Thesis (M.Mus.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium, 2000.

Symphonic Poem New Life is a composition in one movement for orchestra and yang-chin. The work is divided into six continuous sections. It is written in resultant form which is a cumulative process by which all major musical elements return at the end of the work. The tritone is the prominent interval used throughout the piece. Some graphic notation is also employed. The work has a performance time of approximately 13-15 minutes. The yang-chin is a Chinese string instrument similar to the Hungarian cymbalon, which is played with a pair of small beaters. These instruments have similar ranges, and either instrument can be used in this work.

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Composers of the 20th century express through intimate and personal language the conditions of the present, utilizing compositional techniques, forms, pitch and rhythmic language, and characteristics of Western composers, as well as looking towards non- Western music for the same. Each musical language, be it tonal, twelve-tone, modal, pitch-class, or derived from folk and non-Western material, is contained in a structural framework which is audibly recognizable, and controls the musical tapestry, processes, and results. Frequently composers use distinctive musical languages to portray different atmospheres, and thus allow each musical language to dominate the texture in order to create the desired contrast. But, jumping directly from one pitch language to another can create a sense of cacophony and loss of cohesion to the composition as a whole. In my composition I intend to show that by superimposing the structural parameters of one musical language onto another, it is possible to attain consistency and coherence, despite the underlying diversity. The composition is based on the story Heimferðin (The Journey Home) by Sigurður Rúnar Þrastarson (1961-1998). The composition is in five movements: I. Dawn; II. Dance and Devotion; III. Frolic; IV. Fury, V. Farwell. Each movement describes particular settings and events of the story. Internal events have been slightly reordered, but otherwise the composition follows the storyline from beginning to end. The final two minutes and twenty seconds of the composition are an original arrangement of a song, written in 1820, by the Danish composer P. C. Krossing (1793-1838).

The following chapters concern the development of bands of musical wind instruments in Europe and America. These groups may be most conveniently divided into two main classes of bands, military and civilian. Military bands may be defined as those organizations directly under governmental or army rule. This large class of bands includes: brigade bands, regimental bands, post bands and service bands. Brigade bands in early English history comprised two or more regimental bands, each regiment maintaining several bands. These groups were also popular in colonial America. In turn, each regiment of the military (army) had units of companies including troops, batteries, or cavalries. The units were authorized to maintain bands in their respective companies; fife and drum bands were also included. Certain bands of these companies were stationed permanently at military headquarters; these are referred to as post bands. In this country an increase in the number of regular army bands (infantry, cavalry, and artillery) has been marked since the latter part of the nineteenth century. These army bands and those of other branches (navy, marine corps, air force, coast guard, etc.) are included under the general name of service bands. The second main class includes a large group of civilian bands. As the name implies, the organizations are composed of civilians and are independent of the military groups. This class includes: circus bands, fraternal bands, industrial bands, organized militia bands, professional bands, school bands, and town or independent bands. The militia bands were bodies of citizens enrolled as military forces for a period of instruction; they were not called into active service except in an emergency. These other civilian, groups perform for civic functions, ceremonies, etc. History shows that the civilian bands have imitated the military bands in instrumentation and repertoire. It is quite apparent that the original army or military band gave rise to the origin of the civilian type of band. Today it is quite common to refer to a civic group as a "military" band, the term actually meaning the size of instrumentation rather than the personnel. Other terms describing instrumentation are "concert" and "symphonic" which may apply to either of the two main classes of bands.

Smetana’s Vltava is widely described as a musical depiction of sights and scenes on a journey down the Vltava River that glorifies the river as a defining national landmark. While this understanding of the piece complies with its program and produces a formal and thematic analysis that reveals a general adherence to the conventions of the nineteenth-century symphonic poem, the interpretation only considers the work in isolation and does not account for its most exceptional features. My paper will analyze Vltava in its larger context as a part of the symphonic cycle of Má Vlast to uncover a deeper programmatic significance to the movement’s formal and thematic design, one inextricably bound up with Smetana’s Czech nationalism. The analysis will consider all of the movements of the cycle and their relationships to one another, with particular emphasis on the crucial relationship between Vltava and Z českých luhů a hájů. / text

The purpose of this study is to provide a guide for conductors when evaluating issues of balance in works for chorus and symphonic band, and to assist them in realizing such works in performance. The principal focus of the document will be an analysis of vocal and instrumental textures in Requiem by Frigyes Hidas as they affect balance and textual clarity, using accompaniment types described by Hawley Ades as guides. The analysis shows that the scoring helps mitigate balance problems commonly found in other works scored for similar forces, making a variety of performance options and interpretations available to conductors. Ensemble issues are discussed as they relate to balance, as are practical solutions regarding stage setup.

