The predominant purpose of the study was to investigate whether or not there is a relationship between singing intonation and string playing intonation among college level and professional string players in Northern California. For the purpose of this study a convenient sampling method was used to recruit participants according to their availability. Thirty college-level and professional string players from the Bay Area participated in this study (n=30). For the purpose of this study, only violin, viola and cello players have been included. The investigative variables for the study are singing intonation and string playing intonation. Intonation has been assessed. through participants' singing and playing. A computer program, called Melodyne, was used to analyze the recorded performances of the participants and determine the magnitude and direction of deviation for both played and sung pitches. The study included a 15 minute individual task after which subjects' intonation has been assessed in two dimensions: string performance intonation and singing performance intonation~ The participants were assigned an eight-measure singing excerpt adapted from the National Anthem of the United States of America, as well as another eight-measure excerpt designed specifically to assess string performance intonation. The subjects were individually audio-recorded and the audio files were analyzed using Melodyne to determine whether or not there is a relationship between singing intonation and string playing intonation. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient has been calculated to determine the degree of relationship between singing intonation and string playing intonation of the participants.

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Throughout Germany the singing society (usually a Maennerchor), is an important institution in the cultural life of every, hamlet, town, and city. During the middle of the nineteenth century, many such societies sprang up throughout America. California had a liberal share of these during the pioneer days. Some of these organizations have persisted until the present day. The function which they performed in enriching the lives of their members, and the contribution which they made to the life of the community seems to the investigator a valid reason for investigation into their background and history. As far as the investigator can discover, no such study has been made. Since "every civilization is a synthesis of man's conquest of life" it seemed worth-while to study the attack which the German-born citizen made upon life in the new world. Part of this attack was through the singing societies which he transplanted from the old world. Why he did this, how he did it, and with what musical success, forms the body of this thesis. The material has been presented in chronological sequence. The sources which led to the formation of singing societies in Germany are briefly treated in the first chapter. Thee gaudy period of the pioneers comprises the second chapter. The third chapter is devoted to that period which is characterized by a nostalgic love for the Fatherland, as well as a genuine, self-respecting loyalty to the new country. The modern period, in which present day citizens carry on the old tradition, comprises the fourth chapter. This is followed by an attempt at objective evaluation. Included in this is an examination of critical comment as published in present day newspapers.

In a brief survey of this history of the oboe, it is necessary to return to primitive instruments. It is impossible to give a definite date at which the oboe may have originated, but Schwartz, in this Story of Musical Instruments, accepts the periond of the Fourth Dynasty in Egypt, or about 3700 B.C., as the date of the oldest specimens of the early forms.1 We also know of their existence in the Mesopotamian culture of 2800 B.C. A shrill, double-reed instructment with some finger-holes is known to have exited in Greece about 1500 B.C., when that civilization was undergoing many changes, but frequently we omit the example of the oboe (called flute) (see footnote4), in the orchestra of King Nebuchadnezzar, in the early part of the sixth century. This Biblical reference is found in the third chapter of the Book of Daniel.2

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This thesis addresses the question of mathematical involvement in music, a topic long discussed going all the way back to Plato. It details the mathematical construction of the three main tuning systems (Pythagorean, just intonation, and equal temperament), the methods by which they were built and the mathematics that drives them through the lens of a historical perspective. It also briefly touches on the philosophical aspects of the tuning systems and whether their differences affect listeners. It further details the invention of the Fourier Series and their relation to the sound wave to explain the concept of overtones within the tuning systems.

