<p> Aaron Copland is one of the best-known composers from the United States and is often credited with creating a distinctly American style. As a 20th Century composer, he departed from traditional classical compositional techniques and made some contrasting choices of medium when considering ensemble. Copland is recognized for his writings for Orchestra, Film, Theatre, and Ballet, but also wrote chamber works that are both thoughtful and creative. The majority of his chamber works consist of pieces written for piano and voice, however he also used strings, clarinet, and in his later works, flute. </p><p> His last decade of works including one piece for orchestra, three piano pieces, and three chamber works that are flute centric. <i>Duo for Flute and Piano</i> and <i>Threnodies I and II</i> for Flute (Alto Flute) and String Trio were written within the span of three years, and are all written as memorials for others. The commonality a of flute in these pieces and in such close compositional proximity is an oddity when you consider his instrumental tendencies. This paper will examine Copland&rsquo;s compositional choices for <i>Duo</i> and <i>Threnodies I and II</i> and will consider the connection between writing memorials for others and his own mortality as influencing this late style.</p><p>

<p> Franz Liszt was a famed composer who broadened the boundaries of piano technique in the nineteenth century. One of his more popular compositions, the <i>Tarantella</i>, found in his <i>Ann&eacute;es de p&egrave;lerinage </i>, was published in 1861 within the collection <i>Venezia e Napoli </i>.1 Liszt admired melodies he heard during his travels in Switzerland and Italy and often arranged and composed from his ideas and experiences. Tarantellas were thought to be dances that were played by various musicians to influence dance and cure diseases. They are played at a quick tempo and contain a simple single melody with short repetitive patterns. The Italian-inspired <i> Tarantella</i> was similar to his other works in borrowing of melodies from other composers&rsquo; works. However, this piece is unusual. Although it is called a tarantella, it does not fully reflect the standard characteristics of a tarantella. Liszt&rsquo;s <i>Tarantella</i> is a folk-like dance with a fast-upbeat tempo in a traditional Italian style, but contains a lyrical section in the second half which he called Canzona Napolitana. This is a departure from the traditional form of a tarantella. This paper discusses Franz Liszt&rsquo;s compositional choices of style and organization in his <i> Tarantella</i> and how he altered the traditional tarantella folk-dance by including a Canzona Napolitana. Other tarantellas will be discussed to compare the similarities and differences between Liszt and other composers. </p><p>

This thesis, A Portfolio of Original Compositions, contains four musical compositions and an accompanying commentary for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition at the University of Aberdeen 2017. The purpose of this commentary is to detail the compositional research methods used in the creation of a portfolio of original compositions during my studies. Though my compositional work encompasses a varied spectrum, the focus of my portfolio is in the operatic genre with the composition of Demimondaine, a forty-minute chamber opera in one act for four singers and chamber orchestra. The other three works, Madrigals Reimagined, O My Soul Supreme and Ave verum corpus, are important supplemental research projects contributing to the larger aspects of Demimondaine. The individual chapters of the accompanying commentary discuss the different aspects of research-based composition in the portfolio with special emphasis on Demimondaine. The first discussion of this document relates to collaboration with the librettist in the second chapter. In the third chapter, I present an analysis of my approach to the libretto in creating dramatic form of Demimondaine. The fourth chapter explores harmonic idiom, beginning with three aspects of experimentation during my early years of doctoral work to the realisation of how I approached harmony in my opera. The fifth chapter discusses musical development in drama with forms of opera especially in relation to the lament ground bass inspired by Purcell's 'When I am laid in earth'. The sixth chapter is dedicated to my approach to orchestration, including the timbre of instruments chosen and how they relate to the dramatic intention of the Demimondaine. Lastly in chapter seven, I include a reflective chapter comparing my process in composition and the completed result of the opera. I candidly discuss the strengths and weaknesses found after the performance, reevaluating the success of my process and study. This commentary is intended to convey my theoretical and analytical understanding of my own compositional process. Thus the chapters contained should be considered complementary and their organisation should not be considered as implying any kind of linear narrative.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Orientador: Edson S. Zampronha / Banca: Rodolfo Coelho de Souza / Banca: Marcos Pupo Nogueira / Resumo: Esta pesquisa objetivou a detecção de um eixo paradigmático na composição musical hodierna, focando os últimos vinte anos de produção intelectual do século XX. Embora as várias propostas de organização musical aqui retratadas se mostrem diferentes entre si, é possível observar características comuns entre elas. O conceito de referencialismo pode ser aplicado a várias das propostas composicionais estudadas. Há hoje, uma negação à idéia de que a música seja uma entidade independente e cujo significado repouse em si mesma. Ao contrário, considera-se que a música é um fenômeno complexo que existe sobretudo no momento da escuta. / Abstract: This research has aimed the detection of a paradigmatic axis in today musical composition, focusing the twenthieth century's last twenty years of intelectual production. However the diferences amongst various musical organizational propositions. However the diferences amongst various musical organizational propositions, it is possible to observe commom catacterístics among them. The concept of referecialism can be aplied to various studied composisitional propositions. There is, today, a negative idea about music as an independent entity of wich the deep meaning relies over itself. On the contrary, people considers that music is a complex phenomen that exists above all in the auditory reality. / Mestre

