No description available.

The rising popularity of country music in the United States since WWII is a cultural phenomenon intimately related to the ascendance of conservative values, leaders, and movements over the same period. By routinely celebrating themes like heterosexual love, the patriarchal nuclear family, hard work, individualism, freedom, patriotism, religion, and small-town life, country music provided the soundtrack for the insurgent conservatism of politicians like George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. In the sixties and seventies, while other forms of popular music (rock, folk, soul) articulated the values of liberals, socialists, hippies, war protestors, feminists, and civil rights activists, country music alone stood for the "traditional" values cherished by the so-called "silent majority" that powered the rise of the Right. The spread of both country music and conservatism is also a reflection of the "southernization" of America---the diffusion across the nation of cultural and political traits long associated with the South.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

Amahubo songs are at the centre of the traditional Zulu cultural, religious and political lives. Their age is often associated with the very "beginning" of things, when the very first Zulu people emerged from the bed of reeds. As musical items amahubo tend to be easily associated with the old, pre-colonial era when Zulus were in charge of their lives and their destinies. The performance contexts of amahubo songs are the wedding, the funeral of a King, Chief, induna, umnurnzane, war and other commemorative ceremonies. Amahubo are also called ceremonial music because of their association with the ceremonial. Ritual and symbolism dominate amahubo performance contexts, amahubo themselves being symbols that stand for other ideas. It is noteworthy that despite missionary and colonial propaganda against traditional Zulu music and culture, amahubo continue to survive and are still performed at clan, regional and Zulu 'national' levels. In addition, there has emerged new syncretic styles which demonstrate the fusion of Zulu and Western (hymnal) musical ideas. From time to time the new musical styles emphasize a Zulu identity which makes them to be mostly symbolically associated with or related to amahubo songs. Today, amahubo and seven modern Zulu musical style can easily express a broad statement of the Zulu ethnic entity of ,some seven to eight million individuals. All these musical styles, when claimed by Zulus draw "imaginary borders" between Zulus and non-Zulus and get referred to as Zulu (ethnic or 'national') music. such references, however, are situational. The period 1988 - 1992 in which research was conducted culminating in this thesis has been marked by Zulu ethnic resurgence characterized by the performance of amahubo songs and other modern styles of religious, choral, wedding, mbhaganga, maskanda and isicathamiya, all of which, through manipulation of text and musical sounds, get situationally claimed for the Zulu ethnic (national) identity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

