Music and Dance Theses and Dissertationshttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/39552024-03-29T22:01:33Z2024-03-29T22:01:33ZSet Class Conceptualizations: A Pedagogical and Theoretical FrameworkKing, Johnhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/293022024-03-26T07:40:50Z2024-03-25T00:00:00ZSet Class Conceptualizations: A Pedagogical and Theoretical Framework
King, John
Set Class Conceptualizations has two main goals: one, facilitate a student’s learning of set classes; and two, demonstrate multiple ways in which they could benefit from doing so. The intended audience of this dissertation is music professionals and teachers. The main gist of this approach is: one, as the student studies individual set classes, they refine a “bigger picture” of how the set classes relate; two, they relate “new” set classes to ones that they are already familiar with; and three, they let their own musical interests guide them. Part I and the Appendices provides general background information and resources that can act as an aid and inspiration towards the student’s development of their own “bigger picture.” Part II, the heart of this pedagogy, provides tools and resources that are specifically tailored towards the learning of the set classes. Part III provides examples of how an increased knowledge of set classes may enhance various musical endeavors.
2024-03-25T00:00:00ZThe Chinese and Javanese Influences in Works That Exemplify Early Twentieth-Century Musical “Exoticism”Xu, Jiayihttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/292132024-01-11T08:37:44Z2024-01-10T00:00:00ZThe Chinese and Javanese Influences in Works That Exemplify Early Twentieth-Century Musical “Exoticism”
Xu, Jiayi
In Western music of the early twentieth century, pentatonic elements are particularly prominent when composers emulate Chinese music. Claude Debussy, for instance, drew upon Eastern musical styles in works such as “Pagodes” (from the collection Estampes of 1903). According to most scholars (E. Robert Schmitz 1950 and Sylvia Parker 2012), the historical record demonstrates that Debussy’s inspiration for composing “Pagodes” was the sound of the Javanese Gamelan in the Exhibition Universelle in Paris in 1889. There is also a historical description about Debussy’s writing to show his connection to Chinese music. Debussy himself expressed an awareness of Chinese musical practices: Roger Nichols has cited a newspaper article written by the composer published in February 1913 in which Debussy mentions that in the 1889 exhibition, the performance of the Annamite theater from the central Eastern region of Vietnam was influenced by Chinese practices. Debussy’s awareness of Chinese—as well as Javanese—music will propel my discussion of how to use a mathematical method to determine the musical character of a region of the world, and more specifically, to demonstrate how an analytical method based on the J function may make the connection between “Pagodes” and the “Chinese” style in the early twentieth century. The conventional wisdom regarding “Pagodes” is that its inspiration is taken from Javanese gamelan. In the later parts of my thesis, I will show that the intersection between “Pagodes” and Javanese gamelan is mainly in the rhythmic and textural aspects.
2024-01-10T00:00:00ZThe Sound of Bass Culture(s): Heaviness, Blackness, and Ubiquitous BassBurton, Nicholashttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/292102024-01-11T08:37:40Z2024-01-10T00:00:00ZThe Sound of Bass Culture(s): Heaviness, Blackness, and Ubiquitous Bass
Burton, Nicholas
Bass culture describes the shared affinity for excessive low frequency aesthetics. During the 2000s and 2010s, discussion of the term first emerged within the context of bass-centric Afrodiasporic popular music genres such as hip-hop, EDM, dancehall, and reggaeton. In this thesis, I theorize sonic elements of bass prominence through the concept of heaviness—a multidimensional timbral definition that extends beyond mere prescriptions of lowness and loudness. Historicizing bass centricity, I discuss Jamaican music during the 1950s and ‘60s where sound system practices contributed to the codification of bass as a sign of Blackness. Looking to the future, I present the concept of ubiquitous bass—the omnipresence of low-end frequencies now available in the latest developments of portable listening devices. Though a case study of Beats headphones, I argue that increased accessibility of heavy bass in virtual experiences marks a significant shift from established accounts of low-end theory.
2024-01-10T00:00:00ZListening to the ArtsChen, Rongronghttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/291692024-01-10T08:37:45Z2024-01-09T00:00:00ZListening to the Arts
Chen, Rongrong
My thesis piece "Listening to the Arts" is a twenty-minute long composition for chamber orchestra that consists of four movements. Each movement is inspired by an artwork from a different artist, namely Antonio Canova's "Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss," Alexander Calder's "Double Gong," Alphonse Mucha's "The Seasons," and Claude Monet's "Water Lilies - The Clouds." In this composition, I aim to explore the intersection between music and visual arts by creating an auditory interpretation of each artwork's particular character and style. Each movement adopts a distinct musical style to convey the unique emotional and aesthetic qualities of each artwork. I seek to showcase the potentials of the interdisciplinary arts and how they can inspire and enrich one another. Overall, "Listening to the Arts" is a demonstration of my creativity and proficiency in music composition, and my appreciation for visual arts.
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