Date of Award

12-2011

Type

Thesis

Major

Music

Department

Schwob School of Music

First Advisor

Elizabeth Parker

Abstract

Dr. Eric Ewazen is a prolific, and celebrated composer, having written over fifty works for brass, thirty-one of which include trombone. His contribution to trombone repertoire is significant and wide-ranging. Research papers and doctoral dissertations have been written about Dr. Ewazen's instrumental compositions, however none of them have thoroughly explored his homogeneous chamber music for trombone or articulated his unique method of composition. Various people with numerous backgrounds listen to, perform, conduct, and teach the music of Dr. Ewazen. Due to his unique compositional style, it is imperative that one analyzes and reflects on his works to aid understanding. By discussing his compositional methodology and understanding his compositions within context, my goal is to offer insight to Dr. Ewazen's compositional style that will allow for an individual to better comprehend his trombone repertoire. Dr. Ewazen refers to himself as a twentieth century tonal composer and others refer to him as a neo-romantic composer. This study seeks to uncover how his use of twentieth century atonal techniques, such as set theory, add clarity to interpreting his homogenous trombone chamber music, and influence his compositional output as a whole.

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