Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank Tracz / The following report provides a comprehensive analysis of two works for wind band and one small chamber work for woodwind octet: Night Dances for Wind Ensemble by Bruce Yurko, Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 103 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs by Frank Ticheli. This analysis provides information necessary for a conductor’s rehearsal preparation. Included is biographical information about the composer and a historical perspective of the composition itself. Highlighted are the technical difficulties, stylistic concerns, musical elements, and form and structure of each composition. As the researcher, my music education mission statement and perspective on quality literature selection are also included. Suggested listening, seating charts, acoustical justifications, and rehearsal plans with researcher evaluations are provided. The compilation of this information will allow conductors to make more informed musical decisions during their preparation and performances of the works.

abstract: Since the 1920's, the school musical has been an important event in American high schools and in the lives of students. This study begins with a condensed history of the American musical theatre, into focus on selected shows' value as potential high school repertoire. Review of literature included studies of high school musical theatre, production guides and related materials, and writings both against and in favor of musicals at the high school level. The school musical is usually undertaken as an extra-curricular activity led by performing arts faculty. This study focuses on the preparation, responsibilities, and attitudes of high school music educators toward musical theatre direction. Musical direction is defined as teaching the vocal music, and teaching and leading the instrumental music of the production where applicable. A researcher-designed survey was distributed to Arizona music educators in schools that included grade 12. The response rate was 71%. Questions included items designed to assess the pervasiveness of musical theatre productions, the roles and responsibilities of music educators, and their preparation for those roles. Additional Likert-type questions comprised an inventory measuring attitudes toward musical theatre productions. Results of the survey showed that musicals are produced in 80% of Arizona high schools, and music faculty are expected to lead at least the musical aspects of these productions. Although 62% report that they learned about teaching musical theatre on the job, and that they received no other preparation, 70% report a large amount of personal enjoyment and fulfillment from their work in musical theatre. The mean attitude score for positive feelings about work in musical theatre was found to be significantly higher for choral teachers than instrumental teachers. The primary implications of the study are the need for better preparation and in-service opportunities for music educators in musical theatre pedagogy. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music Education 2010

The dissertation presents a female German composer Ellinor Valesby, who composed Chinese art songs in Chinese with classical Chinese poetry. For political reasons, she used her pseudonym rather than her given name Irmgard Heinrich (1894-1969). As a western composer, also the wife of a Chinese poet and composer Ching-chu, who lived in China for 25 years, Valesby's songs present various interpretive challenges stemming from the combination of traditional Chinese poetry, folk music vernacular, and Western music components. Because no documentation in English can be found about Valesby or her songs, there is a need to provide performers with a better understanding of her perspective in these increasingly multicultural times. In addition, the dissertation discusses the germination and development of the Chinese Art Song and introduces the school song, the predecessor of Chinese art songs. The focus is on examining the Chinese and Western influences that appear in Valesby's art songs, revealing through examination of text setting, form, musical texture, and the role of piano how this female Western composer who did not speak Chinese set Chinese poetry from her unique cross-cultural perspectives. Today the legacy of these Chinese art song pioneers remains incomplete, but Valesby and her husband Ching-chu's profound contribution to both Chinese art songs and Chinese musicology remains indisputable.

This DMA dissertation provides a pragmatic and coherent way of interpreting a piece of post-tonal music, Four Songs of Solitude, by John Harbison. In this study, a modified Schenkerian analysis, namely linear analysis, serves as a methodological tool for the performer to identify and understand the implicit focal pitches, linear progressions, musical directions, and background structures of the music. By exploring this modified Schenkerian approach to interpreting post-tonal music in-depth, the performer is expected to achieve convincing results in performance on stage.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Patricia Thompson / This report contains biographical, historical, and analytical commentary on the following composers and their pieces for soprano voice: Henry Purcell and The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation; Franz Schubert and Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister, Op. 62, D. 877; Jacques Offenbach and Les oiseaux dans la charmille, from Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Libby Larsen and Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII; Charles Gounod and Ah! Je veux vivre, from Roméo et Juliette. These selections, unified by the theme of tragedy in various forms of love, were presented in a graduate recital in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy degree.

