Phylogenetics is a field primarily concerned with the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of present day species. Evolutionary history is often modeled by a phylogenetic tree, similar to a family tree. To recreate a phylogenetic tree from information about current species, one needs to make assumptions about the evolutionary process. These assumptions can range from full parametrised models of evolution to simple observations. This thesis looks at the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees under two different assumptions. The first, known as the ordinal assumption, has been previously studied and asserts that as species evolve, they become more dissimilar. The second, the convex assumption, has not previously been studied in this context and asserts that changes species go through to become dissimilar are progressively larger than the current differences between those species. This thesis presents an overview of mathematical results in tree reconstruction from dissimilarity maps (also known as distance matrices) and develops techniques for reasoning about the ordinal and convex assumptions. In particular, three main results are presented: a complete classification of phylogenetic trees with four leaves under the ordinal assumption; a partial classification of phylogenetic trees with four leaves under the convex assumption; and, an independent proof of a result on the relationship between ultrametrics and the ordinal assumption.

The central project of this dissertation concerns itself with the port city, a recurrent setting of the modernist novel. It also seeks to investigate what lies behind the fact that the setting of the port city often coexists with the telling of stories about a malleable or exchangeable self or personal identity. Beginning with an understanding of modernity as a destructive whirlwind, I proceed to trace the various literary modernists who have used the port city as a space that might let one gain some shelter--or even benefit--from that storm. This dissertation begins with the Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer before moving through Pound's translation of that poem and Melville's Moby-Dicky. It looks also at Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, James Joyce's Ulysses, and Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet as key examples of the modernist port city novel. These texts occupy a broad swath of chronology and their settings cover a wide area geography. When combined with the diverse national backgrounds of these authors, this range of time, place, and cultures intends to demonstrate both the pervasive nature of the crisis modernity provokes in our sense of identity and the persistent appeal of the port city as a space in which to grapple with this crisis.

The Master’s thesis Pavel Haas: Chamber Works with violin looks into his three string quartets in the context of this composer’s life. It evaluates Haas’s composing style and his visions, and generally takes it in the context of his era. The thesis is focused on his String Quartet Number One C Sharp Minor, String Quartet Number Two „From the Monkey Mountains,“ and String Quartet Number Three Op. 15. It consists of a brief history of its premieres, analysis and a special chapter about the difficulties of interpretation. The next chapter is about the comparison of recordings, which includes the first contemporary recording made by The Hawthorne String Quartet, the recording of Kocianovo kvarteto as a representative of traditional Czech chamber music school and the recordings of two Czech young generation quartets, Pavel Haas Quartet and Bennewitz Quartet. One of the chapters is focused on Pavel Haas’s Quartet, which is named after him.

Composed for the JACK Quartet during their Spring residency at BU during the week of Febuary 19-23, 2018. Recorded at the BU Concert Hall on Febuary 21, 2018. Composed between September 2016 - February 2018. duration: approx. 30 min. “ ccidentall , r’s finger touches Ch e’s, their feet, under the table, happen to against each other. W might be eng by the mean of these accidents; e might concentrate ph on these slight zones of contact and d l t in this fragm nt of inert finger or f , fet i tically, without concern for the re- sponse (like od——as t etym y of the word t lls us——the Fe does not reply). But in fact erthe is not pe e, he is in lov : h creates meaning, al ays and ev ry here, out of nothing, a it is meaning wh th ll im: is in crucible of meaning. Every contact, f r t lover, raises qu st on of n answer: the skin s asked to reply. “ Quand mon doigt par mégarde… ” (A squeeze of the hand——enormous documentation——a tiny gesture within the palm, a knee which doesn’t move away, an arm extended, as if quite naturally, along the back of a sofa and against which the other’s head gradu- ally comes to rest——this is the paradisiac realm of subtle and clandestine signs: a kind of festival not of the senses but of meaning.) ” Roland Barthes, A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments

