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  Rachmaninoff: Out of the Darkness

  Grant Asklar

  Grant Asklar, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Inspired by Russian composers such as Nikolai Zverev, Alexander Ziloti, and especially Pyotyr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the late Romantic-era composer Serge Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) composed his Cello Sonata, op. 19. The piece was written in 1901 after the composer suffered a serious bout of depression, following the premiere of his unsuccessful Symphony No. 1. Among Rachmaninoff's many compositions that utilized full orchestra, including piano concertos and the Symphonic Dances, this was his only chamber work for cello and piano. This Cello Sonata has become standard performance repertoire among the world's great cellists, including the highly acclaimed Mstislav Rostropovich. What drew me to the piece is the transcription for baritone saxophone by Steven Banks, which he premiered with pianist Chen-Shen Fan at the Music Institute of Chicago in 2016. As a saxophonist, I hope to take on this “beast” of a piece in performance myself, hoping to encapsulate Steven Banks' expression, tone, and control over the instrument in expressing Rachmaninoff's Russian Romantic idiom. In my analysis, I hope to reveal Rachmaninoff's historical inspirations and influences, such as the Russian "Mighty Handful," for this iconic sonata.

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  Schubert and the Art of the German Lied

  Leonardo Bartholomew

  Leonardo Bartholomew, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Franz Schubert (1797-1828) ended his compositional career with the monumental Liederkreis [Song Cycle] Der Winterreise [The Winter Journey], D. 911 (1828). Comprised of twenty-four Lieder for solo voice and piano that take nearly 90 minutes to perform, Winterreise tells the dramatic story of a despondent young man who sets off on a winter journey to forget the bitter memories of a past romance. The drama correlates with Schubert's untimely passing in 1828 after contracting syphilis. Schubert's mature work narrates its story through both poetic text and melodic invention, giving the listener the feeling of almost being present as it was being created. The individual Lieder I focus on are “Rückblick” [Backward Glance], “Letzte Hoffnung” [Last Hope], and “Der Leiermann” [The Hurdy-Gurdy Man]. These three Lieder all show different melodic and rhythmic motives shared equally between singer and pianist. My analysis reveals how Schubert constructed his final song cycle to highlight the dramatic contrasts among the Lieder to serve the poetic narrative. Stylistically, Schubert takes the listener through a musical journey that builds a powerful dramatic arc within each Lied. My project expresses the brilliance of Schubert's mastery of the genre.

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  Piano Possibilities: Debussy's Préludes

  Zachary Becker

  Zachary Becker, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  In 1870, the French composer Claude Debussy's (1862-1918) skill as a pianist gained him a spot in the Paris Conservatoire at the age of ten. As a precocious keyboard talent, Debussy would quickly learn to use the piano as a useful tool for his compositional aspirations. Not only would he go on to write one of the most renowned collections of virtuoso piano pieces for piano, the two books of Preludes, but his unique compositional style with its ambiguous tonality and colorful textures would develop into a new genre of classical music known as Impressionism. Although Debussy chose to not identify with artistic impressionism, his compositions shaped what would make the genre recognizable. My project analyzes the first piece of Debussy's Préludes, known as “Danseuses de Delphes” (Dancers of Delphi), to reveal the stylistic attributes that influence what we recognize as musical impressionism today. As the Préludes were among his last major piano works completed before his death, all of Debussy's acquired knowledge and skill influenced the collection. Debussy composed one of the most expansive and creative contributions to the piano repertoire in the 20th century.

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  The Young Mozart and the Violin Concerto

  Melanie Bitka

  Melanie Bitka, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Concerto no. 3 in G major, K. 216 (1775), composed when he was just eighteen, displays a youthful aesthetic in its bright tone and exuberant solo passagework. I explore specific reasons Mozart composed this work, and discuss his early life with his musical family in order to reveal the sources of his extraordinary musical talent from the age of five. I also investigate his artistic influences and how these were expressed in his works. Mozart's concerto was influenced by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741), who developed the concerto genre during the Baroque period. Vivaldi made the multi-movement concerto popular through his virtuoso performance skills. As a violinist, I have performed Mozart's Concerto no. 3 and it always reminds me of the springtime in its overall musical Affect. It is interesting to contemplate whether Mozart experienced a similarly positive period of his brief life at the time of creating this joyous work.

