In 1964, Benjamin Britten met the multi-instrumentalist twins Zoltán and Gábor Jeney while traveling in Budapest. At their behest, Britten composed Gemini Variations: Twelve Variations and Fugue on an Epigram by Kodály, a work which exploited the brothers' abilities on multiple instruments: Zoltán on flute and piano, and Gábor on violin and piano. In foreseeing the difficulties of programming this work, Britten simultaneously arranged a version for four players: flute, violin, and four-hand piano, eliminating the need for switching instruments. Despite this arrangement, as well as a very public and highly anticipated premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1965, Gemini Variations has remained neglected by performers and scholars alike. This document serves to 1) promote a work that can justifiably be considered as part of the chamber music repertoire involving flute; 2) advocate for its musical merit and appropriateness for chamber music concerts made up of more traditional groups of players; 3) compare the two-player and four-player versions Britten wrote; and 4) explore the likely reasons why a piece by one of the most celebrated composers of the twentieth century has remained largely ignored for over fifty years.

Eak Tai Ahn is not only the first generation of Korean musicians, composers and conductors to have studied Western music and given successful musical performances in Western countries, but also is among the first to introduce the music of Korea to the West utilizing the Western music system. Korea Fantasy is an important work that helped Ahn win international acclaim. Korea Fantasy is an orchestral piece that evolved along with Ahn's unique life experiences shaped by the state of his native country. The piece is programmatic, depicting the history of Korea, which utilizes musical devices, such as rhythms and quotation that are distinctive musical elements of Korea. This document discusses the political and social history of Korea during Ahn's life time, offers an overview of Ahn's education and musical footsteps, and describes the premiere and reception of Korea Fantasy. Moreover, a discussion of his compositional traits and a musical analysis of Korea Fantasy are presented.

American composer David Kechley was profoundly impacted by a 1990 trip to the Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan. The composer describes the finely raked, small white stones in the midst of fifteen large rocks in the Japanese Zen garden as "planned randomness." Kechley's inaugural composition for saxophone-guitar duo, In the Dragon's Garden, reflects his experience at the Ryoan-ji Temple. The use of minimalistic compositional techniques without literal repetition in the work represents a departure from the first generation of Minimalist composers, such as LaMonte Young, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, and John Adams. An analysis of minimalistic compositional elements, combined with an interview with the commissioning ensemble, the Ryoanji Duo, provides insights into the interpretation and preparation of this complex work. Furthermore, this document contains helpful information pertinent to the saxophone-guitar duo. Details on balance and amplification, orchestration, and collaboration with the composer will supply performers and composers with essential knowledge needed to participate in this growing musical medium.

Korean composer Young Jo Lee (b.1943) is considered a precursor of Korean fusion music. In his works, he interlaces elements of traditional Korean music with compositional styles and performances techniques from western musical traditions. This dissertation provides an analysis of Lee's Dodri for Cello and Janggo (1995), one of his most representative works of fusion music. As indicated by the title Dodri (which in Korean means a "movement back and forth"), Lee intended to showcase a friendly interplay of the janggo and the cello, with each instrument playing a leading role that helps bring out the essence of traditional Korean traditional music. In this piece, Lee writes a number of melodies and uses traditional Korean performance techniques for the cello intended to imitate the sound and sentiments of traditional Korean instruments, all while preserving its inherent nature. This kind of fusion, where different musical elements are merged with each other but remain separate enough to maintain their own uniqueness, is significant to Lee's philosophy. This dissertation also describes Lee's efforts to preserve the integrity of traditional Korean music within fusion music and lend new insights regarding traditional Korean musical practice to musicologists, composers, and audiences. Furthermore, this study is intended to serve as a performer's guide for professional cellists new to Lee's music so they may approach Dodri with a greater understanding of the composer's original intentions when first learning the work.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Abstract in German and English / Die Masterarbeit untersucht die 20 meist gespielten Hillsong-Lieder aus dem Jahre 2016 in Deutschland. Untersuchte Aspekte sind die Hauptthemen der Liedtexte, die Sänger- / Adressat-Perspektive, die Einordnung in das gesamtbiblische Narrativ sowie die Funktionen der Lieder innerhalb des Gottesdienstes. Anhand dieser Aspekte wird der Kritik, die an die Lieder gerichtet wird, begegnet. Kritisiert wird unter anderem die theologische Substanzlosigkeit der Lieder, das verzerrte Gottesbild, fehlende Themen wie Leid, Klage, Soziale Gerechtigkeit oder die Fokussierung auf das Individuum anstatt auf Gott. Die Arbeit weist nach, dass die Kritik an mangelndem Inhalt erechtfertigt ist. Die Lieder kommunizieren darüber hinaus ein einseitiges Gottesbild, das Jesus im Fokus hat. Es wird dargestellt, dass die Themen Leid, Klage und Soziale Gerechtigkeit unterrepräsentiert sind. Auf der grammatikalischen Ebene weisen die Lieder einen starken Fokus auf das Individuum auf. Durch die Untersuchung der Funktionen wird jedoch gezeigt, dass die meisten Lieder trotz einer Ich-Perspektive stark gemeinschaftsstiftend sind. Das liegt vor allem an der koinonialen Funktionen sowie der Kombinationen von diakonischer und seelsorgerlicher Funktion mancher Lieder. Neben diesen Funktionen übernehmen die Lieder oft noch die kerygmatische, missionarische und pädagogische Funktion. / The master thesis examines the 20 most played Hillsong songs from 2016 in Germany. Aspects examined are the main themes of the lyrics, the singer-/ addressee perspective, the classification into the biblical narrative as well as the functions of the songs within the worship service. Based on these aspects, the criticism directed at the songs is met. Criticized are, among other things, the theological lack of substance of the songs, the distorted image of God, missing topics like suffering, lamentation, social justice or the focus on the individual instead of God. The work proves that the criticism of lack of content is justified. In addition, the songs communicate a one-sided image of God that strongly focuses on Jesus as an addressee. It shows that the issues of suffering, lamentation and social justice are nderrepresented. On the grammatical level, the songs have a strong focus on the individual. Examining the functions, however, shows that most of the songs, despite a first-person perspective, are strongly community-building. This is mainly due to the koinonial function and the combinations of diaconal and pastoral function of some songs. In addition to these functions, the songs often take on the kerygmatic, missionary and pedagogical function. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

