<p> Throughout his career, Alexander Scriabin created a bridge between traditional romantic harmony and modernistic, chromatic tendencies that ultimately led to the post-tonal era. Scriabin&rsquo;s middle period after Opus 32 displays several examples of his progressive harmony. However, Scriabin&rsquo;s transition into harmonic exploration is quite apparent in his <i>Fantasy in B minor </i>, which was written three years before his middle period is observed. This may demonstrate that Scriabin was developing his harmonic techniques much earlier in his career. </p><p> Furthermore, the thorough documentation of Scriabin&rsquo;s color associations shows that Scriabin conceived his music with a strong integration of sound-color awareness. Many moments in the <i>Fantasy</i> appear to possess relationships between sound and color, which can be found in expanded harmonic techniques and multi-timbral textures within the pianistic writing. This essay will first discuss the existing research completed on Scriabin&rsquo;s harmonic tendencies within earlier works, and then analyze the similar techniques used in the <i>Fantasy</i>. Using previous knowledge gathered about synesthesia, this essay will then examine the connections between Scriabin&rsquo;s perspective on composition and his connection to synesthesia. </p><p> In summary, Scriabin&rsquo;s unconventional voice leading, chromatic harmonic progressions, and altered tertian voicing, will be analyzed in Opus 28. Afterwards, synesthetic and multi-textural analysis will be demonstrated for the purposes of observing Scriabin&rsquo;s exploration of the pianistic soundscape and synesthetic-inspired compositional techniques.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to chronicle the experiences of an elementary music educator incorporating composition and improvisation activities into her elementary general music curriculum. I interviewed a primary music specialist with the purpose of discovering her background in teaching music. The questions focused on the teacher&rsquo;s experience with music composition. After this interview, I observed the teacher in a third-grade general music composition lesson. I documented how the teacher approached the lesson and any steps she took to adapt the lesson to the needs of their students and her teaching style. </p><p> After the observation, I interviewed the teacher again to record her reactions to teaching the lesson. After coding the transcripts of the interviews and observation, four themes developed from the data: Personal Initiative, Teacher Reassurance, Student Engagement, and Teacher Improvement. The participant involved in this study received training in improvisation and reported that it had a positive effect on not only how she taught composition and improvisation, but also how comfortable she felt while teaching. As the training this teacher received was not through her teacher training program, her case may be unusual among experienced music teachers. Although this teacher was successful in teaching composition, her positive reactions to professional development indicate a desire for more training among in-service music education specialists. This study supports the idea that there is a need for more pre-service and in-service teacher training in how to teach younger students to compose. </p><p>

Thesis (M.M.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "December 2008." Instrumentation: piccolo, flute 1 and 2, oboe 1 and 2, bassoon 1 and 2, clarinet 1, 2 and 3, bass clarinet, alto sax 1 and 2, tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet 1, 2 and 3, horn 1, 2, 3, and 4, trombone 1 and 2, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, timpani, chimes, mallets, vibraphone, percussion 1, 2, and 3. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-59). Also available online.