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Title: Performing and Connecting through Space: An Analysis of Two Divergent Attempts at Audience Engagement.
Creator: Charity, Edward Malcolm Charles, Thomas, Shannon, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Jiménez, Alexander, Sung, Benjamin, Florida State University, College of Music, College of Music
Abstract/Description: This document investigates the potential connection that can be made between performer and audience by disrupting the normal order of performance. I have drawn from the disciplines of Theater and Psychology to find new ways to convey actively the interpretive visions that inform a concert to an audience, without relying on the more typical program note or pre-concert talk. Helping an audience stay interested and curious in the music’s meaning, for themselves and for the performer, is the...
Show moreThis document investigates the potential connection that can be made between performer and audience by disrupting the normal order of performance. I have drawn from the disciplines of Theater and Psychology to find new ways to convey actively the interpretive visions that inform a concert to an audience, without relying on the more typical program note or pre-concert talk. Helping an audience stay interested and curious in the music’s meaning, for themselves and for the performer, is the primary goal of the project. I have chosen two works to test these methods: Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and String Quartet No. 1 of György Ligeti. A separate recital is dedicated to each piece, and the way the connection is made with the audience remains distinct for each concert. The preliminary work and research that has gone into the planning of these two recitals is the first section of the writing regarding each performance (so that the reader has a first-hand view of exactly how the end-project was decided upon and achieved). The treatise also discusses the post-concert performer reaction, as well as an overview of each performance.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Su_Charity_fsu_0071E_14816
Format: Thesis

Title: Expressions of Integrity: Baroque Flute Players Reflect on Early Music.
Creator: Clapper, Laura M., Amsler, Eva, Clary, Richard, Ohlsson, Eric Paul, Keesecker, Jeff, Eyerly, Sarah, Florida State University, College of Music, College of Music
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this treatise is to reframe the concept of "being authentic" as "expressing integrity," both in the context of early music performance and as a way to discuss the personal expression of the self. The culture of the early music movement in the twentieth century provides an interesting case study for understanding how a modern notion of authenticity impacted the beliefs, value system, and identity of early music's invested groups and individuals. "Expressing integrity" is a new...
Show moreThe purpose of this treatise is to reframe the concept of "being authentic" as "expressing integrity," both in the context of early music performance and as a way to discuss the personal expression of the self. The culture of the early music movement in the twentieth century provides an interesting case study for understanding how a modern notion of authenticity impacted the beliefs, value system, and identity of early music's invested groups and individuals. "Expressing integrity" is a new semantic model that better represents the process of musical performance as well as the unique experience of the individual. While authenticity in early music implies an extra-personal and extra-musical set of standards that limits personal expression in the music-making process, "expressing integrity" values each unique interpretation and performance as only one facet of an individual's personal experience. In this way, "expressing integrity" as a concept is not limited to early music but is also applicable to other areas of performance and creative expression. This treatise strives to define authenticity, identify its limitations, and re-cite authenticity to the individual as an expression of integrity. More specifically, this project aims to highlight the experiences of Baroque flute players from different generations of the early music movement and to create empathy for the processes of becoming an early music specialist. Three Baroque flute players contributed to this project: Stephen Preston, Jed Wentz, and Sarah Paysnick. Each of these flutists began his/her career at different times, and their early music training took place in three different countries. The first half of this treatise defines the philosophical concepts of sincerity and authenticity in the context of twentieth-century modernist thought. This also includes unpacking the language and mindset regarding authenticity within the context of the early music movement, discussing the moral implications of the "Authenticity Debate," and describing the "authentic" performance-practice principles central to the early music revival. Expressing integrity emerges from an understanding of the objective and subjective dimensions in early music performance and aims to re-cite authenticity to the individual. The second half of this treatise presents the three interviews with the Baroque flutists as discrete chapters. The interviews represent individual expressions of integrity and are reflections of these Baroque flute players' experiences as early music professionals. Through the interview process, Preston, Wentz, and Paysnick share their insight and wisdom on topics relevant to the practice of early music while contemplating its future trajectory.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Su_Clapper_fsu_0071E_14607
Format: Thesis

Title: French Theosophy, Music, Art, and Reception.
Creator: McInall, Piper, Music
Abstract/Description: Working towards a larger-scale research venture regarding the Russian composer Alexsandr Skryabin, this project has focused on the creation and reception of theosophically influenced music and art in France. Theosophy, which directly translates to "God's wisdom" was the basis for the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, which widely popularized Theosophy and theosophical beliefs. Many composers and artists met and shared ideas through the Theosophical Society's salons, and they...
Show moreWorking towards a larger-scale research venture regarding the Russian composer Alexsandr Skryabin, this project has focused on the creation and reception of theosophically influenced music and art in France. Theosophy, which directly translates to "God's wisdom" was the basis for the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, which widely popularized Theosophy and theosophical beliefs. Many composers and artists met and shared ideas through the Theosophical Society's salons, and they incorporated theosophical influences into their art and music. In addition to researching the embodiment of theosophical ideas through art and music, attention has also been devoted to the public's reception of these artistic expressions of theosophy. In preparation for further inquiry into Skryabin's music and beliefs, focus was geared towards his friends, contemporaries, and influences, including the Theosophical Society's presence in France during Skryabin's lifetime.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradsymposium2015-0022
Format: Citation

Title: A Systematic Examination of Music Listening Programming on Engagement/Behavior, Mood, and Cognition of Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Related Dementia (ADRD).
Creator: Stapleton, Geordan, Condon, Siera, College of Music
Abstract/Description: Dementia is a general term that is used to describe significant decline in mental ability strong enough to interfere with daily life. Dementia impacts a person's level of independence and overall quality of life. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that specifically causes an alteration in memory, cognition, and behavior. Music therapy involves the use of music to address emotional, cognitive, physical and social deficits. Music therapy, like other types of therapy, should be customized to...
Show moreDementia is a general term that is used to describe significant decline in mental ability strong enough to interfere with daily life. Dementia impacts a person's level of independence and overall quality of life. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that specifically causes an alteration in memory, cognition, and behavior. Music therapy involves the use of music to address emotional, cognitive, physical and social deficits. Music therapy, like other types of therapy, should be customized to target individual needs. Music therapy can include: listening to music, writing musical lyrics, playing of musical instruments, and even dancing to music. This study will explore the impact of music therapy on elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer's and Other Dementia Related Diseases. The study will specifically conclude which type of music therapy is most effective: pre-recorded music listened to through headphones, live music being played by an instrument, live background music, or clinical group music therapy session. This study will analyze responses to the various forms of therapy in respect to mood, engagement/behavior, and/or cognition.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_undergradsymposium2015-0026
Format: Citation

Title: The Yiddishekite Concerto (for violin and chamber/reduced orchestra).
Creator: Pittard, Mai Li
Date Issued: 2005-08-03
Identifier: FSDT160357_parent
Format: Set of related objects

Title: Acoustic analysis of the interaction of choral arrangements and microphone location.
Creator: Mustafa, Ashley J.
Date Issued: 2005-04-26
Identifier: 160821, FSDT160821, fsu:19092
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Music for Jews of today: identity construction in John Zorn's Radical Jewish Culture Series.
Creator: Brand, David Ross
Date Issued: 2007-07-13
Identifier: 160834, FSDT160834, fsu:19098
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Herbert L. Clarke and the journey of the American cornet.
Creator: Sandell, Dustin
Date Issued: 2004-12-29
Identifier: 160399, FSDT160399, fsu:18892
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A Study of Music Composed for and Dedicated to Bass Trombonist Ben Van Dijk.
Creator: Jennings, Brian Lindberg, Drew, John Robert, Clary, Richard, Ebbers, Paul D., Moore, Christopher, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: Ben Van Dijk is an active performer in The Netherlands in several professional ensembles, and is also on faculty at the Amsterdam Conservatory as one of seven classical trombone professors. The list of works composed for Ben has grown to more than twenty-five, and more are still being written. Recent years have witnessed Ben Van Dijk’s popularity growing through appearances at international venues, and this has continued to encourage the composition of music for him. A helpful method of...
Show moreBen Van Dijk is an active performer in The Netherlands in several professional ensembles, and is also on faculty at the Amsterdam Conservatory as one of seven classical trombone professors. The list of works composed for Ben has grown to more than twenty-five, and more are still being written. Recent years have witnessed Ben Van Dijk’s popularity growing through appearances at international venues, and this has continued to encourage the composition of music for him. A helpful method of expounding further on the repertoire composed for Ben is through the medium of lecture recitals. The research for these recitals was conducted primarily through email and telephone conversations with the composers and Ben Van Dijk, and yielded circumstantial and anecdotal information regarding the pieces of music. The composers’ and Ben’s websites were also helpful resources in learning about their lives and careers. The result of this research was two public lecture recitals. The first gave an overview of every work that had been written for Van Dijk at the time, and the second recital focused on just one piece of music, Canticles for Bass Trombone.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Jennings_fsu_0071E_14054
Format: Thesis

Title: It's like I've Walked Right out of My Dreams: Dream Ballets in the Broadway Musical.
Creator: Perez, Natalia Alexis, Brewer, Charles E. (Charles Everett), Bakan, Michael B., Buchler, Michael Howard, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: This thesis analyzes selected dream ballets, examining their appearances and investigating how they were used throughout their existence, offering a new perspective on an often-neglected dramatic device of American music theater. Each chapter analyzes the dream ballet from a different interrelated perspective: (1) as a transformative, liminal stage in the course of plot through which the main character(s) undergo some rite of passage (e.g., a “coming of age” ritual); (2) as a device of...
Show moreThis thesis analyzes selected dream ballets, examining their appearances and investigating how they were used throughout their existence, offering a new perspective on an often-neglected dramatic device of American music theater. Each chapter analyzes the dream ballet from a different interrelated perspective: (1) as a transformative, liminal stage in the course of plot through which the main character(s) undergo some rite of passage (e.g., a “coming of age” ritual); (2) as a device of theatrical artifice rather than an engine of dramatic action; and (3) as a vehicle of political agency. My study analyzes four iconic examples: the dream ballet sequences of Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), West Side Story (1957), and Billy Elliot the Musical (London, 2005). A relatively unexamined field in academic discourse, the dream ballet has rarely been the focus of scholarly investigation. Many of the secondary sources I use in this paper are either studies of the genre generally or of specific productions or biographies on significant figures of my research. My primary sources are housed in archival manuscript collections at the New York Library for the Performing Arts or the Library of Congress, where I conducted my research the summer of 2016. I integrate such sources with theoretical approaches derived from psychology, cultural anthropology, gender studies, and other fields—Sigmund Freud’s classic formulations in The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), Victor Turner’s anthropological concept of liminality, and Ellen Koskoff’s work on performing gender—to move beyond the specific case studies toward a broader musicological consideration of the dream ballet as a dramatic device. Through this approach, I bring the dream ballet to the fore of musicological thought, revealing new insights into the musical, cultural, and performative dimensions of music theater.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Perez_fsu_0071N_14097
Format: Thesis

