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<p> The purpose of this study is to provide background information, a conductor&rsquo;s analysis, and a performance guide for John Mackey&rsquo;s <i>Songs from the End of the World</i> (2015), a composition for soprano soloist, eleven winds, double bass, harp, piano, and percussion. </p><p> Background information for this study emerged from interviews with Abby Jaques, poet; John Mackey, composer; Lindsay Kesselman, premiering soprano vocalist; and Kevin M. Geraldi, premiering conductor. The text, Mackey&rsquo;s compositional choices, the premiering vocalist's approach to characterization, and the conductor's interpretive decisions are presented to reveal the work's structure, construction, and dramatic elements. Insight into challenges and approaches for presentations of this work is provided in the performance guide. </p><p>

<p> This paper examines the capabilities of Vocaloid synthesis software as a featured solo instrument in an original composition entitled <i>&ldquo;Real&rdquo;: Concerto for Vocaloid</i>, scored for an ensemble of vocalists, chamber orchestra, laptop performers who trigger Vocaloid playback and process electronic audio live, and multimedia elements that include video, staging, and lighting design. This paper discusses the inherent compositional issues of implementing Vocaloid within a concerto and multimedia setting through an examination of identity (reality vs. virtuality), the process of composing a concerto, and methods of creation. <i>&ldquo;Real&rdquo;: Concerto for Vocaloid</i> explores appropriation techniques, adaptation of electro-acoustic practices (and the subsequent inheritance of certain styles), and the use of a narrative involving crowd-sourced creativity, hyper-reality, consumerism, and the Vocaloid virtual instrument as a performer and platform.</p><p>

<p> Developing awareness of the inseparable link between mind and body and their mutually informing relationship is critical to contemporary dancers who want to enhance creativity and somatic intelligence. While there are multiple, if not numerous, approaches to somatic learning and mindful practices, I propose a mindfulness-based dance practicum to achieve a self-reflective and inquiry-based relationship of mind to body. My study was devised over a semester-long exploration in the studio, following six years of studying modalities such as yoga, Bartenieff Fundamentals and mindfulness. Mindfulness can be used as a way to generate and activate movement through the practice of Bartenieff fundamentals, breath work and sensing. The dancer can engage in more profound awareness of bodily sensations and begin to develop a deeper and more exploratory connection to their own body. Through different practices, exercises, and activities to engage students, students are able to let go of the product mentality and dive into the process, encouraging exploration of movement pathways and &lsquo;saying no&rsquo; to the voices that are filled with judgment and fear. Creating this self-practice, students can grow as movers and individuals who interact with the outside world and whose heightened emotional self- awareness encourages greater creativity. Ultimately, a dancer can experience changes in perception of both self and environment that lead to the opening of new vistas of experiences. The goal of this practicum is to provide tools for students to develop and/or heighten their somatic intelligence ultimately discovering their own somatic practice. This not only creates a smarter body but enhances understanding and acceptance of our individual bodies while deepening reflexive practice as a dance artist.</p><p>

This dissertation proposes a new speculative model for understanding how a listener attends to music. I rely on and build upon concepts already familiar to music theorists, such as Grouping Theory, Implication-Realization Theory, and Gestalt Theory. I also borrow concepts from Information Theory, which is sourced in mathematics and used in communication transmissions. With the confluence of the aforementioned I will explain the model I name Dynamic Grouping. The dynamism of the grouping process is owed to the listener’s changing expectation for what musical content the listener expects and when the subject expects it. A listener expects continuation of a delineation. I will describe the particular listener for whom this theory applies. A listener establishes delineation between points of congruity as recognized per each basic domain, which then serves to precipitate expectation for progressive continuation of such content along the same musical delineation. The temporal point and syntactical relations for when the subject expects this musical content to occur is derived from extrapolations of syntactical and temporal regularities (rhythm) sourced from previous groupings. Unlike the five basic domains that form delineations independently, of which I list pitch, timbre, dissonance, volume, and location, rhythm is a super domain because rhythmic delineations are formed sourcing any combination of the basic domains. But because the listener also recognizes syntactical regularities, rhythm is a super meta domain: a listener recognizes patterns of patterns. The temporal size of each group increases when preceding music offers realization of a listener’s expectation and decreases in size when it stymies expectation. I correlate patterns of dynamic grouping rhythm and dramatic moments in music. I explain means by which a listener will delineate music per each of the domains, as delineation per each domain is achieved differently. I offer a bottom-up analysis of the basic domains for a movement from a Beethoven Symphony. I use pop music to show how my theory for delineation formation also applies for rhythm. This single theory sufficiently accounts for much of what we witness in the music of the Common Practice Period. I also propose means by which composers may explore other means for creating drama not commonly used in current practice. My engagement with music cognition scholarship herein is limited to the specific confines of the theory. I chose a variety of musical examples for use in the paper. I include two Beethoven symphonies because they, in particular, are most often found in similar theoretical writings. For many of my musical choices that are meant to explicate most poignantly theories of rhythm I turn often to American Popular Music. I am familiar with the controversial lyrics of The Rolling Stones’s song, but I assure the reader that I will only cover the opening guitar riff and its immediate development through the introduction. / Music Theory / Accompanied by one .pdf score: 1) Cello Concerto #2

