<p> Scriabin&rsquo;s music is saturated with the mystical and heavily influenced by the psycho philosophical presence of his evolving thoughts throughout his life. Scriabin constructed his own self-mythology modeled on Romantic idealizations based on Nietzschean philosophy and Prometheon narrative. He combined this construction with his Symbolist aesthetics for total unity through mystical transcendence. The combining of these archetypes is seen in his <i>Fantasy in B Minor, Op. 28</i>. The <i>Fantasy</i> inhabits both psychological realities which manifests into different aesthetic characteristics. The presence of the more conservative nineteenth-century style alongside the Symbolist narrative elements are what make the <i>Fantasy</i> and elusive and transitory piece that represents the shifts occurring within Scriabin&rsquo;s psyche during the dawn of the twentieth-century. </p><p> The <i>Fantasy</i> has been neglected by scholars but was written merely three years before all his pieces became drenched in the mystical. I therefore propose from my own analysis of the piece and from the evidence of Scriabin&rsquo;s close associations to the Symbolist movement that the <i> Fantasy, Op. 28</i> is driven by Symbolist mythological undertones within the thematic narrative. Evidence will be provided from close friends and acquaintances of Scriabin, his own writings, exploration of Romantic and Symbolist aesthetics, and evidence provided by previous scholarship on Scriabin&rsquo;s theosophical beliefs.</p><p>

<p> The following dissertation combines reception history and technical analysis in a revisionist account of Russian orchestral music from 1850 to 1870. Through close readings of a wide range of reception materials, I recover little-known historical perspectives on this repertory, focusing particularly on ways in which Russian musicians engaged with transnational musical trends. These historical perspectives inform my analyses of compositions by Mikhail Glinka, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, and Anton Rubinstein. In these analyses, I elucidate formal, harmonic, and orchestrational features that nineteenth-century Russian listeners found notable, such as Balakirev's disintegrating recapitulations, Dargomyzhsky's ubiquitous augmented triads, and Glinka's timbrai crescendos. This analytical approach allows me to reimagine this repertory as a variegated network of musical works, where each new composition is a reaction to existing ones, to domestic reception, and to pan-European aesthetic currents.</p><p> Chapter 1, entitled "Glinka's Three Models of Instrumental Music," traces the organicist discourse surrounding Glinka's orchestral fantasias, links the origins of this discourse to the writings of Adolf Bernhard Marx, and articulates the musical features that distinguish the three fantasias. Chapter 2, "Formal Disintegration in Balakirev's Overtures," portrays Balakirev's attempts to distinguish himself from Glinka as well as from established formal conventions of the time, primarily through creative reinterpretations of formal strategies employed by Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, and Franz Liszt. Chapter 3, "Satire, </p><p>

<p>This thesis examines aesthetics, sonic characteristics, and performance practices of zydeco music as heard in south Louisiana today. The first chapter describes the roles of instruments in a zydeco band, focusing specifically on the importance of the kick drum and the snare drum. It also details the evolution of the modern zydeco sound and how certain instruments, their modifications, and their timbres came to characterize the style especially prevalent among a group of artists who play for zydeco trail rides. The second chapter examines the tempo of modern zydeco music through quantitative analysis of musical recordings. This chapter also elucidates the use of beat patterns and drumming techniques within the genre, providing evidence for a current preference for the boogaloo beat over the on-the-one and the double beats. The third chapter discusses sonic goals and values of the sound engineer in zydeco music in live performance. This chapter also includes analysis of the frequency spectrum profiles of live zydeco recordings which depict how sound reinforcement practices, instrument modifications, and playing techniques discussed in the thesis are manifested in these performances. Research methods employed for this thesis include interviews with zydeco musicians, empirical analysis of live musical recordings, and examination of spectrograms.

