Zdeněk Lukáš (1928-2007) was one of the most prolific Czech composers of the 20th century having composed over 300 pieces. His works include a wide array of genres including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and a large amount of choral and vocal music. He was influenced by Czech folklore and music and was self-taught until he was nearly 40 years old. Lukáš began his career as a teacher but later began working for the Czechoslovak Radio Studio in Plzeň where he founded the mixed choir, Česká Píseň (Czech Song), which became quite famous and still enjoys great fame. Requiem per coro misto, op. 252 is considered by many to be Lukáš’s most famous choral work. It was written in 1992 for a cappella SSATB chorus. The piece is divided into seven movements; “Requiem aeternam,” “Dies irae,” “Lacrymosa,” “Offertorium,” “Hostias,” “Sanctus,” and “Agnus Dei.” This document presents an analysis and conductor’s guide of Requiem. The analysis includes an examination of Latin pronunciation employing Germanic Latin when possible and an IPA pronunciation guide and translation of the text. Also included in the analysis is discussion on form, tonality, and development of melody, harmony, and rhythm all of which reveal that Lukáš wrote this piece in a very traditional style. The conductor’s guide points out many of the issues that a choir may face in preparing Requiem. Some of the issues include intonation, range, and dynamics. One specific issue is that although the piece is tonal, there is considerable use of modes and scales that many singers would consider exotic. One such scale is the Hungarian Gypsy which is essentially a harmonic minor scale, but includes a raised fourth degree. Many of the intonation issues that could arise stem from the frequent parallel motion. Lukáš believed that a cappella singing is one of the purest forms of music and that singers should be allowed to sing without regard to any instrumental influence whether it be from the composer or some other source. Requiem exhibits this belief through its challenges and its beauty. The work or its individual movements can be challenging yet accessible to singers of all levels.

This thesis explores the professional knowledge of three choral music educators from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. My primary research purpose was to explain what constitutes the professional knowledge of each of the research participants as revealed through their life stories; to illustrate how such professional knowledge has been shaped by experiences throughout each of the participants’ lives; and to understand how the participants’ experiences of developing as educators within the specific social, cultural, and political contexts of Newfoundland and Labrador have shaped their professional knowledge. Through this inquiry, three choral music educators engaged in a process of teacher development, as they discovered for themselves, through a narrative process of self-exploration, the meaning that could be made of the relationships between their life experiences and their knowledge of music teaching and learning. Data-gathering included a series of four in-depth interviews, which consisted of open-ended questions that engaged the participants in reconstructing their life experiences and articulating their professional knowledge within the context of developing as choral music educators. Choral rehearsal observations provided another source of data. These observations enhanced my understanding of the participants’ teaching practice, and assisted in my understanding of the relationships between the personal and the professional that they expressed in initial interviews. Analysis of the data is represented through narratives of the participants’ life stories and a thematic discussion of their professional knowledge as revealed through those stories. Each participant’s narrative and professional knowledge are presented in individual chapters, followed by a chapter that explores the resonances (Conle, 1996) amongst the participants’ narratives and my own personal-professional narrative. I propose that we begin to reconceptualize professional development in order to acknowledge the complexity and personal nature of professional knowledge, and I assert that the exploration of life stories is a meaningful form of professional development for music educators.

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) is the first female composer to win the Prix de Rome in France. She had an early death due to Crohn¡¦s Disease at the age of twenty-four. During her brief and difficult life, she completed more than thirty musical pieces, one third of which were choral works. The 1913 Prix de Rome award is a clear line of demarcation of Lili's choral compositions. The early secular choral works, composed for the preparation of the first round of Prix de Rome(1911 to 1913), are much less known; her four well-known grand sacred choral works¡Ð¡§Psaume 24¡¨, ¡§Psaume 129¡¨, ¡§Psaume 130¡¨ and ¡§Vieille prière bouddhique¡¨¡Ðwere written between 1913 and 1918. Regrettably, the early secular works have been overwhelmed by the four splendor sacred works in the past century. Nine of the early works survive, and they were: ¡§Sous bois¡¨, ¡§Renouveau¡¨, ¡§Les sirènes¡¨, ¡§Soleils de septembre¡¨, ¡§Pentant la tempête¡¨, ¡§La source¡¨, ¡§Hymne au soleil¡¨, ¡§Pour les funérailles d¡¦un soldat¡¨ and ¡§Soir sur la plaine¡¨. The lyrics are from nineteen-century French poems; the music has such extreme intensity, dramatic power, demanding vocal techniques, as well as challenging piano skills. This thesis consists of five parts: an introduction, a basic review of Lili Boulanger¡¦s life and works, the analysis of the nine secular choral works, the interpretation of the works and a conclusion. There are also three appendices attached. Appendix 1 offers the translation and a pronunciation guide of the nine works. Appendix 2 is the program of the conducting recital. Appendix 3 is the program of the lecture recital.