In a series of chamber and orchestral compositions I employ approaches to composition in which motivic material is developed in a multi-linear fashion, according to processes of branching and divergence of parameters which are analogous to branching structures in nature. The resultant musical structures coexist within works that may contain multiple branches of motivic development, simultaneously or discretely, rather than following a single temporal line of development.

Orientador: Wilter Ricardo Russiano Vicente / Banca: Raimundo Alves Barrêto Júnior / Banca: Ricardo Souza Vasconcellos / Banca: Vera Fernanda Martins Hossepian de Lima / Banca: Juliana Corrêa Borges Silva / Resumo: O transplante autólogo ovariano tem despertado um crescente interesse científico devido à sua relevante contribuição em estudos reprodutivos básicos ou aplicados de animais e humanos. A presente tese foi conduzida com o objetivo de investigar de que forma o transplante autólogo ovariano nos diferentes sítios anatômicos preconizados poderia influenciar diversos aspectos orgânicos de ratas ovariectomizadas. Para tanto, 54 ratas Wistar, foram subdivididas em seis grupos, sendo dois controles de animais não-ovariectomizados e ovariectomizados (respectivamente, grupos A e B), e quatro submetidos à ovariectomia bilateral seguida do transplante autólogo ovariano para região subcapsular do rim (grupo C), tecido subcutâneo (grupo D), bolsa ovárica (grupo E) e próximo aos vasos femorais (grupo F). Foram avaliados e comparados nos grupos e tratamentos estabelecidos, aspectos cirúrgicos, anestésicos, reprodutivos, bem como, a composição corporal dos animais. De um modo geral, os sítios anatômicos forneceram condições adequadas ao desenvolvimento e crescimento folicular, com retorno ao ciclo estral após 17-19 dias em média de transplante, sendo ainda eficazes na manutenção da histomorfometria uterina e composição corporal dos animais transplantados, à exceção do grupo F. Nos grupos C, D e E, o percentual de matéria mineral foi maior que o observado nos demais, enquanto que os teores de matéria seca, extrato etéreo e proteína bruta desses grupos foram semelhantes aos do grupo A. E por fim, nos grupos C e D, foram estimadas as maiores populações foliculares dentre os animais transplantados ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The ovarian autologous transplantation has attracted an increasing scientific interest due its contribution in basic or applied reproductive studies in animals and humans. This thesis was conducted to investigate how the autologous ovarian transplantation in different anatomical sites could influence various organic aspects of ovariectomized rats. Thus, 54 Wistar rats were divided into six groups, two controls of non-ovariectomized animals and ovariectomized (respectively, groups A and B), and four submitted to bilateral ovariectomy and ovarian autologous transplantation for under kidney capsule (group C), subcutaneous tissue (group D), bursa ovarica (group E) and nearing femoral vessels (group F). In the groups and treatments were evaluated and compared, surgical aspects, anesthetics, reproductive, as well as, the body composition of animals. In general, the anatomical sites provided good conditions for development and growth follicular with return to estrus 17-19 days after transplantation, providing the maintenance of uterine histomorphometry and body composition of animals transplanted, except in the group F. In groups C, D and E, the percentage of mineral matter (ash) was higher than that observed in the others, while the dry matter, ether extract and crude protein of these groups were similar to the group A. Finally, in groups C and D, were estimated the largest follicular populations of transplanted animals. In conclusion, the autologous ovarian transplantation, when performed for under kidney capsule, subcutaneous tissue and bursa ovarica, was effective to maintenance of functions evaluated in this study, demonstrated even in some situations, results similar to or better than those observed in animals not ovariectomized / Doutor

