Music

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Sofia Gubaidulina's Cathedrals of Sound: Redefining the Boundaries of Instrumental Concertos
(2025-07-23) Forman, Lana; Coghlan, Michael
This dissertation explores Sofia Gubaidulina’s artistic vision of music as a spiritual and transformative sanctuary, akin to the creation of a grand architectural masterpiece. The composer’s metaphor of the “cathedral of sound” encapsulates Gubaidulina’s compositional philosophy, where each work serves as an effort to foster a harmonious and transcendental realm that invites listeners into a space of contemplation and spiritual elevation. We argue that this concept challenges the conventional pursuit of novelty that dominated much of twentieth-century music, positioning her compositions as a reimagining of traditional forms rooted in a personal, deeply spiritual vision. Our study examines Gubaidulina’s redefinition of the boundaries of concerto forms, revealing how the composer blends contemporary practices with the traditions of Western art music. Central to our discussion are her ecumenical understanding of Orthodox Christianity, her philosophically-infused musical concepts of transfiguration and shadow and light, and her use of various symbolic devices – literary, name-based, and those related to peculiar geometric shapes and numbers. These elements are argued to coexist with the reimagined traditional frameworks of sonata, variations, ritornello, ternary, and various sectional forms. Further, the dissertation explores Gubaidulina’s conception of form as a journey full of metaphors and symbols, particularly focusing on the symbol of the cross, which holds profound significance for the composer. This dissertation is the first scholarly work to apply Gubaidulina’s theory of the Rhythm of Form in a practical analysis of three of her concertos. By examining the scores, sketches, and drafts preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, this study offers an intimate look into Gubaidulina’s creative process. The analysis of Revue Music/Concerto for Two Orchestras, Jazz and Symphony, Viola Concerto, and In the Shadow of the Tree reveals how Gubaidulina shapes her music using mathematical proportions derived from Fibonacci and Fibonacci-related sequences. These works exemplify her historically progressing architectural approach to form, where each piece embodies a blend of aesthetic beauty and precise, deliberate design. The study also demonstrates how “magic” numbers influence not only the formal structure but also thematic, timbral, and textural development, creating a complex and symbolic framework within each composition. Key words: Sofia Gubaidulina, Concertos, Music History and Analysis, Rhythm of Form
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Canadian Composers of Sacred Choral Music: Dr. Gordon Alban Adnams; Michel Guimont; Dr. Matthew Larkin; and Jared Tomlinson
(2025-07-23) Walsh, Natasha Lyne; Chambers, Mark
This dissertation offers a 75-year examination of contemporary (1950-2025) Canadian sacred choral music through the lens of four living composers: Dr. Gordon Alban Adnams; Michel Guimont; Dr. Matthew Larkin; and Jared Tomlinson. It aims to illuminate the intricate interplay between personal and cultural identities as expressed through their compositions, shedding light on how their Christian backgrounds have informed their artistic approaches. Through qualitative research methods utilizing interview transcripts and music scores, this study delves into the composers’ perceptions of their own work and its place in the evolving landscape of sacred music in Canada. The investigation, informed by discourse analysis and music theory analysis with a focus on textual analysis, seeks to uncover the nuances of their creative processes and the broader denominational influences shaping Canadian sacred music. Drawing upon Benedict Anderson’s theoretical framework of imagined communities (1983), this dissertation explores the notion of imagined sacred choral music communities, revealing ways in which cultural identity intersects with artistic and Christian expression. Christopher Small’s concept of musicking (1998) is used as a secondary framework. Additionally, this exploration is situated within the scholarly discourse of Canadian music studies, incorporating perspectives primarily from scholar Dr. Mary Ingraham (Ingraham 2024 & 2022). Dr. Robin Elliott, another contemporary scholar in the field of musicology, also touches on this dissertation (Elliott 2024; Elliott and Smith 2010; Kallmann, Beckwith, and Elliott 2013; and Beckwith, et al. 1983). Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity by Dr. Elaine Keillor (2006) further supplements this dissertation. This dissertation examines the complex relationship between individual creativity, cultural identity, and Christian tradition in contemporary sacred choral music in Canada. It seeks to show that composers self-fashion their identities through musicking Canadian sacred choral music in their imagined communities. Further, this dissertation maintains that these identities stem from traditional beliefs of their heritage and generation and are not necessarily a response to modernity. Since the 1960s and 1970s, significant changes in Christian liturgical music have been influenced by key developments such as the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae (New Order of the Mass) in 1969, increased ecumenicism, and the rise of the Praise-and-Worship movement. Using the sacred choral music of these composers as sites of cultural resistance, this dissertation investigates their defiance against the Praise-and-Worship Movement within Protestantism. A similar movement, sparked by the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, took place within Catholicism. These composers musick within fractured traditional Christian imagined communities within larger modern Christian imagined communities. Keywords: Anglican music; Canadian choral singing; Contemporary Canadian sacred choral music; Canadian church music; Canadian composers; Canadian history; Canadian musicology; Canadian nationalism; Canadian poetry; Catholic music; Christian music; Christopher Small; Congregational singing; Discourse analysis; Ecumenicism; European sacred music; Gregorian chant; Hymns and hymnody; Imagined communities; Liturgical music; Minimalism; Musicking; New Order of the Mass; Praise-and-Worship movement; Protestant music; Qualitative research; Second Vatican Council Canadian creators: Andrew Ager; Cori Martin; Donald Patriquin; Dr. Antoine Ouellette; Dr. Derek Holman; Dr. Gordon Alban Adnams; Dr. Howard Shore; Dr. Jacobus Kloppers; Dr. James Healey Willan; Dr. Mark Sirett; Dr. Matthew Larkin; Eleanor Daley; Emanuel Serra; Gabriel Moïse Charpentier; Group of Seven; Imant Raminsh; Jared Tomlinson; Jeremy Dutcher; Laura Hawley; Leonard Norman Cohen; Matthew Tran-Adams; Michel Guimont; Paul Halley; Ray Twomey; Raymond Daveluy; William Keith Rogers; Ruth Watson Henderson; Raymond Murray Schafer; Stephanie Martin; Sister Theresa Hucul, s.c.i.c.
Access status: Open Access ,
“We’ll All Shout Together in That Morning”: Entrainment and Community in the Toronto Shape Note Singing Group
(2025-07-23) Miller, Frances Grace; Bowman, Rob
This dissertation explores entrainment in Sacred Harp singing using an ethnographic examination of the Toronto Shape Singing Note group. It is accompanied by a qualitative exploration of interpersonal synchrony and affiliation among group members and examines what happens when interpersonal synchrony is destabilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Entrainment “describes the interaction and consequent synchronization of two or more processes or oscillators.” (Will 2004, 1) Identified first in 1665 by Dutch Physicist Christiaan Huygens, entrainment theory has since been applied widely in mathematics and in the physical, biological and social sciences. Despite obvious applications within the study of music the concept of entrainment has only recently begun to be explored in ethnomusicology. In 2004, Martin Clayton, Rebecca Sager and Udo Will presented an overview of the concept and called for its use in ethnomusicology. They note that there are four modes of data collection that are available to ethnomusicologists when discussing this phenomenon: Ethnographic examination and introspection, musical sound, visible physical behavior (gesture), and physiological processes (heart rate, respiration, brain waves, etc). (Will 2004, 23-24) This project employs the first, second and third modes of data collection and argues that ethnomusicologists can presume the existence of entrainment simply through ethnographic observation. A growing body of research has shown that interpersonal entrainment increases prosocial behavior among those who engage with one another synchronously. (Cirelli, Wan & Trainor, 2014; Trainor, Cirelli, 2015) Using an ethnographic examination of the Toronto Shape Note Singing Group I propose that singing Sacred Harp music increases feelings of affiliation and pro-social behaviour among singers and promotes feelings of affiliation across socio-political bounds.
