Department: Music Composition ![[clear]](close-x.png "Remove this limiter")
55 matches in the database.
These are records: 1 - 30.
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1.
Bell, Amy M.
TRANSCENDENCE TOWARD PARADISE.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► Transcendence toward Paradiseis a thirteen-minute, five-movement piece for mezzo-soprano, flute, harp,…
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▼ Transcendence toward Paradiseis a thirteen-minute, five-movement piece for mezzo-soprano, flute, harp, and viola. The selected text was excerpted from an Italian sonnet written by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), which was set in its original language. William Wordsworth provided a beautiful poetic translation, which I chose to guide my text setting. Dolce è ben quella in un pudico core, che per cangiar di scorza o d’ora estrema non manca, e qui caparra il paradiso. In chaste hearts uninfluenced by the power of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower, that breathes on earth the air of paradise. The text appears in its entirety only in the last movement, with earlier movements exploring a gradual reconstruction of the text from its component parts. To accomplish this, the text was deconstructed into various syllables represented in the score with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The first movement’s text contains only the shortest durations of syllables, denoting the highest level of text abstraction. As each subsequent movement progresses, the abstract syllables gradually merge together and expand to form words and phrases of the text. The thematic material for Transcendence toward Paradiseoriginates from the fifth movement of the piece. Salient characteristics from the last movement were shaped into variations based upon these features, which also reflect the evolving characteristics of the text setting. This was accomplished through variation techniques including motivic and rhythmic deconstruction, augmentation, diminution, and registral displacement, among others.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564); International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); mezzo-soprano, flute, harp, and viola; Transcendence toward Paradise
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2.
Beth, Marc.
We Are Not Alone.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► We Are Not Alone is a programmatic work which lasts fourteen minutes.…
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▼ We Are Not Alone is a programmatic work which lasts fourteen minutes. It is composed for flute/alto flute, oboe/English horn, Bb/bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, two C trumpets, two trombones, vibraphone, harp, two violins, viola, cello, soprano, and electronic sound effects. The first section explores technology and spacecraft, contrasting two distinct musical structures. The first is an aleatoric episode suggesting the interplay between small, maneuverable spacecraft and immense, daunting battleships. The second features a metered, theme-song-inspired adventure motive. These musical structures contrast in many ways, and comprise the core of the movement. The aleatoric episode has no clear tonality, while the adventure theme employs a deliberate tonal center. This sense of tonality diminishes as the section progresses. The second section focuses on the different roles in which alien life is portrayed in film, climaxing with a vocal song set in the fictional language of Klingon, a product of the Star Trek series. The soprano sings an original poem translated to Klingon with the assistance of Klingon-language expert Dr. d’Armond Spears and linguist Dr. Marc Okrand, creator of the official language. The diction of this highly guttural language requires the soprano to learn unique consonant and vowel production techniques. As such, it provides a significant technical challenge to the vocalist. To further enhance the other-worldly nature of the piece, the second section features extended instrumental techniques including key clicks and whispering through instruments. The electronic component serves primarily as a background texture, using various types of processing and synthesis to create sounds imitating space dust, engine noise, electronic bleeps, and alien chatter. These pre-recorded sounds are triggered live using Cycling ‘74’s Max/MSP program, an object-oriented graphical software environment. We Are Not Alone is the culmination of thirty years of science fiction appreciation. With respect that this material has done much to shape my musical aesthetic, especially regarding programmatic scoring, it is my intent to compose a cohesive piece that is both musically interesting as well as oddly familiar.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: klingon; star trek; science fiction; sound effects; space ship; star wars; marc okrand
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3.
Bielmeier, Douglass Christopher.
The Thief of Always.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► The Thief of Always deals with the universal disposition of dealing with,…
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▼ The Thief of Always deals with the universal disposition of dealing with, accepting and understanding death. The Thief of Always is scored for a solo cellist, computer, and video. At approximately 13 minutes in duration the work is divided into six adjoining sections that deal with a few of the many views and emotions involved with death. The computer aspect of the piece utilizes the Max/MSP environment to process the live performance of the cellist. The accompanying film component of the work contains both a visual and audio component to help reinforce these stages of death.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elianie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Death, Life, Music, Cello, Electronic, Max/Msp
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4.
Blanchard, Scott.
Subjectivities.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► Subjectivities, for B-flat clarinet, alto saxophone, violin, violoncello, percussion, and piano, is…
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▼ Subjectivities, for B-flat clarinet, alto saxophone, violin, violoncello, percussion, and piano, is a work cast in three movements that lasts approximately thirteen minutes. Subjectivities explores many facets of the word “question,” such as confusion, investigation, debate, and enigma. Each movement expresses a different mood while exploring two to three aspects of the word “question.” The first movement begins at a moderate tempo and concentrates on somewhat static melodies that escalate into brief ensemble events. The second movement is slower and contains material more focused on vertical sonorities and harmonic progressions. The third movement begins with a large wall of sound that disintegrates to almost nothing, before gradually building up again into ensemble moments preceding a vibraphone solo that is constant and prominent until the last notes. Melodic material forms the basis of the harmonic construction, with both components manipulated through serial techniques such as inversion and retrograde. Rhythmic materials are often layered to build climactic points throughout the piece, and cause and effect dovetailing of lines serves as the basis for the contrapuntal writing throughout.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: B-Flat Clarinet; Alto Saxophone; Violin; Violoncello; Percussion; Vibraphone; Timpani; Piano; Chamber Music; Chamber Ensemble; Sextet
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5.
Borden, Stacy R.
Work for Five-String Electronic Violin and Tape (Torn Edges).
