This study investigates the influence of the Austrian music theorist Heinrich Schenker on American music theory since 1940, including a survey of writings related to Schenker and theory textbooks displaying his influence. The Schenker influence on American music theory includes many journal articles on Schenker and his principal students. His methods are employed often in analytical discussions of various issues. In addition to numerous dissertations and theses written about Schenker, a number of textbooks are now based wholly or in part on his approach to musical understanding. The current trend towards accepting Schenker's theories is likely to continue as more people are exposed to his teachings.

Body image, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorders are issues for which more and more people are seeking treatment. Children and adults alike are experiencing these problems in our society, and there are many aspects to body image problems and disordered eating that merit assistance. Research shows that recovery from eating disorders is possible with a variety of interventions, including therapy, counseling, and medication. To date there is little published research about the effects of music therapy counseling interventions on eating disorder behaviors and issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a variety of music therapy interventions on the amount of self-conscious behaviors observed during one-on-one sessions. Two males and two females participated once per week for six weeks in 30- to 45-minute music therapy sessions consisting of counseling with movement-to-music activities and song writing/lyric analysis activities. Each session was videotaped for observation of self-conscious behaviors. Mean scores of pre- and post-test data as well as observational data were taken over the course of the 6 weeks. Results showed changes in clothes tugging behaviors and body-shifting behaviors at baseline from before and after the application of music and movement. Results showed that overall the participants experienced an increase in positive attitudes and behaviors related to their body image. Also, participants reported positive experiences regarding the study's effect on their body image. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: November 1, 2010. / Eating Disorders, Music Therapy, Movement, Body Image, Dissatisfaction, Anorexia, Bulimia / Includes bibliographical references. / Jayne M. Standley, Professor Directing Thesis; Clifford Madsen, Committee Member; Diane Gregory, Committee Member.

This thesis explores the use of modified Schenkerian analysis and how it relates to a feminine narrative in a piece of music. In music theory literature about music by women, Schenkerian analysis is a tool that is often ignored; some scholars claim that the goal-oriented nature of Schenkerian analysis prevents it from being an effective tool to analyze music that doesn’t adhere to traditional tonal models, including modern works by women composers. In this study, it was found that modifying the Urlinie and Bassbrechung to reflect salience rather than a traditional harmonic structure allowed for the tool to actually reveal a lot about the underlying narratives in the music. The case studies include Genesis II (Janika Vandervelde), Missa Gaia; Mass for the Earth (Libby Larsen), and “Music Box” (Cynthia Folio).

Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

Hitherto unidentified as such, the déploration as musical idea forms the subject of this study. With a canon of thirty works spanning the late-fourteenth to the late-sixteenth centuries, the déploration tradition provides the historian with unique insight on composerly self-understanding during this era. Long mischaracterized as a mode of individual lament, the déploration may be more accurately defined as a mode of communal commemoration.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a brief mindfulness induction technique on subjective reports of attention, aesthetic response, and flow during music listening as measured by Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) and questionnaire. Additionally, differences between aesthetic response and flow were explored in the context of verbal and CRDI responses. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in music classes or ensembles at the College of Music at Florida State University (N=132), and were randomly assigned to one of four groups: mindfulness induction paired with aesthetic response (n=34), mindfulness induction paired with flow response (n=35), aesthetic response (n=32), and flow response (n=31). For all groups, a questionnaire was used to gather data on self-reported measures of attention, and all participants were asked to manipulate a CRDI which registered either their aesthetic or flow response to a 10 ½ minute audio excerpt of Giacomo Puccini's opera, La Bohème. In groups in which a mindfulness induction was used, participants were asked to listen to a previously recorded fifteen minute guided mindfulness audio presentation and report on their experiences. Responses to Likert-type questionnaire items suggests that participants experienced a subjective "heightening" of attention during music listening compared to baseline in all conditions, with no specific modification attributable to the mindfulness task. A majority of respondents in the mindfulness groups, however, reported that the task had modified their listening experience by increasing their ability to focus on the music without distraction. Composite CRDI graphs suggest unique response patterns between groups based on both the presence of a mindfulness task as well as the construct for focus of attention (flow or aesthetic response). In general, composite graphs for flow indicated less decrease in response magnitude between the end of peak responses compared with aesthetic response, and longer and higher magnitude plateau responses. For aesthetic response groups, mindfulness increased the overall magnitude of peak responses, and decreased the depth of valley responses. In flow response groups, mindfulness attenuated both peaks and valleys and increased plateaus. Additionally, verbal accounts imply phenomenological differences between flow and aesthetic responses, with each accounting for a unique type of heightened and positively valenced psychological experience. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: April 28, 2010. / CRDI, Aesthetic Response, Attention, Flow, Mindfulness, Affective Response, Meditation / Includes bibliographical references. / Clifford K. Madsen, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Alexander E. Jiménez, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Eliot Chapo, University Representative; John M. Geringer, Committee Member; Michael Allen, Committee Member.

This work examines the harmonic theory of the Austrian music theorist Robert Mayrhofer (1863-1935) as described in the authors first two treatises, Psychologie des Klanges and Die organische Harmonielehre. In presuming that musical listening involves the visual conceptualization of pitch as points in tone space, Mayrhofers harmonic theory builds upon the perception of the major third as an essential interval, the n-Strecke, to create a harmonic system consisting of distinct harmonic structures as expansions in tone space. These structures,which Mayrhofer calls cells, delineate various levels of expansion in tone space that characterize the boundaries of tonality. From these structural levels, Mayrhofer develops the concept of expanded tonality that in his view underlies most music composed since Bach and is especially helpful in describing the highly chromatic music of late tonality. Mayhofer thus develops a highly original and controversial theory of harmony from a single musical perception. / Music Theory

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-106). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2002. / Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Mar. 8, 1999, Apr. 10, 2000, Nov. 30, 2001, amd Sept. 20, 2002. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-59).