羅明輝 = The Taoist ritual music study of Yunnan Jian-chuan Bai people / Ming-hui Luo. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 1998. / 參考文獻 (p. 272-275). / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Luo Minghui = The Taoist ritual music study of Yunnan Jian-chuan Bai people / Ming-hui Luo. / Lun wen (bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 1998. / Can kao wen xian (p. 272-275). / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

Cross – cultural composition has been defined as the creation of a cultural synthesis of the old and new, traditional and foreign into philosophical, artistic, stylistic and aesthetic product that communicates to various audiences. The study adopted a mode of creativity / dynamic approach through the synthesis of traditional Samia marriage music and Western compositional techniques and approaches. To ground the study in the rich cultural traditions of the Samia people of Funyula Division in Western Province of Kenya, an anthropological documentation formed an important part of the study. The study adopted Absolute Formalism theory by Reimer (1989) based on component relationships in which different parts like harmony, melody, and text rhythm relate to one another to create unity. The study also incorporated Aesthetic Functionalism theory by Akuno (1997) on social functions in which; the contextual meaning of the composition was based. The study used the Accommodation theory on Convergence, Giles and Smith (Giles & St Clair, 1979) to unify the analogous aspects in the two stated theories. In the study, descriptive and creative designs were used to cater for the music and social context. In the descriptive phase, Samia marriage folk songs were collected from traditional performers, who were also, interviewed using a questionnaire. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques were used to select twenty folk songs. They were recorded, transcribed and analysed for dominant traditional musical features and compositional promise. In the creative phase, lyrics were identified and reorganised, the prevalent features isolated and used. The result was a compositional inspiration on which the Marriage Suite was based. The ultimate product of the study was an artistic model framework that could guide the creation of art music using Kenyan traditional music idioms; accomplished through the Marriage Suite. To safeguard contextual and music fidelity, member checking was consistently maintained during data collection and creative phase. Rhythmic and melodic accuracy of the transcribed songs was ascertained by play backs using FINALE music notation. Social identity in the composition was taken into account through use of Samia music characteristics that included intervals, solo-responsorial aspects, overlapping entries, parallelism and common rhythmic patterns. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / D. Litt et Phil. (Musicology)

Accompanying music files attached (mp3) / The Bukusu community is predominantly found in Bungoma district of Western Kenya. The Litungu is a word referring to a lyre among the Bukusu community. Music accompanied by this instrument is what is referred to as Litungu music. This music makes use of sung text and “verbal-text”/ silao-sikeleko (speech and speech-melody) and silao-sikeleko is the focal point of this study. Silao-sikeleko is performed in alternation with sung text in Litungu music. This study seeks to identify the cultural and compositional role of silao-sikeleko in the music. To achieve the objectives of this study I used a qualitative approach to collect and analyze data. Data collection included the use of interviews and observation. The interviewees included performers of Litungu music, whose music was audio recorded and video recorded for analysis. In addition, I made observations of the performance sites and performance behaviour, taking notes and making audio and video recording. Music for analysis was then selected on the basis that it had the silao-sikeleko component. The Bukusu cultural view of silao-sikeleko is discussed in relation to their customs and way of life. The execution of silao-sikeleko is based on a culturally conceived framework that allows the involvement of various performers in the performance composition process. Here the contexts within which silao-sikeleko is performed are identified. Analysis of the relationship between sung text and silao-sikeleko established that whereas the two are thematically unified, silaosikeleko substantiates the sung texts by facilitating an understanding of messages contained in the songs. The analysis of language use ascertained that silao-sikeleko makes use of language devices such as proverbs, idioms, symbolism, riddles and similes. I established that silao-sikeleko as a performance compositional element has its own presentational structure that influences the overall structure of the Litungu music. Litungu music has a quasi-rondoic structure whose output is not static but varies according to context and the wishes of the soloist. The soloist interprets how effectively a given message has been communicated during performance determining how much silao-sikeleko should be performed. Silao-sikeleko is in most cases composed and performed by various members of a performing group. / Arts History, Visual Arts & Musicology / D. Mus.