This dissertation proposes a new speculative model for understanding how a listener attends to music. I rely on and build upon concepts already familiar to music theorists, such as Grouping Theory, Implication-Realization Theory, and Gestalt Theory. I also borrow concepts from Information Theory, which is sourced in mathematics and used in communication transmissions. With the confluence of the aforementioned I will explain the model I name Dynamic Grouping. The dynamism of the grouping process is owed to the listener’s changing expectation for what musical content the listener expects and when the subject expects it. A listener expects continuation of a delineation. I will describe the particular listener for whom this theory applies. A listener establishes delineation between points of congruity as recognized per each basic domain, which then serves to precipitate expectation for progressive continuation of such content along the same musical delineation. The temporal point and syntactical relations for when the subject expects this musical content to occur is derived from extrapolations of syntactical and temporal regularities (rhythm) sourced from previous groupings. Unlike the five basic domains that form delineations independently, of which I list pitch, timbre, dissonance, volume, and location, rhythm is a super domain because rhythmic delineations are formed sourcing any combination of the basic domains. But because the listener also recognizes syntactical regularities, rhythm is a super meta domain: a listener recognizes patterns of patterns. The temporal size of each group increases when preceding music offers realization of a listener’s expectation and decreases in size when it stymies expectation. I correlate patterns of dynamic grouping rhythm and dramatic moments in music. I explain means by which a listener will delineate music per each of the domains, as delineation per each domain is achieved differently. I offer a bottom-up analysis of the basic domains for a movement from a Beethoven Symphony. I use pop music to show how my theory for delineation formation also applies for rhythm. This single theory sufficiently accounts for much of what we witness in the music of the Common Practice Period. I also propose means by which composers may explore other means for creating drama not commonly used in current practice. My engagement with music cognition scholarship herein is limited to the specific confines of the theory. I chose a variety of musical examples for use in the paper. I include two Beethoven symphonies because they, in particular, are most often found in similar theoretical writings. For many of my musical choices that are meant to explicate most poignantly theories of rhythm I turn often to American Popular Music. I am familiar with the controversial lyrics of The Rolling Stones’s song, but I assure the reader that I will only cover the opening guitar riff and its immediate development through the introduction. / Music Theory / Accompanied by one .pdf score: 1) Cello Concerto #2

This five movement cantata is scored for large SATB chorus, bass and soprano soloists, piano, organ, and percussion (2 players). The text, sung in Hebrew, comprises selections from the Psalms, Isaiah, and the Jewish daily prayer book. A transliteration into the Roman alphabet and an English translation (not for singing) are provided.

Nonet for Percussion and Tape is a twenty-two minute through-composed work for eight percussionists and tape. The instrumentation includes: marimba, xylophone, glass wind chimes, slit drum, woodblock, vibraphone, crotales, metal wind chimes, snare drum, bass drum, tom-toms, temple blocks, bass marimba, log drum, cowbells, medium suspended cymbal, gongs, timbales, bongos, tambourine, roto-toms, timpani, and pre-recorded computer-generated/computer-sampled sound.

...for the time is at hand : An Original Musical Composition, for orchestra and tape, is a single movement work in five overlapping sections with a total duration of approximately twenty minutes. Using a stochastic composition program written in Hewlett-Packard BASIC, the final chord of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps serves as a "seed" to generate the "pitch density" (vertical pitch distribution), "timbre density"(vertical instrument distribution), and dynamics of the work.

Bay Psalmes-1640 is a large work in four movements for orchestra and chorus. The chorus employed is SATB but each of the four sections may be divided into firsts and seconds as required. The orchestra is a standard symphony orchestra consisting of woodwinds in threes, brass of four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion including orchestral bells, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, triangle, cymbals and suspended cymbal. Special instruments include the harp and the celesta. The orchestra is completed by the usual complement of strings.

The first movement of the present work is a French overture patterned in form after the overtures of Jean Baptiste Lully. The second movement (Lento) is a simple ABA song-form and presents a rather rhapsodic development of its theme. The third movement consists of a set of six continuous variations on the polyphonic chanson Revecy venu du printans by Claude le Jeune (1528-1600). The last movement is a rondo (ABACADA).

Symphony No. 1 is a three-movement work for orchestra. The movements have the following tempo indications: (I) Allegro ma non troppo, (II) Lento, and (III) Allegro giocoso. The composition is scored for 3 flutes (3rd flute interchangeable with piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet in B-flat, 2 bassoons, contra-bassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, percussion (timpani, snare drum, and triangle), and the usual complement of strings.

This thesis is a musical setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. It is scored for a soprano soloist, a four-part chorus (SATB), percussion requiring one player (orchestral bells, vibraphone, and chimes), piano, and pipe organ. The text is taken from the traditional Latin and its English translation, the Greek (in the case of "Kyrie eleison") and verse taken from scripture--John 1:1, John 1:5, and Revelation 1:17-18--as translated in the Revised Standard Version Bible. These verses are woven into the musical fabric of the Kyrie and the Gloria and are frequently overlayed with the text of the Mass itself. The text is treated freely with some cyclic treatment of textual and thematic material.

Alto Requiem is a requiem mass for contralto, chorus, and organ. Several unifying elements have been used throughout the composition. Most of the homophonic texture is limited to quartal and secundal structures. The melodic material is also predominantly quartal and secundal. Key relationships between and within movements are limited to related major and minor modes, modes a major or minor second apart, and modes a fourth apart. Further unity is achieved by emplying motives from the chants of the Roman Missa pro defunctis. These chants are used in the vocal lines as well as in the organ accompaniment.

"Music for Orchestra and Electronic Tape" is an attempt to combine the instruments of the symphony orchestra with electronic sounds which were pre-recorded on tape. The composition is divided into three sections, comprising a large ABA' form with an introduction and a coda. An electronic event occurs between each section.