As a music student who was always more attracted to the “academic” side of music rather than the performance side, I have come to hold a great respect for music history. This interest only grew when I got the opportunity to study music for a semester in Edinburgh, Scotland. Being surrounded by so much history, both musical and artistic, only fed my passion. I began to notice many similarities between the development of music and art both during lectures at the university and in my leisure time in galleries. I noticed that composers and visual artists in the same time period would hold similar beliefs or thoughts, therefore similarities could be found between the two art forms. Oftentimes, I would come across a composer whose compositional techniques were directly influenced by an artist and/or vice versa. I became interested in this type of cross-pollination in music and soon began to ask myself the question “Have the development of art and music always been influenced by each other? How many composers were inspired by art?” When it came time to begin my honors thesis, I decided to address this topic. So, I chose to explore this type of cross-pollination in music and, in conjunction with this research, create my own musical composition based on a work of visual art of my own choosing. Specifically, I wanted to look more carefully at the technique composers had used historically to connect their pieces of music with particular pieces of visual art. I therefore chose several art-influenced compositions to examine how the music expresses the art. In the first chapter of my thesis, I discuss the problem of turning spatially existing art into a temporally existing composition and explore several compositions in which the composers chose to construct a musical narrative as an approach to this challenge. In the second chapter, I revisit the problem of turning art into music but instead explore a different set of compositions that overcome this issue using a ‘snapshot’ technique. In the third chapter, I take a look at ekprasis as a technique used to translate abstract art into music and focus on how one composition in particular expresses the artwork. The fourth chapter is a journal discussing the art I have chosen, the stages in my compositional process, and how I used what I learned from my research to create my own composition. I have included the score of my composition as the fifth chapter.

Just as a strand of thread is composed of many smaller threads, so too are there many factors in a single musical moment. Threads of the Moment explores three of these factors: the roles of composer, performer, and listener. The first movement “Composer” seeks to reflect the often messy and disorganized compositional process. Contrary to popular belief, it is not as simple as putting notes on a page and calling that "music.” To compose one must explore and experiment with every sound, big or small, and find the beauty in each so that those sounds can be brought together. There are times where the sounds blend and complement one another, but at other times they create sharp contrasts and dissonance as the composer seeks to find music within the chaotic exploration. The second movement “Performer” explores the idea of a performer being one who interprets and presents the music of the composer. However, while the performer does play based on the composer’s intentions and instructions, there is also room for interpretation. A performer brings new life to a piece by discovering new potential within it and adding his or her voice. To reflect this the cellist acts as the composer, at first leading and inspiring the bass clarinet as the performer, but later the bass clarinet starts to branch off and finds its own interpretation of the melody that it expands on. The final movement looks at the role of listener not only in regards to the audience, but also to the performers themselves who listen to one another’s parts. No one hears the music the exact same way and there are times when a listener is fully engaged, but other times the listener begins to “drift” and lose themselves in the music. For this movement this is reflected in the clarity of certain sections in regards to melody that fractures and enters into hazier sections where the performers are in their own worlds, and it ends with one last thought from each of them.