Title: Interpreting Hard Bop: Topics, Narrative, and Subjectivity.
Creator: Thompson, Daniel J., Jones, Evan Allan, Von Glahn, Denise, Kraus, Joseph Charles, Clendinning, Jane Piper, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: This dissertation engages with scholarship in musical semiotics and hermeneutics to offer insight into the aesthetics of hard bop (c. 1954–65), a jazz genre often characterized as a return to jazz’s roots. By synthesizing the semiotic perspectives of Raymond Monelle, Danuta Mirka, and Stephen Rumph on the notion of musical topics (style references), I posit a generalized model of topical signification that is sound regardless of stylistic context. From this theoretical stance, I infer three...
Show moreThis dissertation engages with scholarship in musical semiotics and hermeneutics to offer insight into the aesthetics of hard bop (c. 1954–65), a jazz genre often characterized as a return to jazz’s roots. By synthesizing the semiotic perspectives of Raymond Monelle, Danuta Mirka, and Stephen Rumph on the notion of musical topics (style references), I posit a generalized model of topical signification that is sound regardless of stylistic context. From this theoretical stance, I infer three categories of topics in hard bop: vernacular topics, nostalgic topics, and exotic topics. This study culminates with a reading of the 1963 Jazz Messengers recording of Wayne Shorter’s “One by One” (Ugetsu: Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers at Birdland) that questions the narrative temptations that topics may elicit. This reading draws on Lawrence Kramer’s notion of “narrativity”—a meaningful teleological impulse (e.g., a power struggle)—but does not espouse any master narrative or plot. Instead, my eclectic interpretation draws on the philosophical and psychoanalytic writings of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Slavoj Žižek to establish a network of associative meanings.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Thompson_fsu_0071E_13847
Format: Thesis

Title: A Piano Sonata and 24 Preludes for Piano Old Forms in the New Context.
Creator: Gorbunova, Tatiana, Gainsford, Read, Callender, Clifton, Kalhous, David, Dumlavwalla, Diana, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: The treatise consists of two sections. The first section focuses on 24 Preludes for Piano by Lera Auerbach. This large-scale composition is among her most significant works. It continues the tradition of cycles of twenty-four preludes for piano written in all major and minor keys. This paper discusses the history of the genre of a prelude and analyzes Auerbach’s harmonic language, polystylism, motivic connections and pedaling. The second section of the treatise is about the Ninth Piano Sonata...
Show moreThe treatise consists of two sections. The first section focuses on 24 Preludes for Piano by Lera Auerbach. This large-scale composition is among her most significant works. It continues the tradition of cycles of twenty-four preludes for piano written in all major and minor keys. This paper discusses the history of the genre of a prelude and analyzes Auerbach’s harmonic language, polystylism, motivic connections and pedaling. The second section of the treatise is about the Ninth Piano Sonata by Boris Tishchenko. He is a well-known composer in Russia but his music is not very often performed in the United States. The paper introduces the composer, focuses on the analysis of the texture, use of counterpoint, motivic connections, harmonic language and traditional and non-traditional treatment of the sonata form in this composition.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Gorbunova_fsu_0071E_13837
Format: Thesis

Title: The History, Development, and Performance of Extended Techniques on the Bassoon with Special Focus on Philippe Hersant's Hopi and Kalevi Aho's Solo V.
Creator: Reynolds, Ryan R. (Ryan Raymond), Keesecker, Jeff, Clary, Richard, Ohlsson, Eric Paul, Williams, Heidi Louise, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: The ability to learn and execute extended techniques is not universal among bassoonists, yet the concept of extending technique in general has been fundamental to the development and evolution of the bassoon over the centuries. Many of the techniques that are considered nontraditional and extended in today’s modern bassoon repertoire will most likely be considered commonplace in the future as many of the historical examples explored in this treatise are now. As there is no writing to date on...
Show moreThe ability to learn and execute extended techniques is not universal among bassoonists, yet the concept of extending technique in general has been fundamental to the development and evolution of the bassoon over the centuries. Many of the techniques that are considered nontraditional and extended in today’s modern bassoon repertoire will most likely be considered commonplace in the future as many of the historical examples explored in this treatise are now. As there is no writing to date on the history and development of extended techniques for bassoon, it is the goal of this treatise to explore the relationship between compositional demand, instrument design, and the historical trajectory towards what today’s bassoonists consider to be extended techniques. Additionally, this treatise will provide concrete performance instructions for the extended techniques found in two twentieth-century works: Philippe Hersant’s Hopi and Kalevi Aho’s Solo V. The advice given for these techniques offers bassoonists a set of tools that can be transplanted into many contemporary works and more that will be written in the future.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Reynolds_fsu_0071E_13930
Format: Thesis

Title: Schenkerian Approach to Discovering Expressive Ideas for the Trombone Repertoire.
Creator: Ellis, David, Drew, John Robert, Kraus, Joseph Charles, Moore, Christopher, Stebleton, Michelle, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: This treatise is an adaptation of a series of two lecture recitals given on the use of Schenkerian methods in discovering expressive ideas for performance. The first lecture recital used examples from the repertoire of German lieder, while the second lecture recital focused on adapting the process for trombone solo repertoire not limited to the common practice period. Examples include “Auf dem Flusse,” “Einsamkeit,” and “Letzte Hoffnung” from Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, the third song from...
Show moreThis treatise is an adaptation of a series of two lecture recitals given on the use of Schenkerian methods in discovering expressive ideas for performance. The first lecture recital used examples from the repertoire of German lieder, while the second lecture recital focused on adapting the process for trombone solo repertoire not limited to the common practice period. Examples include “Auf dem Flusse,” “Einsamkeit,” and “Letzte Hoffnung” from Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, the third song from Johannes Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, the final song from Ludwig van Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Romance by Carl Maria von Weber, Cavatine by Camille Saint-Saëns, and the second movement from Jacques Castérède’s Sonatine for Trombone and Piano.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Ellis_fsu_0071E_13871
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Single-Session Music Therapy on Pain, Discomfort, and Anxety in In-Patient Hospice Patients.
Creator: Busé, Jonathan Payne, Gooding, Lori F. (Lori Fogus), Standley, Jayne M., Geringer, John M., Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of single-session music therapy on pain, discomfort, and anxiety in in-patient hospice patients. Participants were adults (N=24) receiving hospice care at an in-patient hospice unit. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: experimental (single-session music therapy) and no contact control. Music therapy sessions consisted of Iso principle or music-based life review. The control group received standard care, with no...
Show moreThe purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of single-session music therapy on pain, discomfort, and anxiety in in-patient hospice patients. Participants were adults (N=24) receiving hospice care at an in-patient hospice unit. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: experimental (single-session music therapy) and no contact control. Music therapy sessions consisted of Iso principle or music-based life review. The control group received standard care, with no additional services provided. Physiological measures of heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation level were taken pre- and post-intervention in the music therapy group, and before and after 20 minutes in the control group. Objective nonverbal indicators of pain were also taken during the study-related sessions. Three repeated-measures ANOVAs found no significant differences between groups on physiological measures. Behavioral observations were examined graphically, with trend lines added. While not statistically significant, the music therapy group tended to have more positive responses than the control group. Limitations, implications, and need for future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Buse_fsu_0071N_14089
Format: Thesis

Title: Phrase Structure, Hypermeter, and Closure in Popular Music.
Creator: Robins, Jeremy M. (Jeremy Michael), Clendinning, Jane Piper, Holzman, Bruce, Buchler, Michael Howard, Richards, Mark C., Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: Phrases in common-practice music are traditionally defined by harmonic processes, particularly goal-directed progressions to tonic. In popular music, however, harmonic motion toward a tonic is not always present, making traditional approaches to phrase segmentation problematic. The goal of this dissertation is to provide a systematic methodology for addressing phrase segmentation and closure in popular music, particularly in the absence of goal-directed harmonic motion. Additionally, I aim...
Show morePhrases in common-practice music are traditionally defined by harmonic processes, particularly goal-directed progressions to tonic. In popular music, however, harmonic motion toward a tonic is not always present, making traditional approaches to phrase segmentation problematic. The goal of this dissertation is to provide a systematic methodology for addressing phrase segmentation and closure in popular music, particularly in the absence of goal-directed harmonic motion. Additionally, I aim for simplicity of application and consistency of results. Because contemporary popular music is heavily focused on vocal melodies and lyrics, it is important to use a methodology that privileges melodic activity in classifying formal structures. My methodology for phrase segmentation is based on patterns of melodic repetition, particularly in reference to recurring quadruple hypermeter. With a consistent method for segmenting phrases, cadences can be identified and classified, allowing for comparison of closure in popular songs. This research aims to engage the musical syntax of popular music on its own terms while drawing on the rich resource of common-practice analytical methodologies. There are many theoretical concepts and terms that carry into popular practice such as periods, sentences, and cadences; however, the transfer is not always exact, resulting in some concepts that are loosened or expanded, such as allowing subdominant (IV) and subtonic (bVII) harmonies to support half cadences. New categories of phrase structure and cadences are also necessary to accurately describe popular music, specifically rotated phrases, rotated subphrases, and submediant cadences, none of which have established analogues in common-practice scholarship. In rotated phrases and subphrases, lyrical content is displaced from melodic repetition, creating formal ambiguity. Submediant cadences occur as part of the submediant double-tonic complex (DTC), where tonal fluidity is created between relative major and minor keys. Songs featuring the submediant DTC fluctuate between the major and minor rotations of a single diatonic collection, allowing cadences that articulate the major and minor modes simultaneously. This dissertation represents the first step of a longer process of studying, classifying, and presenting the musical syntax of popular music. The methodology has the potential to address the wide spectrum of popular music, and I trust that it will be a useful tool for scholars working in the field of popular music scholarship.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Robins_fsu_0071E_13817
Format: Thesis

Title: Ian Bousfield: A Life in Trombone Performance and Teaching.
Creator: Schaefer, Kyle M., Drew, John Robert, Gaber, Brian, Moore, Christopher, Anderson, Leon, Florida State University, College of Music
Abstract/Description: Ian Bousfield is considered one of the preeminent trombonists in the world. There are numerous truncated biographies highlighting his achievements. However, there has not been a significantly-detailed biography, written on his behalf, that also includes his teaching and his recent work with equipment manufacturers. This document will detail Bousfield's life in four chapters. It will begin with his early life and lead into his time with the Hallé Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and...
Show moreIan Bousfield is considered one of the preeminent trombonists in the world. There are numerous truncated biographies highlighting his achievements. However, there has not been a significantly-detailed biography, written on his behalf, that also includes his teaching and his recent work with equipment manufacturers. This document will detail Bousfield's life in four chapters. It will begin with his early life and lead into his time with the Hallé Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. His teaching will be separated into two sections, institutions and pedagogy; the first of which will highlight his relationship with four institutions where he is on faculty, and the second will discuss his pedagogical beliefs. The third chapter will illuminate his relationship with trombone and mouthpiece manufacturers, and the final chapter will allow Bousfield to reflect on his career. Ian Bousfield finished his orchestral career in 2012. His playing career lasted over thirty years and has been well documented through ample recordings; specifically, with the London Symphony Orchestra and their work on film soundtracks. He has been teaching full-time since he ended his orchestral career, and his students are some of the most successful trombonists through their posts in orchestras and academic institutions throughout the world.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Schaefer_fsu_0071E_13747
Format: Thesis

Title: The Language of Baroque Opera: Topic, Structure, and Characterization in Handel's Italian-Language Operas.
Creator: Decker, Gregory J. (Gregory John), Shaftel, Matthew, Mathes, James, Kraus, Joseph, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Few authors even mention the works, and those who do tend to make comments about them only in passing or assume that they are inherently not dramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. It is possible, however, to reveal relationships between music and drama if the analysis of these operas is approached in a way that acknowledges the aesthetic...
Show moreWith few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Few authors even mention the works, and those who do tend to make comments about them only in passing or assume that they are inherently not dramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. It is possible, however, to reveal relationships between music and drama if the analysis of these operas is approached in a way that acknowledges the aesthetic principles that influenced their composition. The purpose of this dissertation, then, is to examine the relationship between music and drama in Baroque opera seria; I study arias from George Frideric Handel's operatic works as case studies. In chapter one, I set forth the methodology for the analyses, contextualizing my work within the bounds of musical semiotics, musical topic theory, the structural analysis of Baroque music, and opera analysis in general. The groundwork for systematic stylistic interpretation laid by Robert Hatten and Raymond Monelle's investigations into the origins of musical topics and their cultural associations are crucial in my own attempts to reconstruct stylistic competence for the Baroque opera seria; subsequently, Matthew Shaftel's methodology for opera analysis coupled with Joseph Kerman's understanding of the interaction between music and drama in opera provide the means for forming these interpretations. Initial substantiation for my stylistic claims comprises chapter two. I investigate many possible musical topics at work in the Baroque era. I provide historical and modern evidence for their existence, the affects they might project, and the stylistic level with which they are likely associated. In many cases, I compare instrumental compositions by Handel with known dance or other stylistic characteristics with arias that share these attributes. I also discuss the implications for stylistic level of hypermetric and harmonic structure (after Channan Willner) and the use of "topical reversal"—one way, I posit, a Baroque composer might have manipulated topical material and associations. I put the results of the investigations in chapter two into practice in the following two chapters. Chapter three is an in-depth exploration of the arias of Cleopatra in Handel's opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724), their interaction with dramatic elements, and the possible resulting effect on her characterization. Chapter four serves the same function for the character of Grimoaldo in Handel's opera Rodelinda, Regina de'Longobardi (1725). In the final chapter of this dissertation, I suggest the implications for further research in this vein, and I provide a topical interpretation of an aria by J.S. Bach.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0731
Format: Thesis