This dissertation comprises two parts: an original composition, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; and an essay that analyzes the form of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, op. 10. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is cast in three movements and scored in two versions: In “Version A,” members of the orchestra are at times called on to use their voices to sustain the phonemes [m], [ŋ], and [v] on pitch and to create an intense whisper on the vowel [æ]. “Version B” is an alternative realization that uses instruments only. The first movement, unable to produce a recapitulation and continually interrupted at decreasing intervals of time by increasingly intense outbursts from percussion, brass, and wind instruments, is an extreme deformation of a sonata-concerto form. It proceeds attacca to the second movement, which is built in a large ternary form. The third movement is a concerto adaptation of James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s “expanded Type 1” sonata form. The concerto’s total duration is approximately 30 minutes. The essay considers the form of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from the perspective of Hepokoski and Darcy’s Sonata Theory, as laid out in their seminal 2006 treatise. It finds that Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is a highly individualized instance of Hepokoski and Darcy’s “Type 3” sonata form with introduction-coda frame. The essay’s analysis is preceded by a glimpse at Prokofiev’s experiences with sonata form during his youth, as well as brief reviews of the conceptual backdrop of concerto form as Prokofiev would have received it and of the basics of Sonata Theory. / Music Composition / Accompanied by one .pdf score: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

<p> This project report analyzes Eric Whitacre&rsquo;s choral piece <i> When David Heard</i>, a work about grieving the loss of a son, alongside psychologist Elizabeth K&uuml;bler-Ross&rsquo;s five stages of grief. The paper serves to better understand the lamentation of King David in Whitacre&rsquo;s piece by seeing where each of the five stages fit into the process of grief throughout the piece. </p><p> The analysis observes Whitacre&rsquo;s variety of musical devices such as tonal clusters, intermittent silences, and polyrhythms, as a means to describe the stages of grief that David is experiencing. By understanding these different stages of grief within the piece, one can conduct or sing the performance of this piece with better understanding of this grief.</p><p>

My dissertation is a musical composition for a chamber ensemble of sixteen players, scored for flute and piccolo, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in Bb, trombone, percussion (2 players), piano, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello, and double bass. It is specifically written for the University of Iowa Center for New Music Ensemble, and has been read by the ensemble twice to secure ideas for orchestration. The Revival of a Waning Moon is a single-movement work for approximately 15 minutes. The harmonic content of the work are derived from five hexachords that I labeled H-I through H-V: H-I [013478], H-II [012578], H-III [012468], H-IV [012567], and H-V [012479]. Even though all of the six chords are associated with each other to establish overall harmonic control, only H-II is cultivated for its thematic harmony. The subsets from the H-II, such as the trichord [015] and tetrachord [0157], produce melodic ideas and associates with other harmonies throughout the piece. Metric modulation is utilized between the sections where the rhythmic elements are emphasized. Jajinmori, a Korean traditional rhythmic pattern is employed to describe a Korean folk dance, which is typically performed in the moonlight. Brake drums and gongs are especially used for imitating the sonorities of Korean percussion instruments. Formally the work is comprised of three parts (ABA'). Each part has a few divisional sections, which are connected and incorporates each other in terms of their harmonic elements, but is developed with various rhythmic gestures in different tempi. My personal reception of visual images of the waning phase of the moon, more specifically between the waning crescent and new moon, is mainly a sense of loss, sorrow, loneliness, and anger. Do-Hyang Na (1902-1926), tragically and untimely died at a young age, also describes the waning crescent as an expelled princess and a regrettable widow despite of its beauty in his essay Geu-Meum-Dahl. The visual and poetic imageries provide the emotional background of the piece.

<p> This doctoral document and accompanying lecture recital seek to illuminate and bring clarity to <i>aura</i> (2011) for three percussionists and <i>AURA</i> (2015) for four percussionists by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsd&oacute;ttir. This composition is examined through a thorough musical and formal analysis to show that there is a guiding force to be found behind the sustained drones and complex bell themes of the piece. A performance guide to reduce the composition&rsquo;s logistical and musical challenges is included in the hopes that it will shorten the learning curve for a new ensemble as they learn the piece. It is this author&rsquo;s aim that this resource will make this composition accessible to a wider range of ensembles and thereby bring more exposure to the music of Anna Thorvaldsd&oacute;ttir. </p><p> In addition, biographical information and a survey of the composer&rsquo;s compositional process and style is included to increase the limited amount of scholarly research that currently exists on Dr. Thorvaldsd&oacute;ttir and her works.</p><p>

<p> The aim of this study is to provide insight into the percussion music of Dave Maric through an analysis of a trilogy of pieces with backing track, <i> Trilogy</i> (2000), <i>Sense &amp; Innocence</i> (2002/2014), and <i>Thrice Into Flames</i> (2017). The present study examines Maric&rsquo;s influences, analyzes his compositional style, and provides a performance guide. Brief biographical information is provided to introduce Maric. His compositional style is examined by analyzing tonal language and formal structures. The tonal language of these pieces combines octatonic scales and diatonic scales. In terms of form, Maric uses mathematical sequences to determine proportions between sections, including the Fibonacci sequence. The performance guide includes sticking suggestions, transcriptions of backing track cues, and additional comments.</p><p>