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2008, Bowling Green State University
► Torn Edges, a Work for Five-String Electronic Violin and Tape, was written…
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▼ Torn Edges, a Work for Five-String Electronic Violin and Tape, was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Composition at Bowling Green State University. This thesis composition is a ten-minute work that combines the sonic possibilities of pre-recorded sound objects and the timbre of a live electronic violin. Torn Edges is meant to sonically represent the tearing apart of many different elements such as metal, paper and time and the resulting frayed edges that occur when such elements are destroyed. This action can be heard in both the violin and tape part throughout the course of this work. In the violin part, the score calls for the performer to play many long glissandos and sustained notes. When combined with a guitar effects pedal, the resulting sound mimics the sound of notes being torn in half. In addition, the use of distortion via a guitar effects pedal creates a coherent sonic landscape with the tape. The tape part consists of recorded samples of metallic objects, violins, cellos and computer generated noises that are then manipulated using techniques such as convolution and granular synthesis. The linear motion of this work helps to give Torn Edges its form. In the first section, both the violin and tape create a long crescendo that erupts into many tiny pieces of falling metal. Gradually extending the texture of the piece and creating a sense of tension until the above-mentioned climax creates this crescendo. From this point in the piece, the violin takes off into a fast and furious solo that eventually slows down and re-introduces the material heard in the beginning of the piece. In the closing section of this work, both violin and tape create a sense of hesitation and confusion by the miss matching and miss timing of bits and pieces of material heard in the opening section of this work. Torn Edges, was realized using Finale, Logic Pro 7, DSP Quattro, SoundHack, Kontackt and various GRM and Waves plug-ins at the Electro-acoustic studios at Bowling Green State University and the composer's personal home studio.
Advisors/Committee Members: Reinkemeyer, Andrea.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Tape and Instruments; Electro-acoustic, Electronic Violin; Five-string Violin; Music Technology
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6.
Bryant, Joshua Phillip.
Paralyzing Notion.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► Paralyzing Notion is an eight-minute work for big band which includes two…
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▼ Paralyzing Notion is an eight-minute work for big band which includes two alto saxophones, two tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, two horns in F, four trumpets in Bb, three trombones, bass trombone, tuba, piano, upright bass, and drums. It consists of three large sections, which represent two contrasting ideas. The first concept concerns “distractions” from contemplative thought (e.g. work, conversations, reading, watching TV, etc.), and is present in the first and last sections of the piece. The second contrasting idea is that of “paralysis,” caused by the sudden awareness of great uncertainty (e.g. death, insufficient funds, bad health, etc.), which can leave one feeling introverted and withdrawn from physical life. This concept is presented in the middle section of the work. After these thoughts have had time to register, the only resolution to any of these undetermined subjects is to simply become “distracted” again and default to everyday living.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Music
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7.
Butera, Christina Francesca.
Manifestations of One.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► In partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Music in composition, I…
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▼ In partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Music in composition, I have composed Manifestations of One, an 8-minute work scored for chamber orchestra (flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, two percussionists, three sopranos, piano, two violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass). Manifestations of One unfolded from the idea of a universal spirituality, or a universal connectivity between religions and perspectives of God from across cultures, in which major religious teachings and leaders are branches of a single spiritual core, and most foundational ideals are manifested within the major religions of the world in slightly varying forms. This concept is embodied in the formal and musical structure of this piece. The text is derived from three poems by Walt Whitman: “Starting from Paumanok,” “Song of Myself,” and “I Sing the Body Electric.” These poems, like much of his poetry, contain themes of universal spirituality and connectivity. The text is often obscured, due to the implementation of extended vocal techniques or the extraction of certain vowels or consonants. The sopranos are seated and treated as part of the orchestra. The form consists of an introduction, three sections, and a finale. The musical material for each section is based on a fragment of the core melody, which is not presented in its entirety until the final section. The introduction uses pitch class set 4-16[0157], which corresponds to the opening 4 pitches of the final melody. The next three sections are generated from pitch class sets 3-4[015], 3-8[026], and 4-8[0156] respectively. The final section begins with a collage of fragments that have been exhibited throughout the piece, building up to the final presentation of the complete melody, uniting the seemingly disparate fragments into a single whole.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
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8.
Carrizo, Andres A.
Senseflash.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► Senseflash is organized into four distinct movements. The first movement, Introduction, begins…
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▼ Senseflash is organized into four distinct movements. The first movement, Introduction, begins with a melodic gesture – a nine-note pitch-class set (9-3[012345689]) – that provides the basis from which the piece’s material is derived. Introduction contains themes and textures that recur in the other three movements. The character of the second movement, Scherzo nervioso, is denoted by its title. “Nervous” minor-second grace-note figures, an insistently recurring B7, and rapid ostinati conspire to give the movement a humorous, slightly neurotic quality. The third movement, Exposition-Chorale-Contraction, is organized in three distinct parts: the opening and closing sections are based on fixed-register redistributions of the original motive’s nine notes over several octaves – the closing section consists of a retrograde inversion of the opening section’s pitch material. The central section is an instrumental chorale, placed against a solo piano melody. The fourth movement, Finale, is fast and aggressive in character – its harmonic vocabulary is in large part derived from the main motive’s complementary pitch-class set 3-3[014]. An insistent 16th-note pedal-point underlies much of the movement, which nonetheless concludes with an aleatoric texture that recasts previously used material.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Music
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9.
Carroll, Nicole Lea.
Awakenings.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2005, Bowling Green State University
► Awakenings is a piece for two-channel electroacoustic music and video. The work…
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▼ Awakenings is a piece for two-channel electroacoustic music and video. The work incorporates a text composed specifically for this piece, written by Justin Goldberg and the composer. Other source materials used in the electroacoustic component include a variety of samples taken from speech, vocalisms, found objects, and environmental elements, such as wind and water. The electroacoustic component contains three primary layers: the audible text, processed text, and complementary material derived from the aforementioned sources. The visual component consists of digital video that is compiled from sources similar in nature to the audio source material. It is composed of short moments that provide a visual narrative to the piece, containing literal as well as abstract images. The underlying concept guiding the piece is the struggle for mental stillness–to find a moment in time where one can be alone with his or her thoughts to achieve mental clarity. The text uses imagery associated with sleep to represent the alternating states of stasis and disturbance. Awakening from sleep disrupts tranquility, allowing external forces to filter into one’s consciousness and cause disturbances. Environmental elements (wind and water) are used in the piece to represent external and internal influences, as well as internal stillness. The movement between the aforementioned mental states is reflected in the electroacoustic music through texture, types of processing, and density. A primary compositional objective in creating and combining Awakenings’ three elements (video, text, and music), was to present them as tightly interwoven, with each aspect dependent upon the others. The formal structure is through composed, adhering to the organization of the text. Events, types of sounds, and processing techniques in both the music and visual components are triggered by cues in the text.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: electroacoustic, video
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10.