Master of Music / Music, Theatre, and Dance / Steve Maxwell / This master’s report focuses on the history, brief analysis, and pedagogy of the four works performed on February 15, 2016 for the author’s Master’s Recital. The first chapter explains the work Pantomime by Philip Sparke. It contains a short biography of Philip Sparke, an in-depth background on the composition of the work, and a theoretical and pedagogical look at the piece. The second chapter centers on Fantasia by Gordon Jacob. This brief biography will explore Jacob’s compositional output and legacy, and the theoretical analysis will focus on his use of chromatics and the interplay between the piano and the euphonium. The pedagogical analysis will focus on performance techniques and practice. The third chapter is devoted to Blue Lake Fantasies, an unaccompanied work for solo euphonium by David Gillingham. The biography will focus on Gillingham’s contribution to euphonium repertoire, specifically and the history of where and why this work was written. There will be a concise theoretical analysis followed by a heavily pedagogical analysis, which will break down the performance techniques used in each of the five movements. The final chapter of the report is about David Werden’s euphonium arrangement for two euphoniums and piano of Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms by Simone Mantia. This chapter will present a short biography of Mantia explaining his historical significance, a brief theoretical analysis, and a pedagogical analysis that focuses on the duet aspect of this piece.

This dissertation presents evidence for the influence which tenor Enrico Caruso had on the Italian Vocal Tradition. This impact was clearly boosted by the revolution realized in the fledgling recording industry, and the recordable disc. In the years of 1902-1920 gramophones became commonplace, and collecting recordings became an interest for many. This new technology required specialized skills, and was especially suited to certain qualities of voice. Caruso enjoyed immense success in this medium, in recording over 250 records. Italian vocal style at the turn of the century was changing, and Caruso employed a new "modern" style in his singing. His interpretive decisions, vocal method, and repertoire which he championed had an impact on the vocal tradition of future generations. Comparison of his recordings with tenors Fernando de Lucia, Giuseppe Anselmi, and Alessandro Bonci shows a marked contrast in styles of "the old school" and Caruso's "more straightforward" approach. A collection of historical documents for those who succeeded him include many biographies, reviews, and quotes to demonstrate the extent of his influence. Recordings also show a movement toward "the Caruso Sound." Jussi Bjoerling, Franco Corelli, Richard Tucker, Mario Lanza, and Luciano Pavarotti were all influenced by the great Caruso. Almost 100 years have passed since he sang his last performance. He continues to inspire singers to this day, through his recordings and legacy passed on by many generations. He is the ideal, the measuring stick for all tenors to follow, and continues even to today.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to offer classical guitarists an additional analytical technique for interpreting and performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. While this mode of analysis can be successfully applied to any of the instrumental works by Bach frequently transcribed and performed by guitarists, I have chosen for this study my recent transcription of the Partita in A minor for solo flute traverso, BWV 1013. With a continuo-based, harmonic realization of the Partita, I contribute to the existing guitar repertoire by offering a new transcription of this work, while demonstrating how historical concepts of rhetorical structure and aesthetics found in relevant primary source material can inspire a new approach to analysis, transcription, and performance practice. In this way, my investigations create additional perspectives for classical guitarists regarding the analysis and performance of this work, while complementing traditional harmonic analysis and subject labeling. Although it is my hope that this new transcription of the Partita will serve as an important contribution to the existing literature, the main purpose of this dissertation resides in the musico-rhetorical analytical technique and its implications on performance practice for classical guitarists.

One of the famous Russian composers and a pianist himself, Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) composed a vast quantity of piano music. His nine piano sonatas represent well how he projected his musical individuality and the principles that he addressed in his autobiography: classical line, modern trend, toccata line, lyrical line, and grotesque line. However, even though Prokofiev's piano sonatas are considered one of the important collections in the piano repertoire, not all of them have gained popularity and only a few tend to be frequently performed by pianists today. For this reason, this dissertation focuses on one of his less-performed piano sonatas, No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29. The pianists György Sándor and Boris Berman were chosen as specialists in Prokofiev's piano works, and their performance editions and recordings are analyzed and compared as main references. This study provides analysis and a performance guide to this piano sonata. This guide discusses pedaling, fingering, phrasing, touch, voicing, tempo suggestion, articulation, hand distribution, and expression.

