The Trumpet Music of Eric Nathan

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the trumpet works of composer Eric Nathan in terms of their technical and notational elements. This analysis develops an understanding of the musical vocabulary and techniques that will provide insight into the structure, style, and performance of this repertoire and in doing so to discover a historical perspective of the trumpet’s role within solo and chamber music genres in the 21st century. Through this analysis, I suggest that Nathan\u27s music pushed the technical, and therefore expressive boundaries of the instrument. While not exhaustive, the analysis of Cantus, Four Sculptures, and Toying will provide a good representative sample of Nathan\u27s compositional approach towards music for trumpet. Developments in new music notation through the twentieth century will be examined along with a survey of how these developments are reflected in literature for the trumpet. Ultimately, this thesis considers how the convergence of notation and literature was key for the trumpet to secure a position as a solo instrument within the scope of western music practices. Nathan\u27s music is the lens to undertake this exploration

By Way of Remembrance: Rural Cemeteries of North Mississippi

My habit was to drive back roads, explore, and not worry about getting anywhere quickly or about getting lost. With my wife, Marianne, often accompanying me, we would stick to county roads, always on the lookout for places of visual interest. Among the places we frequently stopped were small towns—in both business and residential areas—and, especially, rural churches and cemeteries. Many of the churches, whether still active or not, had burial grounds close by, and even long-abandoned churches sometimes had cemeteries that showed signs of recent use. A few cemeteries were off by themselves, however, apparently forgotten by any church that might once have been nearby. Some of these more isolated sites were family plots, not necessarily attached to a church. ... the cemeteries often seemed places of beauty, sadness, and religious faith, evoking not only a local past but also a rural culture that while still alive in the present moment was gradually, inexorably fading away. In short, the cemeteries provided a record of a society in the process of becoming a remnant of its past self.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/studythesouth/1001/thumbnail.jp

Elvis and Those Who (Still) Love Him

Every year, in the middle of August, people travel from throughout the world to gather in Memphis, Tennessee. The focus of their pilgrimage is the long-dead Elvis Presley. The occasion is the anniversary of his death, which occurred on August 16, 1977. In the days leading up to the annual “Death Day,” venues all over Memphis host Elvis-themed events, visitors pack the city’s hotels, restaurants, and bars, and the gathered faithful renew friendships begun during previous Elvis Weeks, some of them decades in the past. The week culminates on the 16th in front of Graceland (Elvis’s Memphis home) at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard. At dusk, a candlelight procession ends at the Meditation Garden on the Graceland grounds, where Elvis, his parents, and paternal grandmother are buried.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/studythesouth/1019/thumbnail.jp

The engineering and technological education of Black Americans : 1865-1950.

This study researches the history of black involvement in engineering and technological education from Emancipation to the year 1950. The educational opportunities that existed for black Americans during this period, and the lack of such opportunities, are examined. The progress of the former slave population into the technologically advanced twentieth century is followed. Tactics employed by individual states in reaction to black insistence for advanced learning are examined providing an understanding of black protests on the lack of access and the outright refusal of some states to field the question of black higher education. Voices from both sides of the racial bar address the question of educational parity. Teachers, politicians, and statesmen are prominent in this discussion, displaying a range of views that both astounded and empowered the forces that worked on either side of the controversy. Racism, institutional and individual, is a focal point. Tolerance is shown as a continuing thread throughout, often where one might least expect it, and alliances that forged a new era of cooperation between the races and among institutions are researched and reported. Institutions and individuals responsible for the racial and educational climate are examined: prominent spokespersons, both black and white, are included to give an overall feel for the struggle for parity in this area of the educational arena; institutions, their policies and practices, their willingness to look beyond the color of an applicant\u27s skin, and their efforts to include a diverse student body are examined. There is also a discussion of the emergence of a national policy\u27s broad guidelines that aided in the denial of access to black technological aspirants during this time period. The black struggle for opportunity and acceptance in the technological arena has been a struggle worthy of note. This struggle and the reporting of it is important because, despite the significance of the topic, it is one that has been minimally explored. This is a beginning

Operation of an experimental algal gas exchanger for use in a CELSS

Concepts of a Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) anticipate the use of photosynthetic organisms (higher plants and algae) for air revitalization. The rates of production and uptake of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the crew and the photosynthetic organisms are mismatched. An algal system used for gas exchange only will have the difficulty of an accumulation or depletion of these gases beyond physiologically tolerable limits (in a closed system the mismatch between assimilatory quotient (AQ) and respiratory quotient (RQ) is balanced by the operation of the waste processor). The results are given of a study designed to test the feasibility of using environmental manipulations to maintain physiologically appropriate atmospheres for algae and mice in a gas closed system. Specifically, the atmosphere behavior of this system is considered with algae grown on nitrate or urea and at different light intensities and optical densities. Manipulation of both allow operation of the system in a gas stable manner. Operation of such a system in a CELSS may be useful for reduction of buffer sizes, as a backup system for higher plant air revitalization and to supply extra oxygen to the waste processor or during crew changes

Action Duality: A Constructive Principle for Quantum Foundations

An analysis of the path-integral approach to quantum theory motivates the hypothesis that two experiments with the same classical action should have dual ontological descriptions. If correct, this hypothesis would not only constrain realistic interpretations of quantum theory, but would also act as a constructive principle, allowing any realistic model of one experiment to generate a corresponding model for its action-dual. Two pairs of action-dual experiments are presented, including one experiment that violates the Bell inequality and yet is action-dual to a single particle. The implications generally support retrodictive and retrocausal interpretations.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure