The AIDS Quilt Songbook was a musical response to the shame surrounding the outbreak of the HIV virus and was one of the first art song publications to deal with the topic of HIV and AIDS. This DMA thesis documents the significance and history of the AIDS Quilt Songbook, traces the progression of the project up until December 1, 2008, and documents the work, experiences, and words of the composers who have been inspired to contribute to the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project. In 1981, the medical and popular press reported the first cases of a quickly spreading virus among homosexual males. This virus is currently diagnosed as HIV and AIDS. Lack of funding consumed the early years of what grew to become a national pandemic. The artistic community was one of the major catalysts for funding and education. Cleave Jones and other gay rights activists developed the NAMES Project as a memoriam for those lost to the pandemic. The AIDS Quilt Songbook was created to parallel the AIDS Quilt as "a never-ending work whose meaning and spirit is renewed and redefined with every addition." This concept of additions has continued the expansion of the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project from 1993 to the additions premiered on December 1, 2008 (World AIDS Day) at The Court Theater in Chicago, Illinois, entitled the "Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook: A Benefit for Season of Concern." The AIDS Quilt Songbook project has sixty-seven documented additions, but only eighteen of the sixty-seven additions are collected. This thesis examines the events, compositions and experiences of the composers: Chris DeBlasio, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daniel Kallman, Cary John Franklin, and Evan Kuchar, who submitted compositions to the AIDS Quilt Songbook between 1991 and 2008. The compositions examined are: Walt Whitman in 1989 by DeBlasio, I Never Knew by Gordon, When I am dead, my dearest by Kallman, As Imperceptibly as Grief by Franklin, and Death Spiral by Kuchar.

This dissertation examines the role of noise in shaping the form of several recent musical compositions. This study demonstrates how the contrast of noisy sounds and harmonic sounds can impact the structure of compositions. Depending on context, however, the specific use and function of noise can vary substantially from one work to the next. The first portion of this paper describes methods for quantifying noise content using FFT analysis procedures. A number of tests on instrumental and synthetic sound sources are described in order to demonstrate how the analysis system may react to certain sounds. The second part of this document consists of several analyses of whole musical works. Works for acoustic instruments are examined first, followed by works for electronic media. During these analyses, it becomes clear that while the use of noise in each work is based largely upon context, some common patterns do exist across different works. The final portion of the paper examines an original work which was written with the function of noise specifically in mind. The original work is put through the same analysis procedures as works seen earlier in the paper, and some conclusions are drawn regarding both the possibilities and limitations of noise analysis as a compositional tool.