Cette version de la thèse a été tronquée de certains éléments protégés par le droit d’auteur. Une version plus complète est disponible en ligne pour les membres de la communauté de l’Université de Montréal et peut aussi être consultée dans une des bibliothèques UdeM / Cette thèse traite de la musique dans le contexte d’une diaspora émergente comme moyen privilégié de favoriser l’appartenance et la convivialité ; elle porte sur les associations culturelles montréalaises fondées par des immigrants en provenance des Grassfields. À travers l’histoire de cette région densément peuplée du Cameroun, les arts musicaux menés au sein des associations locales ont constitué un mécanisme important dans la construction de la cohésion sociale et dans l’expression d’une culture commune, façonnée par des relations interculturelles et par le déplacement continuel de sa population entre les nombreuses chefferies. La division coloniale des Grassfields entre zones linguistiques anglophones et francophones mène à la fusion des conceptions endogènes de l’« unité dans la diversité » caractérisée par le projet d’intégration nationale de l’État camerounais postcolonial ; ce dernier cherche toujours à gérer sa diversité ethnique considérable à travers des initiatives de « développement culturel ». Depuis l’indépendance du pays, la croissance d’une diaspora Grassfields à Montréal a favorisé l’organisation d’activités musicales dans le cadre d’associations et de leurs événements culturels. Ceci a permis de souder les liens entre mondes rurale et urbain, de poursuivre des idéaux de pluralisme et de solidarité, et de négocier les héritages divergents issus à la fois de conflits et de coopérations ayant marqué cette zone historiquement marginalisée. Comme les migrants venant des Grassfields des deux côtés de l’ancienne frontière coloniale constituent un pourcentage important d’immigrants récents à Montréal, leur héritage musical commun continue d’être exploité au sein des associations comme moyen d’aborder de nouvelles relations interculturelles au profit de leur adaptation aux idéologies pluraliste des sociétés québécoises et canadiennes. En reliant cette participation historique aux associations musicales à des exemples spécifiques tirés des communautés Grassfields anglophones et francophones de la diaspora camerounaise de Montréal, nous démontrons comment la participation aux associations continue d’encourager des rôles de leadership parmi ses membres mélomanes grâce à leurs capacités à faciliter des expériences de solidarité et de convivialité à travers les festivals et rituels de cycles de vie, solidifiant ainsi leur statut et la réappropriation des idéaux locaux et nationaux d’unité, tout ceci dans un contexte culturellement validé. / This thesis looks at the musical activity of Montréal’s Cameroonian Grassfields cultural associations as a favoured means of fostering belonging and pursuing conviviality in an emergent diaspora. In the history of this densely populated area of Cameroon the musical arts in the context of associations have been a central mechanism in the mediation of social cohesion and a defining characteristic of a common culture shaped by intercultural relationships and the constant movement and exchange of its population between its many constituent chiefdoms. The subsequent colonial division of the area into Anglophone and Francophone linguistic regions would ultimately lead to the merging of an indigenous conception of “unity in diversity” with the post-colonial Cameroonian State’s national project that continues to be defined by a preoccupation with the integration of its considerable ethnic diversity through “cultural development” initiatives. With the growth of a “domestic” Grassfields diaspora since Cameroon’s independence, the organization of musical activity in the context of associations and their cultural events has continued to provide Grassfielders the means to maintain rural-urban linkages, pursue ideals of pluralism and solidarity and navigate the divergent legacies of conflict and cooperation that have marked this historically marginalized area. As Grassfields migrants from both sides of the former colonial border have made up a significant percentage of recent Cameroonian immigrants to Montréal, they have continued to harness their shared history of participation in musical associations as a means of consolidating new intercultural relationships and adapting their activity to fit the ideologies of pluralism of Québecois and Canadian society. By linking the history of Grassfields musical association in Cameroon to specific examples from both the Anglophone and Francophone Grassfields communities of Montréal’s Cameroonian diaspora, we demonstrate how musical associations have continued to afford leadership roles to their most musical participants through their capacity to facilitate the solidarity and conviviality of life cycle rituals and festivals, recreating culturally validated modes of status acquisition by deploying their musical skill and experience in the pursuit and reappropriation of local and national ideals of unity.