Beethoven’s vocal works are often neglected or overshadowed as a result of his prominent involvement with large-scale instrumental genres such as sonata, symphony, or string quartet. Nevertheless, he sustained throughout his life a significant interest in literature and poetry; his personal library, as well as his letters, Tagebuch, and conversation books all document this by way of numerous direct quotations from—and indirect references to—the literary materials that interested him. The numerous vocal works he produced between 1783 and 1826 are one relevant manifestation of this interest and engagement with words. Beethoven produced a significant body of vocal works, the majority of which have not received the same intensity of analytical treatment as the instrumental works. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between words and music in the solo songs and other vocal works of Beethoven. The points of intersection between literary and musical expression are evaluated within four aspects of text setting: structure, rhythm, meaning, and narrative. Firstly, elements of derivation and deviation are explored to determine the diverse ways that he deliberately constructed musical structures in response to the poetic (and semantic) structures of each source text. Secondly, and by extension, rhythm and metre—and varying degrees of derivation, deviation, and manipulation—are assessed so as to demonstrate how these works illustrate Beethoven’s awareness of the expressive possibilities for adhering to or altering the relationship between poetic and musical metre. Thirdly, various types of musical rhetoric—including Beethoven’s implementation of the conventions for affective tonality, as well as the reliance on both conventional and uniquely-Beethovenian depictive idioms and gestures—illustrate his response to various levels of semantic content. Fourthly, his response to individual (though interrelated) aspects of narrative in his selected texts are evaluated. Drawing concepts from key figures of narrative theory—including Gérard Genette, Roland Barthes, Mieke Bal, and others—this study assesses the narrative content in selected texts as a means by which to gauge Beethoven’s compositional response to aspects of temporality, focalisation, spatiality, and so forth, both individually and in combination. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that—contrary to frequently voiced opinions—Beethoven responded quite closely and deliberately to the expressive implications of his selected texts, while aspects of poetic and musical structure, rhythm, syntax, imagery, and layers of meaning coalesce within complex narrative processes. Beethoven was aware of the inherent musicality of poetic texts and the significance of forging a close compositional relationship between words and music; thus he consistently demonstrated in composing these works his ideology that within vocal works ‘words and music form a unit’.

I consider the relationship between natal dispersal, the acquisition of breeding resources and the proximate maintenance of the mating system in a population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) resident on Mandarte Island, B.C.. The general hypothesis tested was that intrasexual competition for the resources that limit reproduction in each sex is the main factor affecting patterns of natal dispersal, territory turnover and mating system organization. This study reveals differences in the competitive ability of individuals and the consequences of these for natal dispersal, territory acquisition and the ability to monopolize mates. In this population, natal dispersal, territoriality and the mating system are related through the common mechanism of intrasexual competition for breeding resources. This competition affected reproduction within each sex, and in the opposite sex, raising potential conflicts of interest between mated males and females. I identify correlates of competitive ability, and consider how individuals of each sex maximize the number of young they raised. All suitable habitat was defended even at low density, resulting in high levels of competition for space. Song sparrows contested for territories year-round. Most settlers were yearlings, but several males were older and had previously owned a territory. Most floaters settled by evicting owners from all or part of their territories, in contrast to the assumption of most models of dispersal that floaters gain territories only after an owner's death. Relative age and dominance within cohorts affected recruitment and territorial status in the year following hatch in each sex. Differences in age also affected territorial and mating behaviour, particularly in males. Although competitive ability varied with age, differences in competitive ability between males persisted through life. Approximately 9% of male breeding attempts occurred after a male territory owner had evicted a neighbour and thereby gained access to an additional female. Polygynous males raised more young than monogamous males. Females vigorously defended their territories against female intruders, presumably to prevent polygyny by their mates. Females in polygynous groups often lost the aid of their mate, and raised fewer young, because polygynous males did not aid two females simultaneously. Adding supplemental food altered female time budgets, increased their ability to prevent settlement by female floaters, and increased their reproductive success. This suggests that females are constrained in the amount of time they can spend in territory defence by time spent foraging. The maintenance of monogamy was affected by differences in the abilities of individual males and females to defend their territories against intruders of the same sex. Dispersal distances were similar among sexes, in contrast to the usual pattern of female-biased dispersal in birds. Given the intense territorial behaviour of males and females, this study supports the hypothesis that biases in dispersal arise when territory establishment is substantially more difficult in one sex than the other. Dispersal on Mandarte was unrelated to inbreeding, common parentage, or reproductive success. However, emigrants from Mandarte were socially subordinate birds that must have outbred if they settled successfully. Female emigrants from local populations in the vicinity of Mandarte may settle more often than males. Dispersal occurred as young birds established ranges in the period following independence, from which they challenged or replaced owners. Adding food during the breeding period reduced dispersal in males and females in late summer and the following spring. Competitive ability probably affects dispersal from the natal population, the likelihood of settlement, and the time of settlement for those birds that remain in the natal population. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