Access status: Open Access ,
Taher Aavā: Representations of Halgheh Mysticism For Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone and Orchestra
(2024-11-07) Saberi, Haamed; De Val, Dorothy; Rapoport, Alexander
The subject of this dissertation is a series of movements for mezzo-soprano, baritone and orchestra that can be performed either as a whole or individually. The text is my original poems inspired by Halgheh mysticism (mysticism of the Ring), founded by Master Mohammad Ali Taheri. Halgheh mysticism conforms with the framework of Iran's native mysticism (Erfan) and is based on the connection to the Divine Consciousness (or the network of Inter-universal Consciousness). The poems are arranged in order to provide a sequence of poetical themes and musically feature alternating full orchestral settings with subsections. The structure of the poems themselves informs the structure of the individual movements, but the use of thematic repetition within instrumental movements is used to ensure thematic unity, much in the manner of a ritornello in the Western European classical tradition. The central tenets of Halgheh mysticism are firstly, that things that may seem superficially diverse are in fact joined by a deeper unity; and secondly, that the whole of an entity is reflected in its parts. Therefore, the pieces feature a juxtaposition of Iranian and Western musical traditions. In the first case Iranian and Western musical traditions are juxtaposed, especially Western scales and harmony with Iranian modes. In the second case the technique of composition around the bass line, a concept explained in the dissertation, is used, to reflect the concept of unity in the pieces. The musical language is a blend of Iranian classical music with European vocal and orchestral techniques, offering an alternative type of composition that not only marries Eastern and Western techniques but also reflects the concept of Iranian mysticism. Thus, the use of quarter tones is informed by classical Iranian music and its traditional modes, though some modifications have been made to the quarter tone scales to facilitate performance by Western orchestras and accommodate the harmonic system used in the work.
Access status: Open Access ,
Pioneering Guitar Women, An Auto-ethnographic Study
(2024-11-07) Foley, Susan Ellen; Coghlan, Michael
This dissertation, Pioneering Guitar Women, An Autoethnographic Study, explores the significant yet often overlooked contributions of female guitarists to the evolution of guitar music. Despite the dominance of male guitar legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, pioneering women like Memphis Minnie, Mary Osborne, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe have profoundly influenced the genre. The study aims to illuminate the stories, techniques, and legacies of these trailblazing women, addressing four central research questions: the narratives of these women guitar heroes, their success in a predominantly male culture, their impact on the world of guitar, and their influence on the career of Canadian blues guitarist, Sue Foley. This dissertation includes a survey of artists, Memphis Minnie, Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mary Osborne, Maybelle Carter, Elizabeth Cotten, Ida Presti, Lydia Mendoza, Maria Teresa Vera, and Charo. Their musical genres range from classical to flamenco, folk to jazz, showcasing diverse technical innovations and cultural impacts. My research involves not only historical and biographical analysis but also the practical application of these artists’ techniques through performance, highlighting the technical demands and expressive capabilities of their music. The structure of my dissertation includes four parts: biographies and musical techniques of each artist, the birth of musical genres, personal accounts of touring as a female musician, and the role of border radio in shaping musical culture. My autoethnographic approach intertwines my personal experiences with my research, offering a unique perspective on the legacy of female guitarists and their transformative impact on my own career and the broader musical landscape. The study concludes with reflections on the enduring influence of these pioneering women and a call to recognize and celebrate their contributions to the world of guitar music
Access status: Open Access ,
Piano Rolls and Gender Roles: Decoding the American Player Piano in Historical Context
(2024-10-21) Gajadhar, Amy Marilyn; de Val, Dorothy
This dissertation presents a gender-based historical investigation of the player piano during its heyday (1900-1928), focusing on its connections with advertising and the piano roll industry. Broadly influenced by Actor-Network Theory, I contend that this self-playing instrument (in its many forms), with regard to the cultural category of gender, had agency, acting as a medium of communication and a site of negotiation. Specifically, this refers to gender expression and mediation as presented within the frames of player piano advertisements and via performances by female musicians in the piano roll recording studio. Benefiting from archival research – advertisements, piano rolls, music reviews, photographs, paintings, player piano manuals, sheet music and other primary source material – and situated within the subfield of critical organology, my research is organized through case studies. The first is a reading of the gender codes in player piano and piano advertisements from multiple piano/player piano companies (as well as paintings featuring the piano). The second examines the lives and musical careers of piano roll artists Edythe Baker (1899-1971) and Pauline Alpert (1905-1988). Consisting of biographical summaries (that are the most comprehensive to date in the literature) which incorporate analyses of two performances by these women in the Duo-Art recording studio, this case study utilizes examples of Baker and Alpert’s piano arrangements. Based on Tin Pan Alley tunes, these pieces were written in the piano novelty style – a distinct “White”-dominated musical genre with roots in the popular piano rag. Framed by background research that includes a detailed historical account of the player piano, the findings of this dissertation are conclusive. Within the context of player piano advertising and female performance in the piano roll studio, the player piano, as a non-human actor enmeshed within a social network of human intermediaries, had a role to play in the expression and mediation of ideas about gender that both contested and conformed to early twentieth-century gender norms in American society.
