MUSICAL EXOTICISM EXPLORED IN PIANO WORKS FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THROUGH THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Musical exoticism is the evocation of a culture different from that of the composer. It occurs anytime a composer tries to conjure up the music of a country not his own. Although there have been studies of exoticism in the piano works of an individual composer, namely Debussy, there has not been a comprehensive study of musical exoticism in the piano literature as a whole. Upon chronological examination of the piano repertoire, general trends exhibiting exoticism become evident. The first general trend is the emergence of the Turkish style (alia turca) in the eighteenth century. Turkish style soon transmuted to the Hungarian-Gypsy style (all 'ongarese or style hongrois). [In Beethoven's Op. 129, it is alia ingharese.] Composers often alternated between the two styles even in the same composition. By the late nineteenth century, style hongrois was firmly entrenched in the musical language of Austro-German composers, as seen in the works of Brahms. In the nineteenth century, composers turned to the Middle East, North Africa and Spain for inspiration. In particular are several compositions emulating Spanish dance music, culminating in the Spanish works of Debussy and Ravel. The gamelans from Indonesia and objects from the Far East of Japan and China, brought by advances in trade and transportation, captivated the imagination of composers at the turn of the twentieth century. Also in the early twentieth century, composers tried emulating dance and jazz music coming from the Americas, such as the cakewalk, minstrelsy, and the blues. One sees the ever widening sphere of exotic inspiration for western music composers: from the Turkish invasions to the traveling Gypsies of Hungary; to the captivating dance rhythms, soulful cante jondo sections, and guitar flourishes of Spain; expanding further to the far reaches of Asia and the jazzy rhythms of the Americas. This performance dissertation consists of three recitals presented at the University of Maryland, and is documented on compact disc recordings which are housed within the University of Maryland Library System. The recordings present the music of Balakirev, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, Hummel, Milhaud, Moszkowski, Mozart, Ravel, and Schubert.

MUSICAL THEATER AND THE CLASSICAL VOICE: CROSSOVER SINGING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

This dissertation explores the transformation of opera comique (as represented by the opera Carmen) and the impact of verismo style (as represented by the opera La Boheme) upon the development of operetta, American musical theater and the resultant change in vocal style. Late nineteenth-century operetta called for a classically trained soprano voice with a clear vibrato. High tessitura and legato were expected although the quality of the voice was usually lighter in timbre. The dissertation comprises four programs that explore the transformation of vocal and compositional style into the current vocal performance practice of American musical theater. The first two programs are operatic roles and the last two are recital presentations of nineteenth- and twentieth- century operetta and musical theater repertoire. Program one, Carmen, was presented on July 26, 2007 at the Marshall Performing Arts Center in Duluth, MN where I sang the role of Micaela. Program two, La Boheme, was presented on May 24,2008 at Randolph Road Theater in Silver Spring, MD where I sang the role of Musetta. Program three, presented on December 2, 2008 and program four, presented on May 10, 2009 were two recitals featuring operetta and musical theater repertoire. These programs were heard in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD. Programs one and two are documented in a digital video format available on digital video disc. Programs three and four are documented in a digital audio format available on compact disc. All programs are accompanied by program notes also available in digital format.

MUSICAL IMPROVISATION AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Musical improvisation combines technical proficiency and musical intuition. Due to its interactive nature, improvisation provides an avenue of communication among all art forms. This dissertation project explores the collaborative aspects of improvisation involving a musician, visual artist, a small group of dancers, and videographer. Video footage from two separate recording sessions provided hours of visual materials which were studied and edited. The first session was a live performance recorded in front of a studio audience. The second session was a two-day collaboration between musician and dancers in a studio space. The process of editing and compiling images with audio-an important element in this project-presented many unforeseeable challenges and lessons. This recorded dissertation is comprised of seven music videos that demonstrate my ability as an artist in collaboration with visual artist-professor Richard Klank, dancers David Yates, Jamie Garcia, Raha Behnam, Rachel Wolfe and Adrian Galvin, and video artist Nguyen Nguyen. Each video represents an individual creative process involving musical performance, studio lighting, sound recording, and video editing.

Las igualdades incorrectas producidas en el proceso de traducción algebraico: un catálogo de errores

Propongo un catálogo para los errores que puedan encontrarse al realizar el proceso de traducción algebraico. El catálogo consta de tres categorías: errores en el uso de letras, errores en la construcción de expresiones algebraicas y errores en la construcción de la igualdad. Constaté la validez del catálogo con las igualdades incorrectas producidas por 258 estudiantes de bachillerato que trabajaron 13 problemas. Encontré que las producciones persistentes dan cuenta de una parte sustantiva del error total y que estas producciones contienen errores de las categorías antes citadas. Además, determinados errores se podrían asociar con tipos de problemas.

Adiciones al catálogo de la flora vascular de Alicante (SE de España)

En este trabajo se aportan algunos datos florísticos, ecológicos y biogeográñcos sobre diversos táxones que suponen adiciones interesantes al catálogo de la flora vascular de Alicante.

Adiciones al catálogo de líquenes de la isla de Madeira (Portugal)

Se comentan 12 especies de líquenes que no estaban citadas anteriormente para la isla de Madeira. Blarneya hibernica es nueva cita para la región Macaronésica.

Catálogo de hepáticas de la provincia de Cuenca (España)

En este trabajo damos el catalogo de Hepaticae y su distribución en la provincia de Cuenca,

Catálogo florístico del Cañón del río Duratón (Segovia,España), IV. Rubiaceae a Compositae

Se continúa con la presente publicación el catálogo de la flora vascular del cañón del rio Duratón (Segovia). Se citan 106 táxones de las familias comprendidas entre Rubiaceae y Compositae, resaltando las aportaciones corolágicas.

Catálogo florístico del Cañón del río Duratón (Segovia, España). I. Equisetaceae a Grossulariaceae

Se inicia con esta publicación el catálogo de la flora vascular del Cañón del río Duratón (Segovia). Se citan 162 taxones de las familias comprendidas entre Equisetaceae y Grossulariaceae. Se realizan numerosas aportaciones corológicas.

Catálogo liquénico de las calizas de Madrid (España)

Se da a conocer un primer catálogo de la flora liquénica que coloniza los roquedos pontienses, o del páramo, situados entre las cuencas de los ríos Henares y Tajuña (Madrid, España). Se relacionan en total 101 táxones, once de los cuales son nuevas citas para la flora española, con comentarios acerca de su ecología y corología.

An Enactive Approach to the Design of New Tangible Musical Instruments

In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework for the design of tangible interfaces for musical expression. The main insight for the proposed approach is the importance and utility of familiar sensorimotor experiences for the creation of engaging and playable new musical instruments. In particular, we suggest exploiting the commonalities between different natural interactions by varying the auditory response or tactile details of the instrument within certain limits. Using this principle, devices for classes of sounds such as coarse grain collision interactions or friction interactions can be designed. The designs we propose retain the familiar tactile aspect of the interaction so that the performer can take advantage of tacit knowledge gained through experiences with such phenomena in the real world.