Title: Gustav Mahler, Alfred Roller, and the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk: Tristan and Affinities Between the Arts at the Vienna Court Opera.
Creator: Thursby, Stephen Carlton, Van Glahn, Denise, Weingarden, Lauren, Seaton, Douglass, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Gustav Mahler's music has been extensively studied and discussed in both scholarly and popular circles, especially since the middle of the past century. His conducting and directorial activity, however, deserves greater attention. The 1903 Vienna Court Opera production of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" was a landmark in opera history because of Mahler's masterful conducting and Secession artist Alfred Roller's vibrant costumes, sets, and lighting design. Roller helped to move the Court...
Show moreGustav Mahler's music has been extensively studied and discussed in both scholarly and popular circles, especially since the middle of the past century. His conducting and directorial activity, however, deserves greater attention. The 1903 Vienna Court Opera production of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" was a landmark in opera history because of Mahler's masterful conducting and Secession artist Alfred Roller's vibrant costumes, sets, and lighting design. Roller helped to move the Court Opera away from overly naturalistic and museum-like stage sets and costumes towards greater stylization and abstraction. The dissertation situates this collaborative project within fin-de-siecle debates about the nature of the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk, which today is generally misinterpreted as a multimedia spectacle in which all production elements are conceived organically. Previous studies of this production explored the technical achievements of Mahler and Roller and surveyed the critical response in Vienna. More work remains to be done in examining the deeper cultural significance of the Mahler-Roller "Tristan" and differing contemporary views on the proper balance of aural and visual stimuli in the Gesamtkunstwerk. This study demonstrates the degree to which Mahler participated in a long tradition of addressing the proper sphere of the arts in the theatrical spectacle through his work with Roller in Vienna. Their partnership also anticipated the spirit of cooperation and mutual encouragement that characterized the work of influential troupes such as the Ballets Russes and Ballets Suedois, both of which represented the "modern" in the twenty years after Mahler's death. The spirit of the Mahler-Roller production of "Tristan und Isolde" can also be detected in Wieland Wagner's bold postwar productions at Bayreuth. Through his work with Roller, Mahler served as a link between naturalistic Romantic stage practice, epitomized by many nineteenth-century Wagner productions, and the more symbolic style of twentieth-century directors such as Wieland Wagner.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1439
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of a Music Therapy Intergenerational Program on Children and Older Adults' Intergenerational Interactions, Cross-Age Attitudes, and Older Adults' Psychosocial Well-Being.
Creator: Belgrave, Melita Jean, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Vinton, Linda, Madsen, Clifford, Standley, Jayne M., Geringer, John, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of participation in an intergenerational music therapy program on cross-age interactions and cross-age attitudes of elementary-age children and older adults. A secondary purpose was to examine the effect of participation in an intergenerational music therapy program on older adults' psychosocial well-being. Older adults and elementary-age children served as participants (N = 47). Twenty-one children in the 4th grade volunteered to...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine the effect of participation in an intergenerational music therapy program on cross-age interactions and cross-age attitudes of elementary-age children and older adults. A secondary purpose was to examine the effect of participation in an intergenerational music therapy program on older adults' psychosocial well-being. Older adults and elementary-age children served as participants (N = 47). Twenty-one children in the 4th grade volunteered to participate in the experimental (n = 12) or control (n = 9) group. Twenty-six older adults from a retirement living facility also volunteered to participate in the experimental (n = 14) or control (n = 12) group. Ten 30-minute music therapy sessions occurred over 15 weeks at the retirement facility during which participants engaged in singing, structured conversation, moving to music, and instrument playing interventions. The dependent variables in this study were: types and frequency of cross-age interactions, children's attitudes towards older adults, older adults' attitudes towards children, and older adults' psychosocial well-being. All sessions were videotaped for the purposes of analysis and coding of participants' cross-age interactions. Data analysis of cross-age interactions revealed that the interventions "structured conversation" and "moving to music" were more effective in eliciting children's and older adults' interaction behaviors than the interventions "singing" and "instrument playing." Both child and older adult participants exhibited the interaction behaviors "looks at older adult/child," "smiles," and "initiates conversation with older adult/child" more frequently than the behaviors "encourages older adult/child" or "assists older adult/child." Standardized measures revealed that children's attitudes towards older adults improved, though not significantly so, after participation in the intergenerational program. Results of biweekly post-session questionnaires revealed a decrease in negative descriptions of older adults and an increase in positive descriptions of older adults—suggesting a more positive view towards aging. Results revealed that older adults' attitudes towards children improved significantly after their participation in the intergenerational program. Improvements were found for three of four attitudinal dimensions, indicating that older adults perceived children to be more "positive," "mature," and "good" after participating in the intergenerational program. Data analysis of the psychosocial well-being measures revealed that older adults did not perceive a significant improvement in their generativity or sense of self-worth after participation in the intergenerational program. Although pre-posttest results on standardized measures of well-being were not significantly different, older adults' mean scores on the generativity and self-worth measures increased after participation in the intergenerational program. The results of other measures indicated that older adult participants' enjoyed the intervention sessions, and that they perceived personal benefits from their interactions with the child participants. Over the course of the intergenerational program, participants also perceived increased feelings of usefulness. Suggestions for future research, the utility of varied measurement instruments, and implications for music therapy practice are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1303
Format: Thesis

Title: A Study of Three Choral Pedagogues and Their Use of Movement in the Choral Rehearsal.
Creator: Benson, Jeffrey S. (Jeffrey Scott), Fenton, Kevin, Shaftel, Matthew, Thomas, André J., Bowers, Judy, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Janet Galván, Therees Hibbard and Sandra Snow are well-known choral pedagogues who have made significant contributions to the field of choral music and movement through their research and conducting engagements. They regularly incorporate movement into their rehearsals. Through their use of movement and their research, each of these conductors has developed a movement-based approach to the choral rehearsal. The purpose of this study was to document each conductor's use of bodily movement in...
Show moreJanet Galván, Therees Hibbard and Sandra Snow are well-known choral pedagogues who have made significant contributions to the field of choral music and movement through their research and conducting engagements. They regularly incorporate movement into their rehearsals. Through their use of movement and their research, each of these conductors has developed a movement-based approach to the choral rehearsal. The purpose of this study was to document each conductor's use of bodily movement in the choral rehearsal and provide a history of each conductor's contributions to the field of movement in the choral rehearsal. This study determined: (1) each conductor's philosophical basis for using movement in rehearsal; (2) the movement-based activities that each conductor used in order to improve the choral ensemble; (3) why each conductor uses movement; (4) how effective the conductors perceive movement to be and how effective their students perceive movement to be; and (5) specific gestures used by all three conductors and how they could be codified. Galván, Hibbard and Snow engaged their singers in a whole-body approach to the music-making process. Movement allowed the conductors to quickly connect the singers to their bodies and to the musical ideas they were presenting. Movement was one rehearsal technique that each conductor used to affect the choral ensemble and the individual singers in a positive way. While it was not the only technique that any of these conductors used, movement was an efficient and effective rehearsal tool. Students singing in each of Galván, Hibbard and Snow's choirs perceived movement to be an effective rehearsal technique that improved their individual sound and the sound of the ensemble. Students had a greater understanding of the music and its relationship to style and culture, due in part to the fact that they had moved in rehearsal. Students agreed that movement engaged them in the music-making process, connected them to the music and to one another, and improved the overall sound of the ensemble.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1344
Format: Thesis

Title: A Survey of Selected Saxophone Excerpts from Wind Band Literature of the Past Twenty-Five Years.
Creator: Bergeron, Jonathan D., Meighan, Patrick, Bish, Deborah, Mathes, James, Clary, Richard, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Performance opportunities for saxophonists in military bands, university bands, and community bands are widespread and ever-expanding. Studying saxophone excerpts from wind band repertoire can be a beneficial supplement to the traditional saxophone curriculum in applied music programs. Previous research on this topic addressed saxophone excerpts from wind band literature prior to 1984. Therefore, there is a need for information about recent works and excerpts that reveal the creative ways...
Show morePerformance opportunities for saxophonists in military bands, university bands, and community bands are widespread and ever-expanding. Studying saxophone excerpts from wind band repertoire can be a beneficial supplement to the traditional saxophone curriculum in applied music programs. Previous research on this topic addressed saxophone excerpts from wind band literature prior to 1984. Therefore, there is a need for information about recent works and excerpts that reveal the creative ways composers are now writing for the saxophone within its increasingly important role in wind band literature. This treatise focuses on select saxophone excerpts from wind band literature of the past twenty-five years. The compositions included in this document were chosen by surveying band directors and military band saxophonists. In the survey, the musicians were asked to recommend the best band literature from the past twenty-five years that includes significant saxophone excerpts. The criteria used in the selection process for each work included the artistic merit of the composition, the breadth of performances of the piece, and whether the piece warrants repeat performances. Each chapter includes information about the composer and each piece surveyed, noteworthy saxophone excerpt(s) within each piece, and the author's performance comments on the excerpts. In addition, interviews with the composers provide valuable information about each work, their thoughts on the saxophone within the wind band, and their comments on the specific excerpts.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1366
Format: Thesis