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  Giacomo Puccini: Writing Until the Last Breath

  Matthew Bouchard

  Matthew Bouchard, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) spent the final five years of his life composing his final opera, Turandot (1926). Before tragically dying of a heart attack due to complications from his throat cancer, Puccini completed nearly the entire opera “up until the final scene. He left behind 23 pages of notes on his bedside table in a Brussels hospital, where he had been working up to the final moments of his life. What survived him was a gorgeous and exceptionally extensive “fragment” produced by an artist at the peak of his creative and intellectual form. The opera is based on the eighteenth-century play Turandot (1762) by Count Carlo Gozzi. No opera of the Italian tradition that preceded Puccini's Turandot attempted to forge such a strong integration of music and drama. Additional influences that helped create this masterpiece came from the East, most notably Asia. The story is set in China, and many Asian musical motifs are used throughout. Puccini takes full advantage of the pentatonic melodies foundational to traditional Asian music. I focus on the famous aria found in the third act: "Nessun Dorma," and how it has become so popular due to the stirring melody and beautiful harmonies that Puccini wrote. My analysis reveals why Puccini's final unfinished project was ahead of its time and stands apart from works by other composers of his era.

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  The Street Life of Trees: An Urban Guide

  Jaclyn Chuchanis

  Jaclyn Chuchanis, Graphic Design
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Emerita Carol A. Townsend, Art & Design, Professor Robert J. Warren, Biology, Dr. Susan A. McCartney, Small Business Development Center

  
  The main objective of this project was to enhance awareness of our region's urban ecology. My part in this collaborative real-world experience began with a request for illustrating and designing a publication for Buffalo State's Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum. The project commenced with a Special Project during spring 2020 and was concluded during a 2020 Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship. I constructed thirty-four illustrations, for which initial research was done in the Eckert Herbarium. Sketches and on-site photographs were brought into the Adobe Design Suite for manipulation. Along with creating graphs for ecological impact, I designed and laid out sixty-two pages. The result is a professionally printed softcover book, supported by the Friends of the Buffalo State Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum, entitled The Street Life of Trees: An Urban Guide.

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  Harlem Renaissance Man: Towards a Comprehensive Biography of Actor-Singer Frank H. Wilson

  Tracy Clark

  Tracy Clark, Music
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Among the important artists of the Harlem Renaissance is the noted Broadway actor and singer Frank H. Wilson (1886-1956), renowned for creating the title role in Dorothy and DuBose Heyward's Porgy (1927), the phenomenally successful Broadway play that served as the basis for George Gershwin's classic opera Porgy and Bess. From humble beginnings in New York's Tenderloin district, Wilson began his acting career on the vaudeville circuit and was included among a small cohort of African American talent selected to receive dramatic training at the esteemed American Academy of Dramatic Art while he concurrently worked with Harlem's pioneering Lafayette Players as both actor and playwright. Wilson's subsequent Provincetown Playhouse appearances link him with the young Eugene O'Neill and his interracial drama All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924), in which he later played the lead on the London stage. Wilson was also the first performer of color credited in a Metropolitan Opera program (Skyscrapers, 1926), but it was his unexpected breakout performance in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play In Abraham's Bosom (1926) that led to the starring role in Porgy. Wilson also acted in numerous films, and his career extended into the broadcasting era with numerous appearances on early radio and television. Although he has been overshadowed by celebrities like Charles Gilpin and Paul Robeson, his significant achievements won him a place in the African American National Biography. My project addresses several historical lacunae, including Wilson's early personal experiences, details of his foundational training, and the development of a professional acting career on Broadway and in Hollywood. The project aimed to complete a more comprehensive study of Wilson's life than is presently available in historical studies, using a combination of archival documents, genealogical research, and secondary texts.

