Master of Music / Department of Music / Julie Yu-Oppenheim / This report presents the biography of the composer Antonio Vivaldi, background of his composition Gloria, musical characteristics and analysis. Moreover, for a successful performance, rehearsal plans and techniques are also included. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), one of the representative composers in Baroque period (1600-1750), wrote Gloria, in the early 18th century. The composition date is still disputed between scholars. He composed three settings of the Gloria text: RV 588, 589 and 590. Out of them RV 589 is the most performed setting. Gloria consists of twelve movements and orchestration of trumpet, oboe, strings, and continuo. Homophonic and polyphonic style is prevalent in this work. In addition, focus should be placed on the harmonic suspensions, the flow of chromatic melodic lines and melismas. For the recital, Chamber Singers consisted of 23 people who were the members of Concert Choir who have training focusing on clean and light tone with non-vibrato style.

Master of Music / Department of Music, Theater, and Dance / Craig Weston / Ralph Vaughan Williams, Igor Stravinsky, and Paul Hindemith, three prolific composers of the 20th century, wrote for the medium of the mass ordinary in different ways. This report comprises a survey of those composers’ styles using the Kyrie movement of the mass ordinary as the main vehicle of compositional exploration. The results of this compositional survey examine the form and various techniques the composers employ to garner the same emotional response from the listeners of the Kyrie text. The final portion of the report explores the author’s personal compositional contribution to the mass ordinary.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / The following report is research and analysis of major wind band literature for the Graduate Conducting Recital performed by the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble on March 13th, 2011 under the direction of Lyle Sobba. The repertoire for the concert was comprised of the following pieces: Funeral March for Brass Choir by Edvard Grieg, Dance Mix by Rob Smith, and An Original Suite by Gordon Jacob. This examination, through thorough research and theoretical analysis, is a compilation of the documents created to effectively rehearse the compositions. The report also contains documents pertaining to the planning and executing of the Graduate Conducting Recital.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Gary Mortenson / This Master’s report focuses on analyzing the four works performed on the author’s Master’s recital on April 10, 2011, from a biographical, historical, theoretical, and technical standpoint. These works include André Jolivet’s Concertino for Trumpet, Oskar Böhme’s Concerto for Trumpet in F Minor, op. 18, Tomaso Albinoni’s Sonata á 6 con Tromba, and Manuel de Falla’s Suite of Old Spanish Dances.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Anna Marie Wytko / In 1838, Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax created the saxophone. The saxophone was officially patented on June 24, 1846. Sax became the first Professor of Saxophone at the Conservatoire de Paris. This conservatoire has been and continues to be a historically important school of music in Europe. There have been four saxophone professors at the Conservatoire National Supèrieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris since the instrument’s creation. These professors include: Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), Marcel Mule (1901-2001), Daniel Deffayet (1922-2002), and Claude Delangle (born 1957). Each instructor has championed the saxophone to new heights by refining pedagogical approaches and by advocating for the creation of new saxophone compositions. The music examined in this document represents pieces composed for each of the four saxophone professors who have taught at the Conservatoire de Paris. Paul-Agricole Génin’s composition Variations sur un thème espagnol: pour saxophone alto et piano was inspired by Adolphe Sax, Fernande Decruck composed Sonata in C-Sharp for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1943) for Marcel Mule, Ida Gotkovsky wrote Variations pathétiques: pour Saxophone Alto et Piano (1980) for Daniel Deffayet, and Sequenza IX for Alto Saxophone (1980) by Luciano Berio was dedicated to Claude Delangle. All of these pieces demonstrate how composers continually strive to expand the boundaries of the skilled saxophonists’ musical style, technical facility, and overall flexibility on the saxophone. This master’s report, presented as extended program notes, includes biographical information about the composers, a historical and stylistic overview of the selected compositions, and a harmonic and formal analysis of the music with respect to performance considerations.