Access status: Open Access ,
Jazz Recordings by Ed Bickert and Problems of Stylistic Analysis
(2024-07-18) Forsyth, Thomas James; Westray, Ron
Edward “Ed” Bickert was a fixture in the Toronto jazz scene for almost 50 years, becoming a pervasive influence on both Canadian and international guitarists. This dissertation is an attempt to position Bickert as a unique and masterful improviser. His development as a musician, beginning with his participation in a family band and myriad of playing opportunities in Toronto, mirrors the manner in what I suspect most jazz musicians learn their craft: through performance and continuous home study of challenging music. After a lengthy review of stylistic and musical analysis concepts, the categories in Jan LaRue’s Guidelines for Style Analysis provided an heuristic framework that enabled an exploratory examination of Bickert’s style. The problems of stylistic and musical analysis are many and varied. Primarily, both domains seem suffer from inadequate or ill-defined terminology. Insights into Bickert’s style were organized into LaRue’s categories: Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Growth. In the category of Sound, changes in equipment and technique had a significant effect on his style. Bickert’s highly developed harmonic approach involves the use of unusual chord voicings, implying chords with a small number of notes, a flexible approach to chord type, chromatic “planing” and 2/3 note punctuation chords. Paraphrasing and motive/motivic development are important melodic aspects of Bickert’s style, though both usually involve other categories and required the most research due to the inadequacy or lack of consensus of definitions in the existing literature. In the category of rhythm, Bickert’s ability to swing is universally recognized. He is also able to pull against pulse, seamlessly switch between various note values, effectively employ expressive or rubato timing, and shift the metric accents to suggest a different time signature (cross rhythm). LaRue’s concept of lulls: “a condition of relative stability,” seems to have some relevance to Bickert’s employment of punctuation chords in the development of his solos. These basic elements combine to create the effect of structure — or in LaRue’s lexicon, Growth. Three predominant categories of Growth in Bickert’s solos are Paraphrasing; Motivic Development; and Textural Variation.
Access status: Open Access ,
"Lower Parts": A Gospel-Classical Choral Portrait of the In-Between
(2023-12-08) Donald, O'Neil Gerald; Coghlan,Michael
Lower Parts is a choral piece written for gospel and classical choir. The piece presents the concept of deep mental anguish as told through the lens of the 63rd Psalm. The work uses the timbral differences between the two ensembles to illustrate the “in-between” - the liminal space that the author settled in as a result of life’s stressors. Nonetheless, Lower Parts emerges as a testimony of the author’s survival of the turmoil. The work serves as a plan for reconciliation between two choral practices that are usually kept very separate from one another. The separation of classical choral formats from gospel choral formats presents an assumption of superiority. Thus, Lower Parts is an attempt to heal the rift and tell the story of a composer’s plight with an identity that falls in between mental stability and emotional anguish.
Access status: Open Access ,
Reflections and Compositions Inspired by Three Pioneering Guitar Women
(2015-04) Foley, Susan Ellen; Bowman, Robert M. J.