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  Stravinsky's Rite of Spring: Primitive Village to Concert Hall

  Alex Denisco

  Alex Denisco, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Igor Stravinsky (1882-1972) is probably best known for his controversial ballet score Le sacre du printemps [The Rite of Spring]. The musical world of 1913 was rattled by the ballet's world premiere. No one had heard anything like it before and not all understood what was so amazing about the work. By creating a musical masterpiece that was powerful and raw, Stravinsky fundamentally changed the way the performing arts express and convey emotion, ideas, and stories. Instrumental timbres were used to create a barbaric sound and the choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky was animalistic and brutal. The Rite of Spring is now regarded among the first bracing examples of musical Modernism. My analysis of this legendary work shows how Stravinsky drew on traditional rhythms and motifs from northeastern Europe, combined with the concept of taking advantage of individual instrumental timbres, to create a unique groundbreaking composition. One of the work's most idiosyncratic features is the famous bassoon solo that opens the ballet, using an extreme upper register which had not been exploited by previous composers. In addition, Stravinsky absorbed direct influences from the folk music of his native Russia, and his traditional Lithuanian and Russian folk song quotations are very different from melodic themes typical of the Common Practice era in classical music. My project demonstrates that Stravinsky's artistic experimentation is characterized by the imagined sounds of pagan Russian, bringing its ancient spirit to the modern concert hall.

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  Liszt's Dreams of Love

  Kathleen Dunne

  Kathleen Dunne, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  The Romantic composer Franz Liszt was arguably one of the greatest pianists of all time. His own original compositions “clearly written for his own use as a touring virtuoso “reflected this. One of his most famous pieces, Liebesträume [Dreams of Love], is comprised of a trilogy of piano works inspired by love poems written by the German poets Ludwig Uhland and Ferdinand Freiligrath. The poetic appeal commonly heard in Romantic era music is clearly present in this composition. In that regard, freedom of form and design aligns perfectly in Liszt's work because of his seemingly random key changes and symbolism behind the polarity of musical keys and love. The influence that Frédéric Chopin, a fellow Romantic composer-pianist and close friend of Liszt, had on these pieces is undeniable. As a performing pianist, my project goal is to understand the imagery and poetry behind this piece and the sheer complexity in realizing these characteristics in performance. I dig deeper into the brain and heart of Franz Liszt to understand the sense of idealized love he embodied in these compositions. There is great beauty in being able to perform a piece while understanding its full meaning, and extremely rewarding to discover how that meaning relates to one's own personal experience.

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  Mozart's Lost Composition?

  Caitlyn Faddis

  Caitlyn Faddis, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  In 1996, musicologists found the missing work Der Stein der Weisen [The Philosopher's Stone], composed in 1790 but lost since 1814. The work was a complete Singspiel, a German operatic form that more closely resembles musical theater. Der Stein der Weisen was jointly composed by Johann Baptist Henneberg, Benedikt Schack, Franz Xaver Gerl, Emanuel Schikaneder, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its libretto was also written by Emanuel Schikaneder, who would go on to create the iconic Die Zauberflöte [The Magic Flute] with Mozart, and musicologists now believe that The Magic Flute may have been modeled on the lost Singspiel. Der Stein der Weisen is based on a fairy tale published in 1780 by Christoph Martin Wieland called Dschinnistan [Exquisite Fairy and Ghost Tales]. In the famous “Nun, liebes Weibchen” [Now, Lovely Maiden], known as “The Cat Duet," Mozart used his vast knowledge of Classical technique to compose this amusing work. In accordance with Mozart's position among the First Vienna School (along with Haydn and Beethoven), its predominant stylistic texture was homophonic, with inventive melodies clearly projected over a chordal accompaniment. The duet begins with a vividly optimistic opening heard in the strings and woodwinds, as the character Lubano (baritone) attempts to communicate his wife, Lubanara (soprano), who can only respond with a comic “meow." They met with the bad side of a sorcerer! I performed this duet as the soprano Lubanara with the Buffalo State Philharmonia, and found that the rediscovery of this Singspiel gives us a wonderful opportunity to experience how 18th-century audiences responded to Mozart's original creation. Using manuscript findings that had been lost for over 150 years, my project seeks to analyze Mozart from this fresh perspective.

