An examination of the musical style, compositional techniques and performance practice issues of American composer Thom Ritter George with special attention paid to his Quintet No. 4 written in 1986. The document also includes a short history of brass instruments in chamber music, history of the brass quintet in America, discussion of the role of the trumpet in the quintet, overview of the composers contributions to music and brass quintet in America, discussion of the role of the trumpet in the quintet, overview of the composers contributions to music and brass quintet, and background information on the composer.

Überarb. Diss. Univ. Halle-Wittenberg, 2007.

This thesis explores the design of a food service space in an historic building in Richmond, Virginia near the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. It is a result of retrofitting an awkward 1850s building by transforming it through the modern concept of a fast casual style restaurant, based in whole ingredients. The thesis is about the process of designing to rebalance the relationship between food and consumer in a modern era.

Operatic history is riddled with reform. Although at the discursive level all operatic reforms share similar motivations, their execution in practice yields extremely different results, each indicative of the time and place in which they occur. Despite their claims to pan-historical aesthetic truth and timeless ideals, operatic reforms are highly specific indicators of their generation's individual needs, desires, and fears. My dissertation explores what the mid-eighteenth-century reform, pioneered most famously by Gluck and Calzabigi, can tell us about opera and its composers, audiences and performers in Habsburg Vienna. I interpret both reformed and unreformed Italian opera seria in 1760s Vienna through four different but intersecting conceptual lenses: luxury and economics, political representation, theories of body and communication, and a performer's voice. Opera played an important role in a widespread debate over luxury that pervaded Western Europe, an issue that comprised not only changing economics but paradigmatic shifts in social behavior. In the field of medicine, new scientific observation began to transform the ways that people viewed emotion and communication, and the ways these were expressed in opera. The nature of sovereignty itself was slowly shifting from absolutist models, requiring both new modes of government and new operatic representation. Yet individual singer's voices, such as that of Gaetano Guadagni, still played a vital role in shaping composition and aesthetics. Vienna in the 1760s experienced a flowering of diverse approaches to the problem of opera by a network of performers and composers who blurred the lines between tradition and progress and make us rethink the meanings of reform.

Zugl.: Erlangen, Nürnberg, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Magisterarbeit

abstract: This research paper provides a revised version of viola alta compositions by Hermann Ritter. These original compositions, written for viola alta, were published between 1878 and 1900. Without further reprint, these works are largely unknown by this generation of violists. Yet, these works are precious examples of viola alta repertoire from the late nineteenth century. The viola alta was designed by Hermann Ritter with an instrumental length between 17 and 19 inches. Another version of this instrument was constructed with five strings, adding a high E-string. Higher pitches could then be played with relative ease in lower positions. Compositions for the viola alta often feature brilliant passages in the treble register and rarely showcase the sonority of the lower strings. Many of Ritter’s scores for the instrument are notated in the alto clef and contain numerous ledger lines. Due to the difficulty of reading the music and handling such a large instrument, the viola alta had a relatively short existence and its repertoire was soon forgotten. Hermann Ritter actively promoted the viola alta during the late nineteenth century. His compositions featured the range of the instrument and captured the emotion and character of the late Romantic era. Ritter contributed a wealth of repertoire for the viola alta to increase its significance and importance. For today’s violist, it represents a body of work from the nineteenth century, and adds to the repertoire many wonderful, short, character pieces. This document consists of a brief discussion of Hermann Ritter’s career and his contributions to the viola alta. Six of Ritter’s viola alta works are presented in order of difficulty with bowings and fingerings, along with a performer’s analysis and performance instructions. To aid ensemble issues, the revised version includes simplified piano parts. It is the author’s hope that this volume increases repertoire options for violists and becomes a valuable pedagogical resource. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2018

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