Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the lock icon and filled out the appropriate web form. / Playwriting / 2999-01-01T00:00:00Z

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The music of each country is unique, as it represents their history and people, connecting compatriots through generations and helping to create, over time, a singular identity. In countries that have fought ongoing battles to preserve their borders, folklore is often a direct representation of that struggle. Folk and sacred music in Armenia have helped to develop a national identity, furthering the country's sense of nationalism. Folk music, the duduk, and the clarinet have helped to shape the contemporary musical world of Armenia. For the purposes of this study, I will focus on the works of Khachaturian and Sharafyan. Khachaturian, influenced by the folk music he grew up with, used these sounds to create his own musical aesthetic. His belief in the beauty of sound and the psychological impact that music should convey is supported by his use of folk idioms. Sharafyan, also affected by the sounds of his homeland, uses traditional and Western instruments, allowing him to create a cross-cultural sound: a sound that connects the traditional to the modern, while still maintaining its origins in Armenian folk musical traditions. Starting with the duduk and eventually, the clarinet, Komitas, Khachaturian, and Sharafyan shaped and created music that portrays the experiences of the Armenian people. These composers, while only a small sample of Armenia's rich musical heritage, provide a clear example of music's ability to represent the history and culture of a nation. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 14, 2015. / Armenia, Clarinet, Duduk, Folk Music, Khachaturian, Sharafyan / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Bish, Professor Directing Treatise; Frank Gunderson, University Representative; Alexander Jiménez, Committee Member; Eric Ohlsson, Committee Member.

This treatise demonstrates how scholarship can inform performance by exploring various analytical techniques, including a Schenkerian perspective, of Ballade in D major, Op. 10 No. 2, by Johannes Brahms. The application of music analyses seems at times undervalued by performers, but an awareness of music theory and analysis can help guide one's interpretation of a piece for performance. A deeper look at the harmonies throughout a passage, for instance, enables us to discover an aesthetic meaning behind the harmonies that can shape interpretation. Understanding the form of a piece can help in the pacing of it to create a cohesive whole. By way of large-scale perspectives of form, tonal relationships, and fundamental structure, and also by examining motives, texture, and character on a smaller level, this treatise provides a model of how analysis can become a vital key to an informed performance. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 16, 2015. / Analysis, Ballades, Brahms, Form, Harmony, Schenkerian / Includes bibliographical references. / Read Gainsford, Professor Directing Treatise; Michael Buchler, Committee Member; Timothy Hoekman, Committee Member; Gregory Sauer, Committee Member.

Requiem masses have been an important part of classical music literature since the late 15th century and have been used as masses for the dead during funerals. Over the centuries the use of the requiem text has become more common because composers are setting the text more often. However, composers such as Britten, Penderecki, and Forrest use extra-liturgical poems within their requiem masses, as well as the original Latin which is derived from the Liber Usualis. More recently, composers have been writing requiem masses that are untraditional in the sense that they are not just about loss of life, yet still retain solemnity and reverence. Requiem for a Mother is written from the perspective of a grieving mother who is coping with the loss of her child. Requiem for a Mother makes use of a chamber choir, strings (4, 4, 3, 2, 1), harp, and piano, as well as a soprano soloist to tell a story of grief, love, and acceptance. The choir, singing the Latin text, is that of the people who support the family during their time of loss and grief, while the role of the soprano soloist, singing in English, is that of the mother who is trying to understand why her child is dead. The duration of the requiem is about 25 minutes, with a total of nine movements The requiem begins with a prelude, in B minor, that sets up the themes to be used throughout the other movements. Movement II, the first of the soprano solos, depicts the mother reaction to losing her child. As the requiem closes with In Paradisum, the mother comes to terms with her loss and is able to accept what happened and move on. Requiem for a Mother is dedicated to Danny Quinn. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 11, 2016. / Manners, Mother, Requiem, Robert, Soprano, Viola / Includes bibliographical references. / Clifton Callender, Professor Directing Thesis; Mark Wingate, Committee Member; Kevin Fenton, Committee Member.

This research project presents four new works for the violin and various chamber ensembles, which I commissioned from Dr. Liduino Pitombeira and his students Helder Oliveira, Marcel Castro-Lima and Gabriel Mesquita, at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. The pieces were composed using systemic modeling, a new compositional tool created by Pitombeira and his students, which facilitates the creation of a compositional plan for a new piece through the analysis of one or more of the main parameters of an exist piece. In order to fully understand the context in which these works have been created, this treatise includes a survey of Pitombeira's career and works within the larger picture of Brazilian music history; an overview of systemic modeling as a compositional tool; a brief analysis of the commissioned works, including comments on general performance orientation; and finally, a case study in the composer-performer relations. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Music. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 3, 2017. / analysis, composition, Music, Performance, Pitombeira, Violin / Includes bibliographical references. / Benjamin Sung, Professor Directing Treatise; Peggy Sharpe, University Representative; Shannon Thomas, Committee Member; Greg Sauer, Committee Member.

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