Ambience is deftned by the American Heritage Dictionary as "the special atmosphere or mood created by a particular environment" This definition reveals the ubiquitous and ambiguous identity of acoustic ambience, as "environment" is a broad collective term. Unlike music or dialogue, ambience in film is akin to peripheral vision: once focused upon it loses a collective identity. Yet, there is a means to unravelling the aural atmosphere of a particular environment The solution in defining ambient sound lies primarily in the logical process of eliminating the tangible sound components within the soundtrack of ftlrn. Metaphorically speaking the soundtrack may be seen as a glass jar. The solid rocks placed in the jar are the major components of film: voice, sound effects and music. All other sound is like coloured liquid poured around the rocks. Not only does liquid fill the jar, but also affects the appearance of the rocks. Consequendy we encounter unique practical examples that weaken terminology and provide inevitable exceptions to the rule. The lack of theoretical development in a medium borne in the late nineteen twenties is both mystifying and understandable. Sound is the underdog to visuals, and ambience is overlooked for more recognizable components such as music. Indeed, there are multitudes of books on music and sound effects (impact effects) in film. Ambience however, appears to be advanced in practical application but primitive in theoretical exploration. Exploring sound film holistically has not deterred all theorists. Michel Chion is a pioneer who devises credible terminology with an emphasis on the equality of sound and visuals. Naturally, in a medium rife with subjective interpretation, it is all but impossible to make cut and dry theoretical statements. Chion comments: Of course we must continue to refine and fill in our typology of film sound. We must add new catego~es-not claiming thereby to exhaust all possibilities, but at least to enlarge the scope, to recogmze, define, and develop new areas." [1] This statement outlines the aim of part one. I have drawn on Chion's terminology relevant or related to ambience, as well as defined new areas. The greater part of this research article contains new terminology in cases where no established theoretical identifications relevant to ambience were found. As a reference point, I have created and proposed the following new terms: Ambience as a Cultural Reflector, Ambience as a Musical Trait, Ambience of Indefinite Status, Ambience Recall, Ambient Synchronism, Dual-Perspective Location Indicator, Epic Ambience as Abstract Narrative, Illuminated Sound, Impact Effects, Lexical Ambience, Macro-Contrast and Micro-Contrast, Music as a Hindrance, Ratio of Active or Dormant Diegetic Ambience, Rhythmic Density and Idee Fixe, Source Ambience, and Source Extension. These terms will be explained in part one and illustrated in part two. The terms are significandy applicable to theoretical exploration and are not direcdy intended for a practitioner's utilisation. Unidentified sound components must be discovered in order for analytical insight to expand. This article therefore became an investigation of ambience terminology through necessity owing to the absence of established theory. Part two will demonstrate most of the tangible terms discussed in part one through examples. It seemed more practical to select films that contain at least three constituents of ambience discussed in part one. Two of the films, Blade Runner and 2001:A Space Ocfyssry are recognized as pivotal films for innovative use of sound, and rich source of inspiration for developing new terminology, "Blade Runneris arguably the most famous and influential science fiction film ever made. It has exerted a pervasive influence over all subsequent science fiction cinema, and indeed our cultural perceptions of the future."[2] 2001:A Space Ocfyssry shares similar acclaim, "2001: A Space Ocfyssry (1968) is a landmark science fiction classic-and probably the best science-fiction film of all time."[3] Panic Room and The Fellowship qfthe Ring are contemporary films that both use unique methods in sound design. Naturally, there are hundreds if not thousands of films that would provide further material for theoretical expansion. Within the length limitations of this research article, however, the selection seems equally balanced. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal,Durban, 2005.

This research briefly analyses and evaluates selected compositions for flute solo and flute and keyboard in terms of compositional techniques , formal, structure, technical difficulties and problems of performance . The works selected for discussion in this thesis are those of South African-born composers and composers of other nationalities who are resident in South Africa. Six compositions for solo flute and sixteen compositions for flute and keyboard by the following composers have been discussed: Robert Clough Stefans Grove David Hoenigsberg Christopher James Dirk de Klerk David Kosviner Bernard Langley Petrus Lemmer Jacques de Vos Malan Norbert Nowotny Hubert du Plessis Walter Swanson Arthur Wegelin Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph Paul Loeb van Zuilenberg The aim of the research is primarily to discover and promote little known flute compositions by composers resident in South Africa. These works have been graded as to their suitability for either the concert platform or for educational purposes. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1986.

This dissertation considers the evolution of Rap music and Hip Hop culture from the perspective of two spatial modalities. It first introduces theoretical concepts of geographic scale and the inscription of socio-spatial values in order to examine Rap and Hip Hop's geo-cultural expansions from their primary enclaves of urban black America. The dynamics between race, social space, and youth are assessed both individually and in tandem as crucial elements in the expression and practices of Hip Hop. The dissertation challenges and extends research in the prevailing Rap "canon" by analysing the processes and structuring logics through which Rap has been integrated into the commercial system of localized music scenes and transnational music and media industries. It identifies the myriad forces that have either facilitated or constrained Rap's expansion at various moments in its history. The dissertation also focuses on the emergence of a pronounced spatial discourse in Rap music and Hip Hop. It isolates the articulation of spatial issues and an increasingly urgent emphasis on sites of significance and the homeplace of "the 'hood" as a significant but characteristic element of the genre. The ancillary Hip Hop media, including radio, music videos, Rap press, and the cinematic "'Hood" genre, are examined as important factors in the reproduction of spatial sensibilities in Hip Hop culture.

