The harmony of Vaughan Williams defies classification in terms of traditional harmony alone, making use as it does at times, of structures of superposed fourths, so-called "added-note" chords, and random sonorities, as will appear. Therefore, the chords will be placed into two principal categories of usage, traditional and non-traditional.

Sinfonia Concertante is a name for an eighteenth-century composition as well as a name of an eighteenth-century instrumental form that was modeled after the earlier concerto grosso. It may be defined as a composition for two or more solo instruments with orchestral accompaniment and written in a style that admits the brilliant display of skill on the soloists' part. It is also thought that the form is nearer that of the symphony than that of the concerto. This thesis discusses the many different influences that resulted in the instrumental form of the sinfonia concertante as well as analyzes specific sinfonia concertanti of Bach, Haydn, Karl Stamitz, and Mozart.

O cinema é um meio de reprodução mecânica da imagem surgido no final do século XIX, na Europa, numa época em que a sociedade e a cultura experimentavam a chegada da modernidade. Sua presença corroborou para a crise da arte pictórica e seu mecanismo de apreensão da realidade foi apropriado pelos artistas das vanguardas de ruptura, em especial os dadaístas, que passaram a utilizar o filme experimental para refletirem e criticarem seu tempo. Muitos dos artistas envolvidos com as vanguardas voltaram-se para a realização de filmes que enfocavam a metrópole e suas contradições na vida e nos costumes de seus habitantes. Este trabalho pretende partir deste ponto, quando o cinema de vanguarda se torna uma ferramenta de documentação histórica e social, procurando, como objetivo, observar a presença da metrópole nos filmes autorais realizados no início do século XX, bem como a presença de seus habitantes, buscando compreender quais procedimentos estéticos e ideológicos permeiam tais obras a partir do uso inventivo da câmera, num momento em que o cinema demonstra clara diferenciação entre a mera narração de entretenimento, e a arte como crítica e reflexão. Neste trabalho serão analisados os filmes Rien que les heures (1926), de Alberto Cavalcanti; e Berlim, sinfonia da grande cidade (1928), de Walter Ruttmann, e comparados com as produções brasileiras São Paulo, a sinfonia da metrópole (1929), de Rudolf Rex Lustig e Adalberto Kemeny; e Fragmentos da vida (1929), de José Medina. A intenção é compreender suas realizações dentro da realidade social, poética e estética de seu tempo, observar a presença da figura do flâneur em contraponto com o homem-da-multidão, e estabelecer paralelos entre os filmes europeus e os brasileiros, aqui abordados. / The cinema is a means of mechanical reproduction of image emerged in the late nineteenth century in Europe, a time when society and culture experienced the arrival of modernity. Its presence corroborated to the crisis of pictorial art and its mechanism of apprehending reality was appropriated by artists of the vanguards of rupture, especially the Dadaists, who started using the experimental film to reflect and criticize their time. Many of the artists involved with the avant-garde turned to the production of films that focused on the metropolis and its contradictions in the life and habits of its inhabitants. This work intends to start from this point, when the avant-garde cinema becomes a tool of social and historical documentation, and seeks to observe the presence of the metropolis in films made in the early twentieth century, as well as the presence of its inhabitants, so to understand what aesthetic and ideological procedures permeate these inventive works, at a time when film shows clear differentiation between mere narration for entertainment, and art criticism and reflection. This reseach will analyze the films Rien que les heures (1926), by Alberto Cavalcanti; and Berlin, symphony of the great city (1928), by Walter Ruttmann, and will compare them with Brazilian productions São Paulo, sinfonia da metrópole (1929), by Rudolf Rex Lustig and Adalberto Kemeny; and Fragmentos da vida (1929), by José Medina. The intention is to understand their accomplishments within the social, aesthetic and poetic reality of their time, observe the presence of the figure of the flâneur as opposed to the manof- the-crowd, and draw parallels between European and Brazilian addressed movies here.

John Mackey’s Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band(2014) is a work of epic proportions and was the winner of the William D. Revelli Composition Contest of the National Band Association in 2015. Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Bandhas received much acclaim and many performances including a recording by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble in 2016. The purposes of this dissertation are 1) to provide historical information on the genesis of the work through interviews with its composer, John Mackey, and commissioning director, Jerry Junkin; 2) to provide an analysis of how the programmatic elements of Homer’s Odysseyinteract with the musical aspects of the work. The first chapter discusses biographical information essential to the understanding of John Mackey’s music. Chapter two includes information specific to the creation of Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band. Chapters three through five provide analytical information alongside programmatic information to provide a clear understanding of how the music and programmatic elements combine to create the work. Chapter six concludes the document with some performance suggestions for the conductor. An appendix of information including graphs of how dynamic range corresponds to programmatic elements and interviews with the composer, John Mackey, and the commissioner, Jerry Junkin, are also provided.

The primary purpose of this study is to provide a transcription for solo organ of Virgil Thomson's Symphony on a Hymn Tune. The study is two-fold: first, to explore the early life and career of Thomson with a focused view on how his organ and composition studies influenced the composition of Symphony on a Hymn Tune; and second, to present an original transcription of the work in a performing score for solo organ. In addition to the final score, the study provides an analytical overview along with a description of methodology used to create the transcription, and a discussion of issues encountered by the performing organist in playing the transcription. Discussions encompass organ registration, tempi, manual suggestions, articulation, phrase markings, and dynamic expression. Musical examples both from the author's transcription and Virgil Thomson's organ works are included as necessary. Two appendices are included. Appendix 1 presents the specifications for the Aeolian Skinner organ of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, on which the transcription was originally performed. Appendix 2 itemizes the registration lists used for the original performance of the organ transcription.