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  Requiem or Requiem Not: Creating An Historically-Informed Performance

  Dan Fronckowiak

  Dan Fronckowiak, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Mozart's Requiem is a work shrouded in mystery. Some of that was by the design of his widow, Constanze, desperate for income after her husband's untimely death at the age of 36. Some of the mystery comes from the multiple hands involved in its composition. While Mozart's autograph sketches were later recovered, still more mystery comes from Mozart pupil Franz Süssmayr intentionally making them unavailable after the Requiem was delivered to the unidentified person who commissioned the work. Given the questions that continue to surround the Requiem, how can a contemporary ensemble perform it in a way that pays homage to its contexts of time and place? Further, how can those needs coexist with the needs of contemporary performers and audiences? In researching Mozart's Requiem, I seek not definitive answers about its evolution and completion, rather, I hope to understand more clearly the mystery-rich way in which it was completed. With that understanding, I provide contexts that will allow contemporary vocalists and instrumentalists, irrespective of skill sets or previous historical knowledge, to develop an artistically fulfilling performance “one that honors its historical contexts” for contemporary audiences.

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  Dance and Design

  Salvatore Giangreco-Marotta

  Salvatore Giangreco-Marotta, ALT490: Senior Seminar
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Joy Guarino, Theater, Professor Naila Ansari, Theater

  
  The focus of the Dance and Design project was to develop a personal choreographic process by consciously incorporating elements of design into the dance composition, resulting in the strengthening of the themes and ideas of dance pieces. Dance and design share many overlapping ideas because they are both forms of communication. I initially wanted to see if applying design elements to dance composition would translate between the two art forms. I researched elements of choreography and design. I then simultaneously incorporated the design elements in the choreographic process and created a presentation that symbolized both the design elements and the respective dance piece. The principles of design applied were Proximity, Color, Contrast, Typography, Repetition, Alignment, Hierarchy, Emphasis, White Space, and Balance. Some of the elements are already considered when choreographing, while the others influence and strengthen choices in choreography. During my junior year, a graphic design class inspired me to see similarities between dance and design. Dance and design have always been connected. Partnerships like the one between choreographer Martha Graham and designer Isamu Noguchi is a great example of how design elements can influence dance. I have found some choreographers who also explore the connection between dance and graphic design, but not in the way I have done. In my video, I discuss my process and show my original dance pieces and their accompanying posters, demonstrating how the elements translate between dance and design.

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  Shrouded Mirror

  Liam Glynn

  Liam Glynn, DES350: Wood Design II
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Sunhwa Kim, Art & Design

  
  My goal for this project was to change the basic interaction we have with a mirror. I had the idea of building a wooden screen that would interrupt the mirror's reflected image. In this interruption, you end up looking more closely and carefully at the reflection. The screen is constructed in the traditional Japanese woodworking style known as Kumiko. The case that holds the mirror was inspired by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the build, and while this was difficult it made completing the project incredibly fulfilling. My slideshow presentation portrays a work that ideally I can show in person in the future. I plan to share with the viewing audience a brief description of the art motifs and inspiration for the project, as well as the build process.

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  Behind Frank Ticheli's An American Elegy

  Skyler Graham

  Skyler Graham, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  My project delves into the tragically haunting composition of An American Elegy by Frank Ticheli (b.1958). While An American Elegy is a beautiful and hopeful piece, it represents a much darker event. Ticheli composed this piece to commemorate those that lost their lives in the 1999 Columbine Shooting. I performed this piece as a flutist during my own high school years, and it remains my favorite piece composed specifically for wind ensemble. I look at the piece not only from a narrative perspective, but also from a technical one, through study of Ticheli as a living composer in his own words, and through modern criticism of his work by others. I discuss Ticheli's musical and technical background, then analyze the work itself and what it depicts, by identifying An American Elegy's principal motives and what they represent. My project seeks to learn what the piece means to Ticheli through its musical nuances and how they become structurally functional and cohesive in his hands. Its goal is to explore the musical influences found in the piece and what makes it so exceptional in modern American musical expression.