Master of Music, Theater, and Dance / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. / David Littrell / This report provides detailed analyses of several orchestral works. Current orchestras have striven to rejuvenate their programs by balancing canonical literature with newer or less familiar works; such a practice has become especially important in an age when audiences are dwindling and orchestras are disbanding. The works included in this report follow that balanced blueprint, including staples such as Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 in E-flat Major (the “Drumroll”) and Berlioz’s “Hungarian March” from The Damnation of Faust to new orchestrations of 20th century works, such as Bryce Craig’s arrangement of the toccata from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, as well as works composed within the last six years, such as Casey Cangelosi’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra No. 2. Each work’s formal design is straightforward, and the technical skills required are not virtuosic. The chapters below explore each work from a historical, theoretical, and performance perspective.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Julie Yu / This document is focused on three excerpts from a graduate vocal recital, completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music degree. The recital was held on January 23, 2012 at seven-thirty o’clock in the evening at All Faiths Chapel on the campus of Kansas State University. Selections for this recital were selected upon the theme of Seclusion. The three characters examined further in the document are Alcina in the G. F. Handel opera, Alcina (HWV 34), Gretchen in German Lieder Gretchen am Spinnrade (D. 118) by Franz Schubert, and Lily from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, The Secret Garden, by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman. Each chapter, devoted to a specific work, contains the following: 1) biographical information on the composer, 2) textual analysis, and 3) compositional, stylistic, and technical considerations.

Master of Music / School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Anna Marie Wytko / Ingolf Dahl’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra is considered a master concert work in saxophone literature. The work was written for saxophone pioneer Sigurd Rascher who was active in commissioning new works for the instrument. Piet Swerts’ Klonos, composed over 40 years after Dahl’s Concerto, is a much newer composition. The work has gained national recognition as a popular competition piece and is a synthesis of new and old compositional styles. These two works strongly showcase the flexibility and virtuosity capable of the skilled saxophonist. This master’s report, presented as extended program notes, includes biographical information about the composers, a historical and stylistic overview of the selected compositions, and a harmonic and formal analysis of the music with respect to performance considerations.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Jana R. Fallin / Various challenges face rural areas when providing programs similar to those offered by their suburban counterparts. It is difficult for rural areas to provide experiences that larger urban and metropolitan areas can offer. Cooperation is vital to developing arts programming in rural areas. Development and Perceptions of Rural Arts Experiences: A Case Study of the Marshall County Arts Cooperative (MCAC) represents a unique setting where students, teachers and community members were given opportunities to collaborate for the common good of all participants. On September 2nd, 2005 a two-year plan was approved to make a Community Arts Program a reality and operational in all parts of Marshall County, Kansas. Under the guidance of Kansas State University Music Education Department, the researcher developed and studied the Marshall County Arts Cooperative (MCAC). Perceptions of Marshall County students, parents, educators and community members were analyzed. MCAC programs worked in continued cooperation with area public and private schools and eleven arts organizations within Marshall County. The plan provides for the documentation of the project with a completed doctoral dissertation entitled: Development and Perceptions of Rural Arts Experiences: A Case Study of MCAC. The research design is framed into four main categories: (1) MCAC Development, (2) Rural Locale Codes, (3) Arts Experiences and (4) Perceptions of MCAC. A diverse collection of samples include, direct and indirect observation, interviews, documents, artist rosters and audio/video artifacts. Following a thorough analysis, emerging themes provide insight into the development and implementation of the MCAC. Results indicate that cooperation from a variety of people including staff, artists, students, educators and community members played a significant role in the success of MCAC and experiences created diversity in remote and isolated areas.

Master of Music / Department of School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Frank Tracz / The following report is a comprehensive analysis of two works for wind band and one work for small chamber ensemble, prepared by Patrick Sullivan. The report was completed in addition to a Graduate Conducting Recital, taking place on Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 3:00pm. The concert featured the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble and took place on the Kansas State University Campus in McCain Auditorium, the conductors were Andrew Feyes and Patrick Sullivan. Audio and video recordings of the conducted performance can be found within the K-State Research Exchange database. The following report includes three comprehensive Unit Studies or Teacher Research Guides found in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band book series. The report also includes three Tracz Analysis Grids, newly published in The Art of Interpretation of Band Music. The examined pieces are as follows. Full band works, Flight by Claude T. Smith and Baron Cimetiére’s Mambo by Donald Grantham. A chamber work for double woodwind quintet, Suite Persane by André Caplet.