Chan, Chin Ting.
Apparitions − a fantasy for chamber ensemble.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► Apparitions − a fantasy for chamber ensemble is scored for a chamber…
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▼ Apparitions − a fantasy for chamber ensemble is scored for a chamber group that consists of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, two percussion, piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. The work has three major sections that loosely build an arch form. The beginning section explores how sound and timbre are gradually transformed through different means of harmonic progression and orchestration. The middle section is vivid and rhythmic, with frequently changing meters. The last section extensively utilizes aleatoric technique. Throughout the work, various melodic and harmonic motives tie the sections together. The piece is essentially an abstract sonic representation of how I envision apparitions−ghostly figures that represent the human imagination of the afterlife. They are often invisible, but are traditionally imagined or perceived as human-like figures that can suddenly appear. Many people claim to have seen apparitions, but their actual existence is yet to be proven. This mystery has inspired me to write music that is transparent and glassy. In Apparitions, pairs of half-steps in the high register circle through the ensemble and portray the transparency of apparitions and their movement through time and space. A set of returning chord progression represents the appearance of apparitions. The word “apparitions” has been used as a title for pieces by composers such as György Ligeti and George Crumb. While my work has no connection to theirs, it is influenced by them to a certain extent. I have learned how Crumb's sense of time, space and resonance dominants his thinking, and how Ligeti's sophisticated use of rhythm often governs the form of his compositions. Other influences have come from Tōru Takemitsu's colorful orchestration and Witold Lutosławski's absolute control of the aleatoric technique.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: music; score; composer; contemporary; apparitions; chamber ensemble
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11.
Chandler, Christopher Elon.
Shifts.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► Shifts is a four-minute, single movement composition for orchestra. It is scored…
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▼ Shifts is a four-minute, single movement composition for orchestra. It is scored for piccolo, flute, Bb clarinet, Eb clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, tenor trombone, bass trombone, 3 percussionists, harp, celesta, and strings. The piece consists of three sections that each present the same musical material in different ways, thus shifting the listener's perspective on the composition. The harmonies and melodies throughout the piece are derived from a 4-13[0136] tetrachord. This pitch collection serves as the foundation which is transformed and developed in the three sections of the piece. Each section has its own character, shape, and orchestration. The first section primarily consists of three vertical arrival points scored for the full orchestra emphasizing bright timbres, high woodwinds, and rustling string figures. The second section is darker in character and orchestration. The foreground consists of the woodwinds and percussion playing overlapping figures that oscillate between two to three pitches, which is supported by low register swelling chords heard in the strings and brass. The third section returns to some of the brighter timbres heard in the first section. It features rapid, flurrying gestures passing between all members of the woodwinds and a combination of bright timbres from the first section and dark timbres from the second section. The final gesture is an orchestrated swell beginning in the low, dark woodwinds, brass, and strings and ending with the addition of the high woodwinds and strings.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Composition; Music
Keywords: composition; orchestra
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12.
Dahn, Curtis Frederick.
The Haddock.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► The Haddock, is a sonic portrayal of the story of a talking…
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▼ The Haddock, is a sonic portrayal of the story of a talking fish who slowly loses her mind. The piece’s plot focuses on a main character: a talking fish. The role of the fish is sung and spoken, but not acted, by the soprano. To illustrate her character contrasting and at times cognitively dissonant material is presented in various ways including the superimposing of one independent stream of music over another. Musical material with strong extra-musical associations (for example, a sea chanty) is introduced, and then undermined by the disruption of established rhythmic cycles and tonalities. The piece features an introduction representing water, followed by a sea chanty representing our human presence in the sea. The bulk of the narrative occurs after the sea chanty in a series of interrupted tonal subsections. Formally the piece is in ternary form, with the subsections acting appearing in a modified arch form. Elements that have been established as having metaphorical content return transformed, often with the purpose of undermining the linear narrative structure. For example, at the opening material returns as an interruption to disrupt the narrative flow. The piece ends with the dissolving of tonality into atonality, followed immediately by the sea chanty re-imagined as a quasi-game-show theme. Harmonically the atonal material of the piece, representing the ocean, focuses around material derived from two combinatorial hexatonic scales. The tonal material moves through the majority of the church modes (with the exception of mixolydian and locrean) to offer different shades of modal coloring to the often homogeneous and repetitive material that the soprano sings. Rhythmically the piece is largely built from additive units of two and three, juxtaposed at various tempi through augmentation and diminution.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: New Music; Monodrama; Environmentalism
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13.
Dolan, Drew Forbes.
El Transparente.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2008, Bowling Green State University
► The city of Toledo, Spain is famous throughout the world as a…
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▼ The city of Toledo, Spain is famous throughout the world as a place where Christian, Arab, and Jewish cultures have coexisted in peace for many centuries. In the Cathedral of Toledo, there exists an altar known as "El Transparente." The altar, built in 1732, four stories in height, and bearing countless intricate sculptures and icons, is an overwhelming object of beauty and brilliant artistry; it has a skylight in the ceiling above it. As the sun passes over the altar, it becomes illuminated, magnifying the beauty of each detail and enhancing the splendor of the entire creation. As partial fulfillment of my Masters thesis in composition, I composed a single movement piece for orchestra, lasting approximately eight minutes, that is based on the structure and the impact of light on El Transparente; the instrumentation will be that of a standard orchestra: two flutes, two oboes, English Horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, three percussionists, and strings. Its title is "El Transparente." The musical style could be described as neo-Romantic and polystylistic. I constructed music that reflects the multi-cultural nature of Toledo, Spain by combining, quoting, and interpreting Christian, Jewish, and Arab styles. The overall effect of this piece is intended to represent and portray the beauty of the altar. Also, through musical symbolism, the piece embodies physical aspects of El Transparente. For instance, I attempted to portray to the listener the experience that would come from standing in a cathedral and gazing upwards at the top of this altar by ending the music with gestures that reflect elevation and ascension. It has been orchestrated in a manner that creates an atmosphere of large, open spaces with images of light and illumination. El Transparente has captured my imagination from the moment I first learned about it. Even more personal to me is the significance that its symbolism portrays. One of my interests is to attempt to realize the metaphor coming from the coexistence of religious cultures, and in so doing, honor the immense beauty of this structure.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Spain; religion
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14.
