Preparing a Conducting Recital Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Gouge, Nathaniel Joseph Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 23:27:02 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624998 PREPARING A CONDUCTING RECITAL By NATHANIEL JOSEPH GOUGE ____________________ A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Music – Voice Performance THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MAY 2017 Approved by: ____________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Schauer Associate Professor of Music Associate Director of Choral Activities ABSTRACT Nathaniel Joseph Gouge: Preparing a Conducting Recital (Under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Schauer) On Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 7:45 p.m. in Room 232 of the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, Grace Kim and I presented an Undergraduate Conducting Recital under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Schauer. I conducted four pieces as part of the recital, including “The Hands that First Held Mary’s Child” by Dan Forrest, “Remember” from Two Rossetti Songs by Stephen Chatman, “The Moon is Distant from the Sea” by David N. Childs, and “Sleigh Ride” arranged by Andy Beck. Preparing to conduct these pieces involved a lot of work, much of which I have included in this thesis, including: researching biographies of the composers, arrangers, and poets associated with the pieces; doing literary analyses of the texts of the pieces; musical observations of the pieces; and critical reflection concerning rehearsal plans, cultivating the sound of the ensemble, and putting together the recital. Gouge 3 The Conducting Recital On Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 7:45 p.m. in Room 232 of the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, Grace Kim and I presented an Undergraduate Conducting Recital under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Schauer. We presented the recital after thirty hours of rehearsal time, spread out over three months. The following shows what we presented at the recital: Gouge 4 Daniel Karger-Penalosa, a University of Arizona student pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, worked with us throughout the entire process as our accompanist; and the following individuals volunteered as singers: Aimee Alvira, David Asher, Mon Bejar, Jessica Berg, Amy Chin, Kat Choyguha, Emilia Hoyos, David Ingram, Erica Maldecino, Trish Marji, Ian McEwen, Katy McNiff, Ben Ryan, Drew Stanley, Mary-Helen Wanat, and Ezra Zurita. Please use the following links to view the entire recital, or the four pieces I conducted: Entire Recital, Part One: https://youtu.be/R0B28mG9oF0?t=6m39s. Entire Recital, Part Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8S6rqtw3MI&feature=youtu.be. “The Hands That First Held Mary’s Child” by Dan Forrest: https://youtu.be/R0B28mG9oF0?t=11m1s. “Remember” from Two Rossetti Poems by Stephen Chatman: https://youtu.be/R0B28mG9oF0?t=16m. “The Moon is Distant from the Sea” by David N. Childs: https://youtu.be/R0B28mG9oF0?t=26m50s. “Sleigh Ride” arranged by Any Beck: https://youtu.be/X8S6rqtw3MI?t=9m7s. Composer and Arranger Biographies Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson was born June 29, 1908 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Anderson studied musical harmony with Walter Spalding, counterpoint with Edward Ballantine, canon and fugue with William C. Heilman, orchestration with Edward B. Hill and Walter Piston, composition with Walter Piston and Georges Enesco, organ with Henry Gideon, and double bass with Gaston Dufresne. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. Anderson served as the Director of the Harvard University Band from 1931-1939 and in the U.S. Army as an interpreter in the Counter Intelligence Corps from 1940-1945, and during this time wrote compositions and arrangements that garnered the attention of Arthur Fiedler, the Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Some of his hits included Harvard Fantasy (1938), Jazz Legato (1939), Promenade (1945), and The Syncopated Clock (1945). After returning home from World War II, Gouge 5 Anderson started Sleigh Ride in 1946 and Arthur Fiedler conducted the premier in May 1948; and by the following December, department stores were playing Anderson’s hit. Although Anderson typically wrote orchestral miniatures, 1953 saw the premier of his most ambitious work, Concerto in C major for Piano and Orchestra, which featured three movements. Although it received mixed reviews, the concerto has since been many times around the world each year and has been recorded by artists such as Paul Mann and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with pianist Simon Tedeschi. Anderson’s music also has been employed as themes for both radio and television. For example, CBS used his piece The Syncopated Clock for more than 25 years as the theme for its program of movies called “The Late Show.” In 1972, the Boston Pops Orchestra paid tribute to Anderson in a televised concert broadcasted nationwide, during which Anderson guest-conducted one piece. Anderson said to his wife that it was “the most important moment of my life.” Anderson continued to compose and conduct until his death from cancer in 1975. Anderson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the recording industry; he was elected posthumously to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988; in 1995 Harvard University named its new Band headquarters the Anderson Band Center in his honor; and a corner of Cambridge, Massachusetts was dedicated as Leroy Anderson Square on May 31, 2003 “in honor of one of America’s greatest composers of light music and the most inventive arranger for the Boston Pops.” Andy Beck Andy Beck was born January 10, 1970. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Ithaca College and his Master’s degree in Music Education from Northwest Missouri State University. He worked for nine years as the Vocal Music Director at Johnson City High School in New York, and then joined the editorial team of Alfred Publishing Company. Andy is the Director of Choral Publications at Alfred Music, and has been an Alfred Music studio singer Gouge 6 since 1992. Beck has over 450 popular choral works, vocal resources, and children’s musicals in print, including a few highly-regarded method books, such as Sing at First Sight and Foundations in Choral Sight Singing. Beck serves as an active guest conductor, choreography, adjudicator, and clinician for music educators and students throughout the United States, and he has been a commissioned composer and guest conductor for honors choirs of all ages, including all-state groups throughout the Southeast. Stephen Chatman Stephen Chatman was born February 28, 1950 in Faribault, Minnesota. He studied with Joseph R. Wood and Walter Aschaffenburg at the Oberlin Conservatory, and with Ross Lee Finney, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, and Eugene Kurtz at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He received his doctoral degree from University of Michigan in 1977. His compositions include works for opera, orchestra, band, chamber ensembles, keyboard, voice, and chorus. Chatman has enjoyed immense success, including winning the Western Canadian Music Awards “Classical Composition of the Year” in 2005, 2006, and 2010, the SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada) Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award in 2010 and 2012, three B.M.I. Awards, the Dorothy Somerset Award, and the 2001 BBC Masterprize short-list. His works have been published by E.C. Schirmer, Oxford University Press, Boosey & Hawkes, earthsongs, etc., and he has sold 500,000 printed copies. His choral and orchestral works have been performed by the BBC Symphony, Berlin Radio Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, and the Montreal, Sydney, Toronto, San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, and New World Symphonies. Chatman has served as the Professor of Composition at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver since 1976, is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, a past President of Vancouver New Music, and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Society of Composers, Inc., and the American Music Center. Gouge 7 David N. Childs David N. Childs was born in 1969 in Newlson, New Zealand. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Composition and Musicology from Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand; his Master’s degree in Conducting from Florida State University; and his doctoral degree from Louisiana State University. His compositions include over fifty choral works exclusively published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc. From 2000-2011, Childs served as an Associate Professor of Choral Studies at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2010, Childs established Vox Humana, a Dallas-based professional choir, and serves as their Executive and Artistic Director. In May 2013, Vox Humana released Into the Night, a compact disc featuring several Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc. titles. Also in May 2013, Childs accepted the Director of Music position at University Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. In 2010, he was voted the Tennessee Composer of the Year; his works have been performed at ACDA state, regional, and national conventions, as well as at state festivals and workshops; and he serves as an active clinician and adjudicator in the United States, working at the grade school, college, and community levels. Dan Forrest Dan Forrest was born January 7, 1978 in Elmira, New York. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from Bob Jones University, and his Doctoral degree in Composition from the University of Kansas. His compositions include choral, instrumental, orchestral, and wind band works.