http://hdl.handle.net/2104/4889 2013-05-16T23:39:45Z 2013-05-16T23:39:45Z Simmons, Jim (James D.) http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8595 2013-05-15T18:52:05Z 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z

Ecstatic Utterances explained : a companion to Ecstatic Utterances. Simmons, Jim (James D.) This paper provides technical and philosophical insight into the composition Ecstatic Utterances. Three distinguishing approaches feature in this thesis: strands, and their accompanying theory; harmonic crescendo and a limited aleatory passage. Of greatest importance amongst these three is the concept of a strand, and the possibilities obtaining therein; possibilities which have crystallized in the writer’s musical and verbal expression, providing methods for both composition and analysis. While these methods remain in need of development, important strides have already been taken: a detailed analysis of portions of Ecstatic Utterances and a brief theoretical foundation titled “A Beginning to the Discussion of Strands as a Form of Musical Expression: A Conceptual Glossary.” Both documents were developed simultaneously in an attempt to be systematic. All work is original unless otherwise cited.

2013-05-15T00:00:00Z Phillips, Ariana S. http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8509 2012-11-29T16:16:16Z 2012-11-29T00:00:00Z

For such a time as this : classical music and 9/11. Phillips, Ariana S. This thesis takes as a foundational principle the conviction that music is a vital component of the process of mourning. From this foundation, I focus on three of classical music's responses to 9/11: John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, John Corigliano's One Sweet Morning, and Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11. The first chapter sets up analytical paradigms for the use of music in expressions of mourning, while the second applies those paradigms to music of the past. The third chapter discusses the compositional histories of each contemporary work, and chapter four analyzes structural characteristics that augment their expressive qualities. Chapter five focuses on the relationships between each work and memory, as well as the messages those entail. Aspects of reception history, including performance records and critical responses, form the basis of the sixth chapter, while chapter seven argues for these works' importance in the ongoing process of mourning 9/11.

2012-11-29T00:00:00Z Cooper, S. Grant (Steven Grant) http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8417 2012-11-15T22:02:18Z 2012-08-08T00:00:00Z

Composers as spiritual mediators : Henryk Górecki and John Luther Adams. Cooper, S. Grant (Steven Grant) This thesis considers how composers act as agents of spiritual mediation. It examines two individuals of divergent philosophical and cultural perspectives. Henryk Górecki and John Luther Adams responded to twentieth-century crises with two signature works that reflect a desire to remediate the suppression of spiritual forces. Górecki’s Miserere, opus 44 is a plea for reconciliation prompted by the abuse of Poland’s Solidarity movement, and is examined as a product of political and religious oppression in the composer’s nation, and as an invocation of Roman Catholic traditions that relate to its biblical text. John Luther Adams’s In the White Silence, a defense of wilderness places in Alaska, is examined as an outgrowth of environmental activism that resulted in a musical idiom based on ecological principles. The object of this study is to illuminate the role of composers as mediators between corporeal and incorporeal forces, manifesting the spiritual exigencies of mankind.

2012-08-08T00:00:00Z Buck, Daniel Andrew. http://hdl.handle.net/2104/7930 2010-06-23T12:19:00Z 2010-06-23T12:18:59Z

Memory, identity, and farce in carnival mirrors : a director's approach to David Lindsay-Abaire's "Fuddy Meers". Buck, Daniel Andrew. American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s central subject of interest is a world turned upside down by hardship and pain. Although commonly labeled a dark farce, Lindsay-Abaire’s 1999 play, Fuddy Meers, is haunted by the spirit of medieval folk festivals in its grotesque imagery and subversive laughter. This thesis offers an examination of the social function of laughter in Fuddy Meers and its generic influences. The study details the biography of the playwright, examines his body of work, and offers a complete analysis of the play. It also follows the production process of the Baylor University Theater 2009 staging of the play from conception to performance. Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

2010-06-23T12:18:59Z