me From Balancing;” the indie- and jazz-inspired “Soon I’ll Be Home;” the introspective choral work “Night Song;” and the dissonant and disoriented “This Song Keeps Skipping.” I complete the work with “Adiós, Amor,” where these seemingly disparate feelings, genres, ideas, and identities are tied together and explored to fruition through a variety of styles and genres, from the salsa, to the opera chorus. With this work, I invite audiences to consider their own identities and those of others, and to embrace the social dissonances that happen both within us and around us.
ContributorsRodriguez, Kristian Silviano (Author) / Rockmaker, Jody (Thesis advisor) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / Wells, Christopher (Committee member) / Schildkret, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Lux Aeterna is scored for Flute (Piccolo), Bb Clarinet (Bass Clarinet), Oboe, Bassoon (Contra-Bassoon), French Horn, Trumpet in C, Tenor Trombone, Soprano Voice, Alto Voice, Tenor Voice, Bass Voice, 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Double Bass. The piece lasts 17-18 minutes. The text, in its original Latin, is from the Requiem Mass. The pitch material for the four voices is directly derived from the original Gregorian Chant (B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A). The primary pitch materials for the instrumental ensemble are drawn from the overtone series, with the fundamental of B natural. As found in the natural overtone series, the chords produced in this composition include microtones found both naturally from the series along with microtones added by the composer to create harmonic friction. This treatment of microtonal materials is juxtaposed with the “pure” nature of the B minor modal scale sung by the 4 vocalists.
Lux Aeterna uses the performance space so that the sixteen performers and conductor surround the audience in an oval shape. Entrances of instruments are determined by their position around the audience and the way in which those sounds interact with one another across the space of the hall. The instruments are strategically placed so that timbres can be balanced in a specific way and the listener can hear the pitches blend in the acoustics of the hall. The goal is to create an immersive listening experience for the audience. Although there are some spectral techniques involved in this composition, no computers or software programs were used to analyze harmonic materials. The pitch material is either from the overtone series or the B minor scale. Essentially, the music is instinctually composed.
Lux Aeterna uses the performance space so that the sixteen performers and conductor surround the audience in an oval shape. Entrances of instruments are determined by their position around the audience and the way in which those sounds interact with one another across the space of the hall. The instruments are strategically placed so that timbres can be balanced in a specific way and the listener can hear the pitches blend in the acoustics of the hall. The goal is to create an immersive listening experience for the audience. Although there are some spectral techniques involved in this composition, no computers or software programs were used to analyze harmonic materials. The pitch material is either from the overtone series or the B minor scale. Essentially, the music is instinctually composed.
ContributorsMitchell, Christopher Paul (Author) / Rockmaker, Jody (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Reverend Stormfield Goes to Heaven is an operetta in six scenes for seven vocalists and
flute, clarinet, horn, percussion, piano, violin, cello, and double bass. The work’s approximate length is 40 minutes. The libretto is written by the composer and based on the short story by Mark Twain titled “Captain Stormfield Goes to Heaven.” The short story features the typical biting sarcasm of Mark Twain. The libretto combines part of the original text with alterations to satirize modern day Christianity and religious values in general. The story follows Reverend Stormfield as she arrives in Heaven and quickly learns that the locations and people she expected to see and meet are shockingly different. The journey takes her through comical scenarios and deeper philosophical dilemmas, and in the end she is left to confront her own disturbing past.
The musical elements of the operetta include traditional and octatonic scales, twelve- tone rows and set theory based on the overriding intervallic relationship of the perfect fourth. The sets implemented as motivic ideas: 0-1-4-5, 0-1-6-7, and 0-2-5-7 are based on the perfect fourth and serve as the framework for many of the melodic ideas. The instruments provide an accompanimental role often incorporating melodic fragmentation and contrapuntal textures and techniques. Instrumental solos are featured prominently in arias and the instrumental interludes between scenes.
flute, clarinet, horn, percussion, piano, violin, cello, and double bass. The work’s approximate length is 40 minutes. The libretto is written by the composer and based on the short story by Mark Twain titled “Captain Stormfield Goes to Heaven.” The short story features the typical biting sarcasm of Mark Twain. The libretto combines part of the original text with alterations to satirize modern day Christianity and religious values in general. The story follows Reverend Stormfield as she arrives in Heaven and quickly learns that the locations and people she expected to see and meet are shockingly different. The journey takes her through comical scenarios and deeper philosophical dilemmas, and in the end she is left to confront her own disturbing past.
The musical elements of the operetta include traditional and octatonic scales, twelve- tone rows and set theory based on the overriding intervallic relationship of the perfect fourth. The sets implemented as motivic ideas: 0-1-4-5, 0-1-6-7, and 0-2-5-7 are based on the perfect fourth and serve as the framework for many of the melodic ideas. The instruments provide an accompanimental role often incorporating melodic fragmentation and contrapuntal textures and techniques. Instrumental solos are featured prominently in arias and the instrumental interludes between scenes.
ContributorsSakamoto, Dale Toshio (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Light Emerging is a symphonic dance suite in five movements. The work’s approximate length is 25 minutes; it is scored for flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C with loop pedal, trombone, percussion, electronic percussion, piano, strings, and fixed media. Each movement of the dance suite is written to be performed as a standalone piece or together as one multimovement work. The music showcases open quintal sonorities layered in conflicting substructures, which contract into denser brooding passages and transform into tonal fanfares.
Attempting to capture the essence of how humanity uniquely experiences light and assigns personification to it, the composer presents light and dark as the main characters in a grand ballet of good and evil. Prism (Movement I) is an overture that is constantly shifting and evolving. A rainbow of colors is presented by the various orchestra members, as timbral and pitch evolutions showcase the ever-changing perspectives of a prism held to light. Yin/Yang (Movement II) explores the relationship between light and dark. The solo clarinet represents light breaking through the darkness as its colorful flourishes pierce through the brooding fixed media. Sunrise (Movement III) captures the impressive majesty of light bursting over the dark horizon in the early morning. Lux (Movement IV) is a dance of light, using solo trumpet and a chorus of phantom trumpets. Light Eternal (Movement V) expresses the deep need for humans to worship that which is unknown and eternal, and the power of light to overcome the dark. The “March of Eternal Light” signals our end in this world and the journey to the beyond.
Attempting to capture the essence of how humanity uniquely experiences light and assigns personification to it, the composer presents light and dark as the main characters in a grand ballet of good and evil. Prism (Movement I) is an overture that is constantly shifting and evolving. A rainbow of colors is presented by the various orchestra members, as timbral and pitch evolutions showcase the ever-changing perspectives of a prism held to light. Yin/Yang (Movement II) explores the relationship between light and dark. The solo clarinet represents light breaking through the darkness as its colorful flourishes pierce through the brooding fixed media. Sunrise (Movement III) captures the impressive majesty of light bursting over the dark horizon in the early morning. Lux (Movement IV) is a dance of light, using solo trumpet and a chorus of phantom trumpets. Light Eternal (Movement V) expresses the deep need for humans to worship that which is unknown and eternal, and the power of light to overcome the dark. The “March of Eternal Light” signals our end in this world and the journey to the beyond.
ContributorsJohnson, Brice (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This creative project thesis involves electronic music composition and production, and it uses some elements of algorithmic music composition (through recurrent neural networks). Algorithmic composition techniques are used here as a tool in composing the pieces, but are not the main focus. Thematically, this project explores the analogy between artificial neural networks and neural activity in the brain. This project consists of three short pieces, each exploring these concept in different ways.
ContributorsKarpur, Ajay (Author) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Thesis director) / Ingalls, Todd (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05