Master of Music, Theater, and Dance / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. / David Littrell / This report provides detailed analyses of several orchestral works. Current orchestras have striven to rejuvenate their programs by balancing canonical literature with newer or less familiar works; such a practice has become especially important in an age when audiences are dwindling and orchestras are disbanding. The works included in this report follow that balanced blueprint, including staples such as Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 in E-flat Major (the “Drumroll”) and Berlioz’s “Hungarian March” from The Damnation of Faust to new orchestrations of 20th century works, such as Bryce Craig’s arrangement of the toccata from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, as well as works composed within the last six years, such as Casey Cangelosi’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra No. 2. Each work’s formal design is straightforward, and the technical skills required are not virtuosic. The chapters below explore each work from a historical, theoretical, and performance perspective.

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It is the purpose of this study to set forth facts, substantiated by investigation of authoritative sources, proving that all selections used on the concert program of a high school chorus should serve a permanently constructive purpose toward the musical growth of the students. The first part of the thesis concerns those elements which have to be taken into consideration in teaeching any high school music group These are: 1. The psychological make-up of the group in regard to age and physical development. 2. The psychological make-up of its audience. 3. The existing level of musical skill of the group as a whole. 4. The existing degree of aesthetic appreciation of the chorus and its audience. The latter part of the work specifies the aims in vocal instruction of the high school choral course. These include sight reading, breathing, tone, pitch, diction, phrasing, and interpretation. It also attempts to demonstrate how the preparation of a concert program serves to accomplish these aims. This involves a critical evaluation of each number on a proposed program in reference to the following points: 1. Psychological reception by the group and its audience. 2. Its contribution toward improved aesthetic discrimination on the part of singers and listeners. 3. The opportunity afforded for specific vocal and musical training.

This work aims to delve into the inner world of the composer Federico Mompou (1893-1987) with special focus on the artistic and philosophic concepts that make his aesthetic so unique within music history. Thereore, apart from biographical data, the connections between his music and ideas that belong to the existentialist and pantheist movements will be presented. Nevertheless, the ultimate objective of this project is the configuration of a piano solo recital program which, containing works from different periods and composers shows the essence of Mompou's inner world to the audience. For that, I have focused on the part of that world that is presented in what I have called his "mystic music" (pieces inspired by the imagination of the spiritual, religious or magic universe). The process of selection of the program is fully explained and justified in the thesis.