In the male dominated world of guitar, there have been many, largely unknown, female guitarists who were innovative players and were musical and social pioneers.This thesis brings to light and celebrates the musical achievements of three such women guitarists—Maybelle Carter, Lydia Mendoza and Memphis Minnie—through biographical essays, musical analyses and compositions based around their individual biographies, aesthetics, unique playing styles and techniques. The accompanying compositions are not only influenced by the lives and stories of each artist, but by their varied cultures—Caucasian, Mexican-American and African-American. Besides being an examination of three accomplished women guitarists, this is also a study of the roots and history of American popular music, with an underlying theme of triumph and accomplishment over oppression, transcendence over gender bias and exemplary artistry that has withstood the test of time.
Access status: Open Access ,
Musical and Cultural Negotiations Within Three Chinese Orchestras in Toronto
(2023-08-04) Cui, Yao; Johnson, Sherry
Chinese orchestras have been active in Toronto, Canada since at least 1969, but their activity has rarely been documented; as a genre, Chinese orchestras in the diaspora are largely unrepresented in musical scholarship. In addressing this significant gap, my dissertation explores the question: how do Chinese diasporic musicians negotiate internal musical and cultural spaces within their orchestras? It traces the roots and development of Chinese orchestras in Toronto, situating them within discourses of diasporic and transnational histories and development. Using interviews, questionnaires, participant-observation, and document analysis, I examine three primary topics: music education, repertoire, and musical and cultural interactions. First, I discuss how Chinese instrument education in the GTA, especially for youths and seniors, assists Chinese immigrants in staying linked to their culture and teaches successive generations about their heritage. Chinese instrument education has undergone significant changes over the past seven decades, broadening from “internal” transmission of music knowledge and skills within private lessons, ensembles and orchestras to a broader community engagement. I then analyze the patterns of repertoire among Toronto Chinese orchestras and learn that these orchestras have frequently cooperated and exchanged ideas with musicians and composers from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan over the years, and their main target audience is the Chinese communities within the GTA. Finally, I explore the cultural, social and musical interactions that occur within Chinese orchestras. I discover that the identities and self-positioning of Chinese orchestra members are expressed through the choices they make in relation to musical notation, competence, membership, and social interaction. Chinese orchestras serve as a microcosm of society, revealing how Chinese social and cultural practices in the diaspora operate in Toronto’s Chinese communities. Through a systematic study of three Chinese orchestras in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada, this study explores the rich history of Chinese musical involvement in the region that connects homeland to new Canadian contexts, demonstrating the musical and cultural complexity of engaging Chinese musicians and music in a specific diaspora setting.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Neuroscience of Music: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Effects of Music on the Brain
(2023-08-04) Ghanai, Katayoun; Coghlan, Michael
The human brain has evolved into a system which can analyze sound and assign meaningful associations to that stimulus. Studying the human brain with respect to music leads us to ask, why people make music, how people perceive the music and how does music influence the human body? Dancing, playing music, listening to music, and singing all have affective responses. Humans can use their body to move to music or can use their body to produce music. Dance as an “orchestration of energy” is a very deep biochemical experience which produces a rush of neurotransmitters in the brain thereby inducing many different sensations and emotions. Singing and the emotional impact of sound affects the body through the vagus nerve, which passes through the ear, extends into the larynx and all the internal organs including the entire intestinal tract, back muscles, lungs and heart. It carries the fibers that control the release of gastric and pancreatic secretions, and inhibitory fibers of the heart. This dissertation considers the healing properties of music. It studies the insula, a very unified center of the brain that connects different functional systems such as sensory, emotional, and cognitive processing and is also responsible for processing both positive, negative, and socially appropriate emotions. The results of two quantitative pilot studies through brain imaging scans on the healing effects of music and dance on Parkinson’s disease are introduced. Statistical data presented without assessing the emotions of the participants who undergo the difficult process of sickness and aging is rigid science which lacks the information on the hidden, vulnerable sides of human beings. Since music and dance deal with the psyche and the body together, a conversation with one of the participants is added to understand the feelings regarding the inability of science alone in dealing with an incurable disease and the hope that music brings for a better quality of life.
Access status: Open Access ,
A New Place at the Table: Ancient Cadential Patterns for Modern Improvision and Aural Skills Training
(2023-03-28) Stein, Benjamin Charles; Chambers, Mark K.
