Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2005. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Apr. 26, 1999, Apr. 17, 2000, Apr. 18, 2002, and Oct. 25, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96).

abstract: The Concerto for Oboe and String by Ralph Vaughan Williams is often described as a pastoral work without any consideration for what makes that an accurate description. This paper outlines the connections to English folk song that create what are considered the pastoral qualities in the work. Vaughan Williams' relationship with English folk song, as collector and arranger, is well-documented, as is his advocacy for their use in compositions. By the time he wrote the Oboe Concerto at the end of his career, folk song elements had completely infused his compositional style. The Oboe Concerto shares many stylistic traits with English folk song. These stylistic elements: mode, melodic structure, form, and rhythm and meter are first analyzed in terms of English folk song, then how these features are utilized in the Oboe Concerto. Another connection to English folk song is in the manner of accompanying the Concerto. Vaughan Williams had firm opinions on how to accompany folk songs and wrote many sample accompaniments, which bear a marked resemblance to the accompaniment for the Oboe Concerto. The same is true for the accompaniment he wrote for a specifically folk song-inspired work, the Six Studies in English Folk Song for Violoncello and Pianoforte. Specific examples from both works are compared to the Concerto accompaniment. Finally, several motives and melodic figures found in folk songs included in the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, which was edited by Vaughan Williams, are also found in the Oboe Concerto. An understanding of the use of English folk song elements and specific quotes in the Oboe Concerto, as well as the folk song-style treatment in accompaniment provide concrete evidence of the pastoral quality prevalent in many works of Vaughan Williams. Not only can this support a well-informed and more rewarding performance of the Oboe Concerto, but the same analysis can be applied to many of his other works as well, in addition to the works of a generation of English composers whose style he influenced. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2013

Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka hur sång kan appliceras i övning och instudering. Genom att sjunga, spela på munstycke och slutligen spela utvalda passager ur Vaughan Willams tubakonsert sats 1 och 2, som är väl använd vid tubaprovspelningar, försökte jag överföra sångaspekter och kvaliteter på mitt tubaspel. Områden jag fokuserade på var klang, användning av olika vokaler och musikaliskt uttryck. För att kunna höra resultatet och eventuella skillnader spelade jag in mig själv. För att utöka min kunskap har jag läst om de fysiologiska aspekterna om sång och vokalljud, Arnold Jacobs metod “Song and Wind” och bakgrund kring Vaughan Williams och hans tubakonsert. Jag kom fram till att sång som instuderingsmetod ger mycket goda resultat främst musikaliskt. Det sätt och de vokaler som var lättast att sjunga på var inte alltid de som var bäst lämpade att använda i tubaspelet

The submission focuses on the performance of violin works that incorporate elements of folk music. It investigates some of the ways in which traditional folk melodies are utilised in violin repertoire and considers the implications for performance. It recognises that when performing music inspired by folk idioms the classical violinist often needs to adopt a different set of technical and musical objectives relevant to the cultural origin of the work. The submission takes the form of two CD recordings with a supporting exegesis. The exegesis discusses those aspects of the performances that stem from the cultural traditions to which the repertoire is related. Due to the broad nature of this topic my investigation was confined to selected works that stemmed from English and Hungarian traditional music. The exegesis examines the relevance of the research and the application of these discoveries in performance. The main focus is the incorporation of traditional Hungarian characteristics in the performance of Bartók’s Rhapsody No 2 for Violin and Piano, and Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op 7. Discussion then moves to Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and the differences required to recreate the sound of the traditional English fiddler. / Thesis (M.Mus.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 2007

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was one of the important English art song composers in the Twentieth century. His Ten Blake Songs for voice and oboe, composed in 1957, was commissioned for the documentary film The Vision of William Blake, which commemorated the bicentenary birth of the poet, William Blake (1757-1827). Ten poems were selected from Blake¡¦s Songs of Innocence and Experience as well as Notebook: Manuscripts by Williams, and were later collected, composed, and published in the name of Ten Blake Songs. In this song collection, Ralph Vaughan Williams used a variety of styles and composition techniques, which demonstrated his maturity and sophistication in composing English art songs in his later years. This study is consist of six parts, including the biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams, the characteristics of Vaughan Williams¡¦ art songs, the biography of William Blake, introduction of Songs of Innocence and Experience, the composition background of Ten Blake Songs, and the analysis as well as interpretation of these songs. Through analyzing these songs, the author wishes to explores the multiple approaches Ralph Vaughan Williams took in composing the music and enhancing the poetry written by the great eighteenth-century poet, William Blake, as well as to provide references for performers to further enhance the breadth and depth in their performance.

