Department of Music
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/25232
2024-03-27T17:57:38ZCharles Griffes's Piano Sonata as Emblematic of Mature Style
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/31352
Charles Griffes's Piano Sonata as Emblematic of Mature Style
Composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes has had many labels placed upon him as an early figure of 20th century music in America, most of which place much weight on his American nationality within the context of musical trends outside of the continent. Recognized most prominently for his impressionistic piano compositions, Charles Griffes had multiple periods of stylistic influence that are less-often discussed. His later works are experimental and modernist in nature, and as lesser-known works from a lesser-covered composer it is uncommon for scholars to cover them. The music of Griffes has much importance to both the history of American art music and the emergence of modernism in Europe and America. In Griffes’s music specifically, there is room for deeper analyses to show how his music is constructed and operates. In this paper, I examine the form and salient features of his piano Sonata (1918) to provide deeper analysis of this work as well as to show this piece as the beginning of a new “mature style.” Using Edward Said’s book One Late Style as a basis, I argue that Griffes’s final works (1917-20) in general represent his maturity as a composer who had fully gestated previous influences into a personal style. These elements of analysis and style show something of Griffes beyond a short label of “American Impressionist.” They present, rather, a composer who reached compositional maturity combined with a personally unique style which placed him among the composers of note in the first half of the twentieth-century.
2022-07-11T00:00:00ZThe Metaphorical Inevitability of Death as Seen in Three Settings of Goethe's Der Erlkönig
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/31234
The Metaphorical Inevitability of Death as Seen in Three Settings of Goethe's Der Erlkönig
Goethe’s Der Erlkönig, published in 1791, laid the foundation for many musical settings of its text. The three that will be discussed in this thesis are by Franz Schubert (1815), Carl Loewe (1824), and Emilie Mayer (1870). Each of these three settings evokes the metaphorical concept of inevitability. In Mayer’s setting, the harp-like accompaniment pattern that follows the Erlking suggests a calm presence, but the text shows the Erlking’s true nature. Loewe’s setting is entirely in G (major and minor), which I interpret as two sides of the same coin– the positive false reality that the Erlking provides and the truth of the situation that the father and son are in. In my interpretation, Schubert’s setting provides the strongest connection to the inevitable death of the child in the text. I argue that a large-scale Expanded Cadential Progression (first brought to light by Caplin) deep in the tonal structure of this setting provides a progression of inevitability leading to the end of the work. Utilizing Caplin’s formal function theory and Schenker’s linear analysis and expanding on past research by Burkhart, I intend to further explore the links between the original text and settings of Der Erlkönig.
2023-05-10T00:00:00ZAn Investigation of the Texas All-State Process, Texas Honor Orchestra Process with Regard to Title I and Students in Urban School Districts from 2010-2020, and the Effect on the Social Emotional Learning of These Students
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/30384
An Investigation of the Texas All-State Process, Texas Honor Orchestra Process with Regard to Title I and Students in Urban School Districts from 2010-2020, and the Effect on the Social Emotional Learning of These Students
The Texas Music Educators Association annually recognizes the outstanding student musicians and selected school ensembles in the state through the All-State and Honor Orchestra processes. Students selected for the All-State Orchestras are from high schools from around the state. Ensembles chosen to be one of the Honor Orchestras come from both junior high and high schools. Selection for these ensembles comes after months of hard work on the part of both students and teachers, as well as a rigorous selection process. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the equity of these processes as they pertain to Title I and students from urban school districts. Data from the All-State Orchestra results from 2010-2020 showed that students from urban school districts were underrepresented by more than 50% of students from suburban districts, and Title I students were underrepresented by more than 80% of non-Title I students. Data from the Honor Orchestra finalist results from 2010 to 2020 showed that ensembles from urban school districts were underrepresented by more than 70% of suburban school districts, and Title I schools were underrepresented by more than 95% of non-Title I schools. The implications of this data were discussed, including the unique challenges faced by urban music students and educators. Also investigated were the benefits of social emotional learning (SEL) for Title I students and methods for intentionally incorporating SEL into the music classroom. Suggestions for future research and a more equitable process for including students from urban districts and Title I schools were offered.
2022-05-12T00:00:00ZSCHUBERT AND HIS ILLUSTRIOUS REPETITIVE NATURE
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/30027
SCHUBERT AND HIS ILLUSTRIOUS REPETITIVE NATURE
Schubert’s music is renowned for its repetitive nature; many critics like Dr. Joshua Drake think this is a negative trait of his compositions. When speaking on Schubert’s strengths and weaknesses, Dr. Drake states, “Haydn's rich use of received forms, his clear melodic and tonal dichotomies, and his tendency for certain resolutions make his music satisfying in a completely different way than the wandering, repetitive, self-interrupting Schubert."1 Dr. Drake faults Schubert on his repetitions; in this thesis, several examples of Schubert's instrumental and piano music will give evidence that counters that claim. On the other side of Schubert's repetition, Jonathan Guez proposes the question: "Are they tied up with now-forgotten generic conventions, a composer's whim, an inability to constrain the creative impulse, or an aesthetic aversion to strict thematic repetition?"2 Guez poses the rhetorical question to support Schubert's repetitious nature. One cannot argue that there are cases where Schubert wrote out large sections and small phrases note for note. However, there are several compositions by other famous composers that contain verbatim repeats. The composers of said compositions do not have critics giving negative reviews of their compositions.
By analyzing Schubert's instrumental compositions in various larger forms, one can find an extensive amount of evidence against the stigma some have given his works. The alterations to the repeated sections, themes, and motives varies from small structural changes to two- measure units and larger structural changes that modify the entire piece. Using similar, or the same musical material, Schubert found ways to prolong, deviate, cadence, transition, loosen theme types, the exposition, and recapitulation in sonata forms and subvert expectations of the overall goal of larger forms and the structure of those pieces. Addressing the stigma of harsh critics step-by-step, moving from the most simplistic structural changes to the more significant changes, will provide the reader with the easiest way to follow the evidence. Presenting the structural changes to each musical example will effectively refute the critics' claims.
2021-08-16T00:00:00Z