Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (November 8, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (PhD) Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: André Thomas, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 7-11-07). Document formatted into pages; contains 132 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Synergism is an art presentation designed to use multimedia concepts to heighten audience involvement in the work. Although primarily sound oriented, its skeletal structure is literary. The music expands upon the text to communicate the inexplicable or irrational element of its meaning to those faculties which determine emotional response. This process is aided by a modicum of environmental control achieved through stage lighting effects.

Te Deum is a concert work for orchestra (woodwinds in pairs plus contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, percussion, and strings) and a large mixed chorus. The text is derived from The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. In the interest of intelligibility, the text setting is mostly syllabic. The single through-composed movement, lasting about eleven minutes, is divided into three principal sections. Section two contains the primary climax of the work. The basic musical material of the piece is a set of motives which are altered and combined in various ways.

A Psalm Fantasy is a cantata in three movements for mezzo-soprano or baritone soloist, chorus of mixed voices and orchestra. The orchestra comprises two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns in F, three trumpets in B-flat, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, xylophone, harp and strings.

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The purpose of this study, ve to analyze the stylistic characteristics in the unaccompanied music of one twentieth century composer, Francis Poulenc, in order to discover the choral problems which would confront choruses and conductors as they performed his music. It is hoped that this study will not only enable choral conductors to better understand, interpret, and appreciate the music of Poulenc, but also will serve as a guide toward the investigation of other twentieth century composers and their works.

Kent Alan Newbury is an American composer who was born in Chicago in 1925, and currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has composed over 550 works and has had 282 choral works published. His first published piece was Psalm 150 (1955) and his latest publication was Praise the Lord, All Ye People (2013). Thirty-nine of his published choral pieces are still in print. At this time, the unpublished manuscripts include 204 choral pieces, four solo works, four instrumental works for dance, thirty-seven brass or band works, six woodwind pieces, and nineteen string or orchestra works. Newbury's complete catalog is included as Appendix B. During his Initial Period (1955-1965), Newbury had eighteen pieces published. In his Developmental Period (1966-1985), 247 pieces were published. That is an average of twelve pieces published per year. During his Mature Period (1986-present), he has had seventeen pieces published. This is the first published work documenting Newbury's life and music. It is hoped this study will introduce more choral directors to Newbury's music and encourage the performance of his music by more college, church, and school choirs. Analysis of Newbury's published choral works reveals the consistent inclusion of four stylistic traits: syncopation, text painting, parallelism, and textural layering. This study demonstrates how the use of these stylistic traits develops through his compositional career, both in terms of the frequency of usage and the progression of the technique. Syncopation is plentiful throughout Newbury's three periods. Syncopation and rhythmic displacement are found in 37% of published pieces in his Developmental Period and in 100% of published pieces in his Mature Period. The syncopation ranges from simple to complex, and it is sewn into the inner fabric of his compositional style. Text painting is used a great deal in Newbury's Initial Period, but the frequency diminishes in his later periods. Instead, he approaches his composition as he is inspired by the text, and the music reflects the text, in its totality if not in detail. Parallelism is a favored stylistic trait. Newbury composes with parallel fifths and fourths, and parallel chords moving in similar motion (planing) as well as contrary motion (the omnibus progression). Despite his teachers' objections to the use of parallel fifths, this is a consistent element throughout his career. Textural layering is a technique in which notes are added or repeated to call attention to the text or to build harmonic structures. As with text painting, the frequency of usage is most prevalent in his earlier periods.

Richard Wagner was appointed Hofkapellmeister to the Dresden Court in 1841. In conjunction with the duties of his office, he composed four works for male chorus, categorized by him as "occasional works". These works written during the first year-and-a-half of his Dresden tenure demonstrate Wagner's early assimilation of his artistic and philosophical ideals that would culminate in the composition of the opera-cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wagner's association with the male-voice choral unions of Dresden allowed him opportunity to express and define his compositional goals in his constant quest for a true and pure German art form. The "occasional works" influenced and affected his use of male chorus in the operas Lohengrin, Tannhauser and Die Meistersinger. Wagner, forced to flee Dresden after the May 1849 uprising, no longer had access to the Dresden male-voice choral unions. Consequently, the frequency of male choruses in his operas composed after this time diminishes assuming a different position, both musically and dramatically than in those operas composed prior to and during his Dresden tenure. The "occasional works" demonstrate more than a servial obligation, rather, they encapsulate the very essence of Wagner's compositional thought in a highly condensed and intensely focused form.