Title: Rehearsal Techniques Used to Build Choral Tone by Four Expert Collegiate Choral Conductors Across Settings.
Creator: Babb, Sandra L., Bowers, Judy, Delp, Roy, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Geringer, John, Thomas, André J., College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Rehearsals of four outstanding choral conductors were examined to isolate techniques used and time spent in developing choral tone. Participants included four collegiate choral conductors who have been identified as experts in the field of choral music as evidenced by national and international acclaim. Video data were collected over the course of two semesters in three distinct settings: a state level honor choir, a collegiate choir, and a community choir. Two hours of unscripted rehearsals...
Show moreRehearsals of four outstanding choral conductors were examined to isolate techniques used and time spent in developing choral tone. Participants included four collegiate choral conductors who have been identified as experts in the field of choral music as evidenced by national and international acclaim. Video data were collected over the course of two semesters in three distinct settings: a state level honor choir, a collegiate choir, and a community choir. Two hours of unscripted rehearsals in each setting were recorded, and video footage was edited into five-minute rehearsal segments. Observed rehearsal behaviors were coded into three categories of tone building technique: verbal, nonverbal and vocal model. Video data were analyzed using SCRIBE observation software (Duke & Stammen, 2007) and time spent in each technique was recorded. Additional analysis garnered frequencies of verbal and vocal model types, i.e., technical or figurative language and exemplar or non-exemplar models. Findings indicated significant differences in time spent developing tone between settings as well as between verbal and vocal model types. While Conductors B and C had no statistical differences between time spent in each setting, Conductor A had significant differences between all combinations of settings, and Conductor D had significant differences between the honor choir and community choir settings, as well as between the honor choir and the collegiate choir settings. Significant differences were also found between verbal types for Conductors B and C in the collegiate choir setting, and Conductor D in the community choir setting. No significant differences between vocal model types were found in Conductor A in the collegiate choir or Conductor D in the community choir. However, all other cases yielded significantly more exemplar vocal models. Recommendations for further research were made and implications for practicing choral music educators and teacher certification programs were discussed.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0834
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of a Single-Session Music Therapy Group Intervention for Grief Resolution on the Disenfranchised Grief of Hospice Workers.
Creator: Wlodarczyk, Natalie Marie, Standley, Jayne A., Madsen, Clifford, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Geringer, John, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a single-session music therapy group intervention on feelings of disenfranchised grief as experienced by hospice workers. A secondary purpose was to determine if a group of this type could have a significant positive effect on hospice workers' risk for compassion fatigue and their perception of their work environment one month after participation in the group. Participants in this study (N = 68) were hospice employees who experienced...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a single-session music therapy group intervention on feelings of disenfranchised grief as experienced by hospice workers. A secondary purpose was to determine if a group of this type could have a significant positive effect on hospice workers' risk for compassion fatigue and their perception of their work environment one month after participation in the group. Participants in this study (N = 68) were hospice employees who experienced direct patient contact as part of their job. This study used a pretest-posttest randomized control group design with a second posttest administered 30 days after initial data collection. Participants who attended an assigned experimental group (n = 34) completed pretest and posttest measures while participants who attended an assigned control group (n = 34) completed the posttest only. Participants who attended a randomly assigned experimental group participated in an hour-long music therapy group intervention designed for the grief resolution of hospice workers. The music therapy group intervention consisted of three sequential parts: active music making, a songwriting activity and discussion, and participation in a grief ritual. Results of the analysis for the primary dependent variable of grief resolution showed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups overall or for the three subscales of personal sacrifice burden, sadness and longing, and worry and felt isolation. There were also no significant differences between pretest and posttest for the experimental group for the overall measure of grief resolution, nor for the subscales of sadness and longing. However, there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest for the experimental group for the subscale of personal sacrifice burden, with feelings of burden lower after participation in the music therapy group. Results of the analysis for the secondary dependent variables of risk for burnout and compassion fatigue and perception of work environment showed no significant differences between experimental and control groups 30 days after the initial data collection. Additionally, the risk for burnout and compassion fatigue for this sample was found to be low overall. Results of a thematic analysis of participant-written songs for the experimental group revealed eleven recurring themes that pertained to both negative and positive aspects of hospice work. Results of the thematic analysis of participant-written messages to patients following three message prompts during the grief ritual component of the music therapy group revealed thirteen recurring themes overall. Participant-written messages to patients were 100% positive and conveyed a sense of gratitude that participants felt for being able to engage in meaningful work. A brief post-session questionnaire indicated that 97% of participants in the experimental group felt that the music therapy session had been helpful in resolving their grief feelings regarding patients' deaths and that 100% of participants in the experimental group would like to see a similar group continue to be offered at this hospice. Results of this study suggest that music therapy can be an effective intervention for reducing personal sacrifice burden felt by hospice workers. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0884
Format: Thesis

Title: Tone Quality Preferences in a Recorded Sample of a Child's Singing Voice.
Creator: Williams, Emily Dawn, Madsen, Clifford K., Fenton, Kevin, Bowers, Judy, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate listeners' tone quality preferences in a child's singing voice. Research questions were: a) Do musicians have expectations regarding the ideal tone quality for a child's voice? b) Will bright and dark manipulations change the listener's perception of the child's singing tone? Several experts in the field of children's choruses with over 22 years of experiences assessed a recorded sample of a child singing which was manipulated to produce enhanced...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate listeners' tone quality preferences in a child's singing voice. Research questions were: a) Do musicians have expectations regarding the ideal tone quality for a child's voice? b) Will bright and dark manipulations change the listener's perception of the child's singing tone? Several experts in the field of children's choruses with over 22 years of experiences assessed a recorded sample of a child singing which was manipulated to produce enhanced or reduced upper and lower partials thus creating darker and brighter tone qualities relative to the original recorded child voice. Random orders were used to present the original sample, dark sample, and bright versions to participants. Participants were randomly selected graduate and undergraduate music majors (N = 78). Raw data for the tonal preference measure consisted of individual's ratings for each version on a 5-point scale. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to test differences between the participants groups and the participants' perception of the three tone quality versions. Results showed no significant difference in ratings between participant groups (undergraduate vs. graduate). A significant difference was found among the tone quality conditions: Differences were found between the bright tone and the dark tone as well as the bright and original tone, but no difference was found between the dark tone and normal tone.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0940
Format: Thesis

Title: The Clarinet Compositions of Ruth Schonthal: A Performer's Guide.
Creator: Cox, Lauren J., Kowalsky, Frank, Kraus, Joseph, Bish, Deborah, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The composer Ruth Schonthal (1924-2006) taught at New York University since the late 1970s. Schonthal, born in Germany just before the rise of the Third Reich, was of Jewish descent, greatly impacting her education in the 1930s and 40s and leading her to study music in Stockholm and Mexico City as her family immigrated to safer locations during World War II. Schonthal graduated from Yale University, studying composition under Paul Hindemith. She composed seven works for clarinet, including...
Show moreThe composer Ruth Schonthal (1924-2006) taught at New York University since the late 1970s. Schonthal, born in Germany just before the rise of the Third Reich, was of Jewish descent, greatly impacting her education in the 1930s and 40s and leading her to study music in Stockholm and Mexico City as her family immigrated to safer locations during World War II. Schonthal graduated from Yale University, studying composition under Paul Hindemith. She composed seven works for clarinet, including professional level works with high technical and musical demands (written for Esther Lamneck on the NYU faculty) as well as educational pieces for advanced high school or early college students. Schonthal's harmonic language is neo-Romantic and her compositions are accessible to performers and audiences. This treatise discusses the context of her clarinet compositions, an analysis of the works, and the performance considerations. The seven works included are Sonata Concertante (clarinet and piano), Love Letters (clarinet and cello), Bells of Sarajevo (clarinet and prepared piano), Two Short Divertimenti (clarinet duet), Little Suite (clarinet duet), Tango for 2 (clarinet and cello), and Duo (clarinet and cello). Her clarinet compositions are valuable additions to the clarinet repertoire, both for performance and educational purposes, and are all currently published by Arsis Press and Furore Verlag.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3348
Format: Thesis

Title: The Poets of Duisburg: Risk and Hip-Hop Performance in a German Inner City.
Creator: Jackson, Margaret Ruth, Bakan, Michael B., Maier-Katkin, Birgit, Gunderson, Frank, Van Glahn, Denise, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation is a study of migrant youths in Duisburg, a city in the heart of Germany's industrial northern Rhine region. It draws together various threads of inquiry – an ethnographic study of the Duisburg-Bruckhausen hip-hop crew Poedra and the artists of Chillichilliwa Productions, debates regarding the primacy of an "exemplary" German culture, the social status and agency of migrant and post-migrant adolescents in a de-industrialized inner city, national German dialogues addressing...
Show moreThis dissertation is a study of migrant youths in Duisburg, a city in the heart of Germany's industrial northern Rhine region. It draws together various threads of inquiry – an ethnographic study of the Duisburg-Bruckhausen hip-hop crew Poedra and the artists of Chillichilliwa Productions, debates regarding the primacy of an "exemplary" German culture, the social status and agency of migrant and post-migrant adolescents in a de-industrialized inner city, national German dialogues addressing ethnic enclaves and ghettoization, and media assessments that place migrant youths at odds with a vulnerable German social order - in an effort to tease out the dynamic social and economic relations that define power among young people who inhabit a contemporary German inner city neighborhood. This study aims to understand how hip-hop, risk, performance, and "being Kanak" are interwoven. It takes as axiomatic the idea that hip-hop culture has played a significant role in shaping migrant behaviors, environmental perceptions, and ways of being in the world that are unique to Germany's urban communities yet maintain close aesthetic connections to hip-hop's traditional codes. Underlying the notion that hip-hop is a primary motivator of migrant and post-migrant agency is the broader question of why it has become such a pervasive cultural force among Germany's migrant populations. I believe the answer lies in an understanding of the ways risk is both perceived and manipulated throughout the ethnoscape and the mediascapes that are the primary terrains for hip-hop performativity. I theoretically place hip-hop practice among my informants within a broader cultural continuum that examines migrant youths and the musical cultures they celebrate and create through the lens of risk. Throughout Europe, violence, or threatened violence, is a constituent element of migrant life, one that shapes the ways migrants live and construct their communities in the countries that absorb them. At its core, risk is disruptive. It poses a threat to stability and weakens the roots of human relations. Within hip-hop, however, risk can also serve as a creative animus, playing a pivotal role in what Sara Thornton has dubbed "sub-cultural capital" (1996), defining behaviors, stances, and attitudes through with practitioners can gain social standing and approval among their peers.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3753
Format: Thesis

