Thesis (M.M.) Florida State University, 2007. / Advisor: Charles E. Brewer, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 3-14-2008). Document formatted into pages; contains 57 pages ; appendices contained in separate PDF documents. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo Lipfert. Fractal is a DVD accompanying the thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 22-23).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-148).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. (p. 273-282)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "May 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-75). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.M.)--University of North Texas, 2002. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-123).

Minimalist music has now become ubiquitous in film, found in everything from PBS advertisements to big-budget studio movies like A Beautiful Mind. This presents a number of questions: what kind of films use the technique, how does its deployment compare to the classical Hollywood score, and how does it function? This dissertation is intended to address these issues by examining what minimalism has come to mean in films that have become part of popular culture. I detail how the musical technique intersects with the model of the classical Hollywood film score, and, by exploring the film music of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and "nonminimalist" composers, give a history of minimalism's use on the score from its avant-garde origins in the 1960s to its commercial appropriations in the 1990s and 2000s. Utilizing Nicholas Cook's idea of "enabling similarity" from his book Analysing Musical Multimedia and Rebecca Leydon's minimalist tropes from her Music Theory Online article "Toward a Typology of Musical Tropes," I provide detailed analyses of ten films employing minimalist techniques (Koyaanisqatsi, The Terminator, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Solaris, Kundun, A Beautiful Mind, Proof, The Truman Show, Gattaca, and The Thin Blue Line), showing how musical meaning in these films is tied to minimalism's particular stylistic attributes. Through the repeated linkage of minimalism with the Other, the mathematical mind, and dystopia, these meanings have the possibility--like the socially-encoded meanings of the classical score--of becoming enculturated. / text

In 1951, Saul Chaplin, John Green, and Conrad Salinger adapted the music of composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) for a film musical titled An American in Paris, the finale of which was a 17-minute ballet scene set to a modified version of the composer’s tone poem from 1928. The plot bears broad similarities to isolated aspects of George Gershwin’s life. Such narrative elements offered a scaffold for an attractive subtext explored through the film score: a review of the trajectory and breadth of George Gershwin's compositional career from 1922-1937. My own analysis of the film and its score, using the techniques of Lars Franke, further illustrates how the creators of An American in Paris used the cinematic frame to comment on George Gershwin's life and to respond to contemporary critics as well as fans of his music.

This study attempted to demonstrate that original composition for film can function as a basis for the examination of the technical and expressive factors of music and their interdependence. The study developed a series of creative projects designed as adjunct learning experiences in lower-division music theory classes. These projects were not developed to serve as a complete music theory curriculum. They were designed as a series of supplementary experiences intended to complement the study of the materials, structure and principles as covered in the main core of the curriculum.One section each of freshman and sophomore theory served as the population for the experiment. Continuity of student membership remained fairly constant throughout the academic year. Each class ranged in size from ten to thirteen members with a representative sampling of singers, pianists and players of string, wind, brass and percussion instruments.Students were assigned various film music projects ranging in length from thirty seconds to six minutes. The early compositions from the beginning of each academic year were intentionally limited in scope in one manner or another one instrument and sixty-five-seconds for two instruments. The scope of the experiences gradually expanded until students were composing four- to six-minute compositions for five to ten performers.Not all projects utilized complete films. In some instances a longer film was divided among several students with each one composing for a particular segment. with few exceptions, these compositions were written specifically for the performers available in each class. Therefore, each composer had to work with and reconcile a wide variety of instrumental combinations and range of performing abilities.The style and expressive content of the various films utilized afforded each student the opportunity to explore a broad range of visual experiences. All films used were available through the Ball State University Film :service . Students were permitted to view films at any time during the regular sixty-seven' hours per week provided by the Film Service schedule.An introduction to the study is presented in Chapter I. Chapter TI is devoted to a review of selected literature concerning composition of music for film, creative musical activities in the schools and lower-division music theory in higher education. Chapter III presents the procedures and technical aspects undertaken to implement the study. Chapters IV and V, respectively, offer a report and analysis of the freshman and sophomore project series.music scores from each project. The more successful compositions from the project series are included in Chapter VI. This chapter is concerned with a report of the public performance of selected compositions from the various projects. Chapter VII includes summary comments, recommendations and discussion.