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  Beethoven's Ode to Nature

  Zanayia Hercules

  Zanayia Hercules, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Many works of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) are derived from his own experiences in life. Beethoven's Symphony no. 6 in F major, op. 68 ("Sinfonia pastorale") was his largest and most characteristic work at the time--he created a fifth movement as opposed to the typical four in symphonic composition. Directly inspired by the composer's deep appreciation of nature, the Pastorale is highly descriptive through sound alone, without the use of poetic text, and Beethoven's musical expression is seamless throughout the entire symphony. Beethoven even described this piece as “more an expression of feeling than painting.” This symphony includes a variety of textures and harmonies suitable for only the most nuanced musicians. My project explores the realm of the Pastorale's performance practice to reveal what Beethoven may have expected from performers at that time. This allows me to apply this practice when personally performing this piece or others of its era. Beethoven's music and style can be recognized and appreciated globally, moreover, many of his compositions have made their way into 20th-century film. The Sixth Symphony, for example, is featured prominently in Disney's original Fantasia (1940). I conclude that Beethoven's innovations as a composer, and his success in bringing new ideas as well as previous historical elements to his music, continue to be influential to modern audiences in our own time.

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  Mozart's Crazy Day

  Madison Marsala

  Madison Marsala, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  In his work with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1792) was able to construct one of the most impressive operas of the Classical era, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786), which changed the way narration and storytelling took place on the Classical lyric stage. As one of Mozart's three famous Italian operas, Figaro is unique in the way that it allows expressive depth within the characters and their relationships through not only the actors' performances, but the musical element themselves. The focus of the Overture in Act I is the way orchestration helps tell the characters' stories. I discuss its musical elements is to harmonically analyze the score and each of the instrument's roles. Act I begins with the lives of our main characters, Figaro and Susanna, as they plan their wedding while trying to stabilize their relationships with the Count and Countess whom they serve. Mozart creates strong and relatable characters and relationships with their struggles over money, lack of power, and the quest for love, as well as enduring sense of protection Figaro and Susanna have for each other.

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  The Diversions of Morton Gould

  Alexander Minney

  Alexander Minney, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Morton Gould (1913-1996) had an extensive compositional career that spanned nearly the entirety of the 20th century. Towards the final years of his life, he began to compose using less conventional techniques. One of these compositions, Diversions for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra (1991), is a prime example. For any potential performer of this piece, the writing styles defy anything one might expect from Gould's previous musical experiments with time and sound. My study uses a full-score analysis to discover how Gould managed to write such a unique piece, while not drifting too far from the cohesive structure and integrated sound one would expect from a composer of his enormous talent. With research into the conventions that emerged from the Modernist period in music history, along with ideas about the use of instrumentation authored by Gould himself, this analysis seeks to explain the artistic solutions that Gould devised in his Diversions. Overall, within this relatively brief entry in Gould's compositional output, I analyze his unique sound within a traditional structure.

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  Book Layout Design with Adobe Creative Suite: Designing an Archaeology Manuscript

  Xinyi Mo

  Xinyi Mo, Graphic Design
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Susan Maguire, Anthropology, Professor Lisa Marie Anselmi, Anthropology

  
  During fall 2020, Emily Cendrowski and I received Early Undergraduate Research Opportunity [EURO] awards to design a manuscript layout for an edited volume on New York State Archaeology with Buffalo State professors Susan Maguire, Ph.D. and Lisa Marie Anselmi, Ph.D. Using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, we worked together to create a template for layouts for each chapter of the book. Specifically, the layout process involved inserting and formatting the final text and images, which will subsequently be reviewed and revised in Adobe Photoshop prior to publication. Through creative problem-solving, it was possible to attempt a variety of possibilities to explore which would be the most visually appealing and professional in appearance. This project gave us both the opportunity to better understand the fields of anthropology and book publishing.

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  Making Weird Music: Atonality and a Mandolin

  Michael Parrizzi

  Michael Parrizzi, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music, Professor Evan Drummond, Music

  
  Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (1883-1945), the son of a mining engineer, studied the cello and piano from childhood and continued with a musical life, pursuing musicology and compositional at the University of Vienna. Webern and Alban Berg became regarded as the most significant pupils of Arnold Schoenberg, joining him as Second Vienna School innovators--following the First Viennese School of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven--in the use of 12-tone technique during the early decades of the 20th century. The technique, known as serialism, avoids tonal centers and traditional harmony in favor of composing equally with all twelve notes available within the Western musical octave. I focus on Webern's compositional technique--stricter than even Schoenberg's--in his Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 10, a product of the composer's early “aphoristic” period (1908-1914). Aphorisms were brief and concise, and Webern took the aesthetic to the extreme with one movement comprised of only six measures. His op. 10 orchestration is rather avant-garde, including instruments not typically heard in a symphonic context, such as mandolin, guitar, and celesta. I discuss the organology of these instrumental families and analyze op. 10 from the unusual perspective of the mandolin's history. My goal is to illuminate Webern's sense of timbral experimentation within a strict musical process.