Contemporary efforts to integrate improvisation practice into institutional music education are many and varied, but lack of improvisatory skill remains an ongoing problem, especially in classical music instruction. Drawing on artisanal training, in which a corpus of memorized repertoire becomes a stylistic knowledge base, source of cognitive schemata and raw material for creative variation, a useful set of historically-derived “standards” can be found in the three introductory cadences used in the Neapolitan conservatory partimento tradition (It. Cadenza Semplice, Cadenza Composta, Cadenza Doppia) of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Referencing music cognition research, music theory sources and improvisation discourse, this paper argues that intervallic suspensions in these schemata (4-3, 7-6) can be seen as a simple demonstration of error perception and correction, a cognitive process that can be deployed to develop and strengthen both aural and creative skills. Integration of these cadences into beginner training also suggests a reassessment of the order of introduction of musical elements found in formal music instruction, which privileges the chord as a discrete entity, and relegates intervallic suspension, schemata and counterpoint to intermediate, advanced, or supplementary study. These cadences concisely synthesize and demonstrate contrapuntal interplay and voice leading between bass and treble voices, basic syncopation and rhythmic division, and the concept of dissonance/consonance within linear parameters as an integral aspect of musical form. A series of beginner to intermediate exercises for use in vocal and instrumental training are presented. The dissertation recommends that intervallic suspensions be given a renewed “place at the table,” once again taking their former role as primal examples of compositional structure and aesthetic possibility.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Historical Development of The Piano in Popular Cuban Music: A History of Musical Nationalism
(2023-03-28) Vazquez, Ruben; Coghlan, Michael
This research is an attempt to clarify the role of the piano in Cuban music and culture through history. Most of the dissertation is carefully focused on the actual music compositions and seeks to present a survey of the devices, techniques, architecture, and genres found in the vast piano repertoire produced in Cuba. As soon as the piano arrived in Cuba at the end of the eighteenth century it became a favorite musical instrument in society. Since its introduction it has played a significant role in the musical expression of the island and soon after it became a symbol of nationalism. Throughout its history in Cuba, the piano has continued to define the stylistic characteristics of a new and emergent musical culture, and even today the piano remains one of the favorite instruments of the country. The importance of the instrument is reflected in the oeuvre of several piano composers who helped develop authentic Cuban genres. This study discusses and analyzes the musical traits and character of the most distinguished Cuban pianists and composers, and it examines the significance of the piano pedagogues who played a vital role in providing the groundwork for the foundation of the Cuban piano school. It also explores the origin and characteristics of Cuban musical genres which are found in the work of the early piano composers and performers who defined the music traditions of the island. The origins and characteristics of some of the most recognized musical genres and styles, some of which played an influential role in the music of the Caribbean and the Americas, are examined and considered.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Practice and Performance of Katajjaq: Culture, Identity and Resistance
(2022-08-08) Singh, Raj Shobha; Johnson, Sherry
Katajjaq, or vocal games, has a long history among the Inuit of Canada. Practiced almost exclusively by women, katajjaq is a playful competition between two or more partners who face each other and exchange sound motifs; one is leading, while the other repeats the same motifs. The first person unable to maintain the rhythm, tempo, or breathing pattern will laugh, indicating that they have lost the game. An oral tradition, katajjaq continues to be a popular practice amongst Inuit. In addition, katajjaq has recently moved from the realm of game to becoming an integral component of Inuit music. Katajjaq's shift from game to music is also accompanied by an increase in male participation. Notably, Nelson Tagoona combines katajjaq with beatboxing to create a genre he calls "throat boxing." The primary purpose of this dissertation is to examine katajjaq. I explore how it is understood, practiced and sometimes recontextualized by numerous Inuit culture bearers as well as how it has been studied and portrayed by ethnomusicologists. In this way I scrutinize research gaps in ethnomusicological investigations about katajjaq and point to how Inuit epistemology and ontology provide culturally appropriate ways of understanding katajjaq. For instance, the complexity and significance of the imaq-nuna-sila (water-land-sky) relationship in Inuit epistemology as well as Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), or the guiding principles of Inuit life and ways of knowing and being provide a richer understanding of the role of katajjaq in Inuit life. The secondary purpose of this dissertation is to present the musical life and creative choices of Nelson Tagoona and trace how he contributes new meaning to katajjaq. Some of my research questions include: What creative and cultural choices are made when a living cultural tradition is combined with a contemporary popular practice? How does Nelson Tagoona negotiate and mediate tradition and innovation? How has the inclusion of hip hop culture with katajjaq affected the meaning of throat singing? By focusing on one musician's experience, I highlight how individual experience and agency can point to broader shifts in cultural practices.
