Joseph Turrin (b.1947) is a composer, orchestrator, conductor, pianist, and teacher whose wide-ranging activities have contributed greatly to many aspects of contemporary American musical life. His numerous ASCAP awards (1981-20050, as well as his many other awards, document his professional success. His many commissions by various orchestras around the world, bands, brass ensembles, soloists, theatre groups and film scores show his popularity. He is also in high demand as a pianist for orchestras, in theatre productions, in commercials and studio recordings as well as serving as personal accompanist for Jerome Hines, Phil Smith, Joseph Alessi and others. Mr. Turrin's compositions for trumpet and piano have been particularly popular among college and professional players as seen by their frequent performance in those venues as evidenced by the International Trumpet Guild's Trumpet and Brass Programs for the years 1995-2002. The three works selected for the present study include: Elegy for Trumpet and String Orchestra (1971, rev. 1993, piano reduction, 1993), Caprice for Trumpet and Piano (1972), and Intrada for Trumpet and Piano (1988). In this in-depth study, special attention is given to those characteristics which create unity of form, and those traits that seem to be idiomatic of Mr. Turrin's style of writing. A comparison of the three pieces allows for the extrapolation of common style traits, which include certain traditional fanfare-style motifs as well as jazz-style elements. Conclusions are drawn with detailed explanation of what I consider the appropriate application of the knowledge from the analyses to quality performances of the pieces studied. Careful instruction is given concerning the various aspects of performance style which are supported by the study done on each piece. Finally, an interview by internet with the composer answers some of the questions created by the analyses. Several of the composer's comments justify many of the conclusions drawn by this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc4927 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Taylor, Robert Louis |
| Contributors | Johnson, Keith, Phipps, Graham Howard, Holt, John, 1959- |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, Copyright, Taylor, Robert Louis, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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