Many of the musical works composed by Sir Arnold Bax have been studied, edited, and performed in the fifty or so years since his death in 1953. Until recently, several of the earliest symphonic works have remained as original unedited manuscripts tucked away in private collections. This dissertation serves to partially remedy this obscurity by presenting the first edition of the 1905 tone poem, A Song of War and Victory as a practical and working score. It also provides a study comprising commentary, analysis, and a large section devoted to the correction of the many errors in the manuscript. This early work is now available to orchestras, conductors, and scholars in a performance edition. Within the commentary and analysis portions is a comparison study of the other extant early, and interestingly varied, symphonic works, complete with an appendix, comprising a complete edition of the 1904 set of variations aptly titled, Variations (Improvisations). Before this study, Bax's Variations was the only remaining unedited work from the early symphonic complete works. Therefore, this dissertation fills these notable, existing, gaps and completes the exposition of these earliest examples of the composer's work. / School of Music

Orientador: Paulo Augusto Castagna / Banca: Marcos Pupo Fernandes Nogueira / Banca: Flávia Camargo Toni / Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar porque Ribeirão Preto, cidade do interior do estado de São Paulo, sem tradições acerca da música erudita, possui uma Orquestra Sinfônica (OSRP) e analisar a interação social entre o grupo de músicos que formaram a "Sociedade Musical", entidade mantenedora da OSRP e a elite da população. A partir do levantamento de dados entre 1920 e 1955, contidos nos arquivos da cidade e disponível na forma de programas de concerto, fotos, atas e jornais da época, confrontamos as informações para definir as circustâncias que levaram à criação da OSRP e esclarecer sua representação e a expressão na sociedade. Esta análise nos levou à diversidade de conjuntos musicais da época que atuavam nos eventos sociais , incluindo algumas sociedades sinfônicas e a emissora de rádio local, que atendiam as necessidades da aristocracia local. Estudamos o que propiciou a perpetuação da OSRP através de comparações com as características das sociedades musiciais brasileiras do final do século XIX, seu significado e representação social. / Abstract: The aim of this research is to investigate why Ribeirão Preto, a city in the State of São Paulo inland, without classical music traditions, owns a Symphonic Orchestra (OSRP), as well as analyzing the social interaction between the group of musicians who formed the "Musical Society", supporting body of the OSRP, and the population's elite. As from the collection of data from 1920 to 1955, included in the city's files and available in the form of concert programs, photos, minutes and newspapers from that time, we have confronted the information in order to define the circunstances that led to the creation of the OSRP and to clarify its representation and its expression in the society. This analysis revealed the diversity of musical groups who actuated in the social events at that time, including both some symphonic societies and the local radio station that fulfilled the needs of the local aristocracy. In addition, we have studied the aspects wich allowed for the perpetuation of the OSRP by means of comparasion with the characteristics of the Brazilian musical societies in the end of the XIX Century, their meaning and their social representation. / Mestre

abstract: American Primitive is a composition written for wind ensemble with an instrumentation of flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba, piano, and percussion. The piece is approximately twelve minutes in duration and was written September - December 2013. American Primitive is absolute music (i.e. it does not follow a specific narrative) comprising blocks of distinct, contrasting gestures which bookend a central region of delicate textural layering and minimal gestural contrast. Though three gestures (a descending interval followed by a smaller ascending interval, a dynamic swell, and a chordal "chop") were consciously employed throughout, it is the first gesture of the three that creates a sense of unification and overall coherence to the work. Additionally, the work challenges listeners' expectations of traditional wind ensemble music by featuring the trumpet as a quasi-soloist whose material is predominately inspired by transcriptions of jazz solos. This jazz-inspired material is at times mimicked and further developed by the ensemble, also often in a soloistic manner while the trumpet maintains its role throughout. This interplay of dialogue between the "soloists" and the "ensemble" further skews listeners' conceptions of traditional wind ensemble music by featuring almost every instrument in the ensemble. Though the term "American Primitive" is usually associated with the "naïve art" movement, it bears no association to the music presented in this work. Instead, the term refers to the author's own compositional attitudes, education, and aesthetic interests. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.M. Composition 2014