Fall Conference 2018

Spring Symposium 2018

Program

MMRC Spring 2018 Symposium

The University of Kansas

Saturday, April 14

All sessions and events will take place in Murphy Hall, Room 238

8:00-9:30 AM Registration

8:45 AM Welcome: Brent Ferguson, President, MMRC

9:00-10:30 AM Session 1: Punk & Percussion

Chair: Matt Ferrandino

“The Big Takeover: How Punk Bands Incorporate Musical Elements from Other Genres”

Dillon Henry, The University of Missouri, Kansas City

“Lights, Camera, Punk: Punk Rock in Film as a Reflection of Changing Punk Rock Youth Culture in the United States”

Crystal E. Buck, The University of Kansas

“The Drum Set as Percussion’s Swiss Army Knife”

Ben Justis, The University of Kansas

10:30-10:45 AM Break

10:45 AM- 12:15 PM Session 2: Composer Relations

Chair: Evan Kramer

“Romantic Tributes to Beethoven and a Friendship Forged, Lost, and Regained: Schumann’s Fantasie, Op. 17 and Liszt’s B-minor Sonata, S. 178”

Li-Hsin Chen, The University of Missouri, Kansas City

“Boulanger and Feminism: Changes in Feminism during the Early 1900s in France and Their Effect on Nadia Boulanger’s Career as a Musician and Approach to Pedagogy”

Po Sim Head, The University of Missouri, Kansas City

“Tracking Wayne’s Musical Footprint: An Analysis and Comparison of “Footprints” Performed by Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet and Wayne Shorter’s Quartet”

Andrew Janak, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

12:15- 2:00 PM Lunch (on your own)

2:00- 3:00 PM Keynote Address

Chair: Brent Ferguson

“Cart-Horse-Cart: Putting Theory Before Composition (and then putting it back).”

Dr. Brad Osborn, The University of Kansas

3:00-3:15 PM Break

3:15-4:15 PM Workshop Panel

“Giving Talks”

Dr. Scott Murphy, The University of Kansas

Dr. Colin Roust, The University of Kansas

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4:15-4:30 PM Break

4:30-6:00 PM Session 3: Invoking Religion

Chair: Leslee Wood

“Hildegard of Bingen, Patron Saint of Migraine: A Criticism of Charles Singer’s and Oliver Sacks’ Retrospective Diagnoses”

Alexandria Schneider, The University of Kansas

“The Use of Western Religion and Music in the Anime Death Note”

Michelle Jurkiewicz, The University of Missouri, Kansas City

“Reaching Towards Heaven:  An Examination of Robert Schumann’s Views About Religion in His Requiem Mass in D-Flat Major, Op. 148”

Owen Hansen, The University of Kansas

6:00 PM Symposium adjourned: Thanks for your participation!

Abstracts

The Big Takeover: How Punk Bands Incorporate Musical Elements from Other Genres

Dillon Henry

Punk rock is known for being fast, loud, aggressive, irreverent, and sloppy. Punk embraces a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) attitude, and many practitioners of the genre lack any formal musical training. This absence of training and lack of respect and reverence for conventions of popular music lends these musicians a certain artistic freedom. Punk bands not infrequently borrow from or emulate other musical genres. This musical borrowing can have a number of purposes and guises. It can be done in a snide, ironic, and mocking way; it can be done with seriousness to provoke contemplation; it can be used to espouse a certain philosophical ideology; it can evoke a foreign atmosphere; it can simply provide musical contrast; or it can be used to show off a band’s diversity and technical proficiency; sometimes it is a combination of purposes. These musical borrowings are at times purposefully jarring, and other times they flow seamlessly. Occasionally, punk bands base their entire musical persona on a combination of traditional punk music with another genre, as in the case third wave ska and gypsy punk.

By examining songs from Dead Kennedys, Crass, Bad Brains, and others, this presentation will show concrete examples of out-of-genre borrowing by punk artists and explain the effect this borrowing has on the music and its message. As most academic discussion of punk views the genre through a cultural and sociological lens, this analysis provides an insight into musical underpinnings of punk that have not been thoroughly assessed in scholarly conversation.

Lights, Camera, Punk: Punk Rock in Film as a Reflection of Changing Punk Rock Youth Culture in the United States

Crystal E. Buck

Punk rock music has been present in film since its conception in the late 1970s. As punk grew, formed its own identity and subgenres, and developed in the commercial industry, so did its identity in film change reflecting changing perceptions politically. A survey punk rock music in film from the late 1970s through the current day reveals that punk rock’s cultural acceptance and development is reflected in the music’s development in film. The same survey also demonstrates changes in mentality of the punk rock aesthetic through how the music is either socially, and culturally used thematically or tied to specific characters and scenes at independent moments in time. While groups such as the Ramones and punk music in the 1990s through the early 2000s was more closely tied with rebellion and protest, punk music in the 1990s through the early 2000s followed more closely the commercial influence of punk pop by groups such as Green Day. Because it can be considered that punk rock is an evolution of rock and roll which catered to a specific youth culture, understanding punk’s development in film allows for a deeper understanding of the evolving youth culture of today. Biography Crystal Buck is a native of Lansing, Kansas currently finishing a PhD in musicology and a DMA in voice at the University of Kansas. Ms Buck’s interests include her DMA dissertation, The Mélodie of Jules Massenet: Settings of Female Poets from 1898 to 1912, to her PhD proposal, the rhetoric of punk rock music as a continuation of American folk music.

