The Future of Theory
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College Orchestra Director Programming Decisions Regarding Classical Twentieth-Century Music Mark D
James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Dissertations The Graduate School Summer 2017 College orchestra director programming decisions regarding classical twentieth-century music Mark D. Taylor James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019 Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Taylor, Mark D., "College orchestra director programming decisions regarding classical twentieth-century music" (2017). Dissertations. 132. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019/132 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. College Orchestra Director Programming Decisions Regarding Classical Twentieth-Century Music Mark David Taylor A Doctor of Musical Arts Document submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts School of Music August 2017 FACULTY COMMITTEE Committee Chair: Dr. Eric Guinivan Committee Members/ Readers: Dr. Mary Jean Speare Mr. Foster Beyers Acknowledgments Dr. Robert McCashin, former Director of Orchestras and Professor of Orchestral Conducting at James Madison University (JMU) as well as a co-founder of College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), served as an important sounding-board as the study emerged. Dr. McCashin was particularly helpful in pointing out the challenges of undertaking such a study. I would have been delighted to have Dr. McCashin serve as the chair of my doctoral committee, but he retired from JMU before my study was completed. -
Focus 2020 Pioneering Women Composers of the 20Th Century
Focus 2020 Trailblazers Pioneering Women Composers of the 20th Century The Juilliard School presents 36th Annual Focus Festival Focus 2020 Trailblazers: Pioneering Women Composers of the 20th Century Joel Sachs, Director Odaline de la Martinez and Joel Sachs, Co-curators TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction to Focus 2020 3 For the Benefit of Women Composers 4 The 19th-Century Precursors 6 Acknowledgments 7 Program I Friday, January 24, 7:30pm 18 Program II Monday, January 27, 7:30pm 25 Program III Tuesday, January 28 Preconcert Roundtable, 6:30pm; Concert, 7:30pm 34 Program IV Wednesday, January 29, 7:30pm 44 Program V Thursday, January 30, 7:30pm 56 Program VI Friday, January 31, 7:30pm 67 Focus 2020 Staff These performances are supported in part by the Muriel Gluck Production Fund. Please make certain that all electronic devices are turned off during the performance. The taking of photographs and use of recording equipment are not permitted in the auditorium. Introduction to Focus 2020 by Joel Sachs The seed for this year’s Focus Festival was planted in December 2018 at a Juilliard doctoral recital by the Chilean violist Sergio Muñoz Leiva. I was especially struck by the sonata of Rebecca Clarke, an Anglo-American composer of the early 20th century who has been known largely by that one piece, now a staple of the viola repertory. Thinking about the challenges she faced in establishing her credibility as a professional composer, my mind went to a group of women in that period, roughly 1885 to 1930, who struggled to be accepted as professional composers rather than as professional performers writing as a secondary activity or as amateur composers. -
Absolute Pitch (AP)
Absolute Pitch (AP) • A.k.a. ‘perfect pitch’ • The ability to name or produce a tone without a reference tone • Very rare: 1 in 10,000 Vs. Relative pitch (RP) • Most people use relative pitch: • Recognizing tones relative to other tones • Remember and produce intervals abstracted from specific pitch, or given a reference pitch AP: how it works • Thought to be a labeling process: – AP possessors associate names/ meaning with pitches or pitch classes – Retain this association over time • AP is not ‘perfect’; i.e., auditory perception/ pitch discrimination not more accurate than RP Imaging evidence • When making judgments using AP: • possessors compared to non- possessors show more activation in frontal naming/labeling areas • Anatomically, AP possessors show greater planum temporale asymmetry – Apparently due to reduced RH PT size AP ‘flavors’ • AP not purely ‘have’ or ‘have-not; ability level varies along continuum • Some possessors make more accurate judgments with certain instruments – e.g. piano vs. pure sine wave tones – Sometimes called ‘absolute piano’ AP ‘flavors’ cont’d • Other possessors may perform more accurately with white-key notes than black-key notes – E.g. C,D,E vs. C#, D# • May be due to early learning influence – Early musical training on keyboard usually starts with white-key notes only • So, is AP learned? Learnable? Nature vs. Nurture, of course • The debate continues: – Some researchers ascribe genetic origins to AP, suspecting that early musical training is neither sufficient nor necessary – Others find most possessors -
Kostka, Stefan
