Symphony No. 1 "Concertante" is a work of approximately twenty-two minutes duration for chamber orchestra. The work is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling English horn), B-flat clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, F horn, trombone, tuba, percussion, harp, piano (doubling celesta), solo violin, solo viola, solo cello, solo double bass, and strings.The percussion battery, which is to be played by one performer, includes three timpani, vibraphone, orchestra bells, xylophone, chimes, suspended cymbal, bass drum, snare drum, and two triangles. One group of instruments, including the eight winds, percussion, and the four solo strings, is treated primarily in a soloistic manner although it also functions as a part of the ensemble. The remaining group, piano, harp, and strings, functions primarily as an accompanying group although it does get some soloistic treatment. The work is in four movements, each of which uses the traditional symphonic form. Movement I is in sonata-allegro form, movement II a simple ternary "song" form, movement III a scherzo and trio, and the final movement is a theme and variations. These traditional forms apply only to thematic use and development, however, for the tonal scheme is developed in a broader design which unfolds throughout the course of the four movements. All important melodic ideas are based on the same pitch set that serves as the basis for the tonal scheme.

Compositions include Sightings : for clarinet and marimba (ca. 14:00), Proboscis maximus : bass trombone solo (ca. 11:00), Pathways : for violin, ’cello and piano, Impulses : for marimba duet, and Gleaned from the wind : for chamber orchestra (ca. 13:00). / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / First, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th works reproduced from manuscripts. Includes performance notes for 1st and 2nd works. Includes composer’s graduation recital program. Vita. Accompanied by sound cassette of recital. / Graduate

Swallow, Egg, Chrysanthemum is a sixteen minute work for piano and orchestra. The title refers to symbols from Greek, Western and Asian cultures, with all of the symbols being associated with life, death, or resurrection. Over the course of the piece the interaction of the piano with the orchestra creates a metaphor for the journey of the human soul through the three states of existence. Each of the three contiguous movements carries the name of one of the symbols, whose physical aspects influence the internal form of the movement. In recognition of the conflict between an acceptance of life and death, and a belief in life, death and resurrection, the work contains coexisting two- and three- part forms. At the temporal level, “Swallow” is balanced by “Egg” and “Chrysanthemum”, and this balance is aided by a blurring of the boundary between the last two movements. The musical language of the work is based in part on the use of cyclical, diminishing permutations of pitch collections, which are themselves derived from a master pitch group. The permutations reduce the number of pitches in each collection, creating an apparent “zeroing in” on a single pitch or “tonic goal”. As a result, moving backwards or forwards through the reductive process can increase or decrease the musical tension of a particular passage, by altering the number of pitches present. Twelve harmonic areas are created using this technique, and over the course of the work each of them is touched upon, with certain ones being of greater importance. Foreshadowing has been used in the form of the work as a unifying device and is present at the micro and macro levels. The form of the Introduction can be mapped onto the first two movements, and onto the piece as a whole. In the last movement a process of postshadowing occurs, whereby earlier material is reinterpreted and transformed in a summation of the work. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Ring is a composition for orchestra (piccolo [doubling flute], two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contra-bassoon, four horns, four trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, three percussion parts [including glockenspiel, vibraphone, tubular bells, snare drum, toms, bass drum, suspended cymbal, drum kit, triangle, and gong], timpani, harp, piano, and standard strings) and spatially separated women's choir (SA right, SA left). This arrangement of media is intended to "ring" the audience with performers. At the notated tempo of two quarter-notes per second, the duration of the piece is exactly 17'40". The title of Ring comes from a poem of the same name written by the composer which is the principal text sung by the choir in the piece. The text of the poem is as follows: Wendy is a ring / A beginning and an end / Connected / The finest gold / Melted by touch / Cooled by breath / She fits my every finger / Without constraint / But permanent / Priceless, Precious, Beautiful / Alone / She clothes me. The poem and composition were written for, and dedicated to, the composer's wife. The ring metaphor ("ring" meaning cyclical, unending, complete) underlies many of the compositional choices in the work. Much of the surface of the music and its deeper structural elements are palindromes, which, because they end as they begin, have a circular nature. Also, the pitch structure of the piece involves the climactic completion of the "cycle" of the twelve available equal-tempered pitch classes. A further organizational element is the Fibonacci series, a mathematical construct which is used to determine small-scale rhythms and the duration of the larger sections of the work. These components, taken together, have resulted in a composition filled with variety and contrasts, which, nonetheless, is quite organically cohesive. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Musica para dos megainstrumentos y grupo de camara (Music for two Megainstruments and Chamber Ensemble) is a six-section piece written for two violins (treated as a megaviolin), two flutes (treated as a megaflute) and chamber ensemble. Both the form and the different tempi of the piece are determined by the interaction of the two mega-instruments and the ensemble. The piece is an original contribution in its concept and use of the megainstruments. A mega-instrument is composed by two single instruments of the same kind. The main function of the mega-instrument is that of expanding the technical possibilities of the individual instruments that constitute it, as well as creating new possibilities, while keeping, at the same time, the specific characteristics or "personality" of the original instruments. In the Primer ensamble and Segundo ensamble sections the two mega-instruments are incorporated into the ensemble and treated as four individual instruments. The basic pitch structure of the piece is represented by SC [014], which is further organized in a six-note scale that is a member of SC [014589]. The six-note scale (used in the piece as an unordered set) and its three available transpositions create a universe of four pitch regions with two different modulation levels to connect them. Pitch Regions are also used simultaneously in the piece. This procedure (that I have called a multi region) includes harmonic and/or melodic intervals that are not available within single pitch regions. The piece could be defined as atonal or without pitch centers. It is characterized by an interaction of the tempered system and the pitch continuum (microtones and glissandi). / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Ribbons of Visible Air is a work of about twenty minutes duration for soprano saxophone, violin, cello, piano, one percussion, and live digital sound processing. Though the work unfolds as one continuous movement, it is conceived as being in several sections, each lasting from approximately one to four minutes. The primary ideas behind the form of Ribbons of Visible Air originate in the concerto principle (with the saxophone in the role of soloist) and variation technique; these ideas influence not only the large-scale form, but also the organization of material in respect to the different instruments and the relationship of the ensemble as a whole to the electronic processing. This composition explores a number of harmonic techniques related to the harmonic series, as well as the rhythmic possibilities inherent in multiple levels of pulsation. Of particular relevance to this work is the incorporation of extended techniques of the soprano saxophone, especially the alteration of pitch and timbre through unorthodox fingering patterns. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Animations is a composition in six movements (Fish, Seals, Birds, Cats, Zebras, Snakes) for percussion and computer music on tape. One percussionist performs on various percussion instruments: two suspended cymbals, crotales, triangle, vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, three bongos, snare drum, field drum, large tom-tom, bass drum, kettle drum, temple blocks and vibraslap. The computer music on tape employs sampled sounds in a MIDI sequencing environment. The melodic and harmonic materials for the piece are derived from a matrix of twelve heptatonic scales. The individual movements are notated using both traditional and proportional notation systems. The score is 37 pages long with a twenty-two page analysis preceding the score. Animations is approximately nine minutes in duration.

Of Variegated Shadows is an original composition for wind ensemble. The purpose of the composition is to contribute a work to college level wind ensemble literature which employs established instrumental techniques and explores the various colors or timbres of the ensemble. The work is a single movement of approximately 15 - 20 minutes duration. It is divided into three continuous sections, each reflecting a different character or mood. A transition couples the first and second sections and a coda concludes the composition with a brief return of the opening section. Textures of the piece are transparent with an emphasis given to the blending of different colors in the ensemble. Instrumentation includes antique cymbals, vibraphone and tam-tam to add subtle shades of color. Thematic materials woven into the texture are linearly constructed as well as vertically layered and fragmented. There is no order or system in which pitches occur, although intervals used reflect the motivic structures in the work.

Death, as a subject, has been treated extensively throughout history, both in literature as well as in music. The focus of Memento mori is to portray the inevitability of death through music. The first part of the document is an essay exploring the topic of death, its inevitability, unpredictability and the fragility of life. This section also includes a number of examples of composer's whose works have influenced the composition of the piece. The title of the work is meant to reflect that death catches up with all of us and that humans no matter how invincible they feel at certain stages of life will, eventually, succumb to death. The second part of the document is the notated orchestral score. The work is for full orchestra and solo violoncello. It is in three acts that loosely resemble three stages of life; Youth followed by life in adulthood and finally death. The work is not programmatic and the piece's formal structure varies from a traditional concerto, for although comprised of three distinct acts, there are no pauses between them. The entire work is meant to be dark and morbid and the specter of death looms throughout the piece.

This thesis is the result of an examination conducted on the leadership abilities of elementary school children and whether or not an improvement can be made through teaching.