Thesis (M.C.M.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1987. / Bound with accompanying tape of the arrangements recorded, by the mixed choral ensemble from Milwaukie First Baptist Church, Milwaukie, Oregon and the men's chorus from Western Seminary in Portland.

Dissertation (PhD) Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: André J. Thomas, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 5-14-2007). Document formatted into pages; contains 187 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes musical examples. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Birmingham, 1968. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 3, leaves 59-77).

Thèse 3 cycle--Histoire de la musique--Poitiers, 1972. / Bibliogr. p. 267-294. Index. En appendice, choix de documents.

Diss.--Göttingen--Georg-August-Universität, 1992. / Bibliogr. p. 442-467.

abstract: This research paper creates a modern score transcription of selected choral works by composer Alexander Chesnokov. The life and works of Alexander Chesnokov are almost completely unknown in the United States. A collection of his works is housed in the New York Public Library (NYPL). Selected transcripts from this collection provide insight into the works and style of Alexander Chesnokov. They may also serve as a study guide and point for further research and explorations into the life and compositions of this Russian composer. The sets of transcriptions within this paper were created from a microfilm copy from the NYPL's archival holdings. This study comprises transcriptions of selected scores, a discussion of errors and editorial choices, text translations, and a brief history of choral performance and style during pre-revolutionary Russia, the time period during which this composer lived and wrote. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2011

The purpose of this study was to chronicle the genesis of cultivated choral tone in the United States from 1906 to 1928. That transformation was led by three conductors whose disparate careers represented a shared trajectory. Individually and collectively, they pioneered two singing genres with European provenance--a cappella and senza vibrato singing--as early techniques to isolate and refine choral tone. Their work converged in 1928, when it expanded to become the American A Cappella Movement (1928-1938). The earliest of the three conductors was Peter C. Lutkin (1858-1931). After study in Europe, he became dean of the School of Music at Northwestern University. Through his publications and university a cappella choir, founded in 1906, he placed greater responsibility on singers, and employed diction and breath control to improve intonation and tonal purity. German-educated Norwegian-American F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955) was guided by his experience as a violinist and influenced by the choir of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany. In 1907, he began to gradually transform the choir of St. John's Lutheran Church choir in Northfield, Minnesota. By 1920, his St. Olaf Lutheran Choir toured nationwide and eventually epitomized a choral prototype through his publications, compositions, ideology, and methods, both original and derivative. Self-reliant and confident, Christiansen championed Russian choral literature, symphonic form for programming, and self-referential choral singing. His "inner choir" technique, "instrumental" tuning for choirs, and "conductorless" onset of tone were widely imitated. Spiritual beliefs undergirded his work. Originally inspired by Christiansen, Ohioan John Finley Williamson (1887-1964), a trained singer, cultivated choral tone by recontextualizing solo vocal Lamperti technique into choral methods. In 1920, he modeled his ensemble's results via national tours with his Dayton Westminster Choir. By 1926, he co-founded a choir school in a Dayton church where he implemented his theory of the choral rehearsal as a class voice lesson. His unorthodox tenets included his belief that vowels were controlled by volume and phrase conducting, that vowel color was dictated by overtones, and that a conflict existed between time beating and "rhythmic magic" (or "pace").

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to review professional literature concerning methods and materials for the teaching of poetry, particularly those used in choral reading; and (2) to compile a workbook with appropriate materials for use in the junior high school.

abstract: William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), director of the Tuskegee Institute Choir from 1931 to 1956, was one of the most important arrangers of Negro spirituals in the twentieth century. He is also remembered as an outstanding composer, conductor, speaker, and leader of festival choruses. His arrangements are still sung by choirs all over the world. Save a small number of dissertations and various articles, however, very little has been written about him. In fact, almost no significant writing has been undertaken utilizing the Dawson papers held at the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Books Library at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. This study utilizes that collection in examining four areas of Dawson's life: his work as a composer, his work as an arranger of Negro spirituals, his work as a choral conductor and music pedagogue, and his life as an African American man living in segregated times. Dawson is shown as a thoughtful, deliberate practitioner of his art who built his career with intention, and who, through his various activities, sought both to affirm the traditional music of his people and to transcend his era's problems with the definitions, associations, and prejudices attached to the term "race." Using a diverse selection of letters, notes, and speeches held in the archive, it is possible to develop a fuller, more nuanced portrait of Dawson. Through a thorough examination of a select few of these documents, his growth can be traced from a young composer living in Chicago, to a college choral director dealing with the realities of racial inequality in the mid-twentieth century, to a seasoned, respected elder in his field, endeavoring to pass on to others knowledge of the music he spent his life arranging and teaching. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2013

abstract: The Vocal Jazz ensemble, a uniquely American choral form, has grown and flourished in the past half century largely through the efforts of professionals and educators throughout the collegiate music community. This document provides historical data as presented through live and published interviews with key individuals involved in the early development of collegiate Vocal Jazz, as well as those who continue this effort currently. It also offers a study of the most influential creative forces that provided the spark for everyone else's fire. A frank discussion on the obstacles encountered and overcome is central to the overall theme of this research into a genre that has moved from a marginalized afterthought to a legitimate, more widely accepted art form. In addition to the perspective provided to future generations of educators in this field, this document also discusses the role of collegiate music academia in preserving and promoting the Vocal Jazz ensemble. The discussion relies on recent data showing the benefits of Vocal Jazz training and the need for authenticity towards its universal integration into college and university vocal performance and music education training. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2013