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  Father and Son: The Musical Relationship of Richard and Franz Strauss

  Lindsey Roth

  Lindsey Roth, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Richard Strauss (1864-1949) spent almost 80 years of his life composing music. At 19, he composed a piece for his father, a famous French horn player, to perform: The Horn Concerto No. 1 (1883). However, his father deemed it too difficult to play, and so never performed the piece in public. In this project, I focus on both the father and the son and their dynamic as portrayed by the Horn Concerto. First, I attempt to analyze why Franz Strauss refused to play the piece his son wrote for him. In doing so, I detail the valveless natural horn that Franz Strauss was adept at playing and for which his son wrote the piece, versus the valved horn that this solo is typically played on [GC6]. The quick-moving chromatics of the piece make it difficult to control solely by “stopping” or using the right hand or a mute to plug the bell of the horn to produce the correct notes. I then turn my focus onto Richard Strauss himself. Franz Strauss influenced his son by pushing him towards a conservative musical style. However, much of the Horn Concerto indicates Richard Strauss's compositional style becoming more Romantic or Modern. I utilize musical examples from the score to show themes of the piece that are more theatrical and experimental. Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto not only details the composer's beginnings, but it also allows a deeper view into his relationship with his father.

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  Beethoven's Favorite Late Period String Quartet

  David Rundell

  David Rundell, MUS303: Music History 2 Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music
  
  

  Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is my favorite composer because I admire and enjoy his use of counterpoint. Beethoven's Late Period String Quartet in C# minor; op. 131 stands out for its variety of stylistic influences; and the varied characters and structural forms of its seven movements. Its performance length is thirty-five minutes and the music flows uninterruptedly; without the typical pauses between movements. Beethoven completed the Quartet in 1826 but died before it was published in 1827. The composition was considered to be avant-garde for its time and was not publicly performed until 1835. Robert Schumann; Richard Wagner; and Franz Schubert were all fans of this renowned Quartet. This composition was dedicated to Baron Joseph von Sutterheim, a decorated military lieutenant who took Beethoven's nephew Karl into the army as a personal favor. My project investigates several queries about Beethoven and his work. How did Beethoven's tragic early hearing loss affect his Late Period writing? Why was this piece Beethoven's favorite of his final String Quartets? How are the movements of this piece so different yet fit together so well? Did Beethoven acknowledge any artistic influences on his highly original Late Period works?

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  The Waltz King: Johann Strauss II and the Viennese Waltz

  Emma Schutt

  Emma Schutt, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  The Viennese Waltz is one of the most distinctive compositional genres in music history. Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) should receive credit for its enduring recognition, as he is truly “The Waltz King." The goal of my project is to reveal how Strauss became a master composer of the waltz, why he composed his extensive repertoire of famous waltzes, and what it is that makes this genre of music so meaningful to Vienna and its people. I focus on three of Strauss's most famous Viennese waltzes: Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales of the Vienna Woods), An Der Schönen Blauen Donau (The Blue Danube), and Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood). In addition, a variety of source commentary highlights Strauss's background and musical influences, and sheds light as to why he composed the way he did. I also discuss the structural form and musical history of the Viennese waltz. I chose this topic because it has a deep sentimental meaning to me. My late grandfather and I used to bond over listening to the great André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra perform these wonderful waltzes. Through my research, I really hope to deepen my understanding of this special genre of music.