Camille Saint-Saëns's (1835–1921) Messe de Requiem op. 54 (1878) is among the many works by that composer that are all but forgotten by contemporary musicians. As is the case with most of Saint-Saëns's forgotten works, it is of remarkably high quality, possessing numerous features that make it desirable and accessible to a variety of ensembles. This study seeks to bring greater awareness of the piece to a wider audience, to provide a framework for understanding the most prominent style features of the work, and to ascertain its relationship to other well-known French Requiems of the nineteenth century. To this end, this study identifies and summarizes two trends in French Requiem composition in the nineteenth century: the dramatic trend, exemplified by the Grande Messe des morts op. 5 (1837) of Hector Berlioz, and the conservative trend, exemplified by the second and third of Charles Gounod's four Requiem settings: the Messe breve pour les morts (1873), and the Messe funèbre (1883). Salient style features of these three works are discussed in order to determine how their respective composers bring about the dramatic and conservative affects of their respective works. An analysis of the form, text setting, expressive elements (including dynamics, articulation, and orchestration), harmonic practice, and choral voice leading of Saint-Saëns's Requiem is also given, including a discussion of the relationship of the style features of this work to those of the Berlioz and Gounod Requiems.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the evolutionary and revolutionary aspects of using computers to word- and tone-paint in choral-electroacoustic (CEA) works. An extended account is made of word- and tone-painting's history in selected works from the Renaissance through the Twentieth Century to establish their use as a choral music tradition, followed by an examination of three recent CEA works: Scott Wyatt's A Time of Being, Scott Miller's Dies Sanctificatus, and Reginald Bain's When I Consider the Heavens. In all instances, word- and tone-painting are identified and assigned meaning utilizing Irving Godt's "Systematic Classification of Semantic Text Influences." A chapter outlining the challenges of programming CEA works is included, along with suggestions for how conductors can meet those challenges. In addition to Godt's "Classification," a brief history of the development of computers as a musical resource and information regarding Reginald Bain's work appear in the appendices.Among the results of this study are: a confirmation of word- and tone-painting as a vital, continuing tradition in choral music; a clarification of the distinctions and overlap between word-painting, tone-painting, and rhetoric; an affirmation of Irving Godt's classification system's usefulness; and an identification of the computer's capabilities that make the machine's use evolutionary and revolutionary. The computer's most revolutionary capability is its virtually limitless ability to create, shape, and manipulate sound. As the examination of the three CEA works in this study illustrates, the computer's revolutionary potential has only begun to be utilized, and the possibilities of creating compositionally mature CEA works only begun to be realized.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was a strong advocate for adapting his compositions to suit the needs of various ensembles. He often arranged his choral compositions for several different voicings, allowing them to be performed by mixed, men’s, and women’s choruses. He also frequently offered reduced instrumentation accompaniment options to fit the personnel and budget restraints of these choirs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the male chorus transcription techniques used by Ralph Vaughan Williams in transcribing his composition for chorus and orchestra, Five Mystical Songs, from SATB to TTBB voicing. The culmination of this research is a modern day transcription of Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem for men’s chorus, brass septet, organ and percussion. This transcription adds to the men’s choral repertoire and increases the work’s accessibility for school and community choruses by creating a reduced accompaniment that maintains the flavor of the original orchestral instrumentation. / School of Music

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) is regarded as the composer of highest distinction in twentieth-century Brazilian music. His musical compositions, representing virtually every musical genre, reflect his concerted effort toward developing a nationalistic Brazilian style. While the importance of this composer's ouvre and his contribution to a national Brazilian style is well established, particularly with regard to his instrumental works, his sacred choral compositions are generally considered to be peripheral in his overall compositional productivity. Although his major sacred choral works such as Bendita Sabedoria, Missa Sad Sebastian, and Magni scat Alleluia are programmed occasionally, the smaller sacred choral pieces found in his Musica Sacra collection remain less well-known.Musica Sacra, initially published by Vincente Vitale in 1951-52, is an out-of-print collection of twenty-three unaccompanied motet-style pieces, composed throughout Villa-Lobos's lifetime. Limited availability to many of these pieces has resulted in a paucity of programming of this music by choral conductors, as well as a lack of understanding of its place in his collected works.This study provides an updated and corrected performance edition of selected choral pieces from Musica Sacra, providing choral conductors with appropriately edited material for concert programming. It includes historical background, editorial notes, and performance notes to provide context and clarity.In this study, I have compared seventeen pieces from the original Vitale edition with manuscripts provided by the Museu Villa-Lobo, in an effort to represent the composer's musical intent in a manner accessible to the contemporary choral conductor. I have alsoidentified and discussed salient musical traits in this music, exemplifying not only the Spanish Renaissance influence as it existed in the Brazilian society during Villa-Lobos's lifetime, but more broadly reflecting, through its diverse assortment of musical features, an expression of the overall religious syncretism in Brazil at the time.Within the sacred choral framework of Musica Sacra, one discovers the composer's stylized representation of Brazilian musical eclecticism. This is exhibited through elements of musical spontaneity, Brazilian multi-cultural ethnicity, nationalism, European impressionism, Renaissance imitation, and twentieth-century harmonic dissonance. These features represent Villa-Lobos's synthesis of style that, according to Latin American music scholar, Gerard Behague, illuminates "Brazil's Musical Soul." / School of Music

