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- Creators: Dreyfoos, Dale
- Creators: Hamilton, Robert
Description
Yannis Constantinidis was the last of the handful of composers referred to collectively as the Greek National School. The members of this group strove to create a distinctive national style for Greece, founded upon a synthesis of Western compositional idioms with melodic, rhyhmic, and modal features of their local folk traditions. Constantinidis particularly looked to the folk melodies of his native Asia Minor and the nearby Dodecanese Islands. His musical output includes operettas, musical comedies, orchestral works, chamber and vocal music, and much piano music, all of which draws upon folk repertories for thematic material. The present essay examines how he incorporates this thematic material in his piano compositions, written between 1943 and 1971, with a special focus on the 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese. In general, Constantinidis's pianistic style is expressed through miniature pieces in which the folk tunes are presented mostly intact, but embedded in accompaniment based in early twentieth-century modal harmony. Following the dictates of the founding members of the Greek National School, Manolis Kalomiris and Georgios Lambelet, the modal basis of his harmonic vocabulary is firmly rooted in the characteristics of the most common modes of Greek folk music. A close study of his 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese not only offers a valuable insight into his harmonic imagination, but also demonstrates how he subtly adapts his source melodies. This work also reveals his care in creating a musical expression of the words of the original folk songs, even in purely instrumental compositon.
ContributorsSavvidou, Dina (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Little, Bliss (Committee member) / Meir, Baruch (Committee member) / Thompson, Janice M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Women's contributions to the history of Canadian music can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. However, women's achievements then, and still somewhat now, are often overlooked and as a result, piano solo works by Canadian women composers are largely unknown. The purpose of this study is to promote the wealth of solo piano repertoire composed by Canadian women, and to report the results in an accessible and comprehensible format for students, teachers, and performers at all levels. The research focuses on the most recent piano music by female composers born in or after 1950 whose compositions are available through the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) library. Brief biographies of included composers note their accomplishments, compositional output, and style characteristics. Annotations for the 103 works studied, written by twenty-six composers, include information about harmonic schemes, meters, tempos, durations, dates of the composition, CMC call number, level of difficulty, commissions, musical excerpts, premieres, and style characteristics. The style characteristics section includes composer's notes, technical challenges, musical characteristics, pedagogical values, and other pertinent information about a given piece. Since the goal of this project is to stimulate the awareness of music composed by Canadian women in a truly global sense, the research paper is supplemented by a website--www.canadianwomencomposers.com--that contains all the information found in the written portion of the annotations. This website also offers short audio samples of the compositions. The writer wishes to encourage all students, performers, and teachers to explore this resource, which reveals the richness of solo piano repertoire written by Canadian women composers.
ContributorsKim, Joo Yeon Tarina (Author) / Meyer Thompson, Janice (Thesis advisor) / Cosand, Walter (Committee member) / Hamilton, Robert (Committee member) / Humphreys, Jere T (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Owen Middleton (b. 1941) enjoys an established and growing reputation as a composer of classical guitar music, but his works for piano are comparatively little known. The close investigation offered here of Middleton's works for piano reveals the same impressive craftsmanship, compelling character, and innovative spirit found in his works for guitar. Indeed, the only significant thing Middleton's piano music currently lacks is the well-deserved attention of professional players and a wider audience. Middleton's piano music needs to be heard, not just discussed, so one of this document's purposes is to provide a recorded sample of his piano works. While the overall repertoire for solo piano is vast, and new works become established in that repertoire with increasing difficulty, Middleton's piano works have a significant potential to find their way into the concert hall as well as the private teaching studio. His solo piano music is highly effective, well suited to the instrument, and, perhaps most importantly, fresh sounding and truly original. His pedagogical works are of equal value. Middleton's piano music offers something for everyone: there one finds daring virtuosity, effusions of passion, intellectual force, colorful imagery, poetry, humor, and even a degree of idiomatic innovation. This study aims to reveal key aspects of the composer's musical style, especially his style of piano writing, and to provide pianists with helpful analytical, technical, and interpretive insights. These descriptions of the music are supported with recorded examples, selected from the works for solo piano written between 1962 and 1993: Sonata for Piano, Childhood Scenes, Katie's Collection, and Toccata for Piano. The complete scores of the recorded works are included in the appendix. A chapter briefly describing the piano pieces since 1993 concludes the study and invites the reader to further investigations of this unique and important body of work.