Beginning in 1939, the Concours International d'Exécution Musicale de Genève (CIEM; Geneva International Music Competition) is unique among international music competitions in its multidisciplinary approach. To date, fifteen works have been commissioned for clarinet for the years in which the clarinet was involved. The most well-known of these works is the unaccompanied work by Heinrich Sutermeister, Capriccio for Solo Clarinet in A, written in 1946 for the 1947 competition. This work is a staple in the unaccompanied clarinet repertoire. However, the other fourteen works commissioned for the competition are little known and to date no document has been prepared that examines each of these works in the context of the competition and clarinet literature. While perhaps less notable, works were also commissioned for a sight reading portion of the competition for many of the years in which the clarinet was a discipline chosen for the competition, two of which were published. These works are examined as well. This survey provides a critical, analytical, historical, performance-related and biographical review of the published and unpublished works commissioned for the clarinet by CIEM. The composers, competitors and the significance of these works and winners in the clarinet literature and history are included. A chapter is dedicated to each piece which includes performance considerations, critical, analytical, and historical information as well as biographical information regarding the composer and the competitors where available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of the present work is to shed fresh light not only upon the life and work of Maurice Greene , but also upon the whole state of music in England during the first half of the eighteenth century. Thus, while the basic framework is that of a full-scale historical biography, whole sections are devoted to a detailed discussion of various aspects of the contemporary scene. Chapter one traces the composer's family background end early career up to about 1710. His work at St. Paul's, and the general conditions which there obtained, are separately considered, as is also the musical history of the important Sons of the Clergy festival which Greene conducted from 1718 until 1750. The biographical narrative continues with an account of Greene's marriage and family affairs, and also deals with his influence as a teacher. In chapter four, the composer's career as a secular musician is surveyed against the background of London musical life, end special attention is given to the history of the Academy of Ancient Music with which he was for a time intimately connected. Throughout the 1720s, Greene's reputation grew. In 1727, he was appointed Organist and Composer of the Chapel Royal. Three years later, he took his doctorate at Cambridge, and was honoured with the title of Professor of Music in the University. In 1735, he succeeded Eccles as Master of the King's Band of Musick. Not yet thirty-nine, he now held every major musical appointment in the land. A detailed summary of this triumphal progress, and of those institutions in which Greens worked, forms the central core of the dissertation. A thorough examination of Greene's relationship with Handel is contained in chapter six. The two final chapters deal with the period during which Greene's fame stood at its height, his gradual decline, death, and posthumous reputation. An extended postscript surveys Greene's contribution to Boyce'e Cathedral Music. Two short appendices and a bibliography complete the volume. Volume two consists entirely of a Descriptive Catalogue of all Greene's knovn works, including those which are no longer extant. Both printed and MSS. sources are listed, end copyists identified wherever possible. Ten pages of plates provide examples of the composer's autograph, and those of his four chief pupil-copyists. There are also extensive notes containing any historical or bibliographical information which might possibly be of use to future researchers.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The evolutionary origins of music, defined as “an intentional action in which complex, learned vocalizations (and/or instrumentally produced sound) are combined with the movement of the body in synchrony to a beat” is investigated through an appraisal of the musilanguage theory and relevant literature. The biological adaptations allowing the production and perception of music are identified and their evolutionary histories investigated. The critical adaptations that made rhythmical body movement possible evolved around 1.6 million years ago. These include habitual bipedalism and changes in the vestibular system. There is almost no fossil evidence to inform on the timing and nature of the complex, learned vocalization. However, that the thoracic vertebrate canal had modern proportions by 600 000 years ago indicates that archaic humans were able to achieve the respiratory control necessary to sing. The size of this canal is a proxy for the number of nerve cells that control respiration via the intercostal and abdominal muscles. Musicality is essential to the human mind. Infants are born with rudimentary musical skills with regard to melody, temporal sequences and vocal and bodily imitation. These capabilities are central to the newborns’ innate ability to elicit care by synchronizing their vocal and bodily actions with that of the caregivers. Musical rhythm is further used to entrain bodily and neural oscillations and this permit the creation of trust and social bonding. It is concluded that protomusic developed between 1.6 million and 600 000 years ago. Protomusic consisted of entrained rhythmical whole body movements initially combined with grunt-like vocalizations. The evidence investigated cannot be used to infer the origins of modern music. KEYWORDS: Music, Evolution, Synchronisation, Melody, Dance, Bipedality, Vestibular system, Thoracic vertebrate canal, Infant-directed communication, Neural entrainment