This study investigated the repertoire selection experiences that undergraduate choral music education majors are given at two different universities in Indiana. The lives of the instructors who teach undergraduate choral music majors how to select repertoire were examined with the goal of getting a better understanding of what life experiences may have influenced their decisions about the types of repertoire selection activities they would require of their students. Both instructors give their students repertoire selection experiences; however, their life experiences and current teaching situations have influenced the types of repertoire selection experiences they choose to offer to their students. The type of education the professors had influences the types of repertoire selection assignments they give. The size and design of the music curriculum affects the amount of time professors can devote to teaching repertoire selection. / Introduction to the study -- Literature review -- Method -- Dr. Green and Jefferson University -- Dr. Asher and Kerr University -- Comparison of Dr. Asher and Dr. Green -- Discussion. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to document the compositional process of the American composer, Rene Clausen (b. 1953). The writer conducted three days of interviews with Dr. Clausen to discuss his compositional process in selected choral works. The discussion included Clausen's "creative impetus," and "compositional approach" to the elements of text, harmony, rhythm, melody and texture.The writer examined Clausen's thirty-three published choral works. Three works representative of his choral output were selected: "All That Hath Life and Breath Praise Ye the Lord" (1981); "0 Vos Omnes" (1986); and "Whispers of Heavenly Death" (1993). These works were selected upon the composer's recommendation as pieces which are representative of his choral style.Clausen's "creative impetus," his musical influences and motivation, form what he terms "deep background." This material, some learned, but most absorbed through various musical experiences and influences, is placed into a "big bin" from which Clausen draws when making compositional decisions.The text is the genesis of Clausen's process. When selecting texts, Clausen looks for ones that will evoke certain colors, nuances, or images.Clausen's second step is to absorb the meaning of that text. During this important absorption process Clausen develops an idea of what the character of the piece will be.The third step is the emergent process: generating thoughts about thematic material, intermittent ideas, textures, and transitional material which will be presented. Clausen manipulates the elements of harmony, rhythm, melody and texture to express the forms and images present in the text.An examination of Clausen's compositional approach to the following elements was conducted: HarmonyClausen's approach is extended diatonicism with traditional harmonic movement leading toward goal oriented harmony.RhythmClausen uses a variety of rhythmic approaches to express the text: mixed and asymmetrical meter, free unmeasured rhythm, and dove-tailing sections rhythm and metered music. MelodyClausen's approach is based upon the parameters within which he is writing and on the imagery present in the text. TextureClausen's approach is based on two aspects: the level of difficulty or level for which the piece is written and the images expressed in the text. / School of Music

This study is a practical tool for all conductors of women’s voices, in the form of an annotated and indexed bibliography of repertoire. This resource will specifically present literature by women composers, with texts by women authors, written intentionally for women’s choral ensembles. I invite the reader to become an informed consumer of music by and for women. We owe it to our women performers to find works that meet the collective musical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional needs of the ensemble members. Making music is a personal and emotional experience, thus, our performers deserve to sing music that represents, in part, what they believe in, and embodies who they are. This document contains annotated entries for more than 150 musical compositions of choral music for women’s voices. Each annotation is intended to inform and educate readers as to the specific characteristics of a given piece. Annotation entries include: title of work, composer name and dates, author name and dates, date of the composition, voicing, accompaniment, duration, subject matter, and publisher’s information, as well as detailed commentary related to the textual and musical aspects of the piece. All compositions are also given ratings for level of difficulty in each of six categories: Range and Tessitura, Vocal line and Melody, Harmony, Rhythm and Meter, Text setting and Language, and Expression. By the very nature of this topic, a fully comprehensive list of all available choral repertoire written by women for women will never truly exist. It will always be a work in progress. However, it is my hope that the information contained within this study will assist conductors of women’s choral ensembles in the continuing search for material that best suits the voices and interests of their singers. Women’s ensemble conductors must be familiar with the literature in the ‘by women, for women’ category, so that each individual may make an informed choice regarding repertoire for his or her own ensemble. The literal and figurative voices of women deserve to be heard. As conductors of women’s choral ensembles, it is our responsibility to let those voices sing. / School of Music