While Converging functions as an expression of the human experience of earnestly seeking comprehension and discernment of available information in an era in which the plurality of conflicting information is prominent. The recent rapid advancements achieved in communication technologies have made a dramatic impact on the experience of interpersonal communication, including the mass increase of the dissemination of information and ideas through unofficial sources. The resulting convergence of disparate philosophical and intellectual ideologies is currently a cause of conflict in interpersonal relationships among many individuals, as well as globally. These conflicts are largely found within the dialectic of Nationalism (traditional locale or heritage specific ideologies) and Universalism (the global convergence of ideologies). To seek enlightenment through research and communicative means in such an environment is an endeavor of great complexity. While one typically seeks to clarify their personal understanding, it is not uncommon that obfuscation acts as the source of enlightenment by becoming an opposition to ignorance and naivety – expressions of clarity that lack enlightenment. The difficulty, excitement, frustration, confusion, and the multitude of further often nuanced experiences involved in such an endeavor is expressed through While Converging. For this work, I have constructed a system of interrelated pentachords that features ten primary pentachords in two sub-groupings of five. Additionally, ten secondary sets are derived from the primary pentachords by intervallic diminution, dividing each interval in half. The resulting secondary pentachords are microtonal in nature, thereby functioning as a contrasting harmonic space to the primary sets. When a third operation is applied to the primary pentachords, augmenting each interval by one half, then inverting intervals larger than a tritone, and lastly, putting the resulting sets in normal order, all the primary pentachords transform into subsets of one symmetrical pentachord – a diminished triad, plus the quarter-tone pitches found symmetrically between each minor third. This relationship is revealed only once, in a discreet manner, toward the end of the piece. Through this piece-specific system of pitch organization, a dialectic of clarity and obfuscation is presented by sequencing, reorganizing, and layering the aforementioned groups, sub-groups, and individual pentachords. Movement toward or away from clarity is achieved through these means and is symbolic of the struggle one experiences in pursuit of comprehension. This work is organized in three movements that cohere to form a continuity. Each movement is distinct in its aesthetic as well as its approach to representing the dialectic of clarity and obfuscation. The first movement focuses on textural transformation, using pitch organization and density of texture as the primary means of movement within the clarification/obfuscation dialectic. The symbolic focus of this movement is on the accumulation of vast quantities of disparate information and ideologies, and the difficulty of accounting for discrepancies in acquired information. Presented through mosaic-like orchestration, dovetailing melodic segments gradually culminate into a massive collage- like texture. At the pinnacle of textural growth, a sudden shift away from linearity occurs, in favor of a focus on vertical sonorities and density of rhythmic attacks. The second movement is slow, with harmony and melody as focal points. In this movement, melodic design functions as an alternative representation of the clarification/obfuscation dialectic. Through this aesthetic focus, a sense of naivety and intimacy is implied, alluding to the influence of nationalism and intimate interpersonal communication. Sustained chords gradually transform from one to another as melodic fragments emerge aperiodically. Approximately mid-way through the movement, a rhythmic groove is established, over which melodic design is revealed in a more complete fashion, exploring the clarity/obfuscation dialectic via its relationship to the previously presented melodic fragments. In the final movement, there is a focus on succinct and discrete groupings of musical events. Here, discreteness/continuousness of musical events, as well as rhythmic unity/disparity are presented as new dialectics, through which clarification/obfuscation is represented. The expansion of the number of musical parameters reflecting the clarification/obfuscation dialectic illustrates the complex nature of seeking enlightenment. Discrete musical events gradually expand in duration, leading to overlaying musical events that culminate in a climatic section in which direct repetition illustrates an apex of intellectual frustration. Nonetheless, the following section, prominently composed of sustained sonorities, presents a gradual reduction of energy while moving toward clarity in all respects; ultimately implying the possibility of a comprehensible resolution.