Thesis (MMus) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The AFM came into being as a result of the Pentecostal Movement, which in turn owes its existence to the worldwide revivals at the beginning of the twentieth century. The president of the AFM, Dr. Isak Burger, writes in his book concerning the history of the church: Die Geloofsgeskiedenis van die Apostoliese Geloofsending van Suid-Afrika, that the First Evangelical Awakening (18th century), the Second Evangelical Awakening (19th century), as well as the worldwide revivals at the beginning of the twentieth century, had a causal effect on one another. It goes without saying that the musical practices of these Awakenings would also, indirectly, influence that of the AFM. This study serves a twofold purpose. It is just as important to examine the origin and development of the AFM, as it is to examine internal and external factors that have influenced its musical practices. The music that has been used during different periods also receives due attention. In order to view the AFM in the correct perspective, Chapter 1 deals with the factors leading up to the origin of the Pentecostal Movement. However, the historical development within the AFM also receives attention, with special reference to those events which influenced the practice of church music directly or indirectly. Chapter 2 includes a history of Church Music since the Reformation, since the Reformers strove to get the congregation involved into the service of worship. Music practised during the First and Second Evangelical Revivals, as well as the subsequent revivals at the beginning of the twentieth century, also receives mention. The musical practice within the AFM forms the main theme of Chapter 3. Subdivisions of this chapter reflect historical events within the AFM, the influence of the Charismatic Revival Movement, the role and function of music during church services, the rendition of music items, as well as the leading figures who contributed to this practice. Chapter 4 provides a chronological summary of songbooks used by the AFM since 1908 until 1998, while Chapter 5 presents analyses of the music mentioned in Chapters 2,3 and 4. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die AGS het vanuit die Pinksterbeweging ontstaan, terwyl dié op sy beurt uit die wêreldwye Ontwakings aan die begin van die twintigste eeu tot stand gekom het. Die President van die AGS, Dr. Isak Burger, kom in sy boek: Die Geloofsgeskiedenis van die Apostoliese Geloofsending van Suid-Afrika, tot die gevolgtrekking dat vorige Ontwakings van so ver terug as die Eerste Evangeliese Ontwaking (18de eeu), die Tweede Evangeliese Ontwaking (19de eeu), sowel as die wêreldwye Ontwakings aan die begin van die 20ste eeu, in kousale verband tot mekaar gestaan het. Dit spreek dus vanself dat ook die musiekbeoefening tydens hierdie Ontwakings indirek 'n invloed op dié van die AGS sou uitoefen. Hierdie studie is dus tweërlei van aard. Aan die een kant word die nodige aandag aan die ontstaan, sowel as die geskiedenis van die AGS gegee, terwyl die ontwikkeling van die musiekbeoefening soos beïnvloed deur interne en eksterne faktore, asook die musiek wat tydens verskillende tydperke gesing is, ook onder die loep geneem word. Om die AGS as kerkgenootskap binne die regte perspektief te plaas, begin Hoofstuk 1 met die vooraf- en ontstaansgeskiedenis van die Pinksterbeweging. Daar word egter ook kortliks aan die geskiedkundige verloop van gebeure binne die AGS aandag gegee, veral wanneer die beoefening van kerkmusiek direk of indirek daardeur geraak is. In Hoofstuk 2 word so ver as die Hervorming teruggegryp m.b.t. kerkmusiekgeskiedenis, aangesien die Hervormers so 'n belangrike bydrae gelewer het om die gemeente d.m.v. die kerklied weer by die erediensgebeure betrokke te kry. Daar word egter ook kortliks na musiek van die reeds genoemde Ontwakings in die 18de, 19de, asook aan die begin van die 20ste eeue verwys. Die AGS se musiekpraktyk vorm die hooftema van Hoofstuk 3. Onderafdelings van hierdie studie sluit o.a. in: bepalende geskiedkundige gebeure binne die AGS, die invloed van die Charismatiese Herlewingsbeweging, die rol van begeleiers en die begeleiding t.o.v. gemeentelike same sang tydens byeenkomste en die lewer van musiekitems, asook belangrike persone wat as leiers na vore getree en belangrike werk verrig het. Hoofstuk 4 bied 'n chronologiese opsomming van liedboeke wat vanaf 1908 tot en met 1998 deur die AGS gebruik is, en in Hoofstuk 5 word ontledings gemaak van musiek wat in Hoofstukke 2, 3 en 4 bespreek is. In Bylae 1 word aangedui watter musiek deel van die belangrikste liedbundels, nl. Hymns for Life and Service, Nuwe Sionsliedere, Evangelieliedere en Deo Gloria uitgemaak het, terwyl Bylaes 2 en 3 volledige bladmusiekvoorbeelde van ontledings van onderskeidelik vroeëre en hedendaagse musiek bevat.

The purpose of this research was to select songs specific to the Doukhobor song repertoire which were not previously notated and to record, notate and analyze the melodies for use in music education. The first limitation of the study was to focus on the sacred repertoire which is comprised of three genre of song, namely the Psalms, the Old Verses and the Spiritual Songs. A comparison of the song titles of Old Verses and Spiritual Songs which are found in the two major Canadian Doukhobor song text collections was made with other Russian song text collections to determine a subset of songs unique to the Doukhobor tradition. The second limitation of the study was then applied, which was to select those Old Verses and Spiritual Songs believed to exist prior to the beginning of the twentieth century. Forty-five melodies, comprised of 11 Psalms, 18 Old Verses and 16 Spiritual Songs were included in the study. The notation of each example is accompanied by one verse of Russian text and transliteration and by documentary information stating the genre, the Doukhobor song text collection reference number, the singers' names, and a tape source in the researcher's private collection. Full and/or partial translations of the texts are provided.

This study chronicles the development of piano music in China through seven representative works. An important aspect of this research will be to evaluate how and to what extent the repertoire reflects the diverse influences of Western music, traditional Chinese culture, and Chinese politics. Due to the tumultuous social history of modern China, political factors have dictated and continue to dominate cultural aesthetics in a unique way. As we have seen, at some period, styles closely conformed to the political ideology. When the political climate was freer, however, the composer's creative ideology was allowed to be expressed more openly, and the cultural exchange with the West was freer. Although many Chinese pieces are not of high quality, a number of Chinese composers have successfully devoted themselves to integrating Western musical techniques with their own rich cultural background.