TEN Classical Serialism INTRODUCTION When Schoenberg composed the first twelve-tone piece in the summer of 192 1, I the "Pre- lude" to what would eventually become his Suite, Op. 25 (1923), he carried to a conclusion the developments in chromaticism that had begun many decades earlier. The assault of chromaticism on the tonal system had led to the nonsystem of free atonality, and now Schoenberg had developed a "method [he insisted it was not a "system"] of composing with twelve tones that are related only with one another." Free atonality achieved some of its effect through the use of aggregates, as we have seen, and many atonal composers seemed to have been convinced that atonality could best be achieved through some sort of regular recycling of the twelve pitch class- es. But it was Schoenberg who came up with the idea of arranging the twelve pitch classes into a particular series, or row, th at would remain essentially constant through- out a composition. Various twelve-tone melodies that predate 1921 are often cited as precursors of Schoenberg's tone row, a famous example being the fugue theme from Richard Strauss's Thus Spake Zararhustra (1895). A less famous example, but one closer than Strauss's theme to Schoenberg'S method, is seen in Example IO-\. Notice that Ives holds off the last pitch class, C, for measures until its dramatic entrance in m. 68. Tn the music of Strauss and rves th e twelve-note theme is a curiosity, but in the mu sic of Schoenberg and his fo ll owers the twelve-note row is a basic shape that can be presented in four well-defined ways, thereby assuring a certain unity in the pitch domain of a composition. -
Classical Net Review
The Internet's Premier Classical Music Source BOOK REVIEW The Psychology of Music Diana Deutsch, editor Academic Press, Third Edition, 2013, pp xvii + 765 ISBN-10: 012381460X ISBN-13: 978-0123814609 The psychology of music was first explored in detail in modern times in a book of that name by Carl E. Seashore… Psychology Of Music was published in 1919. Dover's paperback edition of almost 450 pages (ISBN- 10: 0486218511; ISBN-13: 978-0486218519) is still in print from half a century later (1967) and remains a good starting point for those wishing to understand the relationship between our minds and music, chiefly as a series of physical processes. From the last quarter of the twentieth century onwards much research and many theories have changed the models we have of the mind when listening to or playing music. Changes in music itself, of course, have dictated that the nature of human interaction with it has grown. Unsurprisingly, books covering the subject have proliferated too. These range from examinations of how memory affects our experience of music through various forms of mental disabilities, therapies and deviations from "standard" auditory reception, to attempts to explain music appreciation psychologically. Donald Hodges' and David Conrad Sebald's Music in the Human Experience: An Introduction to Music Psychology (ISBN-10: 0415881862; ISBN-13: 978- 0415881869) makes a good introduction to the subject; while Aniruddh Patel's Music, Language, and the Brain (ISBN-10: 0199755302; ISBN-13: 978-0199755301) is a good (and now classic/reference) overview. Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (ISBN-10: 1400033535; ISBN-13: 978-1400033539) examines specific areas from a clinical perspective. -
Selective Analysis of 20Th Century Contemporary Percussion Ensembles Designated for Three Or More Players
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1968 Selective analysis of 20th century contemporary percussion ensembles designated for three or more players Raymond Francis Lindsey The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Lindsey, Raymond Francis, "Selective analysis of 20th century contemporary percussion ensembles designated for three or more players" (1968). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 3513. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/3513 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SELECTIVE ANALYSIS OF 2 0 ^ CENTURY CONTEMPORARY PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES DESIGNATED FOR THREE OR MORE PLAYERS by Raymond Francis Lindsey B.M* University of Montana 1965 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music University of Montana 1968 Approved by; L L u ' ! JP. 4 . Chairman, Board of Exami4/ers Deah/, Graduate School 1 :: iosa Date UMI Number: EP35093 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. -
Form in the Music of John Adams
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2018 Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Ridderbusch, Michael, "Form in the Music of John Adams" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6503. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6503 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch DMA Research Paper submitted to the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Theory and Composition Andrew Kohn, Ph.D., Chair Travis D. Stimeling, Ph.D. Melissa Bingmann, Ph.D. Cynthia Anderson, MM Matthew Heap, Ph.D. School of Music Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: John Adams, Minimalism, Phrygian Gates, Century Rolls, Son of Chamber Symphony, Formalism, Disunity, Moment Form, Block Form Copyright ©2017 by Michael Ridderbusch ABSTRACT Form in the Music of John Adams Michael Ridderbusch The American composer John Adams, born in 1947, has composed a large body of work that has attracted the attention of many performers and legions of listeners. -