Title: Kubandwa: Theory and Historiography of Shared Expressive Culture in Interlacustrine East Africa.
Creator: Hoesing, Peter J., Gunderson, Frank, Bakan, Michael B., Hellweg, Joseph, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Spirit mediumship and spirit possession are fairly common practices in Sub-Saharan Africa, both in traditional religions and in Christian contexts. Interlacustrine East Africa has long been home to a set of religious practices called kubandwa. Drawing upon a combination of published and unpublished resources as well as new ethnographic fieldwork, this study posits the musical rituals of kubandwa secret societies as markers of broadly shared expressive culture. By comparing various travel...
Show moreSpirit mediumship and spirit possession are fairly common practices in Sub-Saharan Africa, both in traditional religions and in Christian contexts. Interlacustrine East Africa has long been home to a set of religious practices called kubandwa. Drawing upon a combination of published and unpublished resources as well as new ethnographic fieldwork, this study posits the musical rituals of kubandwa secret societies as markers of broadly shared expressive culture. By comparing various travel accounts, ethnographic descriptions, written historical narratives and oral histories, I argue that kubandwa religious rituals in the Interlacustrine region feature similar spirits, objects, music, expressive techniques and religious concepts. The cultural continuity apparent in rituals and expressive culture found throughout this region cannot be explored by focusing on a single language group or 'ethnic' group. The comparative nature of this study requires a focus on a broad geographic region with multiple related ethnic groups in order to unpack the intra-regional streams of influence apparent in Interlacustrine ritual music. Literature dealing with ritual history and practice, Interlacustrine organology, and Eastern Bantu linguistics does not always expose connections between ritual, music and language. In revealing such connections, this study addresses a major shortcoming of historical, anthropological and musicological literature on the region and promotes a more thorough understanding of recurring Interlacustrine cultural tropes.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3995
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of a Music Therapy-Based Social Skills Training Program on Social Competence in Children and Adolescents with Social Skills Deficits.
Creator: Gooding, Lori Fogus, Standley, Jayne M., Mazza, Nicholas, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Geringer, John, Madsen, Clifford, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Strong social skills are vital for successful functioning in life. Social skills enable individuals to interact appropriately with others and impact (a) academic success, (b) peer and family relationships, (c) employment and (d) extra-curricular/leisure activities. Research indicates that deficits in social functioning during childhood are linked to a variety of negative outcomes including: (a) substandard academic performance, (b) high incidences of school maladjustment, (c) expulsions and...
Show moreStrong social skills are vital for successful functioning in life. Social skills enable individuals to interact appropriately with others and impact (a) academic success, (b) peer and family relationships, (c) employment and (d) extra-curricular/leisure activities. Research indicates that deficits in social functioning during childhood are linked to a variety of negative outcomes including: (a) substandard academic performance, (b) high incidences of school maladjustment, (c) expulsions and/or suspensions from school, (d) high dropout rates, (e) high delinquency rates, (f) impaired social relationships, (g) high incidences of childhood psychopathology and (h) substance abuse. Research also suggests that the impact of impaired social functioning in childhood can be long lasting and contribute to (a) a lack of postsecondary education and training, (b) unemployment or underemployment, (c) unstable and unfulfilling personal lives and (d) adult mental health issues. At the same time, research also indicates that programs designed to improve social competence can positively impact an individual's social functioning. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the effect of a music therapy-based intervention program on improving social skills competence in children and adolescents with social skills deficits. Three separate studies were conducted in educational, residential and after-school care settings to test the effectiveness of a five session social skills training curriculum. Music-based interventions, which were primarily active in nature, were presented in a cognitive-behavioral group format. Specific deficits in the areas of peer relations and self-management skills were targeted. Interventions included a variety of techniques such as music performance, movement to music and improvisation. Data were collected from the participants, from appropriate adult personnel and via behavioral observations before, during and after music therapy intervention. Participants (n=12) in the first study were children aged 11-16 years in an educational setting. All participants were diagnosed with learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or Asperger's Syndrome. Participants in the second study (n=13) were children aged 8-17 years in a residential treatment program. These participants were victims of abuse and neglect and had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, ADHD and/or anxiety disorders. All participants were unable to function within the community. Participants (n=20) in the third study were children aged 6-11 years who attended an inner-city after-school care program. Participants for this study included a mixture of typically developing children and children with generalized social, conduct and/or behavioral deficits. The first study, which took place in an educational setting, used a one-group pretest-posttest design. The dependent variables were: (a) Teacher ratings of the participants' social functioning via a researcher-created social skills rating system, (b) Subject self-report ratings of social functioning using Likert-type ratings, (c) Researcher ratings of social functioning using Likert-type ratings and (d) Behavioral observations of on-task social behaviors in group sessions. Results indicated both a significant difference for subject self-ratings from the first to fifth sessions and a significant difference for researcher ratings from the first to fifth sessions. Additionally, significant increases were found in on-task behavior, while significant decreases were found in both on-task prompted behaviors and off-task behaviors. Teacher ratings of social functioning supported improved social competence but did not show significant improvement from pre to post treatment. The second study occurred at a private residential treatment program. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used at this site. Dependent measures included: (a) Subject self-reported social functioning using the Social Skills Assessment—Adolescents, (b) Subject peer-reported social status via an adapted sociometric scale, (c) Staff social competence ratings via the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales—Social Competence and Antisocial Subscales, and (d) Behavioral Observations of on-task social behaviors in group sessions. Results indicated a significant difference for the case manager's pre and post treatment ratings on the Antisocial Subscale of the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales; however, no significance was found for the Social Competence Subscale. A significant difference for the behavioral observations was also found. No significant differences were found for either of the subject measurements (Social Skills Assessment—Adolescent or the Sociometric Scale), but both measurements did support improvements across time. The third study occurred at an inner-city after-school care program. A pretest-posttest control group design was used for this study with participants randomly assigned to either the control or the experimental group. Social skills functioning in the after-school study was measured via: (a) Subject self-reported social functioning using the Social Skills Assessment—Elementary Age, (b) Staff Social Competence Ratings via the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales, (c) Behavior Scales —Social Competence and Antisocial Subscales and (d) Behavioral observations of on-task social behavior of the experimental group during treatment. Results indicated no significant differences for staff ratings of participants' social competence or antisocial behaviors pre and post music therapy intervention. However, a significant improvement from pre to post treatment in experimental subject self-ratings of social functioning was found, as well as a significant improvement in on-task behavior for the experimental group during music therapy sessions. Benefits of the music therapy-based social skills training program were found in all three settings, suggesting that the program was effective in combating impaired social functioning for children and adolescents with a wide range of deficits and/or disabilities. The fact that significant results were found in all three settings also suggests that the program may be applicable to a wide range of settings. Additionally, it appears that the active music therapy interventions used in a cognitive-behavioral group format were effective in combating social skill deficits. Finally, the fact that behavioral observations were consistently significant could indicate that observations of on-task social behaviors may be the most reliable way to evaluate social functioning. Based on these results, it appears the program has the potential to be an effective vehicle for addressing social skills deficits in children and adolescents.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4139
Format: Thesis

Title: A Practice Guide to Violin Concerti by Darius Milhaud, Hans Werner Henze and Arthur Bliss.
Creator: Cho, Min-Young, Stillwell, Corinne, Jones, Evan Allan, Sauer, Gregory, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The concerto for solo violin and orchestra is one of the most popular genres for violinists in the twentieth century violin repertoire. Originating in the Baroque period, the concerto developed in form, harmony, style and technique through the Classical and Romantic periods. The most well-known violin concerti written in the twentieth century are composed by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartók, Stravinsky, Khachaturian and Berg. In addition to these famous works, there are lesser-known twentieth...
Show moreThe concerto for solo violin and orchestra is one of the most popular genres for violinists in the twentieth century violin repertoire. Originating in the Baroque period, the concerto developed in form, harmony, style and technique through the Classical and Romantic periods. The most well-known violin concerti written in the twentieth century are composed by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartók, Stravinsky, Khachaturian and Berg. In addition to these famous works, there are lesser-known twentieth-century concerti for solo violin and orchestra by Darius Milhaud, Hans Werner Henze and Arthur Bliss, among others. Milhaud and Henze, both prolific composers overall, each composed three violin concerti. Bliss wrote only one. Among their works, Milhaud's Second Violin Concerto, Henze's First Violin Concerto and Bliss's Violin Concerto present formidable technical challenges to the violinist and are compared in this treatise in terms of the respective challenges each work presents. This treatise covers the composers' biographies, overviews of their violin concerti, and practice guides with technical suggestions and exercises intended to help the violin student execute each concerto. The main part of each chapter is the practice guide which addresses the main technical issues in each concerto. Recommendations are presented for various targeted practice materials, such as études, scales and pedagogical books by Auer, Galamian, Flesch, Courvoisier, Ševčík, Dont, Fiorillo, Fischer, Kreutzer and Rode. The treatise also compares some issues in the violin concerti by Saint-Saëns and Wieniawski, two examples from the standard violin repertoire with the techniques required in the three concerti discussed in this paper.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3787
Format: Thesis

Title: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century American Clarinetists.
Creator: Paddock, Tracey Lynn, Kowalsky, Frank, Clary, Richard, Bish, Deborah, Keesecker, Jeff, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century American Clarinetists is designed as a resource to provide information on the lives and careers of American clarinetists and pedagogues of note, active primarily between the years 1900 and 2000. In the case of this dictionary, the term "American" refers not only to those born in the United States, but also to select foreign-born clarinetists who either immigrated to the United States and spent a significant portion of their career in America, and...
Show moreA Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century American Clarinetists is designed as a resource to provide information on the lives and careers of American clarinetists and pedagogues of note, active primarily between the years 1900 and 2000. In the case of this dictionary, the term "American" refers not only to those born in the United States, but also to select foreign-born clarinetists who either immigrated to the United States and spent a significant portion of their career in America, and/or who made such a profound impact on the American clarinet tradition that they have been essentially "adopted" as American clarinetists. The focus of the dictionary is on classical clarinetists, but some entrants have been active in classical performance as well as "non-classical" styles of performance, such as jazz and Klezmer. Included in the dictionary are clarinetists who perform or have performed in A- or AA-rated orchestras (as rated and listed in Musical America: International Directory of the Performing Arts, 1998 edition), and/or teach or have taught at college-level music schools with 20 or more full-time music faculty (as listed in the CMS Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities, United States and Canada, examined between 1968-1998). Also included are clarinetists who may not appear in either of the above resources, but who have established themselves as American clarinetists of note through their careers as prominent soloists, chamber musicians, recording artists, etc. Through the entries themselves, the reader will find a snapshot of American clarinetistry during the confines of the twentieth century. By studying an entrant's teacher(s), often cross-referenced within the dictionary, a clarinetist examining the document can gather information not only on that entrant's clarinet ancestry, but by extension, their own clarinet lineage as well. A study of each entrant's list of students provides a window into the future of the American clarinet tradition. Lastly, the bibliography at the end of most entries will provide direction to those wishing to learn more about an entrant.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2389
Format: Thesis

Title: Seeds of Hope for Nay, Oud, and Orchestra.
Creator: Kima, Doron, Kubik, Ladislav, Gaber, Brian, Jones, Evan Allan, Wingate, Mark, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Seeds of Hope, written for nay (Middle Eastern flute), oud (Middle Eastern lute), and western orchestra, is an attempt at synthesizing two different musical traditions into a single cohesive work. The musical traditions that are consciously synthesized in Seeds of Hope are western classical and popular Arabic music, which is based on the Maqam system. Maqam (plural Maqamat) is widely known as a conceptual organizational framework just like as scales or modes in western music. Each of the...
Show moreSeeds of Hope, written for nay (Middle Eastern flute), oud (Middle Eastern lute), and western orchestra, is an attempt at synthesizing two different musical traditions into a single cohesive work. The musical traditions that are consciously synthesized in Seeds of Hope are western classical and popular Arabic music, which is based on the Maqam system. Maqam (plural Maqamat) is widely known as a conceptual organizational framework just like as scales or modes in western music. Each of the Maqamat is based on a theoretical scale, specific notes of emphasis, and a typical pattern of melodic movement. In many instances the Maqam begins around the tonic note of the scale, gradually ascends, and finally descends to the tonic. Unlike western music that is organized by half steps or half tones, most of the Maqamat include also quarter tones as part of their organizational structure. The modal conception and organization of melody is paralleled by a modal treatment of rhythm. In Arabic music, metric modes are employed in various metric compositions and are widely known by the name Iqa-at (singular Iqa). Influencing the nature of phrasing and the patterns of accentuation of a musical composition, these modes are rendered on percussion instruments. Each Iqa has a specific name and a pattern of beats ranging in number from two to twenty-four or more, and each consists of rests and beats distinguished by timbre. Seeds of Hope may be seen almost as a western concerto-type composition. However unlike the multiple-movement structure and the virtuosic writing for the soloists in western concertos, Seeds of Hope is written as one long movement and my goal was to write as simple as possible for the soloists in order to stay loyal to the tradition and character of the instruments. Also, unlike western concertos where the soloist should play the part exactly as written, the nay and the oud players are encouraged to embellish the lines according to their own tradition without changing durations in order to achieve as authentic sound as possible just as they would embellish their parts while playing in an Arabic music ensemble setting. The piece is based on the melody that occurs on rehearsal numbers A24 to A26, which is the culmination of the piece and is the only time that this melody is played explicitly from beginning to end. I worked my way toward this melody by leading to it through increasingly more explicit fragments of the melody. From the beginning and throughout the course of the composition I disguised fragments of the melody through Cellular rhythmic and melodic motivicism, which means small rhythmic and melodic fragments that could be varied and developed by using simple procedures of permutation such as, augmentation, diminution, extension and elision. The first recognizable fragment of the melody is played by the obo in the third measure of rehearsal number A10. The melody is an integration of different Maqamat and Iqa-at. The piece was genuinely written with seeds of hope for a better future in the Middle East.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3111
Format: Thesis

