During speciation, populations become spatially separated from each other by biotic or abiotic factors, and this leads to genetic divergence and reproductive isolation. Here, I study the process of speciation and the patterns resulting from this process in the chorus frogs (Pseudacris). I first lay the foundation for this work by constructing phylogenies based on molecular data. I then address broad-scale questions regarding the abiotic factors thought to drive speciation. I examine evolution of reproductive signals within a phylogenetic context, and finally, I address fine-scale questions regarding the completion of reproductive isolation in contact zones between recently-evolved species. In chapter 1, I estimate the phylogenetic relationships across the genus Pseudacris. I find that several species of unclear status (regilla, cadaverina, crucifer, ocularis) belong to this genus, and that P. ocularis is the sister species of P. crucifer. In chapter 2, I examine the phylogeography of a clade within Pseudacris, the trilling chorus frogs. I find support for at least nine species and delineate their geographic distributions. In chapter 3, I test geological and climatic hypotheses proposed to drive speciation in North American flora and fauna. By estimating divergence times in the trilling chorus frogs and correlating these divergences with timing of geologic events, I find that marine inundation of the Mississippi Embayment may have caused speciation in this group. Additionally, I find that climatic events led to reduced genetic variation rather than divergence within species. In chapter 4, I study the evolution of acoustic signals of all species of Pseudacris. Using a comparative method approach, I find that physiologybased call variables are more evolutionarily labile than morphology-based call variables. In addition, I find that sympatric signals are more different than allopatric signals, suggesting that these frogs have partitioned the acoustic niche. In chapter 5, I examine evolution of reproductive isolation between two chorus frog species in sympatry. I find that male signals show a repeated pattern of divergence in sympatry, and that different axes of the signal diverge in different populations, suggesting that heterospecific overlap may lead to reproductive isolation among conspecific populations. I also find that female preferences have evolved in sympatry, suggesting that divergence in the contact zone is due to reinforcement.

This study is an investigation of adaptations of the Greek tragic chorus since World War II, including the historical, political, and aesthetic contexts that gave rise to these adaptations. Influenced by recent work in the field of Classical Performance Reception and Linda Hutcheon’s work on adaptation, this thesis is designed not around a set of case studies, but around a variety of research questions, including: the current definition of “the chorus” and how it might include the “one-person chorus”; the techniques of mediation used by modern choruses and how they might relate to techniques of the ancient chorus; the connection between political adaptations and the encouragement of audience “complicity”; and the complexities involved in the production and reception of intercultural choruses. I begin by arguing that although August Wilhelm Schlegel’s conception of the chorus as an “ideal spectator” remains the most persistently popular model of understanding the chorus, it should be replaced with a new model based on the concentric frames of performance described by Susan Bennett. Through the use of this model, the chorus is revealed as a liminal, oscillating figure that mediates the action for the audience, and I argue that these qualities have made the chorus an attractive element of tragedy to modern adapters. In the case studies that are offered throughout, I further develop this model in order to analyze the ways in which modern choruses create relationships with audiences, as well as what political or ideological functions these relationships are intended to serve. The model that I develop encourages an engagement with both the intentions of adapters and the realities of reception, and I therefore explore not only how communication strategies of the chorus are intended to operate, but also the issues these strategies raise and the challenges adapters - and their choruses - encounter.

This study is an investigation of adaptations of the Greek tragic chorus since World War II, including the historical, political, and aesthetic contexts that gave rise to these adaptations. Influenced by recent work in the field of Classical Performance Reception and Linda Hutcheon’s work on adaptation, this thesis is designed not around a set of case studies, but around a variety of research questions, including: the current definition of “the chorus” and how it might include the “one-person chorus”; the techniques of mediation used by modern choruses and how they might relate to techniques of the ancient chorus; the connection between political adaptations and the encouragement of audience “complicity”; and the complexities involved in the production and reception of intercultural choruses. I begin by arguing that although August Wilhelm Schlegel’s conception of the chorus as an “ideal spectator” remains the most persistently popular model of understanding the chorus, it should be replaced with a new model based on the concentric frames of performance described by Susan Bennett. Through the use of this model, the chorus is revealed as a liminal, oscillating figure that mediates the action for the audience, and I argue that these qualities have made the chorus an attractive element of tragedy to modern adapters. In the case studies that are offered throughout, I further develop this model in order to analyze the ways in which modern choruses create relationships with audiences, as well as what political or ideological functions these relationships are intended to serve. The model that I develop encourages an engagement with both the intentions of adapters and the realities of reception, and I therefore explore not only how communication strategies of the chorus are intended to operate, but also the issues these strategies raise and the challenges adapters - and their choruses - encounter.

Th. doct.-ing.--Grenoble 1, 1982. N°: 14.

Amergin and Cessair is a musical setting of the text "Amergin and Cessair: A Battle of Poetic Incantation" by Michael Meade and Erica Helm Meade. The music takes the form of a dramatic "duet," scored for double choir and chamber orchestra. It depicts an exchange of self-exalting verses proclaimed by the two demigods Amegin and Cessair. Cessair--an early inhabitant of Ireland--uses her verses to churn the sea and fend off ship-borne Amergin, who in turn calms the sea with his verses. Musically, the two characters are distinguished by their own unique melodic motives, harmonic sonorities, and instrumentations. The drama of the battle unfolds over the course of the fifteen-minute work, and ultimately Amergin is the victorious one. Overall, the work expresses the pride, determination, and intense emotionality of the two characters objectively, without taking the side of either one, and it is an allegory for cultural conflict.

