It is the purpose of this thesis to offer some pertinent information in the form of a documentary symposium and analytical study in which historical and technical matters relative to Beethoven's fugal techniques in his choral compositions will be presented. References to specific musical examples in this composer's works will be illustrated by diagrammatic and verbal analyses, and correlated with the pagination of the scores of his complete works as published by Breitkopf and Hartel.

Roy Harris is an American composer who has contributed and is still contributing to the field of modern music. This study is concerned with his choral music and the substantiation of the fact that his contributions in this field are outstanding and are expressive of a living Americanism. It is also the purpose of the study to examine and analyze the choral works of this notable Oklahoma composer and teacher in an effort to determine what Harris has to say musically and his method of expressing himself.

"An amiable personality, not himself an unusually passionate man, HoIst has excited more violent passions than any other contemporary English composer. How difficult he is to assess as a creative artist is perhaps indicated by the extraordinary fluctuations in his reputation." For a number of years he was completely unknown and ignored, living a quiet and unhurried life as an obscure teacher. Then with a momentary flash, after outstanding works such as "The Planets," and the "Ode to Death," he was caught up in a wave of public approval that made him, for a time, the recipient of national and even international honors. He was awarded the gold medal by the Royal Philharmonic Society, was made a Fellow of the Royal Col.ege of Music, and was offered honorary degrees by American universities.

The problem of this study was to determine the effectiveness of instant replay television as a method for teaching certain physical aspects of choral conducting to undergraduate college or university students majoring in music education.

Zdeněk Lukáš (1928-2007) was one of the most prolific Czech composers of the 20th century having composed over 300 pieces. His works include a wide array of genres including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and a large amount of choral and vocal music. He was influenced by Czech folklore and music and was self-taught until he was nearly 40 years old. Lukáš began his career as a teacher but later began working for the Czechoslovak Radio Studio in Plzeň where he founded the mixed choir, Česká Píseň (Czech Song), which became quite famous and still enjoys great fame. Requiem per coro misto, op. 252 is considered by many to be Lukáš’s most famous choral work. It was written in 1992 for a cappella SSATB chorus. The piece is divided into seven movements; “Requiem aeternam,” “Dies irae,” “Lacrymosa,” “Offertorium,” “Hostias,” “Sanctus,” and “Agnus Dei.” This document presents an analysis and conductor’s guide of Requiem. The analysis includes an examination of Latin pronunciation employing Germanic Latin when possible and an IPA pronunciation guide and translation of the text. Also included in the analysis is discussion on form, tonality, and development of melody, harmony, and rhythm all of which reveal that Lukáš wrote this piece in a very traditional style. The conductor’s guide points out many of the issues that a choir may face in preparing Requiem. Some of the issues include intonation, range, and dynamics. One specific issue is that although the piece is tonal, there is considerable use of modes and scales that many singers would consider exotic. One such scale is the Hungarian Gypsy which is essentially a harmonic minor scale, but includes a raised fourth degree. Many of the intonation issues that could arise stem from the frequent parallel motion. Lukáš believed that a cappella singing is one of the purest forms of music and that singers should be allowed to sing without regard to any instrumental influence whether it be from the composer or some other source. Requiem exhibits this belief through its challenges and its beauty. The work or its individual movements can be challenging yet accessible to singers of all levels.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-136). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-136). Also available on the Internet.