The first saxophonist to give a New York Town Hall recital and one of the earliest to appear as a soloist with a major American symphony orchestra, Dr. Cecil Leeson devoted his life to promoting the saxophone as an instrument capable of serious musical expression. Leeson was born in Cando, North Dakota, in December 1902 and,. although he didn't begin playing the saxophone until age seventeen, he nevertheless enrolled at Dana's Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio, in September 1921 as a saxophone major. With his enrollment in that year, he initiated a career as a concert soloist on an instrument previously associated primarily with concert and military bands, vaudeville, and the emerging jazz movement. Although performers such as Elise Hall of the Boston Orchestral Society, Jascha Guu ehich, H. Benne Henton, Tom Brown and the Six Brown Brothers, and Rudy Wiedoeft made tremendous gains in popularizing the saxophone in this country, when Leeson began musical study at Dana's Institute, the saxophone could claim no serious concert performers, no stylistic or tonal traditions on which to build, and no concert repertory.The purpose of this dissertation was to document the circumstances of the formative years of the concert saxophone in America, beginning in 1921 with Leeson's enrollment in Dana's Musical Institute and ending in 11941 with the commission of the Paul Creston Concerto. This marked what Leeson saw as the completion of a body of literature for the saxophone comprising works in the most important musical categories: sonatas, concertos, quartets, and saxophone with string quartet. The dissertation serves as a source of original research concerning the literature commissioned and performed by him between 1921 and 1941; it concludes with an epilogue containing a brief account of Leeson's activities from 1941 up to the time of his death in 1989. The source of this material was interviews conducted between the author and Cecil Leeson between 1981 and 1988 supported, whenever possible, with information taken from newspaper articles, essays, programs, and other published documents. Transcripts of interviews are included in the appendix. / School of Music

This dissertation is a study of the use of guitar in opera. Ten operas were chosen from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century as a representative cross section of operas that use the guitar. The operas studied are: The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber, Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti, Beatrice and Benedict by Hector Berlioz, Otello and Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi, La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, The Nightingale by Igor Stravinsky, Wozzeck by Alban Berg, and Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten. The study examines the technical aspects of each guitar part and how the guitar relates to the libretto and to the other instruments of the orchestra.The study finds that, with some exceptions, the guitar parts are idiomatic and not difficult to execute. There is some need on the part of the guitarist to edit the parts for technical and historical reasons and editorial suggestions are made by the author. The guitar is often related to the libretto and often appears onstage, yet it is almost always used as a prop and the performing guitarist is placed offstage or in the orchestra pit. There are significant problems found concerning the guitar's lack of volume. Composers tend to limit the number of instruments in use with the guitar. They do not, however, tend to give the guitar louder dynamics when other instruments are used at the same time. The guitar is generally used in outdoor scenes, to evoke a folk idiom, or when specifically referred to in the libretto. The use of the guitar is found to be mostly limited to simple accompaniments which do not utilize the full resources of the instrument. / School of Music

Both Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) and Maurice Ravel (1875-1837) were outstanding composers of the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century who followed and transmitted the specifically French tradition. Ravel studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), who was a student of Saint-Satins. SaintSaens's Trio No. 1, Op. 18, was written in 1863, while he was teaching a the Ecole Niedermeyer. As one of the earliest works by the composer, it reveals his conservative style in the well-defined four-movement structure, particularly characterized by classical periodization and clarity of texture. Saint-Sadns's Trio No. 2, Op. 92, was written in 1892, when he was more mature and better known as both composer and performer. Written twenty-nine years after the first trio, the second trio is more ambitious and complicated than the first trio. The second trio exhibits elaborate harmonies and extensive sonata structure, including a fugue within an unusual five-movement framework.Ravel's trio was completed in 1914, shortly after the start of the First World War, at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in Basque country. I The trio displays new sonorities and expression achieved by brilliant string techniques and powerful, vertical piano writing, as well as the employment of various kinds of non-traditional scales. Within a four-movement structure, the second movement, entitled Pantown, a poetic form of Malayan origin, is most original, including the middle section in polymeter.The analyses of these three trios reveal significant similarities in stylistic and formal characteristics. All three trios preserve the outline framework of the traditional sonata concept. Saint-Sa&ns's second trio and Ravel's trio include passacaglia movements, based on the Baroque form. All three trios employ folk elements: the modal style of certain themes, and certain rhythms; e.g., the Basque dance rhythm, zoriko, appears in Saint-Saans's second trio and Ravel's trio. The use of quintuple time in both trios also shows the Basque influence. Among other common characteristics are rhythmic ostinato and thematic juxtaposition. All three trios represent trends in French music between the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century: nationalism and neoclassicism. / School of Music