School choirs, bands, and orchestras in the United States have long been guided by exacting standards of performance practice that require high levels of technical proficiency. Such ensembles are also socially situated, requiring interpersonal interaction as participants work toward achieving a shared set of goals. These factors could combine to exacerbate individuals’ perceived pressure to meet goals. Hewitt and Flett (1991) called this pressure socially situated perfectionism. Some researchers have argued that perfectionism might be tempered or exacerbated in certain environments (Damien et al., 2014; Dunn et al., 2012; Flett & Hewitt, 2002; Hewitt et al., 2003; McArdle, 2010; Mouratidis & Michou, 2011). The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of perfectionistic students, particularly their perceptions of expectations, self-worth, and acceptance associated with socially situated perfectionism, in a high school choral classroom. In order to carry out this examination, a multiple case study methodology was employed; three high school students and their choir director were interviewed and observed in choral rehearsals, with students also asked to journal about their experiences. To varying degrees across cases and within cases, participants displayed behaviors that aligned with descriptions of socially situated perfectionism outlined by Hewitt and Flett (1991). The presence of these behaviors suggests that perfectionism may play a role in their music making. It appears likely that the choral classroom environment, as facilitated by the instructor and including instructor critique/feedback as well as peer interactions, merits further study for its potential role in abating or exacerbating perfectionistic tendencies in certain individuals.

The dissertation is devoted to a study of the poetical and musical texts of two choir pieces of the modern Ukrainian composer Lesya Dychko: cantata "U Kyevi zori".

This four movement cantata is scored for solo mezzo-soprano, chamber chorus, and large chamber ensemble. The text that is set in this piece is an amalgamation of adaptations of three poems by Walt Whitman (Proud Music of the Storm; That Music Always Round Me; Darest Thou Now, O Soul) and a poem by W.B. Yeats (The Everlasting Voices), from which the work derives its name. The piece depicts a journey of the soul from a place of intellectual and spiritual barrenness to a place of enlightenment and fulfillment, aided by musical forces of the universe. These forces, embodied by the chorus and chamber ensemble, seek out a despairing human soul, embodied by the solo mezzo-soprano. The musical forces infuse themselves into the soul, which is then empowered to not only understand the musical art but to explore the depths of humanity and to fully connect with the universe.

The movements of Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris, triseriata triseriata) were studied from March, 1970, to March, 1971, at the Robert H. and Esther L. Cooper Woodland Area near Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana. The objectives of the study were to determine: (1) the time and rate of dispersal from the breeding pool; (2) the day-to-day movements, including the time and minimal distance traveled; (3) the preferred cover or microhabitat; and (4) the site of hibernation.Seventy-three Chorus Frogs were tagged with approximately 50 μc Co60 and toe-clipped, and each was released at its capture site. The frogs were then sought at intervals by surveying the area with a portable survey meter equipped with a scintillation probe. The location of each recovered specimen and a description of the recapture site was recorded.Sixty-two individual specimens were recaptured at least one time. The number of recaptures for each specimen was variable, and the maximum number of recaptures for a single specimen was 26 times. In all, 324 recoveries of tagged specimens were made. The tagged specimens graduallybecame lost to the investigator, and the last specimen was found on August 4. The longest period of contact for an individual frog was 134 days.Some Chorus Frogs began leaving the breeding pools soon after the first eggs were observed on April 1. The exodus appeared to be gradual as a few (one to eight) additional tagged specimens were found out of the pools throughout April and early May. Four of these specimens returned at least once to their original pool and seventeen frogs entered a second pool.From a single attempt to monitor the overnight activities of these frogs, it appears that they remain quiescent during the daylight hours and become active between dusk and dawn.The minimal distances traveled by the tagged, specimens during the study are more a function of the length of the contact period and the number of recaptures than of the activity of the frogs. The average rate of movement for all of the specimens over the entire study period was 11.3 feet/day. However, the fastest observed rate of movement for a single specimen between two recapture sites was 138 feet/day. The greatest straight distance any specimen was found from its original pool was 700 feet. Most recaptures were within 500 feet of the pools where the specimens were tagged.In 213 (91.3%) of the 234 recaptures made daylight hours after the frogs left the breeding pools,the frogs were hidden in the leaf litter of the woods or dead grasses of the grassland. In the remaining recaptures the frogs were hidden under small objects. The frogs seemed to prefer moist rather than dry or wet cover, but this is possibly more a reflection of conditions at the time of the study than a preference on the part of the frogs.The gradual disappearance of the tagged frogs from the study area, the woodland situation of the breeding pools, and the concentration of searching efforts in the vicinity of the pools prevented the determination of the preferred habitat type (woodland or grassland). Also, because of the loss of all tagged specimens by the end of summer, hibernating sites were not located.There is evidence that the gradual disappearance of tagged specimens may be explained by predation or movement of the frogs underground or out of the study area. Other frogs lost their cobalt wires and could no longer be located.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / 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 July 28, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.