Elkins, Alan P.
Last Castle.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Composition I…
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▼ In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Composition I have written a single-movement work entitled Last Castle, whose program depicts a battle between an archetypal hero and his adversary. It is scored for orchestra with double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, harp, timpani, two percussionists, and strings. The work lasts approximately nine minutes.Many of Last Castle's musical elements are derived from a programmatic narrative structure. A hero stands outside his adversary's castle on a foggy, moonlit night. He draws closer to the entrance, and the castle's massive doors open. As the hero steps inside, the doors suddenly slam behind him, and the hero slowly ascends a staircase leading to his adversary's chamber. When he arrives, a long, intense battle ensues, the outcome of which is inconclusive. Although the work ends with a dissonant, climactic gesture, it is not certain who deals the final blow in this battle. Last Castle's formal structure, which parallels the above program, contains two primary sections: the events leading up to the battle, and the battle itself. The tension built throughout the first section culminates in the arrival of the battle sequence, which in turn escalates toward the work's final climax. Between the two sections there is an overall shift from slow to fast tempi, from sparse to dense orchestration, and from soft to loud dynamics. Juxtaposed against this shift is a harmonic language that fluctuates frequently between consonance and dissonance. These components further highlight the intensity of the battle and the conflict between the hero and his adversary.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Last Castle; orchestra; video game; final boss; hero
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15.
Fielder, Jonathan.
Ex Nihilo.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► Ex Nihilo is a piece for chamber orchestra that explores possibilities of…
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▼ Ex Nihilo is a piece for chamber orchestra that explores possibilities of timbre, texture and shifting orchestral color. The driving force behind the composition is the concept nihil ex nihilo,meaning “nothing can be created from nothing.” I apply this idea in Ex Nihilo by creating four distinct sections built on specific textures, timbres, rhythmic, and melodic ideas. Each section evolves over time and gradually introduces an element that becomes the driving force behind the each subsequent section (e.g. short background glissandi in one section become long glissandi in the foreground of the following section). The gradual evolution is achieved through additive and subtractive processes applied to pitch introduction and rhythmic structures in each section of the piece, essentially creating 4 expanding and/or contracting wedges. My goal with this piece was to also use the same processes and systems to create a very different textural idea for each section. In other words, the process used in section A is the same as in section D, but very different aural results are achieved. In this way, Ex Nihilo also represents a culmination of compositional techniques that I have obtained during my studies at Bowling Green State University.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Ex; Nihilo; chamber orchestra; modern music; avant garde; timbre; texture; serial composition
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16.
Glaser, Michael.
Snow Flakes.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music in Composition I have…
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▼ In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music in Composition I have composed Snow Flakes, a nine-minute single movement work for choir and chamber ensemble based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). The work is scored for chamber choir (a minimum of three voices per part), wind quartet (flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon), and strings (violin I, violin II, viola, and cello). The harmonic language is set in a neo-classical style. Snow Flakes consists of three large sections each based on one of the poem’s three stanzas. The vocal setting utilizes techniques of repetition, text painting, and instrumental doubling to accentuate significant passages of text. For example, in the musical setting of the poem’s first line, “Out of the bosom of the air,” I emphasized the idea of air and clarity through the use of harmonics and tremolo in the strings. To articulate the inherent mood of the text, I have employed text-painting devices such as doubling, imitative counterpoint, flutter tonguing, and string harmonics. Two particular influences in the orchestration of Snow Flakes were Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, because of its idiomatic wind scoring, and Joan Tower’s Petroushskates because of the clarity and precision of her orchestration.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Music; Composition; Snow Flakes; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Neo-Classical; Chamber Orchestra; Choir
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17.
Hage, Robert.
Layers.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2010, Bowling Green State University
► Layers is an eight-and-a-half minute work for chamber orchestra consisting of flute,…
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▼ Layers is an eight-and-a-half minute work for chamber orchestra consisting of flute, Bb clarinet, Bb bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, horn, Bb trumpet, trombone, percussion, harp and strings. It is based on various relationships between instrumental families, and registral sieves, a technique developed by Iannis Xenakis for organizing pitch material. Instrumental families in Layers perform different musical roles that interact with one another to create a dichotomy between structured material and free material. The strings perform highly structured contrapuntal material that serves as a contrasting element. The harp and percussion are independent and initiate musical ideas that culminate in the strings and winds. The improvised material used in Layers is similar to that found in the works of Witold Lutoslawski, commonly referred to as aleatoric counterpoint. This material, heard exclusively in the winds and brass, may expand upon the composed material or may create contrasting free material depending on the interpretation of the performers. In Layers, I used pitch sieve organization in a large ensemble setting that allowed resonant timbral qualities to emerge, similar to that of French composers Pierre Boulez and Gerard Grisey. In Layers, three sieves exist: the first consists of a series of perfect fifths; the second, a series of minor thirds; and the third, a series of major sixths. These three sieves are combined to create an intricate pitch structure that later separates to create contrasting sections and a variety of pitch material. The complement of each sieve (all the pitches not contained within the sieve) often creates a dichotomy between the improvised and composed material. Layers is divided into two large sections. The first incorporates combined sieves to explore the inherent resonant timbral qualities of the ensemble. The second begins by separating the combined sieve into its three smaller sieve components, placing each in separate instrumental families. This results in a dense texture absent of improvisational material. As this section progresses this material returns to interact and possibly disrupt the rigorously controlled dense texture. The density diminishes, allowing a combination of soloistic lines from different instrumental families to emerge.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kuehn, Mikel.