This thesis presents extended program notes for a sixty-minute vocal graduate recital consisting of the following repertoire for soprano: “How Beautiful are the Feet of Them” and “He Shall Feed His Flock” from Messiah and “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Rinaldo by George Frederick Handel; “La morte d’Ophélie” by Hector Berlioz; the Swedish art songs “Vingar i natten” by Ture Rangström and “Jung fru Blond och jung fru Brunette” by Wilhelm Stenhammar; the contemporary art song “Animal Passion” by Jake Heggie; and the following arias and duets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Mi tradi quell ‘alma ingrata” from Don Giovanni, “Bei Männern, welche liebe fuhlen” and “Papageno, Papagena” from Die Zauberflöte, “Deh vieni, non tardar o gioja bella,” “Venite inginochiatevi,” and “Via resti servita” from Le nozze di Figaro, and the Concert Aria “Ch’io mi scordi di te?...non temer, amato bene,” K.505. These works encompass a variety of styles, musical periods and forms spanning over four centuries. The recital itself is documented on the accompanying compact disc, while these program notes contain discuss historical context, musical analysis, and performance practice for this repertoire.

Neste trabalho, que se insere no âmbito das relações interculturais entre o Brasil e a França, buscamos analisar e discutir a representação do francês - o povo, o idioma e a cultura - na Música Popular Brasileira. Nosso objetivo é, pois, verificar como o humor, a presença da língua francesa e as marcas dessa cultura contribuíram para um projeto de consolidação de uma identidade nacional. Baseando-nos em alguns conceitos da semiótica greimasiana e igualmente nas noções de dialogismo e polifonia expostos por Mikhail Bakhtin, pretendemos observar os procedimentos da organização do discurso, bem como apreender as forças (as modalizações) que movem as personagens no interior da canção e como essas se desenvolvem enquanto atores sociais de uma determinada época, esclarecendo, na medida do possível, as relações entre o discurso (circuito interno) e suas condições sócio-históricas de produção e de recepção (circuito externo). Nossa hipótese parte da premissa de que, assim como a identidade brasileira, a imagem do francês foi também construída. A pesquisa inclui ainda um catálogo de referência relativo às canções mencionadas no corpo do trabalho, assim como apresentação em CD dos fonogramas originais de 1909 a 2005 (em anexo). / This study, which fits into the environment of the intercultural relationships between Brazil and France, searches to analyze and discuss the representation of French - its people, language and culture - in Brazilian Popular Music. The objective is, therefore, to verify how humor, the presence of the French language and its cultural markers have contributed to a consolidated project of a national identity. Based on some Greimasian semiotic concepts and equally on the notions of dialogism and polyphonia exposed by Mikhail Bakhtin, the study intends to observe the organization of discourse, as well as to learn about the forces (modalizations) that propel the characters inside the song and how they develop whilst social players of a determined era, clarifying, whenever possible, the relationships between discourse (internal circuit) and socio-historical conditions of production and reception (external circuit). The hypothesis starts from the premise that, just like the Brazilian identity, the image of the Frenchman was also constructed. The research also includes a reference catalogue relative to the songs mentioned in the body of the work, and also a presentation on CD of the original phonograms (annexed).

Thomas Pasatieri is a prolific American composer of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Although Pasatieri is best known as an opera composer, he has composed in many different genres, and his numerous art songs have often been overlooked. This study evaluates Pasatieri's currently published song catalog and divides it into three groups of songs that correspond to the varying pedagogical needs of students. The first group presented in this document addresses the needs of the beginning vocal student. The songs are harmonically tonal, textually accessible, rhythmically uncomplicated, and metrically stable. The second group is more appropriate for the intermediate singer. The songs are highly chromatic and their harmonic progressions do not necessarily follow the rules of functional tonality; the texts are longer and more complex, the rhythmic and metric content are likewise more difficult, and the melodies are more disjunct, often exploring the extremes of the vocal range. The third and final group is most suitable for the advanced singer. The harmonies are challenging and explore an array of organizations, the texts are esoteric, the melodies are often unified through recurring motivic gestures, and the songs rarely contain any formal repetition. These groupings are intended to help teachers and students choose repertoire from Pasatieri's oeuvre that suit each individual student. This study includes a discussion of representative songs from each group within the chapters and a catalogue of all of Pasatieri's published songs arranged by group in the appendices.

Through an examination of 402 songs that charted in the top 20 of the Billboard year-end charts between the years 1990 and 2009, this dissertation builds upon previous research in form of popular song by addressing the following questions: 1) How might formal sections be identified through melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and text? 2) How do these sections function and relate to one another and to the song as a whole? 3) How do these sections, and the resulting formal structures, relate to what has been described by previous theorists as normative? 4) What new norms and trends can be observed in popular song forms since 1990? Although many popular songs since 1990 do follow well-established forms, some songwriters and producers change and vary these forms. AAA strophic form, AABA form, Verse-Chorus form, Verse-Chorus with Prechorus and/or Postchorus sections, Verse-Chorus-Bridge form, “Other, with a Chorus” and “Other, without a Chorus” forms are addressed. An increasing number of the songs in each of the above listed forms are based on a repeating harmonic progression or no harmonic progression at all. In such songs, the traditional method of identifying sections and section-functions through harmonic analysis is less useful as an analytical tool, and other musical elements (melody, rhythm, instrumentation, and text) are as important, if not even more so, in determining the form of songs in the sample.

