The clarinet works of Marcel Mihalovici (1898-1985) represent significant contributions to the twentieth-century clarinet repertoire. Metric and rhythmic variability, melodic primacy, counterpoint, structural clarity, and elements of Romanian folk music permeate his writing and reflect a highly developed musical language. Mihalovici's educational background and cultural heritage provide important clues toward understanding his artistic legacy. His clarinet works are musically demanding and contain some of the most technically challenging passages in the repertoire, while at the same time, exhibit a distinctively French style influenced by traditional Romanian music. Mihalovici's writing follows familiar but variable formal procedures and conveys a diverse, modally influenced approach to tonality. While his harmonic language is frequently dissonant, his clarinet music offers a unique variety of musically rewarding styles.

The Vienna Tonkünstler-Verein (1885-1929) was established for the sole purpose of providing extensive support to the music and musicians of Vienna. The society became renowned in Vienna for its outstanding performances of chamber music and counted among its members many of the city’s foremost musicians and composers. Johannes Brahms had a significant influence on the society as its honorary president and assisted in establishing its composition competitions, aimed at promoting and reviving under-developed chamber genres. Of particular interest to clarinetists is the Verein’s competition of 1896, which aspired to promote chamber music literature for wind instruments. Brahms’s recently completed chamber works for clarinet were clearly influential in fin-de-siècle Vienna; for of the twelve works chosen as finalists in the competition, ten included the clarinet in the chamber combination.The purpose of this document is to provide an English-language history of the Vienna Tonkünstler-Verein and a thorough account of its1896 competition based on my study of the society’s annual reports. In addition, this document will provide the first published account of the anonymous submissions for the 1896 competition. It is my hope that this paper will serve as a springboard for future endeavors aimed at uncovering the identities of the anonymous finalists for this competition.

abstract: The bass clarinet, developed almost a century after the soprano clarinet, isrelatively young compared to many modern instruments and consequently possesses a comparatively small repertoire. Until the mid-20th century, composers did not view the bass clarinet as a solo instrument and instead perceived it as cumbersome due to its low pitch and predominant use as an accompaniment instrument, resulting in a dearth of solo repertory for the bass clarinet before this time. Bass clarinetists desiring to perform repertoire from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods must then appropriate music from other instruments. Through this study, I identify and detail a process for creating informed transcriptions of music for the bass clarinet to increase its body of solo and chamber literature. I examine the original scores and existing transcriptions of Concerto in C minor by Henri Casadesus (attributed to Johann Christian Bach) for cello, Bassoon Concerto Op. 75 by Carl Maria von Weber, Trios, Hob. IV:1-4 “London Trios” by Joseph Haydn, Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 by Max Bruch, and Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to identify methods for the transcription process. I compare this to the transcription process for other instruments through examination of the Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 by Johannes Brahms, which were transcribed from clarinet to viola by the composer himself. In this document, I discuss the historical background of the selected pieces, the selection process, editing considerations, performance practice, and the usage of transcriptions as a pedagogical tool. Although transcriptions for the bass clarinet already exist, appropriation of music from other instruments will continue to supplement and diversify its repertoire. These pieces serve to develop important technical and musical skills and allow the bass clarinetist to play music across various style periods. In this project, I select and transcribe three pieces for the bass clarinet: Sonata for Cello No. 1 in F Major by Benedetto Marcello, Grand Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Serenade in F minor, Op. 73, by Robert Kahn. The transcribed scores are included in the appendices of this document. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

abstract: In an effort to provide greater representation to Latin American musicians, this recording and performance guide provides commentary on three works for clarinet by composers of Mexican ethnicity, commissioned and recorded by the author. The works presented are scored for solo clarinet, clarinet & piano, and clarinet, cello, & piano. Each piece seeks to communicate and explore current sociopolitical issues related to Mexico, and, like this project as a whole, derive their inspiration from La Onda, a multidisciplinary artistic movement in Mexico, translating as the “wave,” “sound wave,” or “the force” that emerged as part of the 1960s and 1970s North American counterculture. La Onda music emerged as a reflection and consequence of marginalized experiences living in the United States, and is representative of ways the broader public and Latinos have claimed music as their own. As music has historically provided an arena for exploring gender, class, sexuality, and race politics for minority communities, specifically Mexicans in the United States and abroad, music continues to afford a mechanism for communicating the counterfactual in the present day. In this context, this guide synthesizes a broader collaboration with composers to create new, narrative-based repertoire that provides accessibility, greater awareness, and lasting representation to a demographic that has historically been underserved within the classical canon. / Dissertation/Thesis / 01. Paysage Frontière by Victor Ibarra / 02. Juegos Prohibidos by Hilda Paredes / 03. Conversiones, Movement I: Conversiones by Juan Trigos / 04. Conversiones, Movement II: Evocaciòn by Juan Trigos / 05. Conversiones, Movement III: Scherzo by Juan Trigos / 06. Conversiones, Movement IV: Elegìa by Juan Trigos / 07. Conversiones, Movement V: Ecos by Juan Trigos / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