Camille Saint-Saëns's (1835–1921) Messe de Requiem op. 54 (1878) is among the many works by that composer that are all but forgotten by contemporary musicians. As is the case with most of Saint-Saëns's forgotten works, it is of remarkably high quality, possessing numerous features that make it desirable and accessible to a variety of ensembles. This study seeks to bring greater awareness of the piece to a wider audience, to provide a framework for understanding the most prominent style features of the work, and to ascertain its relationship to other well-known French Requiems of the nineteenth century. To this end, this study identifies and summarizes two trends in French Requiem composition in the nineteenth century: the dramatic trend, exemplified by the Grande Messe des morts op. 5 (1837) of Hector Berlioz, and the conservative trend, exemplified by the second and third of Charles Gounod's four Requiem settings: the Messe breve pour les morts (1873), and the Messe funèbre (1883). Salient style features of these three works are discussed in order to determine how their respective composers bring about the dramatic and conservative affects of their respective works. An analysis of the form, text setting, expressive elements (including dynamics, articulation, and orchestration), harmonic practice, and choral voice leading of Saint-Saëns's Requiem is also given, including a discussion of the relationship of the style features of this work to those of the Berlioz and Gounod Requiems.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the evolutionary and revolutionary aspects of using computers to word- and tone-paint in choral-electroacoustic (CEA) works. An extended account is made of word- and tone-painting's history in selected works from the Renaissance through the Twentieth Century to establish their use as a choral music tradition, followed by an examination of three recent CEA works: Scott Wyatt's A Time of Being, Scott Miller's Dies Sanctificatus, and Reginald Bain's When I Consider the Heavens. In all instances, word- and tone-painting are identified and assigned meaning utilizing Irving Godt's "Systematic Classification of Semantic Text Influences." A chapter outlining the challenges of programming CEA works is included, along with suggestions for how conductors can meet those challenges. In addition to Godt's "Classification," a brief history of the development of computers as a musical resource and information regarding Reginald Bain's work appear in the appendices.Among the results of this study are: a confirmation of word- and tone-painting as a vital, continuing tradition in choral music; a clarification of the distinctions and overlap between word-painting, tone-painting, and rhetoric; an affirmation of Irving Godt's classification system's usefulness; and an identification of the computer's capabilities that make the machine's use evolutionary and revolutionary. The computer's most revolutionary capability is its virtually limitless ability to create, shape, and manipulate sound. As the examination of the three CEA works in this study illustrates, the computer's revolutionary potential has only begun to be utilized, and the possibilities of creating compositionally mature CEA works only begun to be realized.

Dr. Eph Ehly is one of the most sought after choral conductors in the United States today. Ehly has conducted over seventy All-State choirs. However, no previous source outlines the fundamental principles of his philosophy and rehearsal techniques.This study was designed to capsulize Ehly's contributions. The writer produced a videotape entitled, "Eph Ehly: A Source of True Inspiration." This video captures Dr. Ehly's philosophy regarding the All-State choir experience and demonstrates his rehearsal techniques. The author attended three All-State festivals where Ehly was the guest conductor (Indiana, New York, and Oklahoma). The video contains rehearsals and performances and videotaped interviews with Dr. Ehly.The cornerstone of Ehly's approach is this: using music to express. There are three components to Ehly's philosophy: 1) the physical component, 2) the emotional component, and 3) the spiritual component. The writer identified four forms of the physical component: 1) handshake, 2) hug, 3) clapping, and 4) other spontaneous physical gestures. The writer identified eight aspects of the emotional component: 1) expressivity, 2) sensitivity to the world, themselves, and their own emotions, 3) sympathy, 4) reality of emotions, 5) creating mood, 6) building ensemble, 7) music as a reflection of life, and 8) awareness of a "sixth sense." In describing the spiritual component, two divisions were identified: 1) the development of character, and 2) reaching a level of spirit-awareness.The study also summarizes Ehly's rehearsal techniques by outlining his idiosyncratic approach to the treatment of traditional musical elements. The video presentation highlights nine technical concerns and demonstrates Ehly's approach to these common problems. The areas addressed are: 1) tone quality, 2) diction, 3) rhythm, 4) dynamics, 5) phrasing, 6) articulation, 7) breathing, 8) vowel modification, and 9) vibrato. The videotape is supported by a written document containing background information, a script of the video, a summary by the author, a representative list of programs from AllState choirs conducted by Dr. Ehly, and transcripts of the interviews with Dr. Ehly. Church musicians, professional conductors, educators, and students of conducting can all benefit from the opportunity to view and evaluate Ehly's approach. / School of Music