Subjects: Composition; Music
Keywords: Chamber Orchestra; Pitch Sieves
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18.
Harenda, Timothy M.
Inside the Mirage.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► Inside the Mirage for orchestra is a one-movement work approximately nine minutes…
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▼ Inside the Mirage for orchestra is a one-movement work approximately nine minutes in duration. It is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, 2 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, three percussionists and strings. The work has two climaxes that loosely divide the piece into two sections. The conceptual inspiration of the work comes from the optical phenomenon of the mirage, an image produced by the refraction of light rays, most often caused by heat. This bending of these rays can result in optical illusions of many different sorts. To be inside a mirage is, of course, impossible, as proximity exposes the illusion for what it truly is. The concept for this piece is therefore based on the imaginary notion that the listener could step into the illusion and view an altered state of reality. When discussing the concept of light, visual conceptions translate into musical idioms very easily, as we perceive sounds with higher frequencies to be “bright” and lower frequencies to be “dark.” Also, soft, smooth lines can be connected to the image of soft, glistening light, while harsh, articulate bursts of sound can translate into great bursts of light. These two musical ideas comprise the bulk of material for Inside the Mirage. Harmonically, the work uses the seven-note set 7-28, or pitch class set [0135679]. Throughout the piece, this scale is manipulated in two main ways-through addition and subtraction: to create more chromatic sonorities, 7-28 is layered on top of itself; to create less harmonic density, notes are removed from 7-28. The primary influences for Inside the Mirage are composers Gyorgy Ligeti and Witold Lutoslawski. The textures of their compositions, often consisting of intricate phrases and rhythmic complexity, are imitated throughout the piece. Inside the Mirage also borrows some orchestrational techniques from these two composers, as well as some from Stravinsky. In conclusion, Inside the Mirage consistently imitates the styles and practices of past composers while introducing distinctive melodic and harmonic principles, resulting in a synthesis of new material that maintains qualities of both old and new.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Mirage; orchestra; Ligeti; Lutoslawski; pitch sets
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19.
Holt, Christopher William.
WE SHALL NOT SLEEP.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► We Shall Not Sleep is a seventeen-minute piece for choir, seven vocal…
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▼ We Shall Not Sleep is a seventeen-minute piece for choir, seven vocal soloists, brass quintet, and percussion. The title istaken from the poem, “In Flanders Fields”, by John McCrae1. This poem is the central text of the work, flanked on either sideby information found in Canadian attestation papers and soldiers’ death records from World War I. My goal is to create amusical memorial using the poem as a centerpiece to two perspectives: that of the soldiers’ and their families’. The attestation papers give information on men enlisted in the 43rd Battalion of Winnipeg, Manitoba who were killed on October 26, 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele. I chose this particular battalion and battle because my great-grandfather served in the 43rd and was injured on that day. Three soloists portraying soldiers present this unusual choice of text “answering” to quasi-mechanical ground bass “questions” sung by another male soloist. While these pseudo-recitatives come to a close, the choir emerges with the poem. By design, these texts overlap. I have manipulated the words in such a way to suggest double meanings both sincere and cynical in nature. After the poem reaches its climax, the fate of the soldiers is realized through dialogue similar to the text of the attestation papers, only here the words are drawn from the soldiers’ death records. Three female soloists, responding to a new,more ethereal quasi-ground bass, present details of the soldiers’ deaths. Since most of the battalion was either Scottish or of Scottish descent, I have incorporated elements of Scottish folkmusic. I have also used the two marches associated with this particular battalion to generate melodic and motivic ideas. Given the character of the texts, the inclusion of instrumentation such as brass and percussion is appropriate. However, thissupporting instrumentation has been applied sparsely as to not overpower the other elements. The brass quintet is the primary accompaniment, while the percussion only appears at appropriate moments in the text.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: choir; vocal soloists; brass quintet; percussion; SSAATTBB; WWI; multiple texts
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20.
Hoose, Shane.
Correspondances.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► Correspondances, a work for soprano voice, viola, percussion, and live electronics, explores…
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▼ Correspondances, a work for soprano voice, viola, percussion, and live electronics, explores the intricate timbral relationships that are possible between the human voice, acoustic instruments, processed sounds, and realtime electroacoustic processing. A poem of the same title by Charles Baudelaire comprises the text, which appears in the original French and in the English translation. Baudelaire’s poem emphasizes themes of adventure, imagination, and the richness of nature, which allowed for exploration of a variety of musical characters. The work lasts approximately twelve minutes and contains aleatoric sections, counterpoint, and live electronics. Formally, Correspondances is one continuous movement containing an introduction, throughcomposed sections determined by the poem’s stanzas, and a closing section. The introduction contains spoken text, aleatoric elements, and a large scale crescendo. The throughcomposed section features the stanzas of text and instrumental and electroacoustic interludes. The closing section recapitulates the opening by presenting similar aleatoric elements and a largescale decrescendo ending with the vocalist whispering the final lines of text. Melodic and harmonic material is derived from synthetic scales. Melodic gestures and contrapuntal interplay emphasize specific melodic intervals including major sevenths, major sixths, tritones, and minor seconds. The soprano part features extended performance techniques including sotto voce techniques, whispers and speech. The percussion instrumentation includes vibraphone, bass drum, suspended cymbal, tam tam, log drum, and a mounted rainstick. Its timbral palette is enhanced through the use of soft mallets, brushes, and snare sticks. The percussionist controls the electroacoustic portion of the work with a foot pedal. Electroacoustic material is derived from various sources including percussion and environmental samples such as sounds of water, wind, and fire. Along with sound file playback, digital signal processing techniques such as delay, reverberation, and ring modulation modify the acoustic instruments in real time. All processing and sound file playback is accomplished using Cycling 74’s Max/MSP, a visually oriented, interactive, real time audio processing application. In live performance, Correspondances requires technical support in the form of four condenser microphones, an audio interface, one foot pedal, a Macintosh computer equipped with Cycling 74’s Max/MSP, and a stereo sound system.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Correspondances; Baudelaire; live electronics; electroacoustic music; electroacoustics; interactive music; acousmatic music; percussion; viola; soprano; vocalist
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21.