ContributorsMoreau, Barton Andrew (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Gardner, Joshua (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Bohuslav Martinù (1890-1959) was a prolific composer who wrote nearly 100 works for piano. His highly imaginative and eclectic style blends elements of the Baroque, Impressionism, Twentieth-century idioms and Czech folk music. His music is fresh and appealing to the listener, yet it remains intriguing as to how all the elements are combined in a cohesive manner. Martinù himself provides clues to his compositional process. He believed in pure musical expression and the intensity of the musical idea, without the need for extra-musical or programmatic connotations. He espoused holistic and organic views toward musical perception and composition, at times referring to a work as an "organism." This study examines Martinù's piano style in light of his many diverse influences and personal philosophy. The first portion of this paper discusses Martinù's overall style through several piano miniatures written throughout his career. It takes into consideration the composer's personal background, musical influences and aesthetic convictions. The second portion focuses specifically on Martinù's first large-scale work for piano, the Fantasie et Toccata, H. 281. Written during a time in which Martinù was black-listed by the Nazis and forced to flee Europe, this piece bears witness to the chaotic events of WWII through its complexity and intensity of character. The discussion and analysis of the Fantasie et Toccata intends to serve as a guide to interpretation for the performer or listener and also seeks to promote the piano music of Bohuslav Martinù to a wider audience.
ContributorsCrane-Waleczek, Jennifer (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Meyer Thompson, Janice (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study compares the Hummel Concertos in A Minor, Op. 85 and B Minor, Op. 89 and the Chopin Concertos in E Minor, Op. 11 and F Minor, Op. 21. On initial hearing of Hummel's rarely played concertos, one immediately detects similarities with Chopin's concerto style. Upon closer examination, one discovers a substantial number of interesting and significant parallels with Chopin's concertos, many of which are highlighted in this research project. Hummel belongs to a generation of composers who made a shift away from the Classical style, and Chopin, as an early Romantic, absorbed much from his immediate predecessors in establishing his highly unique style. I have chosen to focus on Chopin's concertos to demonstrate this association. The essay begins with a discussion of the historical background of Chopin's formative years as it pertains to the formation of his compositional style, Hummel's role and influence in the contemporary musical arena, as well as interactions between the two composers. It then provides the historical background of the aforementioned concertos leading to a comparative analysis, which includes structural, melodic, harmonic, and motivic parallels. With a better understanding of his stylistic influences, and of how Chopin assimilated them in the creation of his masterful works, the performer can adopt a more informed approach to the interpretation of these two concertos, which are among the most beloved masterpieces in piano literature.
ContributorsYam, Jessica (Author) / Hamilton, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Levy, Benjamin (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The trained singer utilizes an awareness of her body as an instrument. When she becomes pregnant, her body changes in numerous ways to support the pregnancy. Many of these changes have great impact on her ability to sing during the pregnancy and postpartum periods. The voice may be altered positively or negatively by the release of hormones. The body undergoes many changes that affect the posture and breathing required for singing. Most notably, the abdominal muscles are greatly impacted by the pregnancy. They are stretched by the growing uterus, and this affects their function. In addition, the linea alba (the connective tissue between the halves of the rectus abdominis) is softened by hormonal increases and subject to stretching as the uterus grows, predisposing it to weakness. Since the other abdominal muscles attach to the linea alba via connective tissue, maintaining the integrity of the linea alba during pregnancy and postpartum is vital to the operational function of the abdominal muscles. Protecting the vulnerable linea alba must be deliberately undertaken in two parts. First, conscious exercise is needed to preserve the linea alba during pregnancy and to rehabilitate it after pregnancy. Targeted exercises strengthen the transverse abdominis and shorten and approximate the two halves of the rectus abdominis. Second, modifications in daily movement are necessary to protect the linea alba while performing routine activities. Cesarean sections present additional surgical concerns for singers, including abdominal incisions, use of medication, and the rare need for general anesthesia via intubation. Recovery from a cesarean can be difficult due to abdominal pain, yet steps may be taken to speed healing at the hospital and at home. This paper provides an overview of how pregnancy affects the singer, discusses the effects of pregnancy and cesarean section, and provides a plan to protect the abdominal muscles during pregnancy and rehabilitate them in the postpartum period. It combines information from the fields of physical therapy, medicine, and surgery into a guide for the singer and voice teacher.
ContributorsWill, Andrea Pitman (Author) / Doan, Jerry (Thesis advisor) / Elgar Kopta, Anne (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Mills, Robert (Committee member) / Oldani, Robert W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
About piano students who display disruptive behavior and perform far below reasonable expectations, teachers first conclude that they are lazy, rude, disinterested, and/or lacking intelligence or ability. Most dismiss such students from studios and advise parents to discontinue lessons. In truth, many of these students are both highly gifted and also have a learning disability. Examined literature shows that the incidence of dyslexia and other learning disabilities in the gifted learner population is several times that of the regular learner population. Although large volumes of research have been devoted to dyslexia, and more recently to dyslexia and music (in the classroom and some in individual instrumental instruction), there is no evidence of the same investigation in relation to the specific needs of highly gifted dyslexic students in learning to play the piano. This project examines characteristics of giftedness and dyslexia, gifted learners with learning disabilities, and the difficulties they encounter in learning to read music and play keyboard instruments. It includes historical summaries of author's experience with such students and description of their progress and success. They reveal some of practical strategies that evolved through several decades of teaching regular and gifted dyslexic students that helped them overcome the challenges and learn to play the piano. Informal conversations and experience exchanges with colleagues, as well as a recently completed pilot study also showed that most piano pedagogues had no formal opportunity to learn about this issue and to be empowered to teach these very special students. The author's hope is to offer personal insights, survey of current knowledge, and practical suggestions that will not only assist piano instructors to successfully teach highly gifted learners with dyslexia, but also inspire them to learn more about the topic.