A relação de Georg PhilippTelemann (1681-1767) com o gosto francês remonta ao início das atividades musicais do compositor, com ponto alto em sua viagem a Paris (1737), se estendendo até o final de sua vida. Esta pesquisa investiga as categorias de quartetos setecentistas a partir das definições de Scheibe (1740) e Quantz (1752), traçando o percurso dos gêneros e estilos nos quatuors de Telemann - com ênfase nos Nouveaux Quatuors (Paris, 1738). Este trabalho dá especial atenção ao estilo de conversação, ou diálogo - mencionado por Brossard (1708) e Mattheson (1739) - em contraste com os quartetos sonata em estilo contrapontístico anteriores. No que se refere ao estilo, caráter e função (delectare), o gênero de conversação encontra eco nos textos franceses setecentistas que tratam da arte da conversação galante em voga nos salões franceses no séc. XVIII. Propõe-se estudar mais profundamente os gêneros e estilos nos quartetos de Telemann, abordando desde seus primeiros, não publicados, a suas últimas coleções (publicadas em Hamburgo e em Paris), a fim de investigar como o compositor foi gradativamente desenvolvendo novas maneiras de compor a 4. / The relationship of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) with French taste goes back to the beginning of the composer\'s musical activities, with highlight on his trip to Paris (1737), to the end of his life. This research investigates the categories of eighteenth-century quartets starting from Scheibe (1740) and Quantz (1752) definitions, tracing the route of genres and styles in Telemann\'s quatuors - with emphasis to Nouveaux Quatuors (Paris, 1738). Special attention is given to the conversational style, or dialogue - mentioned by Brossard (1708) and Mattheson (1739) - in contrast to the previous quartet sonatas in contrapuntal style. With regard to the style, character and function (delectare), the conversation genre is echoed in eighteenth-century French texts dealing with art of gallant conversation in vogue in the French salons in XVIII century. It is proposed to study more deeply the genres and styles in Telemann\'s quatuors, analyzing from his first, unpublished, to the latest collections (published in Hamburg and Paris) in order to investigate how the composer was gradually developing new ways of composing for 4 voices.

abstract: This project includes composer biographies, program notes, performance guides, composer questionnaires, and recordings of five new and lesser known works for saxophone quartet. Three of the compositions are new pieces commissioned by Woody Chenoweth for the Midwest-based saxophone quartet, The Shredtet. The other two pieces include a newer work for saxophone quartet never recorded in its final version, as well as an unpublished arrangement of a progressive rock masterpiece. The members of The Shredtet include saxophonists Woody Chenoweth, Jonathan Brink, Samuel Lana, and Austin Atkinson. The principal component of this project is a recording of each work, featuring the author and The Shredtet. The first piece, Sax Quartet No. 2 (2018), was commissioned for The Shredtet and written by Frank Nawrot (b. 1989). The second piece, also commissioned for The Shredtet, was written by Dan Puccio (b. 1980) and titled, Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet (2018). The third original work for The Shredtet, Rhythm and Tone Study No. 3 (2018), was composed by Josh Bennett (b. 1982). The fourth piece, Fragments of a Narrative, was written by Ben Stevenson (b. 1979) in 2014 and revised in 2016, and was selected as runner-up in the Donald Sinta Quartet’s 2016 National Composition Competition. The final piece included in this project is a transcription and arrangement of Tarkus (1971), written by Keith Emerson (1944-2016) and Greg Lake (1947-2016) for the iconic progressive rock supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This unique and unpublished arrangement was crafted by Peter Ford (b. 1964) for Ohio-based saxophone quartet Sax 4th Avenue and first featured on the ensemble’s 1998 album, Delusions de Grandeur. These pieces were recorded in the E-Media Studios of the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, as well as A2 Audio Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio, in January and February of 2019. / Dissertation/Thesis / Saxophone Quartet No. 2 by Frank Nawrot / Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet by Dan Puccio - Mvt 1. All Together, Now / Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet by Dan Puccio - Mvt 2. Play Pretty / Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet by Dan Puccio - Mvt 3. A Minute Past Crazy / Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet by Dan Puccio - Mvt 4. Is This Funky? / Scherzos for Saxophone Quartet by Dan Puccio - Mvt 5. No, But This Is / Rhythm and Tone Study #3 by Josh Bennett / Fragments of A Narrative by Ben Stevenson - Mvt 1. Skittish / Fragments of A Narrative by Ben Stevenson - Mvt 2. Tense / Fragments of A Narrative by Ben Stevenson - Mvt 3. Rock Forever / Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Arranged by Pete Ford / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2019