When singers perform art songs, how many of them, especially students, learn about the poem and poet behind the lyrics? It might be that a number of singers focus on composers, however not poets. Even in concert programs, it is common to only write the composer’s name. I am one of the singers that has learned lyrics in the last minute before a concert or an examination. I will experiment with changing my learning process and see if that makes any difference when performing the art song.  The purpose of this study is also to focus on the poet Emily Dickinson. Furthermore, to find out about the music of composers from the 20th century onwards using Dickinson’s poems. I choose Aaron Copland’s song cycle “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson”.  Finally, I will perform the work and demonstrate if there is a difference in the singing interpretation by studying not only the music but also the poems behind the lyrics. “Who is Emily Dickinson?” The study explores this question first. After researching 100 songs using her poems, I chose three composers, Aaron Copland, Libby Larsen and Niccolò Castiglioni. Thereafter, “Bind me - I can still sing” of Larsen and “Dickinson-Lieder” of Castiglioni is mentioned. Furthermore, the song cycle “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson” by Copland is analyzed deeply to find out more about the piece and why the composer was inspired by Dickinson. It was discovered that one is able to understand the piece deeply, knowing not only about the life of the composer, but also the poet leads to a better understanding of the work. From the singer’s point of view, the level of expression and singing performance has improved after researching the poet Emily Dickinson.  The study concludes knowing deeply about the poet that there is no doubt how important the poem is when understanding and interpreting art song. / <p>Soprano: Hitomi Ohki</p><p>Piano: Anders Kilström</p><p></p><p>Aaron Copland (1900-1990)</p><p>Twelve Poems of Emily Dickonson</p><p>1, Nature, the gentlest mother</p><p>2, There came a wind like a bugle</p><p>3, Why do they shut me out of Heaven?</p><p>4, The world feels dusty</p><p>5, Heart, we will forget him!</p><p>6, Dear March, come in!</p><p>7, Sleep is supposed to be</p><p>8, When they come back</p><p>9, I felt a funeral in my brain</p><p>10, I've heard an organ talk sometimes</p><p>11, Going to Heaven!</p><p>12, The Chariot</p>

The objective of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the rehearsal plan in the preparation of Brazilian art songs. This disquisition proposes a rehearsal plan model based on the concept of the class plan used in the field of education. The rehearsal plans were applied in a series of rehearsals with two singers at North Dakota State University in which we worked on four art songs composed by the Brazilian composer Francisco Mignone (1897-1986). This qualitative study adopted the autoethnography as research method. In this autoethnographic research I worked both as researcher and as pianist in the rehearsals. This disquisition relied upon two axes of theoretical framework, one musical and one educational: the musical axis was formed of studies regarding performance and preparation of art songs as developed by Katz (2009), Kimball (2006), Stein and Spillman (1996), Moore (1984), Bernac (1978), and Adler (1971). The educational axis was based on the studies of Libâneo (2006) and Coll, Pozo, Sarabia, and Valls (1998) and provided the concept, philosophical basis, structure, and applicability of the class plan. This educational axis also included studies supporting the effectiveness of the rehearsal plan in various musical contexts, such as Gorelick (2001), Brunner (1996), and Figueiredo (1990). The research data revealed that the rehearsal plan was an effective pedagogical tool in the preparation of Brazilian art songs. The rehearsal plans provided outlines of clear objectives and focused rehearsal strategies and facilitated the development and application of specific rehearsal strategies for art song performance preparation. The plans also promoted connectivity between rehearsals and a sense of accomplishment for the pianist and singers. In addition, the rehearsal plans detailed the preparation of Brazilian art songs with respect to three distinct dimensions of knowledge: conceptual, practical, and attitudinal.

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Breakdown is a 17 minute, single movement work for orchestra in five sections. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 Bb trumpets, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, piano, and strings. The percussion consists of a tam-tam, 5 break drums, 4 timbales, 2 gourds, chimes, marimba, vibraphone, snare drum, 2 field drums, bass drum and tympani. The inspiration for this work is the poetry of Bruce Weigl which deals with many facets of the Vietnam experience. One particular work from his collection Song of Napalm, the poem "Breakdown", provided the basis for the emotional and structural content of the music. There are two primary sources of pitch material in the music of Breakdown, both of which have links to the Vietnam War. The name of a soldier who was killed in Vietnam, Miles Cooper, was used to generate a basic pitch set and a series of variation sets that provide much of the harmonic and melodic material in Breakdown. There derived sets are supported by the use of phrases and motives from the hymn Jewels, which celebrates the love of God for his children, and providesan indirect link to the subject of the piece, the war in Vietnam.