Title: A Comprehensive Case Study on the Ten Blake Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams: From "Infant Joy" to "London".
Creator: Cracchiolo, Margaret Anna, Ohlsson, Eric, Jones, Evan Allan, Amsler, Eva, Bish, Deborah, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The Ten Blake Songs helped to establish the unique ensemble combination of voice and oboe and has become a major staple in the chamber music repertoire for both oboists and singers. Vaughan Williams wrote the work in 1958—the last year of his life—for the documentary film The Vision of William Blake, written and directed by Guy Brenton. The film, which commemorated the bicentennial of Blake's birth, explores Blake's personal philosophy as expressed through his poetry and artwork. When Vaughan...
Show moreThe Ten Blake Songs helped to establish the unique ensemble combination of voice and oboe and has become a major staple in the chamber music repertoire for both oboists and singers. Vaughan Williams wrote the work in 1958—the last year of his life—for the documentary film The Vision of William Blake, written and directed by Guy Brenton. The film, which commemorated the bicentennial of Blake's birth, explores Blake's personal philosophy as expressed through his poetry and artwork. When Vaughan Williams added music to Blake's Illuminated poetry, almost two centuries after its creation, he broadened the scope of its artistic gesture. In addition, As Vaughan Williams wrote the piece for a film that presented the visionary art, poetry, and philosophy of Blake, the complete effort culminated in a kaleidoscope of artistic perspective. This treatise is a comprehensive case study of the first four songs from the Ten Blake Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The first two chapters address pertinent background information and the next four chapters provide an exploration if each specific poem followed by an analysis of the music. The musical analysis focuses in the techniques Vaughan Williams used to enhance the meaning of the poetry. This case study will provide a resource for performers and scholars who are seeking an in-depth knowledge of Vaughan Williams's influences on composing the piece are explored, including William Blake and his poetry (the Songs of Innocence and of Experience), and the film, The Vision of William Blake, for which the Ten Blake Songs were written.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3233
Format: Thesis

Title: Kusamira Ritual Music and the Social Reproduction of Wellness in Uganda.
Creator: Hoesing, Peter, Gunderson, Frank, Hellweg, Joseph, Bakan, Michael B., Garretson, Peter, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Ritual healing has fascinated ethnographers and historians for several decades. Over the last twenty-five years, ethnomusicologists have begun to examine the cognitive, performative, and phenomenological aspects of ritual and trance. Based on seventeen months of ethnographic field research over the last five years, this study examines ritual healing and spirit mediumship in two regions of southern Uganda, Buganda and Busoga. The groups living in these regions, the Baganda and Basoga, speak...
Show moreRitual healing has fascinated ethnographers and historians for several decades. Over the last twenty-five years, ethnomusicologists have begun to examine the cognitive, performative, and phenomenological aspects of ritual and trance. Based on seventeen months of ethnographic field research over the last five years, this study examines ritual healing and spirit mediumship in two regions of southern Uganda, Buganda and Busoga. The groups living in these regions, the Baganda and Basoga, speak mutually intelligible languages respectively called Luganda and Lusoga. The performance of healing rituals involves kusamira, or what this study defines as flexible personhood, which has been termed elsewhere spirit possession or trance. Through the release of a usual sense of self to spirits in kusamira ritual, practitioners called basamize and baswezi create atmospheres for social interaction with ancestral and patron spirits. These interactions not only articulate categories of illness and wellness; they also become sites for manipulating and negotiating trajectories of mediumship and healing. Ritual adepts conceive of holistic wellness in these contexts, obulamu obulungi, as crucially dependent upon blessings from the spirits, emikisa, and the eradication of negative spiritual energy, ebibi. 'Carrying spirits,' okukongojja, facilitates the kind of social interaction between humans and spirits necessary to pursue these blessings in ritual and sacrifice. This dissertation offers the first ethnographic narrative on the music of kusamira. Through linguistic and musical research, performance with project participants, and other subjective ethnographic experience, it engages kusamira adherents at the level of verbal art and performative meaning. Specific methods include analysis of song texts, assessment of the place song in ritual contexts, examination of intercontextual references, and musical analysis. These approaches to kusamira ritual redress a major gap in the literature on ritual healing in Interlacustrine East Africa: although earlier studies have often mentioned the presence of music in this kind of ritual, they have failed to account for its significance or examine its meanings beyond a cursory level. Kusamira practitioners promote and control flexible personhood through musical performance as an essential technology of ritual interaction. Their social aesthetic is one of conviviality, which they cultivate among numerous frictions at the local, national, and regional levels. The tenacity of these practices reveals something beyond an aesthetic priority: although dismissed by colonizers, missionaries, and many modern Ugandans, they constitute a valuable form of expression, a widely used form of primary health care and maintenance, and an intersubjective'even intercorporeal'mode of being-in-the-world. For these reasons, kusamira involves indigenous knowledge on the level of an African gnosis. Professional basamize and baswezi healers and musicians keep and actively maintain this gnosis through the performance of kusamira ritual, which promotes the social production and reproduction of wellness. In contrast to strongly visualist representations of ritualists in contemporary Uganda, this project approaches kusamira according to its total sensory appeal. Among these I prioritize close listening to song texts, which reveals details about Kiganda and Kisoga spirit pantheons, ways of promoting convivial social relations with them, and the benefits of performing ritual for holistic wellness. By examining the ways in which basamize and baswezi use these texts in performance, this study finds such benefits to be dependent on creative capacities, the mutual dependence of humans and their patron spirits, and the agency of both entities in the ritual production of social wellness.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-7158
Format: Thesis

Title: Kusamira Ritual Music and the Social Reproduction of Wellness in Uganda.
Creator: Hoesing, Peter, Gunderson, Frank, Hellweg, Joseph, Bakan, Michael B., Garretson, Peter, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Ritual healing has fascinated ethnographers and historians for several decades. Over the last twenty-five years, ethnomusicologists have begun to examine the cognitive, performative, and phenomenological aspects of ritual and trance. Based on seventeen months of ethnographic field research over the last five years, this study examines ritual healing and spirit mediumship in two regions of southern Uganda, Buganda and Busoga. The groups living in these regions, the Baganda and Basoga, speak...
Show moreRitual healing has fascinated ethnographers and historians for several decades. Over the last twenty-five years, ethnomusicologists have begun to examine the cognitive, performative, and phenomenological aspects of ritual and trance. Based on seventeen months of ethnographic field research over the last five years, this study examines ritual healing and spirit mediumship in two regions of southern Uganda, Buganda and Busoga. The groups living in these regions, the Baganda and Basoga, speak mutually intelligible languages respectively called Luganda and Lusoga. The performance of healing rituals involves kusamira, or what this study defines as flexible personhood, which has been termed elsewhere spirit possession or trance. Through the release of a usual sense of self to spirits in kusamira ritual, practitioners called basamize and baswezi create atmospheres for social interaction with ancestral and patron spirits. These interactions not only articulate categories of illness and wellness; they also become sites for manipulating and negotiating trajectories of mediumship and healing. Ritual adepts conceive of holistic wellness in these contexts, obulamu obulungi, as crucially dependent upon blessings from the spirits, emikisa, and the eradication of negative spiritual energy, ebibi. "Carrying spirits," okukongojja, facilitates the kind of social interaction between humans and spirits necessary to pursue these blessings in ritual and sacrifice. This dissertation offers the first ethnographic narrative on the music of kusamira. Through linguistic and musical research, performance with project participants, and other subjective ethnographic experience, it engages kusamira adherents at the level of verbal art and performative meaning. Specific methods include analysis of song texts, assessment of the place song in ritual contexts, examination of intercontextual references, and musical analysis. These approaches to kusamira ritual redress a major gap in the literature on ritual healing in Interlacustrine East Africa: although earlier studies have often mentioned the presence of music in this kind of ritual, they have failed to account for its significance or examine its meanings beyond a cursory level. Kusamira practitioners promote and control flexible personhood through musical performance as an essential technology of ritual interaction. Their social aesthetic is one of conviviality, which they cultivate among numerous frictions at the local, national, and regional levels. The tenacity of these practices reveals something beyond an aesthetic priority: although dismissed by colonizers, missionaries, and many modern Ugandans, they constitute a valuable form of expression, a widely used form of primary health care and maintenance, and an intersubjective—even intercorporeal—mode of being-in-the-world. For these reasons, kusamira involves indigenous knowledge on the level of an African gnosis. Professional basamize and baswezi healers and musicians keep and actively maintain this gnosis through the performance of kusamira ritual, which promotes the social production and reproduction of wellness. In contrast to strongly visualist representations of ritualists in contemporary Uganda, this project approaches kusamira according to its total sensory appeal. Among these I prioritize close listening to song texts, which reveals details about Kiganda and Kisoga spirit pantheons, ways of promoting convivial social relations with them, and the benefits of performing ritual for holistic wellness. By examining the ways in which basamize and baswezi use these texts in performance, this study finds such benefits to be dependent on creative capacities, the mutual dependence of humans and their patron spirits, and the agency of both entities in the ritual production of social wellness.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4663
Format: Thesis

Title: Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto: The Genesis of a Twenty-First Century Work.
Creator: Williams, Max Brenton Harkey, Sauer, Gregory, Van Glahn, Denise, Jiménez, Alexander, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto was completed in August of 2008 and premiered 6 February 2009 by the work's dedicatee, Hilary Hahn, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (co-commissioner) and Mario Venzago, serving as conductor. The piece stands as a major contribution to the violin concerto repertoire and, although it is impossible to predict so early into the twenty-first century, has the makings of becoming a landmark work for the instrument. Primary source material garnered from...
Show moreJennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto was completed in August of 2008 and premiered 6 February 2009 by the work's dedicatee, Hilary Hahn, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (co-commissioner) and Mario Venzago, serving as conductor. The piece stands as a major contribution to the violin concerto repertoire and, although it is impossible to predict so early into the twenty-first century, has the makings of becoming a landmark work for the instrument. Primary source material garnered from interviews with all the musicians most crucial to the work's inception, as well as reflections by the author who attended the premiere rehearsals and the premiere itself are presented. As part of this ethnographic approach, the very evolution of the work (including actual alterations before and after the premiere) is presented offering a distinct look at the processes of composition and performance in classical music. Additionally, a biographical sketch of the composer as well as all known influences on the Concerto are discussed. Performers interested in learning the Concerto will no doubt find many practical suggestions in regards to bowings, fingerings and performance practice contained within this treatise. A theoretical analysis of the work and speculations as to its future complete the study.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4600
Format: Thesis

Title: The Asian Inspiration: Chinese Influences in the Solo Piano Music of Chen Yi.
Creator: Shen, Chia-Ching, Williams, Heidi Louise, Buchler, Michael, Mastrogiacomo, Leonard, Beckman, Seth, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This Treatise is a study of Chen Yi's compositional style, as shaped by her distinctive educational and cultural background. The Treatise covers her most significant solo piano compositions to date, which include Singing in the Mountain, Guessing, Ji-Dong-Nuo, Duo Ye and Ba Ban. Her compositions achieve an impressive fusion of Chinese and Western musical idioms, displaying excellent craftsmanship that is original and brilliantly effective. This Treatise comprises five chapters. Chapter One...
Show moreThis Treatise is a study of Chen Yi's compositional style, as shaped by her distinctive educational and cultural background. The Treatise covers her most significant solo piano compositions to date, which include Singing in the Mountain, Guessing, Ji-Dong-Nuo, Duo Ye and Ba Ban. Her compositions achieve an impressive fusion of Chinese and Western musical idioms, displaying excellent craftsmanship that is original and brilliantly effective. This Treatise comprises five chapters. Chapter One explains the background and significance of this project, as well as its purpose. Chen Yi's own personal and professional background is also introduced in this chapter through references, documented interviews, and personal correspondence. Her musical training, heritage, and cultural influences to her musicianship are vividly explored. Chapter Two is divided into two sections: 1) the musical and historical background of each of Chen Yi's solo piano works chosen for this study, and 2) the background of ancient Chinese musical aesthetics. A brief introduction to each solo piano work highlights its significant compositional background. The survey of essential ancient Chinese musical concepts brings to light the distinct Chinese inspiration in Chen Yi's music. The material covered in these two sections will provide sufficient background knowledge necessary to recognize and appreciate Chen Yi's compositional style, which is studied in detail in Chapter Three. This chapter surveys her most frequently used musical devices and unique compositional idioms, as examined through specific musical examples from her solo piano works. Chapter Four is an in-depth, vivid theoretical analysis of Chen Yi's largest solo piano works, Duo Ye and Ba Ban. These two pieces demonstrate a wide variety of compositional influences and approaches which relate to the two surveys in Chapter Two. Her thorough compositional design is presented and examined, with special emphasis on the ways in which she merges her Chinese inspiration with Western compositional techniques. Chapter Five is a conclusion, which leads to additional research of ancient Chinese traditions and philosophies reflecting the beliefs which lie at the heart of Chen Yi's musical language. In form and spirit, her compositional style ultimately highlights these ancient Chinese philosophies and traditions, which extends her music beyond technique into humanity.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1772
Format: Thesis