Born in 1972, Luis Serrano Alarcón has in a very short period of time, established himself as one of Spain’s most prominent composers. His works are constantly being performed, not only in his home country, but throughout the world. While some of his compositions tend to retain the rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic style typical to Spanish music, many of the works sound as if they were borne more from the Viennese symphonic tradition, both during the time of Haydn and Beethoven, but also during the time of Arnold Schoenberg. As a young boy Alarcón took up piano lessons with a local teacher by the name of Javier Barranco. Through him, Alarcón learned “the music for piano of the great masters of Classicism, Romanticism, and Spanish Nationalism.” In addition he began to study with two other teachers: Jose Cervera Collado and Jose Maria Cervara Lloret. With Collado, Alarcón studied conducting, and with Lloret he studied harmony. As a result of all of this training, Alarcón was drawn toward the symphonic music of the Classical and Romantic periods, especially gravitating toward the music of Beethoven and Brahms. Alarcón’s compositional style has maintained a chameleon-like flexibility as he is able to change styles from one composition to the next with litheness and grace, showing a strong grasp of American jazz as well as flamenco music of his native country in Duende, capturing the sounds of tango from Argentina in Concertango, and of course, in the many examples of his paso dobles. Unlike many of his contemporaries, though, Alarcón’s unique voice seems to emerge through any style he is embracing or any combination of instruments in his orchestration. In terms of style, Symphony for Wind Orchestra (2012) is an entirely different type of composition. It is immediately apparent from the opening tutti strikes, that (like Mozart and many other traditional composers before and after), Alarcón is embracing a iii traditional symphonic style in this composition by utilizing one of its most common symphonic topos. Symphony for Wind Orchestra is an amazing study of the Classical symphony from its earliest beginnings in Mannheim, to its codification at the hands of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and to its explosion in size and scope at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century with composers like Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler. Perhaps more important, though, is his choice of harmonic language and compositional approach. The work is decidedly based upon thematic material that is reminiscent of the Second Viennese School; atonal at times, semi-tonal at others, but consistently manipulated through the operations (transposition, inversion, retrograde, verticalization, and serialization), that were made popular by Arnold Schoenberg, his students, and those who followed them. The genesis of this composition was a consortium of band directors from the Southeastern Conference Band Association, led initially by Tom Verrier, who is Senior Band Conductor and Director of Wind Ensembles at Vanderbilt University. Dr. John Cody Birdwell was a part of the consortium from its onset, but didn’t initially plan on conducting the premiere at his school (the University of Kentucky). Birdwell stated,“...the opportunity to premiere the work sort of ‘landed in our lap.’ I had heard some of Alarcón’s other compositions in recent years, and I knew that this piece was going to be fantastic, so we moved forward without any hesitation.” Clearly with so much positive feedback regarding the work, this document is certainly justified. The goals of this study are to provide some background for the work and its composer, to analyze the work while providing examples of all of its main themes and important figures, and where appropriate, to show how they relate to each other. This document will also create a helpful performance guide for conductors, which should facilitate and contribute to many more performances of this significant work in the future. Along with the harmonic and thematic analysis of the work, this document will also include interviews with the composer, the conductor of the premiere of the work (Dr. John Cody Birdwell), one of the early and staunch supporters of Alarcón’s works (Dr. Tim Reynish), and Javier Enguidanos Morató - another Spanish conductor who recently performed the work.

The great novelist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832) arguably made his most significant contribution to the artistic world with his literary masterpiece Faust I. Goethe’s love of music and melody is evident throughout all of Faust, particularly in the expressive poetry of the character of Gretchen, whose meaningful words gave inspiration to a variety of musical manifestations, especially in German Lied. This document serves as a performance guide for vocalists. It provides vital information on the setting and arrangement of the poetry within the musical settings, the background and significance of the composer and his works, and the organization of the music. The examination of each piece will involve assessment of musical phrasing, tessitura, and overall vocal complexity in eight German Lieder settings of Gretchen’s soliloquy “Ach neige, du Schmerzenreiche” from Goethe’s Faust. The suggestions within the investigations are based on examination of pedagogical practices as well as personal experience and discoveries made while singing and performing these pieces. Through an investigation of each piece, the singer will be able to attain a successful understanding of the framework and approach to the music and poetry, and thereby achieve awareness of accurate performance practice. This document examines in order of composition, the settings by Bettina von Arnim, Franz Schubert (including the completed fragment as arranged by Benjamin Britten), Conrad Kreutzer, Bernhard Klein, Johann Loewe, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Fredric Joseph Kroll. Because this document serves to investigate only German Lieder settings, it will not examine the choral works of Hans Pfitzner, Antoni Radziwill, Julius Röntgen, Giuseppe Verdi’s Italian setting “Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata,” nor Richard Wagner’s Melodram. This document will also very briefly discuss the lost and inaccessible settings of Gretchen’s prayer, including those of Carl Debrois van Bruyck, Edmund von Freyhold, Moritz Hauptmann, Justus Lecerf, Leopold Lenz, Louis Schlottmann, and Hans Sommer.