Access status: Open Access ,
Under One Cover: Traditional & Hybrid Woodwind Études
(2021-11-15) Tollar, Ernest Patrick; Coghlan, Michael
This study presents original, traditional, and experimental compositions placed together in a single volume for performers and students of post-traditional music. The template of this research is made up of complete tude compositions which generate the specific technical focus for each chapter. These woodwind-centric compositions are stylistically diverse and suitable for performance, as well as study. Micro-focused details are marked in the music notation, with symbols and abbreviations denoting the stylistic details and techniques presented, so they may be excerpted, practiced and developed creatively. These tudes may either serve as a launching point into latent areas rich with deeper classical or traditional nuance, or conversely, spark creative directions based on hybridized permutations on various woodwind traditions. This thesis is aimed at contemporaneous woodwind players as well as other musicians, composers, artists or thinkers who seek to reconcile the pursuit of traditional depth with that of fearless and joyful
Access status: Open Access ,
Exploring the Significance of Musical-Emotional Response on Community Band Participation
(2021-11-15) Shephard, Gordon John; Thomas, William L.
This study explored the significance of musical-emotional response on community band members. Do participants respond emotionally to the music when rehearsing and performing in a community band, and if so, what it the nature of this response? How do the participants recognize emotional response as an important aspect of participating in community music? What might be a community music approach to musicking that includes emotional response as a deliberate strategy? Literature and research inform us that twentieth-century music philosophers and music education philosophers regarded emotional response as an unimportant aspect of music reception. In particular, they discouraged the idea that music induced or evoked felt emotions. It was not until the emergence of research in neuroscience and music psychology beginning in the 1990s that musically induced emotions were considered. This ultimately led to contemporary theories that considered musical-emotional response as a process that included both cognitive and induced responses. This study utilized a grounded theory approach in order to ascertain the authentic viewpoints of the participants. Following a four-month rehearsal and performance session of selected repertoire, twenty-eight community band members completed an open-ended questionnaire where they reflected on the prevalence and nature of their emotional responses to the music. The findings suggest that community band participants not only perceived the emotions represented in music but also experienced musically induced emotions. The study revealed that the idea of accessibility was key to the participants' ability to respond emotionally to the music. Emotional response, by the participants, became contingent on many factors – the ability of the participants to perform the music successfully (technical challenges and performance anxiety), the ability of the participants to understand the structure of the music, the effect of practice and experience, and the social context.
Access status: Open Access ,
Creativity, Improvisation, and Pedagogy for the Chinese Yangqin
(2021-11-15) Zhang, Di; Coghlan, Michael
Improvisation is commonly employed in the approach to teaching creative and imaginative music in music education systems across many cultures. However, improvisation as a creative teaching strategy is not yet applied in music programs in Chinese universities, conservatories, and schools. The aim of my research project is to formulate and develop pedagogical materials and exercises which can be used to develop contemporary music improvisation programs in Chinese education. My study will focus on a practical/experimental approach to teaching, with the aim of discovering a viable pedagogy for transmitting the values and spirit of free improvisation. This research draws on my own experience studying improvisation at York University as well as conducting research on other North American and European institutions. It is organised on the basis of the following: 1) different models of teaching improvisation; 2) importance of improvisation in music; 3) musicianship exercises; 4) music creation; 5) improvisation strategies. I will also discern the roots of the yangqin and regional yangqin music improvisation techniques to establish an innovative approach to creating music and to compare with Western music improvisation techniques.