Title: The Significance of Justin Holland's Modern Method for the Guitar.
Creator: Moore, Jimmy Everett, Brewer, Charles E., Shaftel, Matthew, Holzman, Bruce, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This treatise represents a study of Justin Holland, one of the most prolific American Guitarists of the nineteenth century. This document is divided into three parts: The first part discusses the popularity of the guitar in the nineteenth century, beginning with the instrument's rise of popularity in Europe to its beginnings in the United States. The second part is devoted to the musical career of Justin Holland; that is divided into three periods: his early life, his time in Boston, and his...
Show moreThis treatise represents a study of Justin Holland, one of the most prolific American Guitarists of the nineteenth century. This document is divided into three parts: The first part discusses the popularity of the guitar in the nineteenth century, beginning with the instrument's rise of popularity in Europe to its beginnings in the United States. The second part is devoted to the musical career of Justin Holland; that is divided into three periods: his early life, his time in Boston, and his career in Cleveland. The third part is a close study of Holland's Modern Method for the Guitar, which contains explanations and images from the method with additional illustrations from other guitar methods published in the nineteenth century.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2310
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Music Therapy on Feelings of Hopelessness and Personal Control for Women Affected by Domestic Violence.
Creator: Rushing, Jessica L., Standley, Jayne M., Darrow, Alice-Ann, Gregory, Dianne, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy in a single session on feelings of hopelessness, feelings of personal control, and change in emotions for women with histories of domestic violence. This study also looked at emotional states prior to and after a music therapy session, thematic material derived from songwriting, and assessed the use of the Action Step Checklist handout in relation to problem solving and goal-setting. Women seeking shelter services (n = 12...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy in a single session on feelings of hopelessness, feelings of personal control, and change in emotions for women with histories of domestic violence. This study also looked at emotional states prior to and after a music therapy session, thematic material derived from songwriting, and assessed the use of the Action Step Checklist handout in relation to problem solving and goal-setting. Women seeking shelter services (n = 12) and women residing in a state Correctional Institution (CI) (n = 8) served as participants. This research was comprised of two studies: Study A (women in the shelter) and Study B (women at the CI). The same design was utilized for both studies. Data were collected immediately prior to a music therapy session and immediately after the session for the Hopelessness Scale (HS) (Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974) and the Personal Control and Emotional State Questionnaire (PCESQ). Participants filled out a demographic questionnaire prior to the group and the Response to Music Therapy after the group. An Action Step Checklist was completed once during the music therapy group and as a one-week follow-up for available participants. Participants wrote all songs used for analysis during the music therapy session. A Mann Whitney-U test (α= .05) was run for HS and PCESQ and showed no statistical significance between pre and posttest measures. All measures, with the exception of the follow-up Actions Step Checklist in study B, showed positive gains between pre and posttest, though not significant. Participants were found to have low levels of hopelessness, high levels of personal control, and displayed positive emotions. The Action Step Checklist determined that participants had completed an average of three to five out of seven steps, both at initial completion and at the one-week follow-up. Prominent themes found in song-writing analysis included self-knowledge/awareness/acceptance, strength/innate power, and courage/confidence. Response to the Music Therapy Questionnaire revealed that a single music therapy session had positive effects on motivation, comfort, personal decisions, decisions of the future, and desire to take action-steps. The strongest effect of music therapy in Study A was on desire to take action steps. The strongest effect of music therapy in Study B was on feelings of motivation. Results from this study suggest that participants were able to verbalize and recognize their own strength and courage through a single music therapy session focused on belief in personal control and problem solving.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1940
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Choral Conductor Intensity on the Perception of Teacher Effectiveness.
Creator: Redding, Jeffery B., Madsen, Clifford, Jimenez, Alex, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Thomas, André, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study is a replication and extension of Madsen's (1999) study, The Effect of Accurate/Inaccurate Teacher Instruction, High/Low Teacher Delivery, and On/Off-Task Student Behavior on Musicians' Evaluation of Teacher Effectiveness. The primary focus of this investigation was to determine the effect of accurate/inaccurate teacher instruction, high/low teacher delivery and on/off-task student behavior on perceptions of teaching effectiveness. Participants (N=210) were experienced classroom...
Show moreThis study is a replication and extension of Madsen's (1999) study, The Effect of Accurate/Inaccurate Teacher Instruction, High/Low Teacher Delivery, and On/Off-Task Student Behavior on Musicians' Evaluation of Teacher Effectiveness. The primary focus of this investigation was to determine the effect of accurate/inaccurate teacher instruction, high/low teacher delivery and on/off-task student behavior on perceptions of teaching effectiveness. Participants (N=210) were experienced classroom music teachers (n=30), experienced classroom non-music teachers (n=30), undergraduate music majors (n=30), and students in grades 9-12 currently involved in classroom music instruction (n=120; 30 per grade). The participants observed and rated a stimulus video that included eight teaching segments. The investigator created the video segments with approximately 50 high school choral students to simulate various choral rehearsal settings. Each segment was executed by the teacher and students according to one of eight original scripted music lessons. Every script included a different combination of the three independent variables: either accurate/ inaccurate instruction, high/low teacher delivery, and on/off-task student behavior. The data were collected using the Effective Teaching Response Form, which asked participants to rate each teaching segment for overall teaching effectiveness on a 10-point Likert scale and to provide three comments for each rating as to why the numerical value was assigned for each segment. Results indicated significant differences due to both teaching experience level and teaching segments. There was also a significant interaction among the seven groups across teaching segments. Further examination of the groups' overall mean ratings and evaluative comments indicated that: (1) teacher delivery affected the overall response ratings of the participants more so than the other variables; (2) the response ratings of the experienced music teachers were affected most by the accuracy of instruction; (3) on/off-task student behavior affected the evaluations of the younger high school students more than any other group; (4) the experienced non-music teachers were relatively unaware of the accuracy of instruction; and (5) the negative variables (inaccurate instruction, low delivery, and off-task student behavior) affected the evaluations of the college music majors and experienced music teachers more so than the positive variables (accurate instruction, high delivery, and on-task student behavior).
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1917
Format: Thesis

Title: Musical Borrowing in Contemporary Violin Repertoire.
Creator: Ryu, Ji-Yeon, Jones, Evan Allan, Mathes, James, Jiménez, Alexander, Sauer, Greg, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This treatise is intended to examine the phenomenon of musical borrowing in the contemporary violin literature. In this treatise, I will examine various pieces in the violin repertoire in which musical borrowing is a primary compositional element. Following a detailed survey of musical borrowing throughout history, I will present analytical and historical information about a selection of works for solo violin and for ensembles of various sizes that features musical borrowing. Although musical...
Show moreThis treatise is intended to examine the phenomenon of musical borrowing in the contemporary violin literature. In this treatise, I will examine various pieces in the violin repertoire in which musical borrowing is a primary compositional element. Following a detailed survey of musical borrowing throughout history, I will present analytical and historical information about a selection of works for solo violin and for ensembles of various sizes that features musical borrowing. Although musical borrowing was a favorite compositional technique in many different periods, the twentieth century saw a particular development in the extent of this phenomenon. After World War I (1914-1918), there was a change in the musical conception of many European musicians as a reaction against the war and the excesses of Romanticism. Composers desired to return to an ideal of pure and rational music as in the Baroque and Classical periods. This aesthetic movement is known as Neo-Classicism. In this period, music was both radical and conservative in different ways. Composers such as Sergey Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky explored progressive musical styles but mixed these with musical elements from the past, extracting musical elements from the music of earlier periods and reinterpreting them in a variety of ways. This incorporation of old and new music represents a significant musical concept for this time period. In the years following the Second World War, many composers regained an interest in musical borrowing, but in a new way. Composers such as Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel and George Rochberg wrote music that depended on collage-based approaches or other methods to achieve a post-modern effect. The music of particular composers was often spotlighted; for instance, Lukas Foss and Sofia Gubaidulina borrowed not just the style but recognizable themes or entire movements from J. S. Bach in works to be discussed in this treatise. Many living composers, such as George Crumb and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, still make music with elements from the past. An awareness of the origin of a piece"s borrowed elements and how the composer reused these elements can help a performer convey the musical ideas to listeners.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2225
Format: Thesis

Title: "Kiss Me I'm Not Irish, but I Wish I Was": The Cultural Adoption of Irish Music in America.
Creator: Nyers, Kristen, Gunderson, Frank, Koen, Benjamin, Brewer, Charles E., College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Ethnomusicological works often examine music as an expression of identity. In these studies, music is seen as the product of culture and ethnicity. This thesis reverses this approach and instead explores how musical experiences, rather than only reflecting identity, can produce identity. Within the context of the United States of America, a multicultural society, the Irish music tradition is generally understood to belong to the community of the Irish diaspora. This music is closely...
Show moreEthnomusicological works often examine music as an expression of identity. In these studies, music is seen as the product of culture and ethnicity. This thesis reverses this approach and instead explores how musical experiences, rather than only reflecting identity, can produce identity. Within the context of the United States of America, a multicultural society, the Irish music tradition is generally understood to belong to the community of the Irish diaspora. This music is closely associated with a specific population that is delineated by both a common ethnicity and culture. However, this work considers the resulting impact upon identity construction when individuals from outside of this community participate in its music. This thesis examines how and why individuals in the United States, regardless of their ethnic background, incorporate an Irish-American cultural identity into their personal identity through participation in the Irish-American music-culture. This work demonstrates that membership in the Irish-American music community is determined more by musical participation, personal interactions between individual members, and a respect for the tradition than by an Irish ethnic connection. It also shows how Irish music in an American context is uniquely suited for the construction and reconstruction of identity by its participants.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2473
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Live Music on Decreasing Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Treatment.
Creator: Ferrer, Alejandra Judith, Standley, Jayne M., Madsen, Clifford K., Gregory, Dianne, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of familiar live music on the anxiety levels of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Fifty patients randomly selected were assigned to 2 groups: experimental (n=25) and control (n=25). Pre and posttests consisted of questionnaires and the recording of the patient's heart rate and blood pressures. Subjects in the experimental group received 20 minutes of familiar live music during their chemotherapy treatment. Subjects in the...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of familiar live music on the anxiety levels of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Fifty patients randomly selected were assigned to 2 groups: experimental (n=25) and control (n=25). Pre and posttests consisted of questionnaires and the recording of the patient's heart rate and blood pressures. Subjects in the experimental group received 20 minutes of familiar live music during their chemotherapy treatment. Subjects in the control group received standard chemotherapy. It was assumed that those patients receiving music therapy intervention would: a) lower their anxiety levels; b) experience a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure; c) improve their levels of negative reactions including fatigue, worry, and fear; and d) improve their levels of positive reactions including comfort and relaxation. Results of the study showed statistically significant improvement for the experimental group on the measures of anxiety, fear, fatigue, relaxation, and diastolic blood pressure. No significant differences between groups were found for heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Descriptive values indicated that, on average, the experimental group was influenced positively by the music intervention, and participants improved their quality of life while undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The overall results confirmed that music intervention behaved as a powerful independent variable and significantly decreased levels of anxiety, fear, and fatigue, and increased the levels of relaxation for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4472
Format: Thesis

