• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Please do not remove this page David Maslanka's Compositional Process Examined Through Correspondence with Conductor and Collaborator Gary Green Vafiadis, Christina DiMeglio https://scholarship.miami.edu/discovery/delivery/01UOML_INST:ResearchRepository/12379469980002976?l#13379469970002976 Vafiadis, C. D. (2021). David Maslanka’s Compositional Process Examined Through Correspondence with Conductor and Collaborator Gary Green [University of Miami]. https://scholarship.miami.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991031573589802976/01UOML_INST:ResearchR epository Open Downloaded On 2021/10/02 14:09:45 -0400 Please do not remove this page UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI DAVID MASLANKA’S COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS EXAMINED THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONDUCTOR AND COLLABORATOR GARY GREEN By Christina DiMeglio VAfiAdis A DOCTORAL ESSAY Submitted to the FAculty of the University of MiAmi in partiAl fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of MusicAl Arts Coral GAbles, Florida MAy 2021 ©2021 Christina DiMeglio VAfiAdis All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI A doctoral essAy submitted in partiAl fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of MusicAl Arts DAVID MASLANKA’S COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS EXAMINED THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONDUCTOR AND COLLABORATOR GARY GREEN Christina DiMeglio VAfiAdis Approved: ________________ ________________ Robert Carnochan, D.M.A LAura ShermAn, D.M.A. Director of Wind Ensemble Activities Lecturer of HArp and Music Theory Professor of InstrumentAl PerformAnce ________________ _________________ J. Steven Moore, D.M.A. Guillermo Prado, Ph.D. Professor in Practice DeAn of the Graduate School ________________ Melvin Butler, Ph.D. AssociAte Professor, Department of Musicology VAFIADIS, CHRISTINA DIMEGLIO (D.M.A., InstrumentAl PerformAnce) (MAy 2021) DAvid MAslAnka’s Compositional Process Examined Through Correspondence with Conductor and CollAborator GAry Green Abstract of a doctoral essAy at the University of MiAmi. Doctoral essAy supervised by Professor Robert Carnochan No. of pages in text. (204) Composer DAvid MAslAnka first met GAry Green in 1987. While working as Director of Bands at the University of Connecticut, GAry Green programmed DAvid MAslAnka’s A Child’s Garden of Dreams, and through a series of connections welcomed the composer to cAmpus for reheArsAls and a performAnce of this groundbreAking piece. A lifelong friendship wAs initiAted, in conjunction with a professional relAtionship that involved commissioned works and various other collAborations. For decAdes, Green and MAslAnka communicAted viA letters, emAils, and phone cAlls, and mAiled score sketches, drafts, and personal effects to eAch other, estAblishing a personal and professional relAtionship that wAs greAtly impactful to both men and the music they wrote and conducted. Luckily, much of this written communicAtion is still intAct, and the memories of their friendship and collAborations live on in GAry Green. DAvid MAslAnka passed awAy in 2017. While his music wAs composed relAtively recently, his works for wind ensemble are groundbreAking and monumentAl. His music is creAtively crafted, emotionally driven, and intensely powerful, and his works are significAnt in their depth and artistic merit as well as in their contribution to the wind ensemble repertoire. Conductors, as interpreters of musicAl compositions, strive to FAcilitAte performAnces that accurately reflect the intentions of composers. Due to DAvid MAslAnka’s recent passing, GAry Green’s firsthand knowledge of the composer and his music has become a valuable resource in helping MAslAnka’s music to live on. More specificAlly, detAils regarding MAslAnka’s meditAtive practices and compositional processes are reveAled in personal communicAtion between the two men which is examined throughout this document. While some work on MAslAnka’s music has alreAdy been documented, mostly in the form of music analysis, there is much left to explore. This study uses primAry sources provided by GAry Green in the form of letters, emAils, score sketches, concert discussions, and recorded reheArsAls, as well as interviews that the writer conducted with GAry Green, to provide a reliAble resource about MAslAnka and his music for other conductors and musiciAns. DEDICATION To Professor GAry Green, with gratitude for your willingness to share your love for DAvid MAslAnka and his music. I am forever appreciAtive of your knowledge, wisdom, counsel, and commitment to preserving DAvid MAslAnka’s music and legacy. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Melvin Butler, Dr. Steven Moore, and Dr. LAura ShermAn for their support and insight while serving on my committee, and to my mentor and advisor Dr. Robert Carnochan for guiding me through every aspect of my doctoral studies. Your guidance and commitment to my musicAl growth have been invaluable to me and will stAy with me forever. I am especiAlly grateful to Professor GAry Green, to whom this document is dedicAted and without whom it would not be possible. Professor Green’s willingness to share his personal communicAtions with DAvid MAslAnka wAs the cAtAlyst for this project. Thank you, as well, to Professor Arthur Chodoroff for exposing me to the music of DAvid MAslAnka as an undergraduate student at Temple University, to Dr. MAtthew Brunner for exemplifying what it meAns to be a student-centered band director And educAtor, to Dr. Greg MArtin for your openness and guidance during my MAsters degree studies at West Chester University, and to Dr. Andrew YozviAk for having greAter confidence in me and foresight for my future than I had myself. Finally, my most sincere thanks to my husband, Jonathan, for the sAcrifices you mAde to enable me to complete this project and attAin my doctoral degree. Your faith in me allowed me to pursue this dreAm, and I could not have possibly done this without your steAdfast support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAge Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 JustificAtion ...................................................................................................... 1 Methodology .................................................................................................... 2 OrganizAtion .................................................................................................... 3 Review of Literature ........................................................................................ 4 2 GARY GREEN’S FIRST EXPOSURE TO THE MUSIC OF DAVID MASLANKA .............................................................................. 8 3 A CHILD’S GARDEN OF DREAMS: DAVID MASLANKA’S FIRST VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT WITH GARY GREEN ......... 14 ReheArsAl Process ............................................................................................ 16 4 THE COMMISSIONING OF SYMPHONY NO. 3 ...................................... 21 5 MASLANKA’S MEDITATION PRACTICE AND COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS ............................................................ 28 MeditAtion Instructions .................................................................................... 33 Journaling ........................................................................................................ 36 GAry Green’s ReluctAnce ................................................................................. 40 GAry Green’s Baton ......................................................................................... 42 Discovery Through MeditAtion ....................................................................... 46 Voice of the EArth ............................................................................................ 48 ProgrammAtic Considerations ........................................................................ 50 6 MEDITATIVE INFLUENCE ........................................................................ 56 AmericAn IndiAn HeritAge ReveAled ................................................................ 56 The ImportAnce of MeditAtion ......................................................................... 59 7 SYMPHONY NO. 3 REFLECTIONS ............................................................ 64 Letters Accompanying EAch Movement of Symphony No. 3 ......................... 64 MusicAl ImplicAtions Based on the Composer’s Reviews of PerformAnces of Symphony No. 3 ................................................................... 67 Tempo ............................................................................................................. 69 C MAjor Scale ................................................................................................. 72 A Conductor’s InterpretAtion ........................................................................... 77 The Composer’s Presence .............................................................................. 80 8 THE LIFE OF SYMPHONY NO. 3 ................................................................ 85 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 94 v REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 97 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 100 A. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS ....................................................................... 100 A1 GAry Green, interview by author, September 23, 2020 ..................................

Load more

  214

Copy Link