Access status: Open Access ,
Hexachords reconsidered towards a revised compositional paradigm
(2021-07-06) Wilde, Douglas Gordon; Coghlan, Michael
This dissertation demonstrates, through a number of original works, the depth and variety offered by the exclusive use of hexachords as a generative compositional resource. Part One provides an overview of hexachords, outlines the connection between hexachords and twelve- tone music, reviews specific techniques, and discusses how these techniques were used by prominent twentieth century composers. Although a great deal of western art music has been created using these techniques, exclusive composition with six-note collections in equal tempered systems is rare. Further, much of the literature devoted to hexachords is concerned solely with their use in twelve-tone music. Interest in the hexachord has long been overwhelmed by the preeminence of twelve-tone music. Part Two introduces eighteen hexachordal compositions. Various techniques developed for use in twelve-tone music are adapted and employed. My research seeks to expand the understanding and use of hexachords as a compositional resource apart from serialism. Another component of this research, and one that sets it apart further from existing work in this area is my interest in different musical genres in addition to exploring hexachordal composition as a resource within western art music, this dissertation presents a distinctly rare investigation into the use of hexachords in jazz composition and improvisation.
Access status: Open Access ,
Third Stream Consciousness: A Compositional Process
(2021-07-06) Riley, Benjamin Douglas Armin; Coghlan, Michael
This thesis presents an original composition based on Gunther Schuller's term, Third Stream, which describes the organic approach of combining essential elements of both classical and jazz music (later in life, he revised this to include all world musics). This approach ideally culminates in an inextricably interwoven structure in and of itself. Therefore the two original streams, or genres, of music merge into a single 'Third Stream', of which there is a homogeneous sense of form, texture, melody, harmony and rhythm-- as opposed to a distinctly separate jazz and classical feel-- within the composition. Inspired by a plethora of classical and jazz composers and musicians alike, this composition represents an attempt to fulfill Schuller's concept of Third Stream music, while at the same time creating something unique, engaging to the listener, and personally fulfilling. The hope is to have contributed a piece of music worthy of admission to the Third Stream catalogue.
Access status: Open Access ,
Original Compositions Inspired by the Genius of Bill Evans' Compositions
(2021-07-06) McGill, Richard Thomas; Coghlan, Michael
This dissertation analyzes diverse compositions by Bill Evans to create a deeper understanding of his creative methodologies and techniques. The knowledge gained generated the musical data which inspired my creation of a collection of original compositions for solo piano. Evans musical style is considered by many jazz aficionados as a benchmark standard that greatly influenced the evolution of jazz. His knowledge of the four centuries of music preceding his works was broad and his compositional techniques were of the highest intellectual order (Reilly 2010, ix). Unlike many of the jazz professionals of his day, he was academically educated and achieved a Bachelor of Music degree at Southeastern Louisiana College (Shadwick 2002, 51) with later graduate studies in composition at Mannes College of Music (Pettinger 1998, 24). Evans composed over fifty original works and received much critical acclaim, including seven Grammy Awards, eleven nominations, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and induction into the Downbeat Hall of Fame in 1981. In this dissertation, Evans composition techniques were explored to identify trends and patterns to lead to a deeper understanding of his methods. The first step was to select diverse works for intense study from Evans fifty original pieces. The in-depth musical analysis used the LaRue model to analyze sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and growth (i.e. SHMRG); Schenkerian analysis to investigate the structure; and a unique data-driven methodology to compare chord/scale relationships. The selections chosen for analysis covered a broad range, from the more obscure to his best known characteristics. The distillation of Evans technique through this in-depth analysis of seven pieces was an enlightening experience to advance my compositional skills, and a powerful inspiration for my seven original compositions. This dissertation expands the knowledge in the field of music as follows. Evans use of formulaic composition is explored with examples presented with respect to melody, rhythm, harmonic logic, and elaboration. The use of Schenkerian analysis on the seven inspirational pieces is unique and identifies the formulaic structure of these pieces. My creative processes are also shared and presented in parallel with my seven original pieces.

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