A spot check of the status of music education of grades four, five and six in the elementary schools of Massachusetts as of the year 1956-57.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Listening and remembering: networked off-line improvisation for four commuters

This paper analyses the experience of the networked off-line improvisation 'Listening and Remembering', a performance for four commuters using voices and sounds from the Mexico City and Paris metros. It addresses the question: how can an act of collective remembering, inspired by listening to metro soundscapes, lead to the creation of networked voice- and sound-based narratives about the urban commuting experience? The networked experience is seen here from the structural perspective (telematic setting), the sonic underground context, the ethnographic process that led to the performance, the narratives that are created in the electro-acoustic setting, the shared acoustic environments that those creations suggest, and the technical features and participants' responses that prevent or facilitate interaction. Emphasis is placed on the participants' status as non-performers, and on their familiarity with the sonic environment, as a context that allows the participation of non-musicians in the making of music through telematically shared interfaces, using soundscape and real-time voice. Participants re-enact their routine experience through a dialogical relation- ship with the sounds, the other participants, themselves, and the experience of sharing: a collective memory

On topics today

This article surveys the state of so-called topic theory today. It charts its development through two generations of topic theorists. The first is constructed around three influential texts: Leonard Ratners seminal book that established the discipline in its own right, Classic music: expression, form and style (1980); Wye Allanbrooks. Rhythmic gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (1983); and Kofi Agawus. Playing with signs: a semiotic interpretation of classical music (1991). The second comprises significant advances in topic theory essayed through two further pairs of texts: Robert Hattens Musical meaning in Beethoven: markedness, correlation, and interpretation (1994) and Interpreting musical gestures, topics, and tropes: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert (2004); and Raymond Monelles Linguistics and semiotics in music (1992) and The sense of music: semiotic essays (2000). Topic Theory's role as the soft hermeneutic sub-field of music semiotics (relative to the harder, formalist practices of Nattiezs neutral level analysis) is portrayed here as navigating a number of treacherous polemical paths. These wend their way between referential style (expression) and structural syntax (form); historical reconstruction and hermeneutic construction; and heightened sensitivity to social meanings and imposed acts of creative interpretation. This existence of topic theory in a continuous dialogue between structural formalism and the semantics of expressive discourse is held responsible for its marginal position both to the dominant strains of contemporary postmodern musicology and to the dying embers of formalist analysis. The failure of topic theory to strike a fashionable text-context balance thus highlights why musicology continues to view semiotics with scepticism. Ratner presents his thesaurus of style labelssomewhat dubiouslyas the historically authentic ready-to-hand materials (types and styles) of eighteenth-century expressive musical rhetoric. But it is Agawus combination of this universe of topics with a Schenker-influenced beginning-middle-end paradigm that establishes the hallmark of first generation topic theory on which the first half of this paper focuses. Agawus delicate equation between extroversive and introversive semiosis is essayed as a pivotal turning point in topic theorys ability to transcend the mere passive ascription of rhetorical labels. Out of this equation, expressive meanings can ariseas much from the non-congruence, as the congruence, of signs and structure. Hatten's critique of Agawu for neglecting the full interpretative consequences of his signifieds is the springboard for his more hermeneutically replete brand of topic theory and the emergence of the second generation topic theorists. Hattens use of troping (a kind of musical metaphor), is one of many interpretative tools that are responsible for broadening the arena of topic theorysome of his others being: expressive genres, emergent meanings and markedness theory. These are deployed across a variety of musical parameters as Hattens attention increasingly turns to the prototypicality of topics in their euphoric and dysphoric states. Hattens interpretative work is shown to transcend historical reconstruction to comprise creative interpretation built on a much broader definition of expressive gestures, of which topics are only a constituent part. The article concludes with Monelles expos of the dubious historical underpinnings of Ratners topic theory foundations. This does not render this vibrant branch of semiotics redundant but, on the contrary, charts its future direction as one calling out for far deeper historical investigation and cultural criticism. Monelles enlightening forays into the more replete expressive meanings of such topics as the horse and pianto make this point abundantly clear. The future of topics today, if not musicology in general, is one of cultural criticism