Steve Reich’s music has had a profound effect on the contemporary percussionist’s repertoire. More recently, his Mallet Quartet (2009) has been one of the most performed works in the rising genre of mallet-keyboard quartets, which was featured in Third Coast Percussion’s 2017 Grammy-winning album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. With Mallet Quartet, Reich codified this type of ensemble into the contemporary repertoire of percussion as evidenced through current commissions in progress by groups such as Sō Percussion and Third Coast Percussion. The purpose of this document is to delineate the trajectory (past and present) of the mallet-keyboard quartet and highlight the most important compositional characteristics found within Mallet Quartet. These characteristics include the use of canonical augmentations, large-scale tonal shifts, rhythmic modification, and developing variation. After this analysis, this dissertation provides a performance guide to Mallet Quartet which specifically address the practicalities necessary for a successful performance. Topics such as the setup of instruments, mallet considerations, approaches to challenges in part-reading, and common ensemble issues are discussed.

In this thesis we present a novel algorithm, <I>HyperCleaning*</I>, for effectively inferring phylogenetic trees. The method is based on the quartet method paradigm and is guaranteed to recover the best supported edges of the underlying phylogeny based on the witness quartet set. This is performed efficiently using a collapsing mechanism that employs memory/time tradeoff to ensure no loss of information. This enables <I>HyperCleaning*</I> to solve the relaxed version of the Maximum-Quartet-Consistency problem feasibly, thus providing a valuable tool for inferring phylogenies using quartet based analysis.

In this thesis we present a novel algorithm, <I>HyperCleaning*</I>, for effectively inferring phylogenetic trees. The method is based on the quartet method paradigm and is guaranteed to recover the best supported edges of the underlying phylogeny based on the witness quartet set. This is performed efficiently using a collapsing mechanism that employs memory/time tradeoff to ensure no loss of information. This enables <I>HyperCleaning*</I> to solve the relaxed version of the Maximum-Quartet-Consistency problem feasibly, thus providing a valuable tool for inferring phylogenies using quartet based analysis.

The String quartet, a representative genre in the chamber music, was emerged in the Pre-Classical era, a period that the trio sonata was about at end of its development. The musical characteristics of the string quartets and trio sonatas were closely connected. The present study centers on the transitional stylistic features of the two genres in order to classify the initial stage for the development of the string quartet. This research focuses on the analysis of works of the trio sonata and the string quartet which were written during the transitional period. The thesis consists of three main chapters, in addition to the introduction and conclusion. Chapter one discusses the background of the string chamber music in Pre-Classical era. Chapter two describes the development of the trio sonata from 1720 to 1770. Chapter three concentrates on the musical characteristics of early development of the string quartets. The works of the trio sonata in mid-eighteenth century had already been characterized by the treble-dominated homophonic texture. In addition, the viola replaced the basso continuo and the chordal texture in the inner voices that led to the result in the change of the texture of trio sonata to the string quartet. The emergence of plentiful social occasions in Pre-Classical era required a large number of the chamber music. The string quartets were brought during this crucial moment. The composers at this stage tried a variety of tastes of styles and eventually, the mixed characteristics evolved into a natural, elegance, balanced, and symmetrical style and led the string quartet to its maturity.