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  The Price of Platinum: Density 21.5

  Megan Swick

  Megan Swick, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  This project explores Edgard Varèse’s (1883-1965) musical composition Density 21.5, which was written for virtuoso flautist Georges Barrère, who had recently acquired a new platinum flute. The density of platinum is approximately 21.5, which explains how this piece acquired its unusual title. This piece is atonal, meaning that it isn't written in any specific key or mode and lacks a tonal center, situating the work as contemporary. In Density 21.5, Varèse explores the concept of instrumental pitch. In addition, he uses interval cycles--creating repeating patterns that begin and end on the same pitch--and the extensive use of the tritone, which is typically avoided in compositions due to its highly dissonant sound. My project goals are to dig deeper into the history of this piece and to analyze the score itself for its musical features. A significant prior example in music history was Debussy's Syrinx (1913), also for solo flute. I hope to achieve a better understanding both of Varèse’s compositional style and aesthetic inspirations for the piece.

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  Innovative Radio Opera of the 1930s: Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief

  Maria Taravella

  Maria Taravella, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  My project focuses on Gian Carlo Menotti's (1911-2007) opera The Old Maid and the Thief, written at the inception of his distinguished career in 1939. As a classically trained singer, I am personally invested in this opera, having played one of the principal characters, Laetitia. Thus, I have had the opportunity to study the score in considerable depth. I join this performance perspective with the work's historical background during the mid-20th century, when Menotti's career was at its peak, to gain insights into why the opera was widely acclaimed. I delve into two of its musical set pieces: Laetitia's aria “Steal Me, Sweet Thief,” and Bob's aria, “When the Air Sings of Summer.” I compare and contrast the use of recitatives, key, and articulation, among other musical concepts, to determine how Menotti developed his characters through compositional techniques that fuse music, libretto, and drama. I also devote attention to the analysis of the relationship between the orchestration and the solo voice, a key dynamic pairing in the operatic genre. My discussion points contribute to my project goal of explaining why and how The Old Maid and the Thief was so successful as a radio opera, through audio means alone.

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  Do Not Go Gentle: Elliot Del Borgo's Symphonic Poem

  Rachel Ward

  Rachel Ward, MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  Inspired by the celebrated Dylan Thomas poem, Elliot Del Borgo's (1938-2013) tone poem for symphonic band, Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night (1978) utilizes twentieth-century compositional techniques to portray the memory of two of the composer's own students who died tragically in a car accident. Not quite a direct interpretation of the poem, Del Borgo uses techniques like polytonality, thematic and rhythmic motives, instrumentation grouping, and motivic layering to develop his theme of the human soul's persistence and refusal to “go gentle.” Del Borgo was born in Port Chester, New York and spent most of his career teaching at SUNY-Potsdam's Crane School of Music, where he had earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Del Borgo received a Master of Education degree at Temple University and a Master of Music at the Philadelphia Conservatory, where he studied music theory and composition under Vincent Persichetti, a well-known twentieth-century American composer and teacher. Throughout this piece, stylistic techniques from composers like his former professor, Persichetti, Charles Ives, and Paul Hindemith can be heard as well to further develop the overall theme of the piece. In my project, I analyze excerpts from the piece and directives from Persichetti's book Twentieth-Century Harmony to demonstrate Del Borgo's use of these techniques to develop the “essence” of the poem.

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  Rimsky-Korsakov's Tsar Saltan and the Musical Journey of the Double-Named Russian

  David Whitaker; Jr.

  David Whitaker, Jr., MUS303: Music History 2
  Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music

  
  During the nineteenth century, the Russian Romantic compositional scene reached its apex, contributing such major talents as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Glinka, and Anton Rubinstein. Opera was an immensely popular artistic import, and its creators were introducing innovative musical elements to pique the interest of new listeners. One composer has proven himself to be worthy of his sobriquet “the master of orchestration": Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). He believed that classical music could be more expressive of specific national styles. One of his greatest and most beloved works, the fairy-tale opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, op. 57, contains the celebrated The Flight of the Bumblebee. With exotic instrumentation as part of a well-executed fusion of woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion, Rimsky-Korsakov proved himself a supremely creative musical innovator. He developed well beyond this experimental phase and forged a unique path in classical composition that had enormous influence into the 20th century. My objective is to demonstrate the artistic raison d'être of Rimsky-Korsakov and his musical goals in Tsar Saltan. I hope to reveal his phenomenal success as one of the most significant musical composers of the era of Russian Romantic nationalism.