<p> Mozart&rsquo;s concert aria <i>Ch&rsquo;io mi scordi di te</i> K. 505 bridges the genres of piano concerto and opera seria aria by combining elements of sonata rondo, sonata concerto, and ritornello. Mozart&rsquo;s experimentation with Classical form emerging in the late eighteenth-century is characterized by unique transitions and retransitions, surprising modulations to secondary keys, and polarization of tonic and dominant tonalities. K. 505, a two-tempo rondo for soprano with piano obbligato, is the only one of its type in Mozart&rsquo;s oeuvre and shares many of the same ritornello form and dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra found in Mozart&rsquo;s piano concerti. Composed as a duet for himself, an accomplished pianist, and his close friend Nancy Storace, a highly regarded opera singer, as part of her farewell concert in Vienna, K. 505 highlights their virtuosic abilities celebrating artistic kinship. </p><p> After establishing the historic contexts for its composition, this study applies the theories and models developed by James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy (2006), Martha Feldman and Rosa Cafiero (1993), John Irving (2003), and Simon P. Keefe (2001) in order to analyze K. 505 as a work in a composite genre utilizing compositional techniques later associated with more conventional applications of sonata-form. K. 505 is one of several compositions rooted in Mozart&rsquo;s tonally adventurous <i>Idomeneo</i> (1781/1786). An analytical comparison of K. 505 with related works&mdash;the concert aria <i> Non piu tutto ascoltai&hellip;non temer amato bene</i> K. 490 for soprano and violin obbligato, a replacement aria in the revised <i>Idomeneo</i> (1786) and the Viennese piano concerto no. 25 in C Major K. 503 (1786) demonstrate how Mozart&rsquo;s syncretic genres played a part in the creation and expansion of the maturing conventions of sonata-form in the late eighteenth-century. </p><p>

Scholarship concerning the importance of understanding audiences and venues for music has developed a great deal over the last two decades. This thesis examines one element of this research: the importance of the venue as a space for culture. The Royal Albert Hall, a world-famous but little- understood venue, acts as case study for this text. Through a mixed-methods approach, this thesis seeks to answer four questions concerning the relationship between a public space and the events it hosts in the case of the RAH explicitly: What factors have affected the identity of the RAH as a public venue? How have these changed during the Hall's existence? How do these factors affect the events which the Hall hosts? Does a space affect what happens inside it? These questions will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of how a fixed cultural space can be repeatedly reshaped by multiple, often overlooked, factors as well as the extent to which these factors can affect the identity of a venue.

<p> American composer Jake Heggie wrote <i>Camille Claudel: Into the Fire</i> in 2012 for the Alexander String Quartet and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. As Heggie is known for his operas <i>Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick,</i> and most recently, <i>Great Scott,</i> it is not surprising that his seven-song cycle about this passionate female French sculptor is of operatic dramaturgical and musical quality. Due to the complexities and bias that surround Claudel&rsquo;s life story, and the relative novelty of Heggie&rsquo;s music within the art song genre, there is a lack of literature regarding the presentation of an authentic performance of this cycle. This project report concentrates on providing the singer with an interpretive framework based on how Heggie&rsquo;s musical influences and tendencies, along with Gene Scheer&rsquo;s historical, first person narrative, reflect Claudel&rsquo;s life, work, and fiery personality. Through a deeper understanding of Heggie&rsquo;s music in correspondence with Scheer&rsquo;s poetry, a singer can effectively embody the unparalleled passion, artistry, and voice of Camille Claudel.</p>

<p> The vocal jazz ensemble singing movement that began at Mt. Hood Community College (Gresham, Oregon) in 1967 reached the public schools of the Boise Valley, in Southwestern Idaho sometime in the early 1970&rsquo;s. The first generation of vocal jazz educators in the region were Jerry Vevig , Vern Swain, Moyle Brown and Lonnie Cline. In an effort to learn the new style, these four directors participated in the burgeoning vocal jazz scene occurring in the Western region of the United States. By the mid 1970&rsquo;s, vocal jazz ensemble education had become so prevalent in the Boise Valley region that the Jr. High School directors of the Boise Public School District were programming vocal jazz music and participating in many of the same vocal jazz events as their high school colleagues. These Junior High school directors included Bruce Walker, Catherine Gilck, Rich Lapp, Sue Hough, Paul Olson and Rob Newburn. The 1980&rsquo;s saw the second generation of prominent vocal jazz singing ensemble directors begin their tenures in the Boise Valley when Glenn Grant, Quinn, Van Paepeghem, Linda Schmidt, Ted Totorica, and Barb Oldenburg, continued the tradition of vocal jazz style singing and event participation that their predecessors had initiated throughout the remainder of the era investigated (inception&ndash;1990). In the study, each subjects experiences and education in vocal jazz ensemble singing is documented and specific techniques they employed when working with their vocal jazz ensembles are revealed. The literature used by each vocal jazz educator from the Boise valley (1970&ndash;1990) is also exposed, collated, and presented in the document for reference and use by future choral music educators.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to examine the social and historical foundations of the music education program in the Baldwin Park Unified School District in terms of personnel, organizational structure, performance activities, funding, and district support in order to gain an understanding of how the program has developed, sustained, and thrived despite significant challenges during the years 1950-2015. Whereas many school districts in California have elected to drastically reduce or cut funding to music programs, BPUSD has maintained a robust music program in the schools for more than 65 years. Demographic information indicates that the city of Baldwin Park, fifteen miles east of Los Angeles, is one of the lowest socio-economic regions in the state; this economic factor is among the challenges the district has faced throughout the years. </p><p> Data from this historical overview include interviews with former BPUSD music teachers and artifacts in the form of district personnel records, school yearbooks, concert programs, photos, newspaper clippings, and personal correspondence. Data also revealed there was strong leadership due to the administrative position of Music Coordinator held by Bob Greenwell from 1960 to 1986 and by Danny Wagner from 1986 to 2005. Under Greenwell&rsquo;s leadership, a graduated music program was implemented for grades four through 12 &ndash; a structured program having elements that are still recognizable today, more than 60 years later. Collegial interactions between music teachers provided an environment for all BPUSD students to have equal opportunities to quality musical training and experiences. Program elements such as traditional performance activities &ndash; concerts, parades, field shows, and evaluation festivals &ndash; are examined with a particular focus on the role and perceived value of competition. </p><p> The investigation into this musical tradition will be beneficial to music teachers, school administrators, students and parents alike, by providing an understanding of the social and historical influences. This study will serve to fill a gap in the comprehensive history of California public school music education, documenting the early historical events occurring in this district. It will contribute to the general field of knowledge of historical music education and will benefit the Baldwin Park Unified School District by conveying a detailed account of past music education activities and providing school leadership a strategic tool for future planning.</p><p>