Title: Gordon Jacob: A Background and Study of His Works for Wind Octet.
Creator: Fay, Matthew William, Keesecker, Jeffrey, Mathes, James, Meighan, Patrick, Clary, Richard, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Gordon Jacob's compositions include a wide variety of works, from unaccompanied solos to symphonies for orchestra. Jacob has become best known for his compositions for solo wind instruments. Previous studies of his music have focused on a single instrument, such as oboe, or works for large groups of instruments, such as wind ensembles. Jacob's works for chamber winds, however, have received little attention thus far. This treatise explores and analyzes Jacob's works for wind octet. This...
Show moreGordon Jacob's compositions include a wide variety of works, from unaccompanied solos to symphonies for orchestra. Jacob has become best known for his compositions for solo wind instruments. Previous studies of his music have focused on a single instrument, such as oboe, or works for large groups of instruments, such as wind ensembles. Jacob's works for chamber winds, however, have received little attention thus far. This treatise explores and analyzes Jacob's works for wind octet. This exploration takes three distinct directions. First, Jacob's life is discussed, with attention paid to his contribution to wind instruments, specifically chamber music. Second, Jacob's writings on music are covered with attention paid to how and why Jacob composed music for wind instruments. Lastly, Jacob's three wind octets are analyzed with attention paid towards his exceptional skill composing for chamber winds. The wind octets offer an opportunity for performers to play music by a skilled composer for wind instruments. In addition, the audience is given the opportunity to hear music that both charms and moves the listener. Studying how and why Jacob created these works provides valuable insight into the care and craftsmanship with which these works for chamber winds were created.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4489
Format: Thesis

Title: Alfred L. Watkins: An Historical Narrative of His Musical Life and Work with the Lassiter High School Band.
Creator: Thomas, Matthew J., Clary, Richard S., Mathes, James, Dunnigan, Patrick, Madsen, Clifford, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Alfred L. Watkins came to Lassiter High School in 1982 from which point the band grew from its original membership of 78 participants to over 300 individuals in the total program. The marching band won the Bands of America Grand National Championships twice and appeared three times in both the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade. The premier Symphonic Band at Lassiter performed twice at The Midwest Clinic and both of the top two Symphonic Bands performed three...
Show moreAlfred L. Watkins came to Lassiter High School in 1982 from which point the band grew from its original membership of 78 participants to over 300 individuals in the total program. The marching band won the Bands of America Grand National Championships twice and appeared three times in both the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade. The premier Symphonic Band at Lassiter performed twice at The Midwest Clinic and both of the top two Symphonic Bands performed three times each at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival. Numerous chamber ensembles at Lassiter performed at both regional and national level events, and the community band, the Cobb Wind Symphony, also performed at several prestigious conferences including The Midwest Clinic and twice at the College Band Directors National Association. While the diverse, comprehensive, well-balanced constitution of the Lassiter band program is intriguing, perhaps just as compelling is the story of how Watkins arrived at Lassiter. Born and raised in the small town of Jackson, Georgia, Watkins attended an all-black school in a segregated school system and began playing trumpet in the band in seventh grade. He attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, an Historically Black College and University, where he studied music education, and then taught for six years at Murphy High School in the Atlanta Public School System. When the band director position at the newly constructed Lassiter High School came available in 1981, he declined an offer for the job due to concerns related to the predominately white area where the school was located. However, when he was approached again the following year, he hesitantly accepted the position. The struggles and accomplishments Watkins experienced throughout his career, both personally and professionally, are of value to both current and future music educators as they strive to emulate successful models and form their own ideologies and effective practices. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to document the life, influences, and experiences of Alfred L. Watkins and his work with the Lassiter High School Band through 2010 and is presented in a chronological, narrative form.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-7239
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Teacher Nonverbal Expressiveness on Ratings of Teacher Effectiveness and Student Learning.
Creator: Heath-Reynolds, Julia, Darrow, Alice-Ann, Drew, John R., VanWeelden, Kimberly, Geringer, John M., Madsen, Clifford K., College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to determine if levels of teacher expressiveness (low, medium, or high) have an effect on ratings of teacher effectiveness, lesson content, and on student learning, (2) to determine if a relationship exists between ratings of teacher nonverbal behaviors and teacher effectiveness, and (3) to determine if a relationship exists between ratings of teacher expressiveness and teacher enthusiasm in the elementary general classroom. Three scripted videos...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to determine if levels of teacher expressiveness (low, medium, or high) have an effect on ratings of teacher effectiveness, lesson content, and on student learning, (2) to determine if a relationship exists between ratings of teacher nonverbal behaviors and teacher effectiveness, and (3) to determine if a relationship exists between ratings of teacher expressiveness and teacher enthusiasm in the elementary general classroom. Three scripted videos were created of the same stimulus teacher presenting a music lesson to a hypothetical class of elementary-aged children. In the three videos, the stimulus teacher exhibited low, medium, or high levels of expressive nonverbal behaviors. Participants for the first phase of the study were 160 college students who were randomly assigned to one of three video conditions. Video conditions were based on the stimulus teacher's level of expressiveness: low (n = 55), medium (n = 54), and high (n = 51). After viewing the video, participants provided ratings on the teacher's effectiveness, expressiveness, enthusiasm, nonverbal behaviors, and lesson content. Participants for the second phase of the study were 114 fourth- and fifth-grade students who were randomly assigned to the same video viewing conditions: low (n = 42), medium (n = 37), or high (n = 35) teacher expressiveness. Following the video viewing, participants completed a 10-question Student Learning Assessment based on the video lesson content. Results of this study revealed that levels of teacher expressiveness had a significant effect on ratings of teacher effectiveness, with higher levels of teacher expressiveness resulting in higher ratings of teacher effectiveness. Levels of teacher expressiveness did not have an effect on ratings of lesson content, or on student learning. Results also revealed that (1) higher ratings of teacher nonverbal behaviors were significantly related to higher ratings of teacher effectiveness, and (2) participants equated teacher expressiveness with teacher enthusiasm.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9002
Format: Thesis

Title: Ulrich Gasser: His Life, His Compositions for Solo Flute and His Impact on the Flute Community.
Creator: Hamm, Deanna Bertsche, Meighan, Patrick, Amsler, Eva, Bish, Deborah, Buchler, Michael, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Ulrich Gasser is a contemporary Swiss composer who has written music for nearly every instrument. His compositions for orchestra, chamber winds, choral groups, piano, and organ have been performed throughout Europe. His extensive background in flute pedagogy and performance has heightened his awareness of the instrument's capabilities and limitations, enabling him to create appropriate repertoire for flutists of all ability levels. Gasser's compositional style is inspired by landscape,...
Show moreUlrich Gasser is a contemporary Swiss composer who has written music for nearly every instrument. His compositions for orchestra, chamber winds, choral groups, piano, and organ have been performed throughout Europe. His extensive background in flute pedagogy and performance has heightened his awareness of the instrument's capabilities and limitations, enabling him to create appropriate repertoire for flutists of all ability levels. Gasser's compositional style is inspired by landscape, literature, and the visual arts. He has created works such as: Weites Land (1982) for alto flute, Little Storyboard (1993) for flute, and Le Chevalier de Brancion en regardant ses Terres (2004) for flute. Each solo flute composition will be examined in order to showcase Gasser's craftsmanship. His most noteworthy work for solo flute is entitled Papierblüten (Paper Blossoms), a compilation of twenty-four short pieces that provides an introduction to contemporary music and extended techniques. Composed in 1982, this collection affords young flutists accessibility to new music, presenting it in a methodical sequence, as well as equipping teachers with a concise lesson manual. The exercises are formatted as etudes, though they can also be utilized as miniature performance pieces. This treatise will provide an in-depth view of Swiss culture and the life of Ulrich Gasser. It will also examine how his compositions have impacted both contemporary flute music and the flute community. Additionally, I will profile the performance practice demands characteristic of his works for solo flute. My goal is to document Gasser's contributions to flute literature and pedagogy in order to make them better-known to American musicians.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4302
Format: Thesis

Title: An Examination of Critical Thinking Skills in the High School Choral Rehearsal.
Creator: Garrett, Matthew L., Bowers, Judy, Gerber, Larry, Kelly, Steven N., Madsen, Clifford K., Thomas, André J., College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between time spent in nonperformance and critical thinking activities in high school choral rehearsals. Participants included three high school chorus directors identified as master teachers using specific criteria. Video footage was collected at approximately the mid-point of performance preparation, after basic notes and rhythms had been learned but before final polish work had begun. Three 15-minute unscripted rehearsal samples were...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between time spent in nonperformance and critical thinking activities in high school choral rehearsals. Participants included three high school chorus directors identified as master teachers using specific criteria. Video footage was collected at approximately the mid-point of performance preparation, after basic notes and rhythms had been learned but before final polish work had begun. Three 15-minute unscripted rehearsal samples were collected from one beginning level choir and one advanced choir from each participant's school. Observed rehearsal behaviors were coded into three categories of nonperformance activity: lower order thinking, critical thinking, and nonspecific activity. Time spent in student performance was also recorded. Anderson and Krathwohl's revision of Bloom's taxonomy (2001) served as the basis for defining lower order cognitive processes (remember, understand, apply) and processes used in critical thinking (analyze, evaluate, create). Video data were analyzed using SCRIBE observation software (Duke & Stammen, 2007). Results indicated that participants spent an average of 45.94% of rehearsal time in student performance. Of the mean rehearsal time spent in nonperformance activities (53.89%), 45.96% was spent in teacher-student interactions focused on lower order thinking skills, 6.36% was spent engaged in critical thinking skills, and 1.57% was spent in nonspecific activities including off-task behavior and silence. A significant, strong positive correlation was found between the amount of time spent in nonperformance activities and time spent engaged in critical thinking skills. The relationship between students' level of school music experience, as evidenced by a tiered choir system (beginning level to advanced) and the percentage of time spent in developing students' critical thinking skills was also examined. However, no significant correlation was found. Findings suggest that the amount of time spent using critical thinking skills in the high school chorus rehearsal may be influenced by a variety of factors, including rehearsal techniques, learning objectives, and pedagogical skills exhibited by master teachers. Implications and suggestions for further research are made.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4354
Format: Thesis

Title: Octavian and the Composer: Principal Male Roles in Opera Composed for the Female Voice by Richard Strauss.
Creator: Garvey, Melissa Lynn, Fisher, Douglas, Beckman, Seth, Lata, Matthew, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This treatise examines two of Richard Strauss's and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's operatic trouser roles, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos). The author will discuss the history and operatic traditions of cross-gendered role assignments as a background to examining Strauss's reasons for writing male roles for women to sing, and also explores the vocal and dramatic characteristics of the two roles. Recordings, musical examples, and quotes from performers who created...
Show moreThis treatise examines two of Richard Strauss's and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's operatic trouser roles, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos). The author will discuss the history and operatic traditions of cross-gendered role assignments as a background to examining Strauss's reasons for writing male roles for women to sing, and also explores the vocal and dramatic characteristics of the two roles. Recordings, musical examples, and quotes from performers who created and sing these roles will be included to support the author's conclusions.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4351
Format: Thesis

Title: Requiem Brevis.
Creator: Garris, Nathaniel Berle, Callender, Clifton, Kubik, Ladislav, Shaftel, Matthew, College of Music, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Requiem brevis For SATB Chorus (Divisi), Soprano Solo, String Choir and Piano The Introit to Requiem brevis received its premiere on February 17th, 2006 at The Florida State University College of Music, performed by the FSU Chamber Choir, conducted by Dr. Andre Thomas. Duration: 18 minutes
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4352
Format: Thesis

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