Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis documents and examines the history of Cornish male voice choirs from their origins in the late nineteenth century through to the present day. The evolution of the choirs has hitherto been charted largely through scattered oral testimonies, whereas this work traces the rise, decline and resurgence of the male choral tradition by drawing from a range of primary sources, including newspapers and repertoire in addition to oral history. The thesis is organised chronologically and the main chapters chart the development of Cornish male voice choirs from the Methodist point of origin, to the subsequent expansion of the male choral movement between the wars and thereafter its seeming atrophy. The opening two chapters focus on the background and emergence of the choirs from c.1820 to 1918. The interwar period is covered in three diverse but linked chapters, assessing the socio-economic context, musicological influences and the importance of geographic locality or ‘place’. The impact of the Second World War on the choirs is examined in Chapter Six. The following chapter traces how the choirs remained vibrant in the face of encroaching secularisation during the 1950s and 1960s, and the final chapter assesses the detrimental effects for the choirs of changed musical behaviours and generational issues in the late twentieth century choir. Four key themes which run throughout the chapters are the influence of Methodism, its teachings and choral hymnody; the significance of repertoire and musical directorship; the importance of the male demographic within the local economy; and secularisation and mass popular culture. The connecting thread of the argument for the thesis as a whole is that male voice choirs both reflect and help shape Cornish identity. As will be seen, identity is a fluid, multi-layered concept, but analysis of the changing role and influence of male voice choirs contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between music, place and culture.

Over the past decade, popular music in Iran has steadily gained recognition beyond its borders. The Western media has increasingly provided an idealised and romanticised view of music-making in the Iranian underground. These reports create an image of popular musicians united under the same political and social challenges, while struggling to be heard against an oppressive regime. Contrary to these often overly politicised accounts, the current Iranian youth generation continues to explore its identity through the creation of new hybridised forms of popular music. This dissertation utilises first-hand accounts of musicians and those involved in Iranian popular music to analyse the current state of popular music in Iran since 1979. By recognising the heterogeneity of the Iranian post-revolutionary pop world, this study distinguishes the individual voices and experiences that make up the dynamic and multifaceted popular music scene in young, urban Iran and the Iranian diaspora. Opening with a historical account of music’s fluctuating relationship with regime censorship, this dissertation illuminates the many contradictions of popular music practice in a controlled climate that are also embedded within youth identity. Dichotomies continually emerge during this discourse, including globalisation vs. localism, authentic vs. borrowed, and home vs. homeland. These themes are prolific throughout the discussions of the illegal underground music scene in Tehran, the complexities of music in exile, and the final discussion of the role of popular music in the 2009 presidential election and subsequent Green Movement. Popular music continues to serve as an outlet for pleasure and entertainment while simultaneously representing the diverse voices of the young generation of Iranians in the world, as they seek to assert their identity and establish a future of their own.

This dissertation addresses the place of music in circuit chautauqua, the place of circuit chautauqua in American culture, and the role of music in defining that place. It takes into account the perception of chautauqua as a conduit by which higher culture and urban intellectual discourse could reach rural Americans, and the implications of this perception on musical programming. The heyday of the circuit chautauqua movement (1904-1932) occurred during a time of considerable interaction between, and discussion of, entertainment and education in the United States. Music was important to the self-image of those involved in the entertainment and education industries, and especially to those who could not easily be labeled as either entertainers or educators. Chautauqua performers, and the chautauqua movement itself, held an uneasy position on the continuum between pleasing crowds and bettering audience members’ lives. Music helped to define circuit chautauqua, both as an edifying factor and as an empty diversion. Popular music attracted crowds, while art music enhanced chautauqua’s image as a valid outlet for high culture. Music’s role in defining chautauqua’s identity was often more complex, however, as the lines between art and popular music, and thus between education and entertainment, were rarely clearly defined. Much of the programming billed as cultural outreach would have been more accurately labeled as novelty, while the popular music often espoused patriotism, loyalty, piety, and other sentiments that would cause audiences and critics to deem such music as edifying, if not purely educational. This dissertation seeks to clarify music’s role in establishing and maintaining circuit chautauqua’s reputation as a cultural conduit, an educational force, and an American institution.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-314).

This thesis aimed to investigate the unique relationship that exists between music and culture. More specifically, the purpose of the research was to determine to what extent culture is reflected in music teaching and learning. Understanding the effect that culture has on music knowledge transmission processes will assist in developing a framework for current music education practices to address the cultural diversity that is present in contemporary teaching and learning environments. An exploration of how music teachers teach, and how the cultural and social surrounds influence these practices in various contexts provided important information in developing such a framework. As such, a participant observation case study of ten music teachers who taught either the South Indian music tradition known as Karnatic music in Tamil Nadu, India, or Queensland, Australia, or who taught predominantly Western music in the Queensland instrumental music context, was carried out. Through a comparative study of these teachers it was observed that there were more similarities than differences in the methods of teaching used by the teachers. Both aural/oral and written modes of communication were used in each context albeit at varying levels. It was also discovered that the surrounding cultural rules and rituals, that were practised, significantly influenced the meaning attributed to the music teaching process for each of the teachers. In the main, for teachers of Karnatic music a strong spiritual attachment to both the gods and goddesses associated with the Hindu religion and the teachers' own teacher/guru was evident. Conversely, in the Queensland instrumental music teaching context, powerful economic forces affected the approach that these teachers implemented. It is argued that with an awareness of these findings, music teaching and learning practices may more effectively meet the needs of students (a concern consistently raised in the literature) in the contemporary music education context.

Thesis--Lund Universitet, Sociologiska Institutionen, Avd. för Socialantropologi, 1998. / Title from screen page; viewed 25 July 2005. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print format.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-155). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-88). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Scott Romine; submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-72).