ContributorsVladikovic, Jelena (Author) / Humphreys, Jere T. (Thesis advisor) / Meir, Baruch (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Hamilton, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Arnold Schoenberg's 1908-09 song cycle, Das Buch der hängenden Gärten [The Book of the Hanging Gardens], opus 15, represents one of his most decisive early steps into the realm of musical modernism. In the midst of personal and artistic crises, Schoenberg set texts by Stefan George in a style he called "pantonality," and described his composition as radically new. Though stylistically progressive, however, Schoenberg's musical achievement had certain ideologically conservative roots: the composer numbered among turn-of-the-century Viennese artists and thinkers whose opposition to the conventional and the popular--in favor of artistic autonomy and creativity--concealed a reactionary misogyny. A critical reading of Hanging Gardens through the lens of gender reveals that Schoenberg, like many of his contemporaries, incorporated strong frauenfeindlich [anti-women] elements into his work, through his modernist account of artistic creativity, his choice of texts, and his musical settings. Although elements of Hanging Gardens' atonal music suggest that Schoenberg valued gendered-feminine principles in his compositional style, a closer analysis of the work's musical language shows an intact masculinist hegemony. Through his deployment of uncanny tonal reminiscences, underlying tonal gestures, and closed forms in Hanging Gardens, Schoenberg ensures that the feminine-associated "excesses" of atonality remain under masculine control. This study draws upon the critical musicology of Susan McClary while arguing that Schoenberg's music is socially contingent, affected by the gender biases of his social and literary milieux. It addresses likely influences on Schoenberg's worldview including the philosophy of Otto Weininger, Freudian psychoanalysis, and a complex web of personal relationships. Finally, this analysis highlights the relevance of Schoenberg's world and its constructions of gender to modern performance practice, and argues that performers must consider interrelated historical, textual, and musical factors when interpreting Hanging Gardens in new contexts.
ContributorsGinger, Kerry Anne (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Mook, Richard (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
ABSTRACT This document introduces singers and voice teachers to Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis's listening training method with a particular emphasis on its relevance to singers. After presenting an overview of Tomatis's work in the field of audio-psycho-phonology (circa 1947 through the 1990s) and specific ways that aspects of his theory are relevant to singers' performance skills, this project investigates the impact of listening training on singers by examining published research. The studies described in this document have investigated the impact of listening training on elements of the singer's skill set, including but not limited to measures of vocal quality such as intonation, vocal control, intensity, and sonority, as well as language pronunciation and general musicianship. Anecdotal evidence, presented by performers and their observers, is also considered. The evidence generated by research studies and anecdotal reports strongly favors Tomatis-based listening training as a valid way to improve singers' performance abilities.
ContributorsHurley, Susan Lynn (Author) / Doan, Jerry (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Kopta, Anne (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Thompson, Billie M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Although opera is the last musical genre one typically associates with Latin America, Mexican composer Daniel Catán (1949-2011) found surprising success across the United States and overseas with his opera Florencia en el Amazonas (1996). Catán blends colorful music with literary elements to create a representation of Latin American culture through language, drama, scenery, and music. Among these elements is realism mágico (magical realism), a significant characteristic of Latin American literature. Indeed, the plot of the opera is influenced by Gabriel García Márquez's novel, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985), as well as the poem "Mariposa de obsidiana" (Obsidian Butterfly, 1951) and the short story "La hija de Rappaccini" (Rappaccini's Daughter, 1953), both by Octavio Paz. To create his protagonist in the opera, Florencia Grimaldi, Catán combines the dramatic qualities of several European soprano heroines. This figure's character development is conveyed largely through her Act I, Scene 2, aria, "Florencia Grimaldi," and her Act II, Scene 17, aria, "Escúchame." An overview of the opera places these two arias into context, and their musical content and text-setting are closely examined in relation to the character of Florencia. Finally, how Daniel Catán creates a soprano heroine from the Latin American perspective is discussed.
ContributorsFlores, Andrea, D.M.A (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / May, Judy (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013