An Excerpt of Ghosts Before Breakfast and a History of the Electronic
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
GHOSTS BEFORE BREAKFAST FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS AND A HISTORY OF THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC STUDIOS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA (1964-2017) by Jonathan J. Wilson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa December 2017 Thesis Supervisor: Professor Lawrence Fritts Copyright by JONATHAN JAMES WILSON 2017 All Rights Reserved Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ____________________________ PH.D. THESIS _________________ This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of Jonathan J. Wilson has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music at the December 2017 graduation. Thesis Committee: ____________________________________________ Lawrence Fritts, Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ David Gompper ____________________________________________ Jean-Francois Charles ____________________________________________ Mary Cohen ____________________________________________ Matthew Arndt ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank first and foremost my thesis advisor Lawrence Fritts for his guidance and support of my thesis throughout its development. Second, I would like to thank David Gompper for his invaluable suggestions concerning the orchestration of my thesis and for his guidance and advice during the course of my studies at the University of Iowa. I would like to extend my thanks to the other members of my committee Jean- Francois Charles, Mary Cohen, and Matthew Arndt for their support of my education and my growth as a composer and musician. Other faculty members (past and present) that I wish to thank who have been instrumental to my growth as a musician, teacher, and scholar at the University of Iowa include Jennifer Iverson, Christopher Jette, Nathan Platte, and Zachary Stanton. Most importantly, I want to thank my parents for their love, patience, and support of my doctoral studies. For my research on the Electronic Music Studios, I have been very grateful to all of those who have helped me to realize this project. I would like to extend my gratitude to the following. First and foremost, I wish to thank my thesis advisor Lawrence Fritts who provided me with invaluable resources and ideas throughout the course of my research. In addition, I would like to thank Philip Blackburn, Peter Elsea, Kirk Corey, Michael Farley, Peter Nothnagle, John Cerreta, Dave Olive, Kara Shallenberg, Kenneth Shallenberg, Kathy Thile, the University of Iowa Special Collections and University Archives of the University of Iowa, and the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music for their time, their support, and their contributions to this thesis. ii ABSTRACT This dissertation is divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of the composition Ghosts Before Breakfast for chamber ensemble and fixed electronics. In this work I was interested in the creation of unity in the horizontal, vertical, and structural dimensions of a composition between the ensemble and the electronics and using electronic music techniques to gradually unify the ensemble and tape parts. Part 2 consists of an investigation into the development of the Electronic Music Studios of the University of Iowa when James Cessna from the Department of Physics and Astronomy came up with a Master’s Thesis project to design an Arbitrary Waveform Generator. An initial discussion with James Van Allen, James Cessna, Himie Voxman, and Philip Bezanson in 1964 led to the initiation of the program with the loan of equipment from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Collins Radio Company, and homemade devices. The outcome of this interdisciplinary project between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the School of Music led to a transformation of the Composition Program, and the studios evolved into a nationally recognized center for the study of electronic music. Its legacy lives on through its students who have reaped the benefits of the program and made successful careers throughout the country from the development of studios at other colleges and universities to work for film industries in Hollywood and New York. A history of the Electronic Music Studios shall be discussed, through the professors who have directed this program, its facilities, its assistants who maintained the facilities, its students, its guests, and its performances. iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT This dissertation is divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of the composition Ghosts Before Breakfast for chamber ensemble and fixed electronics. In this work I was interested in creating unity through multiple dimensions of a composition and using electronic music techniques to gradually unify the ensemble and tape parts. Part 2 consists of an investigation into the development of the Electronic Music Studios of the University of Iowa, when James Cessna from the Department of Physics and Astronomy came up with a Master’s Thesis project to design an Arbitrary Waveform Generator. An initial discussion with James Van Allen, James Cessna, Himie Voxman, and Philip Bezanson in 1964 led to the initiation of the program with the loan of equipment from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Collins Radio Company, and homemade devices. The outcome of this interdisciplinary project would transform the Composition Program, and the studios would evolve into a nationally recognized center for the study of electronic music. Its legacy lives on through its students who have reaped the benefits of the program and made successful careers throughout the country from the development of studios at other colleges and universities to work for film industries in Hollywood and New York. A history of the Electronic Music Studios shall be discussed, through the professors who have directed this program, its facilities, its assistants who maintained the facilities, its students, its guests, and its performances. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix PART I: GHOSTS BEFORE BREAKFAST FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS .............................1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................2 CHAPTER 2 GHOSTS BEFORE BREAKFAST FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS ..............8 Instrumentation ............................................................................................8 Performance Notes .......................................................................................9 Ghosts Before Breakfast ............................................................................10 PART II: A HISTORY OF THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC STUDIOS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA (1964-2017) ......................................64 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................65 CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ......................................68 CHAPTER 3 THE ORIGINS OF THE EMS ..........................................75 James Cessna .............................................................................................76 Hiring a New Professor ..............................................................................77 The Arbitrary Waveform Generator and the Assistantship .......................81 CHAPTER 4 FRANK ROBERT SHALLENBERG ...............................87 University of Iowa (1964-69) ....................................................................88 Indiana University (1969-72) .....................................................................91 Later Years (1972-2005) ............................................................................94 CHAPTER 5 PETER TOD LEWIS .........................................................96 Early Years (1932-69) ................................................................................96 Lewis at Iowa (1969-76) ..........................................................................101 Later Years (1976-82) ..............................................................................109 CHAPTER 6 KENNETH GABURO .....................................................112 Early Life .................................................................................................114 v Gaburo, the Composer and Teacher .........................................................119 Gaburo and Technology ...........................................................................126 Gaburo at Iowa (1983-91) ........................................................................128 Later Years (1991-93) ..............................................................................129 CHAPTER 7 LAWRENCE FRITTS .....................................................132 The Early Years .......................................................................................132 Lawrence Fritts, the Composer ................................................................137 Lawrence Fritts, the Director ...................................................................138 EMS Website ...........................................................................................139 CHAPTER 8 OTHER FACULTY MEMBERS ....................................142 Robert Paredes (1991-93) ........................................................................142 Elizabeth