Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

School

Music

Committee Chair

Dr. Catherine Rand

Committee Chair School

Music

Committee Member 2

Dr. Gregory Fuller

Committee Member 2 School

Music

Committee Member 3

Dr. Joseph Brumbeloe

Committee Member 3 School

Music

Committee Member 4

Dr. Ed Hafer

Committee Member 4 School

Music

Committee Member 5

Dr. Travis Higa

Committee Member 5 School

Music

Abstract

Cindy McTee’s 2005 composition for strings, percussion, and computer music is an exploration in pluralism, combining newly composed music and computer-synthesized sounds with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Charles Ives. McTee’s initial use of Bach’s music comprises the complete harmonization of the chorale “Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott.” In later sections of the work, McTee creates entire textures from the chorale’s soprano line, subjecting it to a variety of treatments including augmentation, diminution, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion. In addition to the inclusion of his music, McTee reiterates the importance of Bach through composition that relies on the four-note motive formed from the letters of his name: B♭, A, C, B. The central section of Einstein’s Dream, unlike much of the work, is devoid of any material by or related to Bach, instead being notably influenced by Charles Ives’s The Unanswered Question. The influence of The Unanswered Question manifests in the characteristics of this section’s texture, the individual function of its musical layers, as well as its extended melodic line, which has been constructed from the principal trumpet theme of The Unanswered Question. For the creation of a transcription of the work, principal challenges included the translation of idiomatic string techniques for wind instruments, as well as the aural transcription and acoustic recreation of the computer music, in order to achieve a more ideal blend with the new ensemble of winds and percussion. As such, representative examples showing the translation of certain idiomatic string techniques, as well as examples that show how the computer music was acoustically rendered occupy a portion of this document.

Download

Share

COinS