Dissertation in Music Performance

This dissertation pertains to three viola recitals, which were respectively performed on 2 October 2019, 20 January 2020, and 9 March 2020. Each recital program embraced a specific theme involving little-performed works as well as staples from the viola repertoire, and covered a wide range of different musical styles. The first recital, performed with violinist Arianna Dotto, focused on violin and viola duo repertoire. Two pieces in the Classical and early Romantic styles by W. A. Mozart and L. Spohr were presented in parallel with two pieces from the twentieth century in the Neo-Classical style by Ernst Toch and Bohuslav Martinů. This program explored repertoire from different aesthetics and techniques by demonstrating how composers from the twentieth century renewed traditional musical forms in terms of their own original vocabulary. The second recital, performed in collaboration with pianist Taylor Flowers and singer Meridian Prall, offered a comparative experience of Johannes Brahms’ two viola sonatas, Op. 120, No. 1 and 2, with his Two Songs, Op. 91. The program explored the historical context of each work, highlighting the intrinsic and philosophical connection between the sonatas, as well as the particularly personal nature of the songs, written as a present for a close friend. The two pieces presented in the third recital program, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Viola Op. 147 and Alfred Schnittke’s String Trio (1985), were written shortly before their respective composers died or were on the precipice of death, and I believe both pieces evoke the way these composers confronted their own mortality. The continuity between the two composers’ musical language is apparent in this program, governed by a bleak and somber character pierced with luminous and elusive moments of hope. The performance involved collaboration with violinist Arianna Dotto, cellist Nathaniel Pierce, and pianist Ji-Hyang Gwak.AMUMusic: PerformanceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163124/1/jangster_1.pd

Being itself: On German selbst in synthetic compounds

German synthetic compounds containing selbst have traditionally been treated as reflexive in nature. However, this view cannot cope on the one hand with the basic value of selbst as focus particle and not as pronoun and on the other with the non-reflexive value of many compounds whose meaning range from purely intensification of the understood agent of the activity as in Selbstbau ‘do-it yourself-construction’ to anti-causativity like Selbstentzündung ‘self-ignition’. In this paper, we will consider a different option, namely to interpret the focus particle selbst as a flag for signaling contrastive coreference. This option can be concretely operationalized in constructional terms as a case of constructional idiom.German synthetic compounds containing selbst have traditionally been treated as reflexive in nature. However, this view cannot cope on the one hand with the basic value of selbst as focus particle and not as pronoun and on the other with the non-reflexive value of many compounds whose meaning range from purely intensification of the understood agent of the activity as in Selbstbau ‘do-it yourself-construction’ to anti-causativity like Selbstentzündung ‘self-ignition’. In this paper, we will consider a different option, namely to interpret the focus particle selbst as a flag for signaling contrastive coreference. This option can be concretely operationalized in constructional terms as a case of constructional idiom

Lunar Lander Offloading Operations Using a Heavy-Lift Lunar Surface Manipulator System

This study investigates the feasibility of using a heavy-lift variant of the Lunar Surface Manipulator System (LSMS-H) to lift and handle a 12 metric ton payload. Design challenges and requirements particular to handling heavy cargo were examined. Differences between the previously developed first-generation LSMS and the heavy-lift version are highlighted. An in-depth evaluation of the tip-over risk during LSMS-H operations has been conducted using the Synergistic Engineering Environment and potential methods to mitigate that risk are identified. The study investigated three specific offloading scenarios pertinent to current Lunar Campaign studies. The first involved offloading a large element, such as a habitat or logistics module, onto a mobility chassis with a lander-mounted LSMS-H and offloading that payload from the chassis onto the lunar surface with a surface-mounted LSMS-H. The second scenario involved offloading small pressurized rovers with a lander-mounted LSMS-H. The third scenario involved offloading cargo from a third-party lander, such as the proposed ESA cargo lander, with a chassis-mounted LSMS-H. In all cases, the analyses show that the LSMS-H can perform the required operations safely. However, Chariot-mounted operations require the addition of stabilizing outriggers, and when operating from the Lunar surface, LSMS-H functionality is enhanced by adding a simple ground anchoring system

Gli effetti del contatto croato-italiano nelle produzioni di un bambino bilingue

In questo contributo viene considerato il mescolamento di codice e il transfer nelle produzioni di un bambino bilingue nel periodo tra 3 e 5 anni. Analizzeremo i dati del diario tenuto in questo periodo dai genitori. Uno degli effetti della presenza e quindi del contatto di due lingue nella mente di un bambino bilingue è il mescolamento di codice. Nel presente studio vengono esaminati esempi del mescolamento di croato e italiano all’interno delle frasi nonché all’interno delle parole osservato nelle produzioni del bambino. I dati smentiscono alcuni dei vincoli del mescolamento proposti da alcuni linguisti (es. Poplack 1980; Sankoff/Poplack 1981; Belazi et al. 1994). Un altro importante effetto sotto esame è il trasferimento delle regole di una lingua nelle produzioni nell’altra lingua

Acústica de los órganos de tubulares y tendencias futuras en la investigación

Scientific explanations for having a better understanding of the operation of pipe organs, and revision of some common beliefs regarding their building, seeking to improve this art, are presented in this work.En este trabajo se presentan explicaciones científicas para tener un mejor entendimiento de cómo funcionan los órganos tubulares y revisar algunas creencias comunes en su construcción, buscando mejorar este arte