Jordan, Ryan M.
Sun Valley Variations.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2008, Bowling Green State University
► Sun Valley Variations is a work for thirteen wind instruments, piano, double…
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▼ Sun Valley Variations is a work for thirteen wind instruments, piano, double bass and two percussion. The wind section consists of five reed parts encompassing two alto, two tenor and one baritone saxophones with four trombones and four trumpets doubling on flugelhorns. Combining jazz and contemporary classical music continues to be an area of interest of mine. Several revolutionary contemporary classical composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Daruis Milhuad and Gunther Schuller have collaborated with important jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Charles Mingus. From this association has come new concert pieces that combine the traditions of both into a new hybrid sound. Modeled after of the contemporary jazz ensemble, Sun Valley Variations includes several of the traditional jazz ensemble arranging techniques in combination with several elements associated with the contemporary art music tradition. The work is created around a traditional theme and variations form encompassing four main sections, three transitions and an extended coda. The first variation features a bass ostinato that forms the primary harmonic foundation on which new material is created. Variation two is constructed on a C minor tonality that includes jazz-influenced improvisation and instrumental layering techniques. A slower and more delicate mood is created in variation three as the ensemble features a variety of soloistic orchestration, muting colors and different doubling combinations in the woodwinds. A recapitulation and coda is featured in the in the last fragment as the ostinato material from variation one and two is combined with improvisation, layering and short solo passages.
Advisors/Committee Members: Beerman, Burton.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Jazz Ensemble; Thirdstream
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22.
Kalichman, Joshua.
RICK.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► Rick is a string quartet in one movement of approximately twelve minutes.…
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▼ Rick is a string quartet in one movement of approximately twelve minutes. Three melodic themes are used to structure the piece. Theme A symbolizes a journey through life. The continuous motion of time and growth throughout life is expressed by evenly paced durations and expanding intervals. Theme B symbolizes knowledge and logical thinking. Its chromaticism gives the theme passion and intensity, and the rise and fall of its contour suggests searching and longing. Theme C symbolizes interpersonal relationships and thinking based on emotion. Its rhythmic motion and wide intervallic leaps help the theme sing expressively and romantically. Three small sets are taken from the themes to create the harmonic language of the piece. Themes B and C contain the sets (026) and (015), and all three themes cadence on a major ninth. Of these three sets, (026) is used for the majority of the harmonies and countermelodies. A study of the second movement of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6 serves as a guide to the general growth of the form of the quartet. The symphonic movement and the quartet share a similar length and a two-climax structure. Prokofiev’s movement has the general form: A B C B1 D C B A B2; the quartet has the general form: A B C B1 C1 A1 A2 B2 (B+C) A3. Although the combination of the concepts “journey,” “knowledge,” and “relationship” guide the form and flow of the piece, it does not seek to convey these ideas in an explicitly programmatic way. Rick tells a story of growth and relationships without any need for literary explanation.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: string quartet; twenty-first century music; Prokofiev
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23.
Kemper, Steven Thomas.
STRAIGHT, CURVING, COLORFUL: THREE ARCHITECTS.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► Straight, Curving, Colorful: Three Architects for clarinet, cello, and computer musically explores…
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▼ Straight, Curving, Colorful: Three Architects for clarinet, cello, and computer musically explores the designs of buildings by Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gehry, and Rem Koolhaas in three movements. Straight is based on Crown Hall by Mies van der Rohe on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) campus. Curving is based on the Jay Pritzker Pavillion by Frank Gehry at Millenium Park, and Colorful is based on the McCormick Tribune Campus Center by Rem Koolhaas at IIT. The musical language of the piece incorporates salient design features and aesthetics of each building as structural elements used to develop a composition derived from but not literally tied to each building.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Clarinet; Cello; Mies van der Rohe; Frank Gehry; Rom Koolhaas
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24.
Kimbler, Chad.
CONCERTO FOR AMPLIFIED MANDOLIN, STRING ORCHESTRA, AND PERCUSSION.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► Concerto for Amplified Mandolin, String Orchestra, and Percussion (timpani plus three percussionists…
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▼ Concerto for Amplified Mandolin, String Orchestra, and Percussion (timpani plus three percussionists playing an array of instruments) is an exciting work intended to supplement the small repertoire for the classical mandolin. The concerto is a single-movement work of eleven minutes that blends art music and vernacular styles. I drew from the string orchestra tradition of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Béla Bartók, and Samuel Barber, and also from the compositions of bluegrass/newgrass mandolin style innovators such as Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, and Béla Fleck. The concerto is largely through-composed, using a quasi programmatic form rather than a traditional concerto form, such as sonata allegro form. Although themes return throughout the piece, no section repeats identically. The harmonic language of the work is primarily neo-tonal, with free atonal sections providing dissonant contrast. While tonal centers are often present, harmonic progressions rarely work in functional ways; the harmonies either remain static or move frequently to non-related key areas. On a whole, regular rhythms drive the piece, but these rhythms are frequently disrupted with more rhythmically complex sections. The vast majority of classical mandolinists (including newgrass mandolinists that play classical music) perform violin solo pieces transcribed for mandolin. However, the limitations and possibilities of these two instruments are greater than often assumed. Likewise, most of the classical pieces written for the mandolin are better suited for the violin, since they focus primarily on single melodic lines and never on strumming chords. Concerto for Amplified Mandolin, String Orchestra, and Percussion, by combining traditional and modern styles, provides mandolinists with a new, challenging composition created specifically and idiomatically for their instrument.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Concertos; Amplified Mandolin; String Orchestra; Percussion
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25.
Knaggs, Daniel J.
