Thesis (MMus (Music)) --University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis’s main focus is the connection video game genres have to the music used within them. The thesis starts by going back to the origins of music and its connection to movement. This leads to a better understanding of why visual presentations through the ages have always been accompanied by sound. Next, different types of sound are studied, as well as how they are implemented in various media today. This leads a discussion of genre, and care is taken to differentiate between genres in video games and in music. This is then applied to the sphere of video game music, which is then observed from the perspective of the video game genre. Analyses of music excerpts from a specific video game are also included in this section. The reverse is then applied by approaching the issue of video game music from the perspective of the music genre. It is concluded that one needs to approach the matter of video game music genre from a new perspective, relying on the source of the music and the means of music integration, rather than on existing music norms. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis se hoofdoel is om die konneksie tussen videospeletjies, en die musiek wat daarin gebruik word, te ondersoek. Die tesis begin deur terug te gaan na die wortels van vroeë musiek, en hoe dit deur die jare ‘n noue verbintenis gehad het met beweging. Hierdie konneksie maak dit duidelik hoekom visuele produksies gewoonlik deur klank ondersteun word. Volgende word verskillende verskynsels van klank bestudeer, asook die maniere waarop klank vandag in verskeie media geïmplementeer word. Dit lei tot die kwessie van genre. Daar word onderskei tussen die genres van musiek en die genres van videospeletjies. Volgende word die area van videospeletjie-musiek bestudeer, uit die perspektief van die videospeletjie-genre. In hierdie seksie kan analises van musiekuittreksels uit ‘n videospeletjie gevind word. Die teenoorgestelde word dan toegepas, deur die kwessie van videospeletjie-musiek uit die oogpunt van die musiek-genre te bestudeer. Aan die einde word dit waargeneem dat videospeletjie-musiek nie deur die norme van musiek-genre bestudeer kan word nie, maar dat nuwe perspektiewe ingeneem moet word, naamlik die oorsprong van die videospeletjie-musiek, asook die manier waarop dit in die speletjie geïntegreer word.

The study traces Arnold Schoenberg's spiritual journey as he moves from his oratorio Die Jakobsleiter, through his nonmusical drama Der biblische Weg to the opera Moses und Aron. These works span the years from approximately 1915 to 1933, the period which coincides not only with Schoenberg's religious shift from Lutheranism to Judaism but also with the appearance of his early dodecaphonic works. It is argued that the works of this period, the religious shift and his conception of twelve-tone serialism are all deeply and inextricably connected. This study, with support from Schoenberg's writings, postulates that twelve tone serialism, the technique with which the name of Schoenberg is associated, was not an inevitable solution to the chromatic saturation of musical composition at the end of the nineteenth century, but that it was shaped by the composer's spiritual needs and by the fact that he lived in Europe during one of the most turbulent periods of her history. The dissertation approaches the topic from the perspective of Schoenberg, the assimilated Jewish artist in late-Romantic Vienna, who moves through various stages of eclectic religious beliefs, arriving finally at an acceptance of the monotheistic concept of the Jewish God. Various correspondences emerge between Schoenberg's religion and his music: the artist/genius as prophet whose mission it is to elevate the people; the idea of progress and the artist's obligation to create new art; the God Idea and prayer as it relates to the musical Idea (the Gedanke) and ultimately the idea of One God, the Mosaic Law and the Twelve-tone Row. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

This study investigates the effect of training in auditory discrimination on the learning of music concepts. The study draws on Klausmeier's theory concerning the role of discrimination in concept learning, and on Gibson's theory concerning the process of discrimination. Six hypotheses are tested: two stating that a particular program of auditory discrimination training positively affects the performance of pitch and rhythm conceptual tasks, two stating that age positively relates to such performance, and two stating that if the effect of initial auditory discrimination ability is eliminated, there will be no significant difference between the achievements of 7 - 8 year-old and 8 - 9 year-old students performing the said tasks. These hypotheses are tested in an experiment where 232 students participated. All were given a specially constructed Auditory Recognition Test to assess initial auditory discrimination ability before instruction, and all received the ordinary music instruction at school. Students in the experimental group received additionally a short, self-administered training module on discriminating auditory attributes of pitch, register, duration and tempo. These were high-low, long-short, and fast-slow. Following instruction, the experimental and control groups were given a specially constructed Music Concepts Achievement Test to assess their performance. A 2 x 2 factorial design is used to relate discrimination training and age to the performance of conceptual tasks. Variance and covariance analyses are performed to test the hypotheses. Results demonstrate a significant positive effect of the auditory discrimination training on the performance of pitch and rhythm tasks (p < .001), and a significant positive relationship between age and the performance of these tasks (p < .001). However, upon eliminating the effect of initial discrimination ability, age is no longer significant (p = .54 in pitch, and p = .181 in rhythm). The study concludes that training in auditory discrimination facilitates the learning of music concepts and that improvement in auditory discrimination which is gained with age facilitates such learning. These conclusions indicate that auditory discrimination training could improve the learning of many music concepts, and thus become a strategy for the achievement of important objectives in music education. / Theses (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1984.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2003.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1988.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1981.