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More accurate and authentic performances of Sérgio Assad's (b. 1952) Aquarelle and his Fantasia Carioca can be obtained through insights provided by formal analysis of those pieces, study of the performing traditions of Brazilian traditional music, and the composer's reflections and comments. This document guides readers in recognizing the subtleties that characterize Assad's style and its Brazilian traditional music influences. A select group of styles has been chosen based on their relevance in Assad's work. Characterized by unique accent patterns and melodic/harmonic "clichés," the influences of each Brazilian music genre can be identified in specific measures of the two Assad's pieces included in this study. The correlation between measures and genres provides specific stylistic features that the performer can apply toward an authentic execution.

This monograph provides an in-depth examination of the background, musical, and performance issues related to Duke Ellington’s wordless melodies, as well as epigrammatic biographies of Ellington and three female vocalists whose voices he employed as instruments: Adelaide Hall, Kay Davis, and Alice Babs. As early as the twenties, Ellington innovatively used the voice as a wordless instrumental color—an idea he extended into both his secular and sacred works. His iconoclastic instrumentalization of the soprano voice in compositions such as “Creole Love Call”, “Minnehaha”, “Transblucency”, “On a Turquoise Cloud”, and “T.G.G.T.” merits consideration by scholars and performers alike; these artistically complex melodies offer valuable insights into Ellington’s organic and collaborative compositional process. Although Ellington’s wordless melodies for the soprano voice have fallen on the periphery of discussions on twentieth-century American music, perhaps out of sheer obscurity, the need for alternative teaching and performance materials gives rise to a host of topics for further study regarding these pieces. Assimilating Ellington’s programmatic and mood pieces for the instrumentalized soprano voice into the canon of chamber repertoire opens a new arena of scholarly and artistic endeavor for the trained singer. Therefore, central to this study are the following considerations: context, pedagogical challenges (range, tessitura, vowels, phrase length, etc.) nature of accompaniment and instrumentation, form, and the nature of Ellington’s vocal writing as it pertains to the wordless obbligato and concert works featuring the wordless voice including, “Minnehaha,” “Transblucency,” “On A Turquoise Cloud,” and “T.G.T.T.” aka “Too Good To Title.” This study evaluates Ellington’s technique of casting the wordless female voice in unique musical contexts via musical analysis, as well as pedagogical and interpretive assessments of selected Ellington pieces,. The resultant amalgam of musical identities, both instrumental and vocal, fostered creative polyphony and epitomized the coined “Ellington Effect.” The following analysis centers on a chronological survey of Ellington’s wordless melodies performed and recorded by Adelaide Hall, Kay Davis, and Alice Babs. The goal of this project is to present a study in historical context and significance, style, device, and pedagogical/performance considerations of those works that employ the flexibility, technique, and aural training of the studied singer with instrumental jazz idioms in a cross-genre context.

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The purpose of this study is to create a performer's guide for three separate pieces written by David Sampson. The first piece, Breakaway, is written for two trumpets and electronic accompaniment. The second piece is entitled Passage, and is written for muted flugelhorn and viola. The final piece for examination is the Sonata for trumpet entitled Triptych, a commission from the International Trumpet Guild in 1991. Although the number of compositions for trumpet has increased in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, guides for the performer regarding pieces with unique instrumentation and internationally commissioned works extremely limited. Included in this study is an examination of the specific challenges found in Breakaway, Passage, and Triptych, with detailed consideration regarding the methods with which to execute the unique performance elements of each composition. In addition, the information found in this study will expand the number of twentieth and twenty-first century trumpet works that have been investigated in a formal research capacity.