Hope Reaching Beyond the Limit.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► Hope Reaching Beyond the Limit is a musical setting of a six-poem…
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▼ Hope Reaching Beyond the Limit is a musical setting of a six-poem cycle by Karol Józef Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005) for bass-baritone and string quartet. This poetry explores the deepest and most fundamental questions of the human person: what is the meaning of life and death? In an effort to wrestle with such lofty questions, I use a variety of techniques to enhance the listener's experience of the poetry. For example, throughout the piece, I employ text-painting so that the listener can more easily enter into the scenes which the singer is describing. I portray changes in mood by shifts in harmonic centers. For ideas that may be a key to understanding the entire work, I alter pitch material to create a sense of freshness or important arrival. And in order to reinforce the main message of the poetry, I incorporate fragments of a traditional Gregorian chant sequence, Victimae Paschali Laudes, whose message is similar to that of the poetry being used.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: hope; hope reaching beyond the limit; John Paul; Pope; John Paul II; string quartet; bass baritone; Karol Józef Wojtyła; Karol Wojtyła; victimae; paschali; laudes; Catholic; chant; sacred; Christian
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26.
Knoll, Jonathan Corey.
PROLONGATION, EXPANDING VARIATION, AND PITCH HIERARCHY: A STUDY OF FRED LERDAHL'S WAVES AND COFFIN HOLLOW.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis consists of two independent yet interrelated portions. The theory portion…
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▼ This thesis consists of two independent yet interrelated portions. The theory portion explores connections between Fred Lerdahl’s theoretical and compositional output by examining his work Waves in relation to his theoretical writings, primarily A Generative Theory of Tonal Music and “Tonal Pitch Space.” The theories together form a generative theory of tonal music that strives to create a musical grammar. “Tonal Pitch Space” defines a hierarchy among pitches and chords within and across tonal regions. Lerdahl uses these ideas in Waves, which is in the key of D minor. All other pitch classes, and likewise all other chords and tonal regions, are elaborations of the tonic D. The initial D tonic statement, called a flag motive because it heralds each variation, is the fundamental construct in Waves. Just as all other pitches elaborate D, all other motives in Waves are elaborations of the flag motive. Thus rich hierarchies are established. Lerdahl also incorporates ideas from GTTM into his compositional process. GTTM focuses on four categories of event hierarchies: grouping and metrical structures and time-span and prolongational reductions. These four hierarchies and a set of stability conditions all interact with one another to form a comprehensive musical grammar. Grouping and metric structures in Waves are identified and analyzed in this thesis. These include the irregular grouping and metric structures elision, overlap, deletion, and compound grouping. Lerdahl, by fusing passing and neighbor diminutions, creates unstable harmonic cells that, due to their distance from the tonic, assume dominant and subdominant function in the context of Waves. These functional sonorities create both progressions and cadences. By using those same tonal diminutions to elaborate stable tonic chords and pitch classes, Lerdahl also creates prolongation. Both Lerdahl’s progressions and prolongations can be analyzed through the tree diagrams of prolongational reduction. Waves is shaped by a formal process called expanding variations. This is a procedure in which a single idea is expanded upon by interpolation in a series of variations. Each variation develops the previous one, creating a reduction in reverse. The expanding variations of Waves are governed by the Fibonacci series. Each number in the series corresponds to the number of tactus-level beats per variation. The composition portion of this thesis borrows aspects of Lerdahl’s music, most notably the expanding variations based upon the Fibonacci series, and incorporates them into an original composition for chamber ensemble (alto flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and violoncello). The piece, Coffin Hollow, is based upon a ghost story of the same name. The story, set in northern West Virginia during the Civil War, has two main characters, a Union soldier and Confederate soldier. Each is assigned his own series of variations. While the Confederate soldier’s variations expand, the Union soldier’s variations contract, giving the sense of the former consuming the latter, much like the ghost of the Confederate soldier hunts down and kills the Union soldier. The Union soldier’s theme is based upon the Union folk song “Just Before the Battle, Mother,” while the Confederate soldier’s theme is based upon the folk song, “I’m a Good Old Rebel.”
Advisors/Committee Members: Engebretsen, Nora.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: LERDAHL; mp; prolongational; Tonal; mf; GTTM; tonic
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27.
Lyszczarz, Joseph E.
Tracing Shadows.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Composition, I…
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▼ In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Composition, I have composed the piece Tracing Shadows for large chamber ensemble. It is cast in a single movement of approximately eight minutes and thirty seconds in length. The instrumentation consists of flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C, trombone, two percussionists, piano, two violins, viola, violoncello, and contrabass. The piece investigates the interplay between musical attack and resonance. The idea of musical resonance existing as an afterimage of a musical impetus informs the reference to shadows in the composition’s title. The piece explores its musical ideas in a continually developing structure suggesting ternary form (A-B-A’). The composition’s first section develops two main elements; a powerful hammer-stroke gesture acting as a catalyst for resonance, and a melodic line featuring sustained notes in its contour. Resonance is created through sustained chords in different choirs, as well as through bowed and scraped metal percussion instruments. A contrasting second section evolves from the resonances of the first section into a pseudocanonic, polyphonic interplay. Condensed, repeating rhythms embody a contrasting resonance differing from the sustains dominating the first section. The terminal A’ evades a direct return to the opening material, instead subtly extending the gestures presented in the first two sections. The piece’s harmonic language focuses primarily on various expressions of the pitch-class set (014). In particular, supersets (012345) and (0134) are extremely important in the piece’s construction. (0134) and subsets function as the primary stable harmonic verticality, acting as a harmonic pillar in contrapuntal sections. The melodic language of the piece primarily focuses on trichordal units of (014). Additionally, the aforementioned relationship to the chromatic superset is utilized as a melodic reservoir and as an important gestural resource. Tracing Shadows explores new territories for my personal compositional style, and is a work that I believe has a strong possibility of future programing. It has helped me to explore simultanaeities that are new to my musical language, as well as helping to refine my concept of gesture.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lillios, Elainie.
Subjects: Composition; Music
Keywords: Large; Chamber Ensemble; Resonance; Hammer-stroke
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28.
Martenn, Kristopher Andrew.
Ouranos.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2010, Bowling Green State University
► Ouranos is a work for chamber orchestra based on the second chapter…
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▼ Ouranos is a work for chamber orchestra based on the second chapter of the poem Theogony by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. This section of the poem tells of the strained relationship between the primordial gods Gaia (the earth) and Ouranos the night sky), the birth and original sin of the Titans (primarily Cronos), and the birth of the goddess Aphrodite. Ouranos lasts approximately eleven minutes and contains leitmotifs, counterpoint, and programmatic elements.Formally, Ouranos is one continuous movement which is then broken down in to smaller, named sections, each of which programmatically depicts a different major event in the story. Each major character (Gaia, Ouranos, Cronos, and Aphrodite) is depicted by the playing of his or her leitmotif. Interaction between characters is depicted by either the counterpoint between two or more lines or by the combination of leitmotifs into a single melody. For instance, a brief fugue is presented in the woodwinds in measure 48 based on Ouranos’s thematic material. It is then joined by the horn in measure 57 playing Gaia’s material against it. The work’s melodic language emphasizes specific intervals, primarily major and minor seconds, major and minor sevenths, and the tritone. The harmonic language is derived directly from these intervals. Harmonic motion is primarily achieved by changing only one or two chord members at a time, creating an almost spectral, slowly-evolving chordal foundation below the melody. The chordal motion is also programmatically related to the character on which each section is based. For example, the chordal motion below Gaia’s thematic material in the opening section moves slowly downward, depicting her growing sorrow and pain. Aphrodite’s material in the final section is accompanied by chordal material that expands outward to a climax, depicting her growth and development in the sea.
Advisors/Committee Members: Beerman, Burton.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Ouranos; Gaia; Cronos; Greek; mythology; Hesiod; Theogony; music; leitmotif; program music; Aphrodite
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29.
Marx, Aaron J.
THE ROOTS OF SUFFERING.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► In his book Power vs. Force Dr. Richard Hawkins outlines a logarithmic…
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▼ In his book Power vs. Force Dr. Richard Hawkins outlines a logarithmic scale of human consciousness to explain and contextualize all behavior. The very bottom of the scale, 1, represents the attitudinal energy of a person who is just barely alive, and the very top, 1000, represents the level of ultimate Enlightenment, reached by only the great spiritual avatars of human history. There are many levels in between and Hawkins divides his spectrum into three large sections with borders at the critical points of 200 and 500. The realm between 1 and 199 contains destructive energy characterized by such qualities as Shame, Guilt, Grief, Fear, Anger, Craving and unwarranted Pride. These feelings are compelling and can motivate a great deal of behavior, but this self-serving achievement is usually destructive to humanity and causes suffering for subject and environs. My composition, The Roots of Suffering, scored for, 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets (2nd doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, 3 percussionists, and strings, seeks to musically explore the levels of consciousness that calibrate between 20 and 199. Each of its 5 sections, Shame, Grief, Fear, Anger, and Pride, uses expressive musical devices to illustrate and communicate these qualities. The first minute, Shame, resembles a slow symphonic prelude. The melody is constructed from various instruments sustaining tones to form chromatic clusters emphasizing the minor second. The second section portrays Grief with sighing string glissandi, much in the manner of Witold Lutoslawski’s orchestration. Short, intervallic episodes with glissandi in the violins and violas are interrupted by glissandi in divided cellos, outlining the Shame motive from the first section, and punctuated by aleatoric percussion and piano gestures. The third section, Fear, consists of agitated, sustained trills in the entire orchestra, restating the melodic material of Shame with different rhythms and articulation. A frightful string counterpoint follows, heavy with glissandos and reinforced by busy figuration from the woodwinds. The strings become a swirling, disoriented mass of chromatic sound, eventually joined by the flutes and oboes to form the fourth section, Anger. The brass and low woodwinds emphatically declaim an aggressive unison, atonal chorale melody over the strings and upper woodwinds. The fifth section, Pride, begins with an uplifting, extended tertian fanfare, declaimed by the trumpets and eventually supported by the entire orchestra, to provide a brief respite from the previous violence. This respite is eventually revealed to be an illusion, however, as it crumbles into chromatic madness, building to a terrifying and brutal climax. The transition from insecure self-satisfaction to terror and chaos exemplifies the danger of Pride, its selfish energy yielding endless suffering. The increase in energy inherent in the rising level of consciousness is reflected in the composition as the musical sections gain more momentum and power over the span of the piece. It ends, however, with a brief, despairing epilogue to illustrate the aftermath of foolish blind devotion and reverts to a reprise of Shame as the cycle of lower consciousness begins again.
Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Consciousness; Spirituality; Emotion; Composition; Orchestral Music
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30.
Matthews, Trevor W.
In Sequence.
Degree: MM, Music Composition, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► In Sequence is a work for chamber orchestra that incorporates different kinds…
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▼ In Sequence is a work for chamber orchestra that incorporates different kinds of musical sequences, including sequences of pitches, chords, timbres, orchestrations, and even quotation. The work's genesis comes from a desire I have long held to write a nearly endless circle of fifths progression. This urge is realized near the middle of the piece when a quasi-quotation of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. This quotation begins in familiar territory but quickly begins to unravel as the tempo grows faster. Ultimately, the progression is transformed into something new entirely. This recontextualization of a musical idea serves as the centerpiece of the work. Most of the harmony and melody in In Sequence is derived directly from an (0158) tetrachord. This unifies the harmonic character of the piece. The piece as a whole is, in fact, a sequence of treatments of this tetrachord: First, as melodic chains, second as tonal interrelationships, third as harmonic blocks and fourth as a synthesis of these ideas. Timbre and rhythm are also subjected to sequential treatment. Altogether, these processes result in a work that is at once familiar, and yet, somehow unrecognizable. Trevor Matthews, February 2012
Advisors/Committee Members: Dietz, Christopher.
Subjects: Composition; Music
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