Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Music Composition

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 reso (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elainie Lillios DMA (Advisor); Christopher Dietz Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Music

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Music Composition

Ouroboros— a single-movement, fourteen-minute work scored for flute, alto flute, B-flat clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), bassoon, horn, B-flat trumpet (doubling B-flat flugelhorn), bass trombone, three percussionists, harp, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, and contrabass— is a work that lacks melodies, motives, clear harmonic shifts, perceivable changes in dynamics and timbre, audible articulations, and a discernible pulse. Every element of this composition was informed by some aspect of the mythical serpent ouroboros. At the broadest level, Ouroboros follows a single, processed-based form. This gesture consists of several subsections that are simultaneously transformed by various processes: registral and dynamic wedges, a timbral rondo, and an exponential accelerando. The algorithms used to develop the material also progressed in a cyclical fashion, terminating in the same way that they began. The harmonic progression, which functions as one giant sequence, is derived from the hexachord 6- 25[013568] and transformations that share at least four common tones. These harmonic materials were arranged across pitch-space in the framework of an ouroboros beginning with a hexachord spanning seven octaves, reducing to a single note, and smoothly spreading back to the fully expanded hexachord. In order to produce many different sonorities, both new and familiar, I developed multi-layered orchestrations that cycle at different rates and are slightly transformed with each reiteration. While inner layers were orchestrated with systematic processes to transform between primary and secondary orchestral choirs, the surface orchestration shifted slowly between “dark” and “light” timbres. In addition, individual pitches were orchestrated by two dissimilar instruments that articulated to and from niente. To further unify these disparate timbres, the majority of the work was written at dynamic levels less than mezzo piano; this also helped facilitate the execution of the unusua (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mikel Kuehn PhD (Advisor); Christopher Dietz PhD (Other) Subjects: Music