Music, Myth and Motherland: Culturally Centered Music & Imagery

This study assessed ethnic identity in adults of Indian origin through Culturally Centered Music & Imagery (CCMI), a music-centered, psychotherapeutic technique that emphasizes socio-cultural context, identity and meaning. The purpose was to examine how participants’ native music, in the context of CCMI, could evoke identity-based imagery and assess ethnic identity in a globalized context. Five cisgender Indian men and women from Hindu backgrounds participated in one CCMI session each, including an interview and follow up discussions. The qualitative methodology of portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 1997) was used in this study. The results reveal how CCMI can access the cultural and ethnic unconscious, a relatively new area of consciousness in Jungian and GIM paradigms. The study also shows how CCMI can highlight the fluid and multiple nature of ethnic identity, revealing its intersection with other identities such as gender, sexual orientation, caste and religion. In addition, the data support the use of contextual and identity-based music selections in assisting participants to explore, recreate or gain a deeper understanding of their ethnic identity through image and metaphor. Major findings include new categories of ethnic identity such as Aesthetic, Ancestral, Philosophical, Mythological, Spiritual and Core Indian identities. Subthemes include experiences of Rebirth, Disconnection, Unconscious Divide, as well as other socio-cultural identities such as Kaleidoscopic, World Citizen and Global Nomad. These and other themes relate to American, global, spiritual, queer, socio-economic, caste, gendered, and individual contexts. The research also suggests that this technique may be effective in emotionally and psychologically supporting adults who are going through the process of immigration or acculturation

Throwin' words at U : a lyrical analysis of MC Lyte's rap texts : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Recently, rap music has become a prominent musical genre and is possibly one of the most popular and influential forms of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s (Erlewine et al 921). Rap is dominated by male artists, although females have been increasingly writing and recording rap music. Considerable research has been conducted on various aspects of the rap phenomenon, but there has been little focus on analysing rap lyrics using traditional literary criticism. The present study analysed the rap texts of MC Lyte, an enduring female rap artist, employing literary techniques used to analyse poetry. The development of rap music is traced from its inception, identifying some of its features and impact, particularly within the economically-disadvantaged and predominantly African-American areas of large cities. The emergence of women rappers, and how their input has contributed to the changing nature of rap music, both in its subject-matter and in the language techniques used, is discussed. MC Lyte was chosen as a representative female rapper because she had recorded several albums spanning more than a decade, because she focuses on issues affecting African-American women and because her lyrical techniques have developed across time. Drawing similarities between rap music and "street poetry", a comprehensive textual analysis was conducted on the albums of MC Lyte. Her use of vocabulary and common elements of poetry was examined, as well as the topics she addresses. The analysis shows that Lyte uses both the common characteristics of rap music, and traditional literary techniques, to successfully comment on issues relevant to her audience. Many of her lyrics involved self-promotion and denigration of other rappers, common elements in rap music. Other lyrics commented and advised on important issues facing African-Americans living in poor black communities, particularly women. Many texts, however, had a more universal relevance. While her lyrics show a consistency across albums, the literary devices and language techniques became more complex, and a wider range of issues were discussed. Inherent limitations in the study were that other possible forms of analysis were not conducted, such as sociological and feminist approaches. Comparisons with other rap artists were not possible due to the lack of prior research into their lyrics. These were identified as topics for future research