abstract: In the fast-paced, technology-driven society of today, new demands are placed on artists to re-think how music is presented and communicated to the world. Access to the internet, development of sound manipulation software, and broader means of use and distribution through the digital music industry have drastically shifted the way the twenty-first century artist creates and performs music. One of the most striking changes that occurred is the increased use of visual material as a vehicle to enhance and contribute to the depth and intrigue of live performances and recordings. This project researches twenty-first century works for clarinet and multimedia that specifically include a visual element (including but not limited to images, fixed and interactive video, light effects, and choreography) and highlights the prevalence of this genre in contemporary repertoire. Discussion begins with a brief overview of the history of multimedia, its relation to the clarinet, and how it has been defined by the twenty-first century. Additionally, in order to contribute to this ever-growing repertoire, three new works for clarinet and multimedia were commissioned in collaboration with composers and visual artists. These new works include: Roadrunner (2019) for clarinet and fixed electronics by Spencer Brand with video by Samuel Proctor; I’d known this place (2020) for clarinet and electronics by Dan Caputo with live audio generative animations by Andrew Robinson; and Spectral Passages (2020) for clarinet and electronics by Alvaro Varas with painting by Miguel Godoy. Background information and performance guides are included for each piece to aid future musicians in performance, as well as respective audio/video recordings. Finally, a significant portion of this document includes a catalog of works for clarinet and multimedia. The catalog was compiled by focusing on the output of twenty-first century composers to serve as a resource for future performers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Roadrunner for clarinet and electronics by Spencer Brand / Spectral Passages for clarinet and electronics by Alvaro Varas / I'd known this place for clarinet and electronics by Dan Caputo / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

The composition 161 Glass is a 17-minute musical work with percussion, wind and brass instruments in which the intersection of mid-century architecture, and the art and culture of a dynamic city are inextricably linked. Through this paper, I explore the process of composing a musical work in relationship to the significance of site specific context. The paper begins by defining the concept of site specific art works; then reviews the discourse of the intersection of art, music and architecture. I then delve into the cultural and geographic context surrounding this project from the modern era through the present, and how those perspectives apply to the building and my piece. I reveal how the composition relates the musical ideas to the site. Finally, I describe the collaborative process between myself, the musicians and the Dallas Contemporary staff.

Augeries is a multi-channel electro-acoustic composition for flute, clarinet, percussion, and tape. It is intended to be diffused through an 8-channnel playback system. Inspired by the first four lines of William Blake's Augeries of Innocence, Augeries captures the qualitative aspects of Blake's poetry by presenting the listener with an equally aperspectival aesthetic experience. The small-scale structure reflected on the large-scale form - the infusion of vastness and expansiveness into the fragile and minute. Augeries incorporates techniques of expansion and contraction, metonymic relationships, dilation and infolding of time, and structured improvisation to create an experience that is designed to explore the notion of musical time, and to bring to the listener the sense of time freedom. The critical analysis suggests that the increase in the notions of musical time, the aesthetics with which they conform, and the new time forms created, encapsulate communicative significance. This significance exists within a horizon of meaning. Semiotics illuminates an understanding of the structuring techniques used to render time as an area of artistic play. Understanding the aesthetics and mechanisms through which these techniques can be used constitutes a shared horizon of meaning. The concepts of cultural phenomenologist Jean Gebser, as explicated in The Ever-Present Origin, are used to contextualize these notions, through a description of the various consciousness structures with specific attention to the space-time relationships. Of specific concern are the aperspectival manifestations in music in the twentieth century and beyond. Special emphasis is given to the area of electro-acoustic music, particularly spectral music. The theoretical analysis explores how the various techniques are used to create an aperspectival experience, and includes specific descriptions of the technique of refraction as metonymy, and pitch set analysis of the technique of expansion and contraction.

This project is based on collaborations between the clarinettist Maria Victoria Fernández and the composer Manuel Marí. The process of collaborating is described and two new pieces are composed as result. The first of the pieces is called “Cycles” andit is a solo piece for clarinet, while the second piece is called “Shadows” and is a piece for clarinet and live electronics. The concept of perception is explored and new techniques have been addressed to make this new music accessible both to new audiences and performers interested in this field.

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Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utforska olika sätt att spela in rörblad samt att modifiera mina klarinettrörblad, och utveckla en djupare förståelse för vilka metoder som fungerade bäst för mig. Målet var att kunna känna trygghet i mina rörblads förmåga att producera önskvärd klang, så att jag gav mig själv så bra förutsättningar som möjligt rörbladsmässigt inför framtida konserter. Projektet genomfördes under en 8 månaders period, september 2021 till maj 2022 och bestod av inspelning av 12 askar rörblad och modifiering av de rörblad som inte gav önskat resultat. För modifieringen användes främst Peter Hadcocks metoder, och då undersöktes hur bra dessa fungerade för mig. Resultatet visade att en metodisk inspelning gav mer långlivade rörblad som inte tappade kvalitet lika fort som kontrollrörbladen. Resultatet visade också att det fanns en relevant möjlighet till modifiering av de rörblad som inte var bra nog, så att de efter modifiering var bra nog att användas. Livslängden gick också att förlänga till viss del genom modifiering. / The purpose of this study was to explore different methods for breaking in and modifying clarinet reeds, and to develop a deeper understanding of which methods work best for me. The goal was to be able to feel security in the ability to produce the desired sound and timbre from my reeds, so that I could give myself the best conditions that were possible, reed wise, before future concerts. The project was carried out over an 8- month period, September 2021 to May 2022 and consisted of breaking in 12 boxes of reeds and modifying the ones that didn’t give the desired result. Peter Hadcock’s methods for modifying reeds were used during the study, and I investigated how well they work for me. A methodic break in process resulted in long-lived reeds that didn’t loose their quality as fast as the control group. The result also showed that there was a possibility to modify the undesired reeds to make them playable. The life expectancy of good reeds could also be extended through modification.