Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 1957. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

This dissertation considers the use of orchestra bells as a solo instrument. I use three examples taken from chamber literature (Drumming by Steve Reich, Why Patterns? by Morton Feldman, and Ave by Franco Donatoni) to demonstrate uses of the instrument in an ensemble setting. I use six solo, unaccompanied orchestra bell pieces (Twelve Bell Canons by Robert Morris, Katarynka by Marta Ptaszyńska, Over by Stuart Saunders Smith, A Little Suite and an Encore Tango by Will Ogdon, Breaks Through by Lafayette Gilchrist, and Bells for New Orleans by Roscoe Mitchell) to illustrate the instrument’s expressive, communicative ability. In the discussion of each piece, I include brief background information, the composer’s musical language in the piece and performance considerations. I interviewed composers of these solo works to complete the research for this document to discuss their musical language and their thoughts on writing for solo orchestra bells.

Die nunmehr hier vorgelegte Abhandlung über das leider im Verlauf des zweiten Weltkriegs zerstörte, aber in seiner Eigenschaft als Bestandteil der Darmstädtischen Hofmusik musikgeschichtlich einzigartige Carillon am ehemals landgräflichen und später großherzoglichen Schloss zu Darmstadt konnte einige neue und unerwartete Resultate zutage fördern. Die erstmalige Publikation der umfangreichen landgräflichen Korrespondenz mit dessen Geschäftspartnern in den Niederlanden verdeutlicht den langen Prozess der Entwicklung und Entstehung des Carillons und offenbart das ungewohnt lebhafte Interesse des Landesherrn an diesem einmaligen Projekt. Es wurde die enge konstruktionstechnische und klangliche Beziehung zwischen dem Darmstädter Instrument und dem des heutigen Muntturms zu Amsterdam klar und eindeutig bewiesen, so dass sich heute noch der klangliche Eindruck des Darmstädter Carillons ohne Probleme wieder gewinnen lässt.

Time for Bee consists of a series of ten original musical/theatrical compositions created between September 1992 and January 1994, first performed on the evening of January 28, 1994 in the Recital Hall of the University of British Columbia. While each of the works can be performed individually, it was the composer’s intent to create a recital which is logical in its progression. This should suggest that in some way the pieces belong together as a larger whole. The concept of “waiting” circulates throughout all the works, in the sense that the actual material is either minimalist (and so one is forced to “wait” for changes), or the philosophy behind a given piece is similarly based, but may not be evident in the sounding music. The studies in the music machine, for example, try to incorporate necessary stage changes between pieces (and the waiting the audience goes through) into musical events about such waiting. A secondary interest concerns the concept of contradiction. The majority of the works are, for example, based upon high-sounding textures (flute, violin, clarinet, high piano and mallets, etc). The studies in the music machine attempt to introduce low-sounding textures as a contrast, however, and throughout the recital a timpani and a bass drum sit off to the side of the stage, unplayed. These ideas, and others, are meant to serve as a contradiction to the unified high-sounding textures of the majority of the recital. Individual pieces are similarly based upon concepts of contradiction and waiting. Memory, as a concept, plays a prominent role in several pieces as well.

Time for Bee consists of a series of ten original musical/theatrical compositions created between September 1992 and January 1994, first performed on the evening of January 28, 1994 in the Recital Hall of the University of British Columbia. While each of the works can be performed individually, it was the composer’s intent to create a recital which is logical in its progression. This should suggest that in some way the pieces belong together as a larger whole. The concept of “waiting” circulates throughout all the works, in the sense that the actual material is either minimalist (and so one is forced to “wait” for changes), or the philosophy behind a given piece is similarly based, but may not be evident in the sounding music. The studies in the music machine, for example, try to incorporate necessary stage changes between pieces (and the waiting the audience goes through) into musical events about such waiting. A secondary interest concerns the concept of contradiction. The majority of the works are, for example, based upon high-sounding textures (flute, violin, clarinet, high piano and mallets, etc). The studies in the music machine attempt to introduce low-sounding textures as a contrast, however, and throughout the recital a timpani and a bass drum sit off to the side of the stage, unplayed. These ideas, and others, are meant to serve as a contradiction to the unified high-sounding textures of the majority of the recital. Individual pieces are similarly based upon concepts of contradiction and waiting. Memory, as a concept, plays a prominent role in several pieces as well. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Includes 1 sound cassette / Graduate

Erweiterte Fassung (2019) des gleichnamigen Beitrages aus Wahrnehmung – Erkenntnis – Vermittlung. Hildesheim, Zürich, New York: Olms Verlag, 2013 (Fs. Auhagen), 248-259