Convergent Evolution in a Large Cross-Cultural Database of Musical Scales
Convergent evolution in a large cross-cultural database of musical scales John M. McBride1,* and Tsvi Tlusty1,2,* 1Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Ulsan 44919, South Korea 2Departments of Physics and Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, South Korea *[email protected], [email protected] August 3, 2021 Abstract We begin by clarifying some key terms and ideas. We first define a scale as a sequence of notes (Figure 1A). Scales, sets of discrete pitches used to generate Notes are pitch categories described by a single pitch, melodies, are thought to be one of the most uni- although in practice pitch is variable so a better descrip- versal features of music. Despite this, we know tion is that notes are regions of semi-stable pitch centered relatively little about how cross-cultural diversity, around a representative (e.g., mean, meadian) frequency or how scales have evolved. We remedy this, in [10]. Thus, a scale can also be thought of as a sequence of part, we assemble a cross-cultural database of em- mean frequencies of pitch categories. However, humans pirical scale data, collected over the past century process relative frequency much better than absolute fre- by various ethnomusicologists. We provide sta- quency, such that a scale is better described by the fre- tistical analyses to highlight that certain intervals quency of notes relative to some standard; this is typically (e.g., the octave) are used frequently across cul- taken to be the first note of the scale, which is called the tures. -
Memory and Production of Standard Frequencies in College-Level Musicians Sarah E
University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2013 Memory and Production of Standard Frequencies in College-Level Musicians Sarah E. Weber University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Cognition and Perception Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Music Education Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Weber, Sarah E., "Memory and Production of Standard Frequencies in College-Level Musicians" (2013). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 1162. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/1162 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Memory and Production of Standard Frequencies in College-Level Musicians A Thesis Presented by SARAH WEBER Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC September 2013 Music Theory © Copyright by Sarah E. Weber 2013 All Rights Reserved Memory and Production of Standard Frequencies in College-Level Musicians A Thesis Presented by SARAH WEBER _____________________________ Gary S. Karpinski, Chair _____________________________ Andrew Cohen, Member _____________________________ Brent Auerbach, Member _____________________________ Jeff Cox, Department Head Department of Music and Dance DEDICATION For my parents and Grandma. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Kristen Wallentinsen for her help with experimental logistics, Renée Morgan for giving me her speakers, and Nathaniel Liberty for his unwavering support, problem-solving skills, and voice-over help. -
Major Heading
THE APPLICATION OF ILLUSIONS AND PSYCHOACOUSTICS TO SMALL LOUDSPEAKER CONFIGURATIONS RONALD M. AARTS Philips Research Europe, HTC 36 (WO 02) Eindhoven, The Netherlands An overview of some auditory illusions is given, two of which will be considered in more detail for the application of small loudspeaker configurations. The requirements for a good sound reproduction system generally conflict with those of consumer products regarding both size and price. A possible solution lies in enhancing listener perception and reproduction of sound by exploiting a combination of psychoacoustics, loudspeaker configurations and digital signal processing. The first example is based on the missing fundamental concept, the second on the combination of frequency mapping and a special driver. INTRODUCTION applications of even smaller size this lower limit can A brief overview of some auditory illusions is given easily be as high as several hundred hertz. The bass which serves merely as a ‘catalogue’, rather than a portion of an audio signal contributes significantly to lengthy discussion. A related topic to auditory illusions the sound ‘impact’, and depending on the bass quality, is the interaction between different sensory modalities, the overall sound quality will shift up or down. e.g. sound and vision, a famous example is the Therefore a good low-frequency reproduction is McGurk effect (‘Hearing lips and seeing voices’) [1]. essential. An auditory-visual overview is given in [2], a more general multisensory product perception in [3], and on ILLUSIONS spatial orientation in [4]. The influence of video quality An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception, on perceived audio quality is discussed in [5]. -
What Is the Sound of Modern Music?
SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2017 Mozart’s “Classical” European tour? A TuWELCOMEn TO THE YOUNGe PEOPLE’SU CONCERTS!TM p! It’s the last stop on our journey through The Ages of Music — the Modern Age of Music! Beginning around 1900, composers started looking for radically new ways to express themselves in sound. Every ten years a whole new style of music was born. Some composers even created new sounds by looking back and reinterpreting music of the Baroque, Classical, or Romantic ages. The American composer John Adams has invented never- before-heard sounds and explores past styles. Today we’ll find out how to recognize Modern music, in particular what makes Adams’s music sound the way it does. Get ready to discover the huge sonic world of the modern orchestra, and for some dizzying time travel. Today, all the Ages of Music come together in sounds that transcend time. THE PROGRAM JOHN ADAMS Selections from The Chairman Dances, Foxtrot for Orchestra ALAN GILBERT Conductor J.S. BACH Bourrée, from Orchestral Suite No. 3 NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC STRING QUARTET STRAVINSKY Sinfonia, from Pulcinella Suite Frank Huang, Sheryl Staples Violin BEETHOVEN Scherzo, from String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 Cynthia Phelps Viola; Carter Brey Cello JOHN ADAMS Selections from Absolute Jest, for String Quartet and Orchestra JOHN ADAMS Speaker JOHN ADAMS Selections from Harmonielehre THEODORE WIPRUD Host What Is the Sound of Modern Music? Here are some tip-offs to help you recognize music from the Modern Age! RHYTHM Inspired by everything from modern-day electronics to retro dance styles, Modern composers use rhythm in fresh, new ways. -
20Th CENTURY- the SOUR SWEET MUSIC
20th CENTURY‐ THE SOUR SWEET MUSIC by Winifred Scott Wood Music in the 20th century as in preceding centuries reflects the events surrounding its composers. The big difference is that this century saw more rapid upheaval and revolution than occurred in former times. Artists in all forms of expression seemed compelled to break the boundaries of their predecessors in every way imaginable. This affects harmony, form, rhythm notation and idioms. The general public always tends to lag behind its artist in vision and is loath to give up what has become fondly familiar. Music teachers therefore have even more difficulty in persuading students raised on the harmonious sounds, familiar rhythms and balance forms of pre 20th century composers to venture to the strange seemingly discordant land of contemporary composers. However, as Alan Fluck, author of “The sour Sweet Music” (used as the title of this article) says, “the discords of one generation become concords to the next, because when people get used to discords they consider them concords”. This is very true and gives us a hint as how to introduce students to “new” music without too much “shock” to their system. Students should be made aware of the important role that discords play in the music of the pre20th century composers. Discords add strength and need to be emphasized and even lingered on before this tension is resolved in concords. The word Appoggiatura (a form of discord) means “to lean on”. There is a wealth of music that introduces pianists early in their musical journey to 20th century idioms that is adventurous yet attractive.