The Eastman Wind Ensemble is known as the pioneer ensemble of modern wind music in North America and abroad. Its founder and conductor, Frederick Fennell, was instrumental in facilitating the creation and performance of a large number of new works written for the specific instrumentation of the wind ensemble. Created in 1952, the EWE developed a new one-to-a-part instrumentation that could be varied based on the wishes of the composer. This change in instrumentation allowed for many more compositional choices when composing. The instrumentation was a dramatic shift from the densely populated ensembles that were standard in North America by 1952. The information on the EWE and Fennell is available at the Eastman School of Music’s Ruth Watanabe Archive. By comparing the repertory and instrumentation of the Eastman ensembles with other contemporary ensembles, Fennell’s revolutionary ideas are shown to be unique in the wind music community.

In the summer of 2008, over two days, my wife and I hiked the Maligne Range (Skyline) trail, situated in the Canadian Rockies near Jasper, Alberta. The 45-km trail begins in a pine forest at Maligne Lake but soon rises above the tree line. From there it winds its way across two successively higher mountain passes. In between lies a sprawling meadow speckled with colourful flowers and criss-crossed by glacial creeks. At the halfway point, the trail switchbacks steeply to the very top of the range, a vantage point that affords spectacular views in all directions. But a storm set in just as we reached the peak. Unwilling to serve as lightning rods, we broke out into a run, finding shelter only as the trail drops off quickly on the other side of the range. The breathtaking views, ruggedness and diversity of terrain, whistling marmots and sense of isolation all left a strong impression on me. I was especially delighted to realize that the very topographical contour of the trail provides a basic plan for a large-scale sonata-form structure, one that builds up in waves of tension, culminating in a fierce storm at the top: the development. In a similar vein, after the stormy material subsides (as in Beethoven’s Sixth), the descent, recalling the ascent, but now abridged and in reverse order, serves as varied recapitulation. The result is a one-movement symphony in the tradition of Sibelius’s Seventh and Barber’s First. Essentially tonal, the harmonic language is enriched with polytonal accents, modal alterations, complex chords and the colouristic usage of collections and twelve-tone techniques. Polymetre, multi-stranded canons, metric modulation and controlled aleatoric techniques enliven the rhythmic plane. The work’s structure is organic, developed out of limited yet contrasting thematic material, with all programmatic elements assuming abstract structural roles. The symphony’s bright orchestration and rhythmic vitality is indebted to composers of the modern Russian school; its emotional sweep and extremes, to Shostakovich; the scoring and harmonic content of certain dissonant chords, to Varèse; and its sense of drama and breadth, to Beethoven and Sibelius.

In the summer of 2008, over two days, my wife and I hiked the Maligne Range (Skyline) trail, situated in the Canadian Rockies near Jasper, Alberta. The 45-km trail begins in a pine forest at Maligne Lake but soon rises above the tree line. From there it winds its way across two successively higher mountain passes. In between lies a sprawling meadow speckled with colourful flowers and criss-crossed by glacial creeks. At the halfway point, the trail switchbacks steeply to the very top of the range, a vantage point that affords spectacular views in all directions. But a storm set in just as we reached the peak. Unwilling to serve as lightning rods, we broke out into a run, finding shelter only as the trail drops off quickly on the other side of the range. The breathtaking views, ruggedness and diversity of terrain, whistling marmots and sense of isolation all left a strong impression on me. I was especially delighted to realize that the very topographical contour of the trail provides a basic plan for a large-scale sonata-form structure, one that builds up in waves of tension, culminating in a fierce storm at the top: the development. In a similar vein, after the stormy material subsides (as in Beethoven’s Sixth), the descent, recalling the ascent, but now abridged and in reverse order, serves as varied recapitulation. The result is a one-movement symphony in the tradition of Sibelius’s Seventh and Barber’s First. Essentially tonal, the harmonic language is enriched with polytonal accents, modal alterations, complex chords and the colouristic usage of collections and twelve-tone techniques. Polymetre, multi-stranded canons, metric modulation and controlled aleatoric techniques enliven the rhythmic plane. The work’s structure is organic, developed out of limited yet contrasting thematic material, with all programmatic elements assuming abstract structural roles. The symphony’s bright orchestration and rhythmic vitality is indebted to composers of the modern Russian school; its emotional sweep and extremes, to Shostakovich; the scoring and harmonic content of certain dissonant chords, to Varèse; and its sense of drama and breadth, to Beethoven and Sibelius.

Multimedia performances, uniting music and interactive images, are a unique form of entertainment that has been explored by artists for centuries. This audio-visual combination has evolved from rudimentary devices generating visuals for single instruments to cutting-edge video image productions for musical groups of all sizes. Throughout this evolution, a common goal has been to create real-time, audio-responsive visuals that accentuate the sound and enhance the performance. This paper explains the creation of a project that produces real-time, audioresponsive and artist interactive visuals to accompany a live musical performance by a symphony orchestra. On April 23, 2006, this project was performed live with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. The artist, onstage during the performance, controlled the visual presentation through a user interactive, custom computer program. Using the power of current visualization technology, this digital program was written to manipulate and synchronize images to a musical work. This program uses pre-processed video footage chosen to reflect the energy of the music. The integration of the video imagery into the program became a reiterative testing process that allowed for important adjustments throughout the visual creation process. Other artists are encouraged to use this as a guideline for creating their own audio-visual projects exploring the union of visuals and music.

This is a support document for the composition entitled River of Memory, a 22- minute work for jazz band and symphony orchestra. In the introductory section, my approach to the form, orchestration and content of this piece is described, as are the challenges inherent to the process. Each step of bringing this piece to fruition is addressed, from its conception to the logistics of its performance. Detailed musical analysis forms the core of this document. This analysis provides an examination of the concepts and techniques manifest in this work, and a thorough exploration of the melodic, harmonic, and thematic material it contains. / text