Spanish composer María Teresa Prieto (1895-1982) belongs to a group of Spanish exiles who left their country for Mexico as a result of the Spanish Civil War. She arrived in Mexico in 1936 and developed her compositional career in there. Her first composition after her arrival in the new country was the song cycle Seis Melodías, a work that includes six songs with poetry by Ricardo de Alcázar, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Federico García Lorca, and María Teresa Prieto herself. This document analyzes each one of the songs, both musically and poetically, as well as the relationship between music and text. Seis Melodías' structural organization as a cycle is very particular, since Prieto organized the cycle in pairs—namely I and II, III and IV, and V and VI—each group with strong poetic and thematic unity. The songs belonging to this cycle, present the duality of being independent and dependent at the same time, given that each song stands by itself, but together they create a meta-narrative that progresses from hope to desolation, not as a political statement, but as a homage to, as well as a lament, for the Spanish land and freedom. The cyclical nature of this work is accomplished by Prieto through motivic unity, a clear harmonic plan, and poetic relationships between the songs.

This dissertation is a tonal modular work for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone solo voices and large orchestra (3343, 4331, Timp.+4, Hp., Pno., Strings) with an accompanying narrative. The text is drawn from eighteen of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s sonnets. This work consists of four interlocking song cycles, one for each solo voice, and two added songs for the combination of two or more of the solo voices. There are shared tonal and thematic relationships across the work as a whole as well as within and among the individual song cycles. The unique modular nature of the work allows for performance of the whole, but also allows for extracting the individual song cycles—or even individual sonnets from the work as free-standing pieces, complete in themselves. The modular nature of this work makes it attractive as a programming option for orchestras and choirs with featured guest soloists, and also as an addition to singers’ repertoires. Chapters 3–7 of the narrative address the songs in each individual module or cycle, thus providing a useful reference for a singer wishing to program one or more of the songs for her or his voice classification. The complete transposed orchestral score follows the conclusion of the narrative. This dissertation holds potentially helpful information for research on the topics of contemporary classical music, Indiana composers, and/or orchestral song cycles. / School of Music

Jack Heggie's 2011 song cycle Pieces of 9/11: Memories from Houston is a collection of six songs with texts by Gene Scheer. Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, it was premiered on September 11, 2011 at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX. Based on interviews with people from Houston by Gene Scheer, this cycle tells stories and experiences by those affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington DC, and those aboard United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Scheer's acclaimed storytelling in each song is beautifully set to varying styles of music composed by Heggie, with the familiar theme from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 woven throughout the cycle. This document is an in-depth look at the cycle to be used by vocal coaches and singers in their preparation and performance. The first introductory chapter is followed by a chapter detailing the song cycle from concept to fruition. The third chapter concentrates on the uses of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007. The fourth chapter discusses the six individual songs first by discussing the background of each text, then an analysis of the music, and concluding with the relevance to 9/11. Chapter 5 includes performance notes, gathered from interviews with Heggie, Scheer, and one of the girl sopranos, Ashley Traughber. Appendices include a timeline of events on 9/11, the three interviews, a chronology of Jake Heggie's vocal works to date, and the author's personal 9/11 story as I was just a few blocks away from the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Prelude -- 星 : 女高音獨唱、混聲合唱團及鋼琴 = Star Suite : for soprano solo, SATB choir and piano -- Temptation. / Prelude -- Xing : nü gao yin du chang, hun sheng he chang tuan ji gang qin = Star Suite : for soprano solo, SATB choir and piano -- Temptation. / 2nd works derived from five poems written by Prof. Yu Kuang-chung (余光中). / 2nd works derived from five poems written by Prof. Yu Kuang-chung (Yu Guangzhong). / Wong Nga Yin. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Librettos (2nd work) in Chinese with English translation ; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Table of Contents --- p.iii / Chapter 1. --- Prelude -for String Quartet --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- 《星》tar Suite --- p.20 / Chapter (I) --- "《送別》<Farewell> -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir and Piano" --- p.25 / Chapter (II) --- 《孤星》<The Lonesome Star> -for Soprano Solo and Piano --- p.32 / Chapter (III) --- "《新月和孤星、》<The New Moon and The Lonesome Star〉 -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir (Acappella)" --- p.36 / Chapter (IV) --- 《流星》<The Shooting Star> -for Soprano Solo and Piano --- p.41 / Chapter (V) --- "《對語》〈Diabgue〉 -for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir and Piano" --- p.46 / Chapter 3. --- Temptation -for Orchestra --- p.55 / Appendix Authorization E-mail of the Poems

Dead water : song cycle for tenor and piano -- Shan shui : for string quartet -- Kuang fu : for SSAAATTBB and yangqin -- If life is unknown : for wind quintet -- Symphony II : Marrison for chamber orchestra, male choir, erhu and zheng -- Jazzy illusion of a Chinaman : for clarinet/bass clarinet, piano/electric keyboard, electric guitar, drum set, cello and double bass -- Liao Zhai : Chinese strange tale for recorders , percussions, soprano, tenor and baritone -- A madman's diary : piano solo work. / Tam, Chin Fai. / Thesis (D.Mus.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 391-392). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong , [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; includes in Chinese.

Season Songs is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano (or tenor) and medium sized orchestra (a perfoming version for voice and piano is appended). There are four songs and an orchestral prelude. The poems are by various authors and provide the programmatic elements of the cycle in that each poem is set in a different season of the year and time of day: winter/morning, spring/afternoon, summer/evening, and autumn/night respectively. The title of the prelude sets it just before dawn. The music of the prelude and the last song is closely related both motivically and tonally, thus reinforcing the cyclical nature of the work. The accompanying commentary seeks to explain the compositional processes and aesthetic principles which guided the creation of Season Songs. The music explores nonfunctional tonality, in that means other than traditional tonic-dominant (i.e., V-I) relationships are sought by which to create a sense of forward propelled harmonic motion. This sense of harmonic "trajectory", in conjunction with appropriate rhythmic proportions, is held to be one of the most important factors contributing toward the sense of departure and return, tension and resolution in the music. The main means used toward this end is a four-note source cell which governs much of the harmonic and motivic activity in the work, from the most local level of leading motives of individual songs to the broadest level of key relationships among songs. The harmonic manifestation of the source cell promotes root movement by major thirds and minor seconds on the local as well as broad levels. Sonorities associated with traditional tonality, such as open fifths in the bass and major or minor triads, are common, although the contexts in which they are heard are usually non-traditional. The metric pulse is usually distinctly articulated and readily intelligible, although changes in metre are frequent in most of the songs. The text setting aspires to a directness of expression. The words will be intelligible in performance and the music reflects and magnifies the emotional content of the the text. While there are several levels on which the music can be appreciated, over-obscurity is avoided, as a rule, especially in the composition of the musical surface. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate