This study was designed to portray some of the personal attributes of Emma Lou Diemer, a contemporary composer, and to describe her compositional processes and products through videotaped interviews. Over a two year period and during five days of interviews and discussion, Dr. Diemer and this writer developed a rapport allowing the composer to reveal insights into her attitudes about music composition and her methods and techniques for composing. The writer then prepared and edited the videotaped interviews specifically for the following purposes:1. to provide insight into Emma Lou Diemer's philosophy of music composition2. to offer first-hand commentary on two of her own compositions3. to give composers and conductors insight, in Dr. Diemer's own words, into her compositional processes.The two videotapes central to this study provide visual records of the discussions of the composer at work, thereby allowing viewers access to her original comments, facial expressions, conversational nuances, and humor. The tapes show Dr. Diemer's energy, vitality, and sense of purpose as she continues to seek creative channels within her chosen field of composition.The videotapes are supported by a written document containing background information, related literature, and a biography of Emma Lou Diemer. Chapter four contains the narratives of the videotaped interviews and a discussion of two of Diemer's compositions, "There is a Mom Unseen" and "To Come So." The final chapter includes a summary and recommendations for further research.The writer recommends the use of videotape for recording interviews with contemporary composers; this medium was an effective tool for this study. Suggested procedures include: the recording of a composer's perspectives on interpretations of his/her compositions, recording of composing techniques, videotaping of the composer as performer or conductor, and videotaping of related performances of a composer's works by selected individuals and groups.Suggested audiences for the videotapes prepared for this study are: 1. university composition classes;2. conductors preparing to present compositions by Emma Lou Diemer in concert;3. high school groups looking at composition as a career;4. individuals who wish to study Dr. Diemer's compositional processes and style. / School of Music

This dissertation provides insight into the compositional characteristics of Paul Lansky's instrumental works as demonstrated in Hop (1993). As well, this document intends to make Hop more approachable to performers through a structural, harmonic, and rhythmic analysis. This dissertation presents a brief overview of Lansky's biographical information, discusses background information about Marimolin (the ensemble that premiered the piece), and provides an analysis of Hop. Hop is analyzed with regard to form, harmony, and rhythm. The analysis was conducted through a tonal approach, and harmonies are identified with a lead sheet analysis. Personal interviews with Paul Lansky and marimbist Nancy Zeltsman provided significant insight into Lansky's influences, musical characteristics, as well as other elements pertaining to Hop.

Lowell Liebermann, born in New York City in 1961, is one of America's most distinguished living composers. In addition, he often conducts and performs as pianist in his own works. His musical language is unique and unmistakably rooted in the grand tradition of Western music; however, his style combines old and new, simple and complex, emotional and intellectual aspects. It combines tuneful, catchy melodies with a rich harmonic language, all framed by a strong formal design. This study begins with presenting primary information on this concerto excerpted from an interview with Lowell Liebermann. This interview served as a reference for subsequent sections, and a transcript of the interview is appended to the end of this study. In the third chapter, the musical language of the composer is discussed. Chapters four and five constitute the main body of this dissertation. The goal of these two chapters is to understand the basic three-pitch motive of the work, to demonstrate how it operates at various levels, and to see how the raw material corresponds at a larger structure level. It is the author's hope that this study will guide performers to better understand Liebermann's Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 12.

Cindy McTee, Regents Professor of Composition in the College of Music at the University of North Texas, is one of America's leading composers. Her music is an eclectic blend of the "American" sound that is created by the use of a multiplicity of techniques. This document uses three of McTee's most recent (to date) works for wind band: Timepiece, Ballet for Band and Finish Line, to identify the primary stylistic characteristic's of the composer's music, which include: jazz influence; use of ostinati, pseudo-ostinati and machine-like rhythmic patterns and figures; creation of extended and angular melodic lines; progressive "walking" bass lines; and the use of octatonic and chromatic collections. Through the identification of stylistic characteristics, concise stylistic analysis of the works, interview transcript, list of composer's works to date, and selected discography, this document will add to the limited body of scholarly writing on the composer.