The writer has examined the performance practices of the positive, portative, and regal organs in both the sacred and secular genre. Throughout the research the aspect of the prominent position of the church and its dogmatic practices were demonstrated to be highly influential in the usage of the organ. Church accounts of payments to various organ builders are the principal source of the information concerning the liturgical function and organ placement within the church. The secular aspect of the performance practices of the small organs was dominated by the religious dramatic mystery and miracle presentations and the various court entertainments. The utilization of the organ in both the sacred and secular genres was an important link in the lessening of the church's dominance over the people of the time.The development of musical styles and the progressive accumulation of construction and acoustical properties was directly proportional to the development and evolution of these small, organs. The span of the three centuries analyzed in the thesis were the most critical years in this process of evolvement.The vocal and instrumental forms were explored in regard to the function of the organ as a solo or ensemble member. Specific circumstances of employment have been investigated as to the nature and the probable organ model indicated for a specific performance situation.In addition, the thesis has analyzed prominent composers, performers, and writers whose contributions were influential during their lifetime and in the course of music performance practices in general. / School of Music

Gunther Schuller is presently one of America's most influential music personalities. As one colleague of Schuller's at the New England Conservatory has written, "In many ways, Gunther Schuller is a modern incarnation of the renaissance man, with his interests and abilities flowing from him like ripples in a pond."1 Schuller, in his six decades, has been one of the nation's first-rate orchestral horn players and has participated in the instrument's introduction into the jazz medium; his interest in musicological research has encompassed the study of various types of music and resulted in Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development, 2 considered by some to be "the definitive musicological treatment of jazz history . . ..”3 Schuller is also recognized as a leading contemporary composer and conductor, former composition instructor and long-time artistic co-director of the annual summer Tanglewood Festival, and teacher, authority, and author on horn playing.The dissertation traces Schuller's varied career, giving particular attention to his phenomenal success as a virtuoso of the French horn by age seventeen. The study also details his development as a composer, concentrating primarily on his compositional style as revealed in the works for horn as a solo and chamber music instrument. Among the works discussed are the horn concertos, the woodwind suite and brass quintet, Lines and Contrasts for sixteen horns, and Five Pieces for Five Horns. Included in the discussion is his unpublished and virtually unknown first Horn Concerto, which was written (and performed only once) by the composer while he was first horn in the Cincinnati Symphony. For the research, a copy of the manuscript was provided by the composer. (To date, the only published remnant is an arrangement of the second movement entitled Nocturne for horn and piano.)The dissertation examines Schuller's ideas concerning the "art" of modern horn playing through a discussion of his writings (Horn Technique), his musical studies (Studies for Unaccompanied Horn and Duets for Unaccompanied Horns), and through the observations of colleagues and former students. Fortunately, some of Schuller's well-articulated thoughts on musicianship in general and horn playing specifically have been retained in the tapes of the Sixth Annual International Horn Workshop, held at Ball State University in 1974. These are transcribed and included in the Appendix.In summary, the research is in three major sections. The first deals with biographical information-- Schuller's various careers, a survey of his compositions and writings, and a discussion and evaluation of his playing career based on information from his colleagues, recordings, and reviews. Section two examines the composer’s style and his influence on the instrument’s technique through a detailed study of the solo and chamber works for horn. Part three concerns his pedagogical and philosophical ideas regarding music education, with particular attention to the horn and horn playing.1. Frank Battisti, "Gunther Schuller and His Many Worlds of Music," The Instrumentalist, XXXII (June, 1978), p. 39.2. Gunther Schuller, Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development, (New York: Oxford University Press), 1968.3. Robert Palmer, "Gunther Schuller: On the American Musical Melting Pot," Downbeat, XLIII (Feb. 12, 1976), 12.

No description available.

Thesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [65]-73).

Treatise (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Edward Pearsall and Frank Speller. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Freie Universität Berlin, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-156).

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-162).

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Oregon, 1971. / Typescript. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [325]-331).

Inaug.-Diss.--Berlin. / "Sonderabdruck aus 'Archiv für Musikforschung, ' Jahrg. 2, Heft 2."