Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, Section: A, page: 3612. / Thesis (D.Mus.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 2969. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, Section: A, page: 3616. / Thesis (D.Mus.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

This treatise is an exploration of the distinctiveness of the American Symphony Orchestra. The American Symphony Orchestra was a unique organization that combined contemporary music and young musicians of diverse backgrounds with a famous conductor. Although Leopold Stokowski used a rather archaic method of auditioning, his inclusion of women and minorities in the orchestra was progressive and his championing of young musicians was legendary. The orchestra resided in New York, a city that already had a rich, albeit very different, symphonic tradition in 1962 when the American Symphony was founded. There were no women and only one African-American musician in the New York Philharmonic at that time, and most orchestras in the country were not yet using screens to audition potential candidates for open positions. This distinct set of circumstances can be seen as a cultural microcosm for the creation and development of the symphony orchestra, including the transformation of the audition process and the introduction of women and minorities to the symphony orchestra. At the heart of this microcosm are Leopold Stokowski and the musicians who dreamed to be a part of his orchestra. Two of the interviews for this treatise were convenience samples due to proximity, and the other six interviews were randomly selected from the list that Stokowski kept on every musician who auditioned for him. Interviews were conducted either in person or by phone, recorded and later transcribed. This treatise begins with a history of the development of the American Symphony and is followed by the history of the audition process in the United States. A brief overview of Stokowski's audition process for the American Symphony provides some insight and context for the interviews that follow. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: October 26, 2010. / Clarinet, 1960, New York, American Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, Audition / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Kowalsky, Professor Directing Treatise; Alice Ann Darrow, University Representative; Deborah Bish, Committee Member; Jeffrey Keesecker, Committee Member.

This study examined the effects of music therapy paired with deep breathing in the PACU. Dependent variables were amount of pain medication administered (measured in morphine equivalents), hospital length of stay, and perceptual data. Subjects were fifty (N=50) women undergoing gynecologic surgery requiring a hospital stay of at least one night. Subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental music group (N=25) or control group (N=25). Results showed no significant differences for pain medication between groups. The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter for the music group. Subjects in the music group also reported their post-PACU pain levels to be significantly lower than the control group. Further results and implications are discussed. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: March 28, 2005. / Post anesthsia care unit, music therapy, morphine equivalents, lenght of stay, postoperative pain, opioids, relaxation / Includes bibliographical references. / Jayne M. Standley, Professor Directing Thesis; Dianne Gregory, Committee Member; Clifford Madsen, Committee Member.

Carl Maria von Weber's (1786–1826) early opera Das Waldmädchen (J. Anh. 1, 1800) was considered a lost work until a complete score and set of orchestral parts was discovered at the central library of the Mariinsky State Theater in St. Petersburg in 2000. Although Weber's music has survived, little else is known about the work's librettist or the opera's subject matter and performance history. This study examines the historical and cultural context from which Weber's opera emerged, establishing the composer's musical background and knowledge of popular German opera at the time of his collaboration with librettist and theater company director Karl Franz Guolfinger, Ritter von Steinsberg (c. 1757–1806). Das Waldmädchen is of particular interest as Weber's first professionally produced stage work, and also as the original version of his more mature opera, Silvana (J. 87, 1808–10). It was composed when Weber was thirteen years old. This study shows that Steinsberg, Weber's talented Czech-born librettist and the original producer of the opera, was the Director of the German company at Prague's Nostitz Theater (Estates Theater) in 1798, a position Weber himself held from 1813–16. Steinsberg's libretto to Das Waldmädchen was modeled after a popular Viennese pantomime ballet by Paul Wranitzky (Das Waldmädchen, 1796), a ballet inspired by contemporary reports of feral children. Musical and dramatic aspects of Weber's opera score are compared to Wranitzky's ballet score, highlighting similarities in both works and demonstrating how some of the musical conventions of Viennese pantomime ballet found their way into Weber's music for the German opera stage. The migratory path of the Waldmädchen story as a ballet and an opera is traced from Vienna to Prague and beyond by consulting theater playbills, calendars, and other extant records, and charting the movements of theater-company personnel involved in various productions. The careers of several of the original cast members of Das Waldmädchen are described, and evidence is offered to support Weber's claim that his early opera was performed at Prague in Czech, a claim previously doubted by scholars. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: April 1, 2005. / Weber, Steinsberg, Wranitzky, Early German Opera Pantomime Ballet, Prague, Czech Opera, Czech Theater History, Leopoldstadt / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglass Seaton, Professor Directing Dissertation; Douglas Fisher, Outside Committee Member; Charles Brewer, Committee Member; Jeffery Kite-Powell, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of differential feedback (external versus internal feedback) on closed-hand position of conductors while conducting. Closed-Hand conducting was operationally defined as palm facing down. Subjects (N = 126) were undergraduate and graduate music majors at a large southern comprehensive college of music who were divided into two groups: choral (n = 63) and instrumental (n = 63). The subjects were further divided by random assignment into one of three conditions: the external condition (n = 21), the internal condition (n = 21), or the control condition (n = 21). The independent variables were an external feedback condition during which subjects were asked to balance a coin on top of their hand while conducting, and the internal feedback condition where subjects were instructed to stabilize their wrist and hand so that they face the ground while conducting. A pretest/posttest design was used to assess the effect of the independent variables on the duration of the conductor's closed hand position while conducting. A one-way ANOVA revealed that at pretest all groups were equal. Results of a two-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between pretest and posttest. There was no significant difference from pretest to posttest between choral and instrumental groups. In addition, results from pretest to posttest by treatment group (external, internal, and control) and by choral and instrumental groups suggested no significant difference. When pretest and posttest by treatment groups (external, internal, and control) were analyzed, there was a significant interaction. This interaction indicated that the amount of time spent in closed-hand conducting during pretest and posttest was contingent upon treatment group. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester 2007. / Date of Defense: September 20, 2007. / Focus Of Attention, Music, Conducting Pedagogy, Instrumental Conducting, Choral Conducting, Nonverbal Communication, Motor Behavior, Teaching, Instrumental, Conducting, Choral, Attention, Internal Versus External Focus Of Attention, Motor Control, Motor Behavior / Includes bibliographical references. / Kimberly VanWeelden, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Clifford K. Madsen, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Bruce Holzman, Outside Committee Member; André Thomas, Committee Member; Kevin Fenton, Committee Member.

