Thesis (M.M.)--University of Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 262-291).

<p> This project report serves as a resource to provide composers with the tools to tackle the complexities of writing for the harp. This will be achieved by considering the mechanical aspects of the harp, as well as analyze the strategies celebrated composers Maurice Ravel, Henriette Reni&eacute;, and Carlos Salz&eacute;do employ in their own compositions to utilize the intricacies of the instrument to their advantage. Pieces discussed include: Ravel's <i>Introduction et Allegro,</i> Reni&eacute;'s <i> Pi&egrave;ce Symphonique,</i> Salz&eacute;do's <i>Five Poetic Studies for Harp Alone</i> and his arrangement of Claude Debussy's <i>Children's Corner Suite.</i> A list of reference and instructional books will be included in the appendix for further study.</p>

No description available.

<p> George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) was an American composer who took the classical European style of music while seeking an American style. His early symphonies and string quartets demonstrate great knowledge of the classical forms, including the ever common sonata form. In sonata form, the tonal center of the piece traditionally modulates to the dominant before shifting back to the tonic for the return of the thematic material in the recapitulation. However, Chadwick takes a different approach within a number of his early sonata forms, notably within Symphony No. 3, String Quartet No. 2 and String Quartet No. 3. Instead of keeping the recapitulation in the original key, he adds the subdominant to the recapitulation as a means to mirror the modulation that occurs the first time the thematic material is presented. However, the strategies employed in these movements are more complex than simply replacing the tonic at the beginning of the recapitulation with the subdominant. Chadwick incorporates the subdominant in various locations within the recapitulation, including both thematic zones within the recapitulation, and even the coda in the case of a sonata-rondo form. Through analyses of each movement and comparing similar examples within Chadwick's music, this thesis discusses the strategies used to incorporate the subdominant in the recapitulation and how they reflect the modulation commonly seen in the exposition.</p>

<p> SmartMusic is an interactive, practice software program that allows music teachers to assess students effectively in music classrooms. Many educators and music education researchers question whether SmartMusic lives up to the claims of motivating students to practice more and improving students&rsquo; ability to self-assess their playing. </p><p> Music education researcher Rodney Gurley concluded that SmartMusic increased motivation to practice in middle-school aged students. In addition, he found that students in all assessed age groups (middle and high school) believed SmartMusic helped them to self-assess and correct their playing while they practiced. This quantitative study replicates Gurley&rsquo;s results, describes middle-school instrumental students&rsquo; attitudes towards the motivational factors of confidence, accuracy, and efficacy of their practicing when using SmartMusic, and shows that students believe SmartMusic can help them practice more accurately and effectively.</p>

<p> The search for interesting and rewarding repertoire is a lifelong process for the modern violist. Because of the viola's belated acceptance as a solo instrument, only the occasional solo viola piece appears in the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, giving violists special incentive to embrace new sources of repertoire, including transcriptions of works for other instruments, new works by living composers, and rediscovered works by lesser-known composers. This dissertation explores another means by which violists have contributed to the concert repertoire: composing their own music. </p><p> Music written by violists with performing careers follows in a historical tradition of player-composers, especially pianist-composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, and Sergei Rachmaninov, whose intimate knowledge of their instrument resulted in beloved works of art. In order to highlight music that stems from this intersection of performance and composition, I adopted the following criteria for a violist-composer's inclusion in the project: specialization in the viola over other instruments, including the violin; professional performance career, usually in an ensemble, on recordings, or in a teaching position; particular interest in writing for the viola within the compositional oeuvre; and chronological overlap of performance and compositional undertakings. </p><p> I crafted, prepared, and performed three recital programs of music by violist-composers, selecting works that appealed to me as a performer and represented a variety of instrumentations, styles, and genres. The chosen pieces highlight themes common to violist-composers, including improvisatory gestures, exploration of tone colors, stylistic crossover from non-classical music, pedagogical goals, technical virtuosity, and chamber music for multiple violas. Featured composers are Alessandro Rolla, L. E. Casimir Ney, Lionel Tertis, Henri Casadesus, Maurice Vieux, Paul Hindemith, Rebecca Clarke, Tibor Serly, Lillian Fuchs, Paul Walther F&uuml;rst, Atar Arad, Michael Kugel, Garth Knox, Paul Coletti, Brett Dean, Kenji Bunch, Scott Slapin, and Lev Zhurbin. </p><p> The dissertation includes live recordings of the three recitals with program notes discussing the composers and their music. A list of violist-composers, including those not featured on the recital programs, appears as an appendix, providing the basis for further exploration by violists seeking engaging new concert repertoire.</p>

<p> The Alabama Vocal Association (AVA) is the choral division of the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA), the state chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). This mixed methods study examined non-participation in AVA All-State Choral Festival and AVA State Choral Performance Assessment (SCPA) among Alabama public high schools (N = 355). Quantitative data were event choral program participation lists for 2012 &ndash; 2013 provided by the state AVA office and demographic statistics found on the Alabama State Department of Education website including ethnicity (percentage of White students), FRL (percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch), and school size (total enrollment) for all Alabama public high schools. Qualitative data were transcripts and field notes (N = 56 pages) from interviews (N = 26), a focus session at the 2014 AVA Fall Workshop with AVA members (N = 35), and follow-up personal communications (N = 39) with choral teachers representing all AVA districts (N = 7). An Analysis of Variance revealed two significant indicators for AVA participation: (a) FRL, F(1,353) = 169.5, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 63.74 FRL; participating schools M = 49.05 FRL) and (b) school size, F(1,353) = 48.39, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 414.99 students; participating schools M = 983.03 students). Ethnicity, F(1, 352) = .458, p = .499, was not found to be a significant indicator of AVA participation. Qualitative findings suggested administrative support, financial limitations, teaching classes other than choral music, and lack of communication between AVA and some choral teachers accounted for non-participation in AVA events.</p>

<p> The purpose of this paper is to provide the conductor with a practical approach to James B. Sinclair's concert band arrangement of <i>"Country Band" March</i> by Charles Ives. Ives's collage style of composition presents many ensemble challenges, the largest of these being the preservation of textural clarity. In effort to maintain clarity in performance, the project report discusses the fundamental components of clarity, being: tempo and pulse, style and articulation, and balance and blend, as related to the piece. Interviews with conductors and Ives scholars, James B. Sinclair and Jonathan Elkus, along with the author's personal experience conducting the work, inform solutions for typical performance issues. Research also provides a proper framework for interpretation.</p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to compile a list of resources to aid singers in their pursuit toward effective practicing. A survey was given to one hundred anonymous participants: fifty vocal students and fifty vocal teachers. The data collected from this survey showed that vocal students would like more resources available to aid in practicing more effectively. Additionally, the study reveals that many of the vocalise books that are in the vocal repertoire have fallen from tradition for reasons unknown, while one composer's vocalise book, Nicola Vaccai's, still remains in the teacher and student repertoire. </p><p> This study provides resources culled from journals, text books, and musical scores. Also provided is a library of vocalises, which are divided into categories on specific vocal matters. The vocalises are categorized alphabetically, by both the category and composer. The final chapter shows the results of the surveys.</p>