American Tap Dance History and Proposed Preservation

The first form of dance conceived in the United States, tap dance, thrived throughout the era of vaudeville and the movie musical. Today’s society often overlooks tap dance beyond basic or beginner dance education; the history of the art from is even more so neglected. Within these pages, I will address the question of how the history of tap dance can be honored and preserved for generations to come. I feel so grateful to have had a tap mentor that valued the history of tap just as much as the technique and steps. Others in my field may not have been so lucky. This is ultimately a major hinderance in our ability as dance educators to future students. Developing a system of tap dance training accompanied by history as well as sparking the interest of audiences new and old is the best way to further tap technique and performance. Thanks to popular television programs such as World of Dance and So You Think You Can Dance, dance, in general, has seen a major resurgence in modern culture. Registration in dance schools, participation in dance conventions, and attendance in dance related performances is steadily on the rise with no sign of slowing down. In light of this, there has not been a better time to examine the way in which dance history is taught and conveyed; we must take advantage of the peaked interest and utilize all resources at hand. Tap dance, in particular, has seen its own small portion of this widespread dance resurgence especially due to the return of the movie musical - La La Land and The Greatest Showman. With the demand of dance on an upswing, inadequate, lackluster dance education is a serious concern. Dance teachers need to make sure the knowledge they are imparting on students is both historically accurate and progressive. In order to best educate myself and develop a viable solution, I have done extensive historical research through credible texts. I have read various books suggested to me by my own tap mentor and other tap professionals. I have also be read through various biographies and autobiographies. Now having obtained as much knowledge as possible regarding the history of tap dance, I efficiently developed a method in which preservation can take place within the teaching of technique. Tap dance, being one of the only forms of dance originating in the United States, deserves to be sustained and honored properly and to the highest degree

Contrasts : Differences and similarities in choral settings of Christina Rossetti\u27s poems

Choral music is a unique art form because it combines text with music. This juxtaposition allows the two elements to enhance each other, working together to create a clearer product. Composers of choral music must make carefully informed decisions when selecting a text and deciding how to set it to music. The characteristics of the text can have observable effects on the choices a composer makes in their setting. These effects are the subject of this thesis. I wanted to study musical settings of one poet to determine whether certain characteristics of the poetry had noticeable effects when set by various composers. I studied a representative selection of choral pieces setting the poetry of Christina Rossetti in order to determine the relationship between the text and the music. I began by reviewing dozens of choral settings of Rossetti’s poems and selecting a portion for closer analysis. I chose multiple poems set by the same composer as well as multiple settings of the same poem by different composers to identify similarities and differences between the settings. I conducted a detailed musical analysis of each piece, observing things like style, texture, harmony, form, rhythm, and character. Next, I organized a small ensemble of singers and led rehearsals of the selected music, using my analysis to inform the rehearsal process. Finally, this project culminated in a recorded performance of the selected pieces, accompanied by my commentary on the results of my analysis

The bilingual motets of the old corpus of the Montpellier Codex.

The bilingual motets of the old corpus of the Montpellier Codex (Montpellier, Faculté de Médecine, H 196) are collected in the third fascicle of this thirteenth-century codex. These eleven motets provide a sample group for the study of interrelationships among the contents of a manuscript. Elements of the music, text, and tenor sources work together to unify each individual motet as well as the eleven motets in the fascicle. While the motets of Mo have been studied in detail, this small collection has been neglected, perhaps because of its simultaneous presentation of sacred and erotic love. It is this trait, however, that makes this fascicle a striking example of the medieval penchant for interrelationships in seemingly unrelated material. Singing simultaneous praises to the Virgin in Latin and to Marion in French seems unusual today, but in the medieval period this juxtaposition of sacred and erotic love was acceptable

Plundered Kitchens, Empty Wombs: Threatened Reproduction and Identity in the Cameroon Grassfields

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136439/1/ae.2000.27.2.521.pd

A study of song preferences of children and possible influences of identified musical elements on student song selections

The purposes of this study were to identify songs that were preferred by second-and fifth-grade subjects and to isolate musical and textual elements that were found to be common to preferred and nonpreferred songs. The subjects were 125 students in six second-grade classrooms and 146 students in five fifth-grade classrooms. All subjects were presented with booklets containing song texts randomly selected from song textbooks. Subjects listened, as intact classes, to tape recordings of those songs. On the final day of the three-day testing procedure, subjects placed a mark under one of three faces displaying varying degrees of happiness. Lists of preferred and nonpreferred second- and fifth-grade songs were compiled according to frequency tabulations of subjects' marks under smiling and frowning faces. A Song Analysis Guide served as an instrument for recording all data used in the analysis of musical and textual elements of each song. Frequency tabulations of those elements were subsequently made