The brass band and wind band had similar repertoires in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with marches, dances, solos, and transcriptions written prominently for both ensembles. The repertoires diverged at the beginning of the twentieth century as brass band contests commissioned new and original works and international composers began writing serious works for wind band. In the 1970s, British composer Philip Sparke succeeded in writing music for both ensembles and subsequently began to create a shared repertoire, and other composers started contributing to this repertoire. As this repertoire has proliferated, much of it has become worthy of serious study. The purpose of the current study is to find shared scoring tendencies between three transcriptions: one written by the original composer; a second transcribed by a different composer; and a third transcribed by both the original composer and a different composer. The works selected were The Year of the Dragon by Philip Sparke (transcribed by the composer), Variations for Brass Band by Ralph Vaughan Williams (transcribed by Donald Hunsberger), and Call of the Cossacks by Peter Graham (transcribed by the composer and Mick Dowrick). There were several effective instrumentation choices the works shared, including woodwind prominence in solo and lyrical passages, double reeds substituting for small brass ensembles, and high woodwinds written one or more octaves above the original. Adapting these choices, the author created a transcription of Gypsy Dream, the second movement of Call of the Cossacks. Further, these commonalities can serve as guidelines for other transcribers to arrange brass band works for wind band and expand this shared repertoire.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was a strong advocate for adapting his compositions to suit the needs of various ensembles. He often arranged his choral compositions for several different voicings, allowing them to be performed by mixed, men’s, and women’s choruses. He also frequently offered reduced instrumentation accompaniment options to fit the personnel and budget restraints of these choirs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the male chorus transcription techniques used by Ralph Vaughan Williams in transcribing his composition for chorus and orchestra, Five Mystical Songs, from SATB to TTBB voicing. The culmination of this research is a modern day transcription of Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem for men’s chorus, brass septet, organ and percussion. This transcription adds to the men’s choral repertoire and increases the work’s accessibility for school and community choruses by creating a reduced accompaniment that maintains the flavor of the original orchestral instrumentation. / School of Music

An interpretive analysis of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Concerto for Bass Tuba which compares tempi, interpretation of the melodic line, ornamentation, dynamics, pitches, rhythms. phrasing and articulations as utilized by four prominent tuba performers. Performers selected to share their interpretations include Arnold Jacobs, Donald Little, Richard Nahatzki and Harvey Phillips. Little, Nahatzki and Phillips provided a copy of their solo parts with their personal markings. Jacobs gave permission to transcribe his interpretation from the recording he made with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Performers' biological information is included along with musical reviews of Concerto for Bass Tuba.

The purpose of this study is to examine three works for the unusual combination of violin and voice. Chamber music for violin and keyboard and violin and other instruments has been extant since the Baroque period. However, three English composers found a unique chamber grouping in the first decades of the twentieth century: Gustav Holst (1874-1934), Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) each wrote works for violin and voice. Holst's Four Songs for Voice and Violin, Op. 35 (1917), Vaughan Williams' Along the Field, Eight Housman Songs for Voice and Violin (1927, revised 1954), and Clarke's Three Old English Songs (1924) each utilize the combination of violin and voice. The violin in each is not relegated to accompaniment but is instead a true partner. This study will investigate these works. A history of each composition will be chronicled. An analytical discussion of formal organization and significant style features will include consideration of the musical structure, harmonic language, and the use of text in select movements of each work. Finally, performance suggestions pertaining to technical and artistic issues offer specific recommendations as an aid in performance preparation. In order to provide historical and musical context, a brief overview of Late Romantic and early Twentieth-Century chamber music with strings and voice will be given. This overview will help to illuminate the uniqueness of the pairing of violin and voice. Discovery of the works discussed here makes possible an expanded repertoire of good music for both violinists and vocalists. It is also hoped that through the performance of these works a spark might be set with composers to create more pieces for this most intimate of duos.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This document is comprised of research and analysis of the comprehensive examination of the graduate conducting recital of Luke D. Johnson. This recital was performed by the Lansing High School Wind Ensemble on February 24, 2008 at McCain Auditorium in Manhattan, KS, and again on February 25, 2008 at Lansing High School in Lansing, KS. The examined repertoire for these recitals includes Mother Earth by David Maslanka, English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughn Williams, Symphony #1 In Memoriam Dresden – 1945 by Daniel Bukvich, and Concertino for Solo Clarinet with Band Accompaniment by Carl Maria Von Weber, OP. 26. This document contains theoretical and historical analysis and outlines the methods of planning and preparing a graduate conducting recital according to the Blocher/Miles and Tracz formats.