Franz Schubert wrote "Die schöne Müllerin" (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill) originally for high voice and piano. This cycle of 20 songs is one of Schubert's most performed and recorded work. The love story of optimism, despair and tragedy between the miller's boy and the beautiful maid continues to fascinate and inspire composers, performers and music lovers today. The purpose of this treatise is to present an arrangement of Schubert's "Die schöne Müllerin" for Double Bass and Piano. Transcriptions and arrangements in the nineteenth century were largely intended to supplement an instrument's literature, and continued to be part of the instrument's literature in the twentieth century. Through chapters 1 to 4, I discuss the significance of presenting the richness and art of Schubert's musical setting of Wilhelm Müller's poems through this new medium: the double bass. Along with a brief historical context of transcription and arrangement from the nineteenth century, I analyze the songs of "Die schöne Müllerin" explaining such aspects of the arrangement as transpositions, revoicings, articulations, dynamics and performance practices. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: November 3, 2008. / Performance practices, Transcription/arrangement, Franz Schubert, Dobule bass repertoire, Theory analysis / Includes bibliographical references. / Evan Allan Jones, Professor Directing Treatise; Michael Buchler, Outside Committee Member; Melanie L. Punter, Committee Member.

From the peak of the Habsburg dynasty, fin-de-siècle Vienna offered the Viennese bourgeoisie a unique place to broaden their intellectual and artistic creativity. Artists of such caliber as Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg flocked to this enticing city at the turn of the twentieth century. Alma Mahler was a strong woman and a product of her time. Other women wanted her in their circle of friends and men desired her. The list of her acquaintances, friends, and lovers includes some of the most brilliant artists of the twentieth century. Through her marriages to Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel, she influenced the creative output of three primary artistic figures in music, architecture, and literature. Her presence in the art world is documented in the work of Oskar Kokoschka. She used her influence throughout her life to further music, art, and literature. Although her biography reveals character flaws, such as egotism and anti-Semitism, Alma Mahler is illuminated as an important historical figure due to her consistently close proximity to genius. / A Treatise submitted to the Collehe of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / [Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: March 18, 2005. / Kokoschka, Werfel, Gropius, Vienna, Fin-de-siecle, Mahler, Alma, Schoenberg, Anti-Semitism / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglas Fisher, Professor Directing Treatise; Carolyn Ann Bridger, Outside Committee Member; Larry Gerber, Committee Member; Jerrold Pope, Committee Member.

The first purpose of this study was to provide an overview of experimental and descriptive research lines within the field of conducting. The findings of this literature search reflect the tremendous growth of inquiries and findings since the 1970's (Ostling, 1976). Research studies were broadly categorized into two overarching themes: conducting competencies and conducting pedagogy. Lines within conducting competencies included: 1) nonverbal communication, 2) perception studies, and 3) teacher/conductor effectiveness. Conducting pedagogy revealed studies in 1) methodology, 2) physical/aural skill development, and 3) conducting technology. The second purpose of this study was to examine the effect of conducting on ensemble performance through the meta-analytic techniques of "best-evidence synthesis." Developed by Robert Slavin (1986), this process compares similar studies through the common statistical metric of effect size. Results can then be discussed for practical applications in the relative terms of small effect size: d = .2; medium effect size: d = .5; and large effect size: d = .8 (Cohen, 1977). Twenty-three studies, divided into five categories, met the inclusion criteria. Results from studies examining expressive versus nonexpressive conducting on the impact of ensemble sound were mixed. While some research suggested that expressive conducting only influences listener perceptions, other research indicated that specific conducting gestures do, in fact, shape the sound of an ensemble. Results also suggested a positive and large effect size in the area of conducting-gesture instruction with young ensembles. Other studies examined the effect of conducting in combination with verbal and modeling rehearsal techniques. Conducting gestures were effective, but only within a combination of other rehearsal techniques, suggesting that many skills define conductor competencies. Lastly, studies were examined to explore the synchronization between conductor and ensemble members. Results suggest that musicians with previous conducting experience maintain steadier tempi while following a conductor than musicians without conducting training. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2009. / Date of Defense: June 15, 2009. / Best-evidence synthesis, Meta-analysis, Ensemble performance, Conducting pedagogy, Expressive conducting, Conducting / Includes bibliographical references. / Clifford K. Madsen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Alexander Jiménez, Outside Committee Member; Richard Clary, Committee Member; Patrick Dunnigan, Committee Member; Steven N. Kelly, Committee Member.