<p> This study presents a detailed analytical examination of formal organization in Anton Bruckner&rsquo;s early instrumental slow movements: from the String Quartet, WAB 111, to the Third Symphony, WAB 103. It proposes an analytical methodology and conception of the formative process of musical works that seeks to 1) reappraise the development and idiosyncrasies of his slow movements&rsquo; form, and 2) turn the textual multiplicity often associated with Bruckner&rsquo;s large-scale works (a scholarly issue often referred to as the &ldquo;Bruckner Problem&rdquo;) into a Bruckner Potential.</p><p> In addressing traditional and innovative formal aspects of Bruckner&rsquo;s music, critics have tended to overemphasize one side or the other, consequentially portraying his handling of form as either whimsical or excessively schematic. By way of a reconstruction of Bruckner&rsquo;s early experiments with slow-movement form (1862&ndash;1873), this study argues that influential lines of criticism in the reception history of Bruckner&rsquo;s large-scale forms find little substantiation in the acoustical surface of Bruckner&rsquo;s music and its dialogic engagement with mid- and late-19th-century generic expectations. </p><p> Because the textual multiplicity often associated with Bruckner&rsquo;s works does not sit comfortably with traditional notions of authenticity and authorship, Bruckner scholarship has operated under aesthetic premises that fail to acknowledge textual multiplicity as a basic trait of his oeuvre. The present study circumvents this shortcoming by conceiving formal-expressive meaning in Bruckner&rsquo;s symphonies as growing out of a dual-dimensional dialogue comprising 1) an <i>outward dialogue,</i> characterized by the interplay between a given version of a Bruckner symphony and its implied genre (in this case, sonata form); and 2) an <i>inward dialogue,</i> characterized by the interplay among the various individualized realizations of a single Bruckner symphony. The analytical method is exemplified through a detailed consideration of each of the surviving realizations of the slow movement of Bruckner&rsquo;s Third Symphony, WAB 103.</p><p>

This dissertation examines certain dimensions of jazz rhetoric, performance, and organizational activity that occurred during the period of the Black Arts movement, the thrust of which corresponded to the larger goals and modes of expression of that phenomenon. The first chapter interrogates definitions of the Black Arts movement, and contextualizes the emergence of black consciousness themes arising in jazz in the 1960s and 1970s by considering the history of racial appeals and identity assertions in the music prior to this period. The second chapter documents the musical activities of the Black Arts era, identifying major tropes and analyzing and historicizing specific modes of carrying this Afrocentric message. The third chapter examines the rise of a generation of African American jazz critics, who sought to define the meaning of the music, and its relationship to black communities and the social and political movements engendering fundamental changes in the perception and practice of race in America. The fourth chapter engages the theme of African American community sponsorship of jazz. The relationship of jazz, and especially experimental jazz, to black communities has been considered largely a nil one. Focusing on the Black Experience in Sound concert series of The East, this chapter challenges the notion and presents evidence that many African Americans were quite invested in the music and its use as a nation-building tool. The conclusion briefly addresses organizational manifestations of self-determination in jazz, and makes an argument for a more expansive view of the Black Arts movement in assessing its achievements and lasting masterworks.