The Drum Set as Percussion’s Swiss Army Knife

Ben Justis

            Percussion has become one of the richest timbral sources a composer can draw from, and, resultantly, interest in the abilities of percussionists and their equipment has blossomed in recent years. One of the most diverse instruments (but also one of the least understood) is the drum set. It has transcended its roots as a time-keeping and stylistic tool and is now used for many artistic purposes in an ever-growing contemporary repertoire. Due to the drum set’s techniques, notation, and evocative nature, composing for this instrument is accompanied by myriad puzzles and possibilities.

            This presentation explores considerations, advantages, functions, compositional modes, instrument selection, tuning, sound possibilities, expansions, alterations, and implements for drum set, culminating in a small gallery of unconventional techniques. The goal of this presentation is to expose composers to notation methods and new sounds, and to equip performers to have more fruitful collaborations with composers in coaxing out the timbres and textures they desire.

Romantic Tributes to Beethoven and a Friendship Forged, Lost, and Regained: Schumann’s Fantasie, Op. 17 and Liszt’s B-minor Sonata, S. 178

Li-Hsin Chen

Robert Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17 (1839) and Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 (1854) are generally regarded as among each composer’s greatest works for solo piano and are included in pianists’ “must-play” repertoire.  The composers dedicated the works to each other, though the pieces appeared fifteen years apart. When viewed together, the stories behind the pieces reveal first and foremost both composers’ admiration for Beethoven. They also chronicle the beginning of a friendship between Schumann and Liszt, a crisis in their relationship, and a return to mutual respect and friendship. Two questions emerge in this context. The first concerns Schumann’s respect for Beethoven. Schumann’s fervent remarks in his diaries and letters and the strong musical homage to Beethoven within his Fantasie — such as his allusions and quotations of Beethoven’s music — clearly demonstrate the composer’s original attempt to offer the work to Beethoven. So, why did Schumann eventually dedicate his Fantasie to Liszt, who he did not even meet until one year after the dedication appeared in print? Since Liszt also championed Beethoven, Schumann showed his respect for a fellow Beethoven admirer. Second, in most examples of mutual dedications, the two works will appear close in time to one another due to the courtesy of reciprocity. In this light, why did Liszt wait fifteen years to acknowledge Schumann’s 1839 dedication? Here, it was because of a reconciliation in their previously troubled relationship. For both Romantic giants, their colossal solo piano masterpieces not only serve as direct musical tributes to Beethoven but also provide evidence of a sincere, though sometimes troubled friendship.

Boulanger and Feminism: Changes in Feminism during the Early 1900s in France and Their Effect on Nadia Boulanger’s Career as a Musician and Approach to Pedagogy

Po Sim Head

Feminism has been a debating issue for over a century. While women in some countries still experience the inequality treatments compared to men, Nadia Boulanger, a well-known French female composer, conductor and pedagogue, had also been treated unfairly. Such unequal treatments had significantly affected her career path. My paper addresses the gender inequality as the major influence towards the choice of her career. The paper is divided into three main parts. The first part is a general historical background of feminism in Europe, especially in France, during the early 1900s when Boulanger was in her early twenties. It includes a very brief introduction of feminism and how feminist press was published which promoted and supported women fighting for their rights. The second section is about how the gender inequality had affected Boulanger’s life and career. Boulanger had got unfair treatment, however, being a female in the public also has been an essential factor to make her notable. The last part of the paper refers to how she and her public image help improving the inequality of women. She never involved to any feminist movements but her successful career causes a good affect to feminism. I have connected these three sections with different examples, including Boulanger’s argument with Camille Saint-Saëns, her teaching experience in the conservatory and how Aaron Copland’s initial thought when he asked her as his teacher.

Tracking Wayne’s Musical Footprint: An Analysis and Comparison of “Footprints” Performed by Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet and Wayne Shorter’s Quartet

Andrew Janak

Miles Davis referred to Wayne Shorter as the “intellectual musical catalyst” for his Second Great Quintet with his compositions/arrangements and “Footprints,” while at first glance is a seemingly simple 12-bar blues, is certainly an intellectual piece. The composition itself is malleable to different approaches as two recordings, recorded eight months apart, vary from the rhythmically and harmonically ambiguous take on Miles Smiles to the grooving modal version on Adam’s Apple. On each track Shorter’s musical personality shines through, whether in the polyrhythmic superimposition of his lines or the blues-influenced playing coming out of his hard bop background with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. These vastly different skill sets are what made him the perfect fit for Miles Davis’s Second Quintet, as he was connected to the tradition that came before him but also was a forward-thinking improviser/composer and willing to take risks. Keith Waters noted that all the members of the Quintet “exhibited a deft ability to merge traditional with avant-garde approaches to improvisation” and according to Herbie Hancock the group strived for a sense of “controlled freedom.” However paradoxical that phrase may be, I believe it aptly describe the Quintet’s performance on “Footprints” and what sets it apart from the Wayne Shorter Quartet’s version. From the many metric modulations implied by Tony Williams’s drumming to Herbie Hancock’s purposeful lack of comping at certain harmonic points, the Second Quintet never altogether abandons the form of Shorter’s composition, but harmony and rhythm are pushed to the edge.

Through the transcription of Wayne Shorter’s improvised solos and two different performances of “Footprints”, this paper examines Shorter’s improvisational/compositional style and dives into the rhythmic and harmonic techniques that gave Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet its signature sound. Also, problems with published lead sheets of “Footprints” are addressed and compared to the respective performances on Miles Smiles and Adam’s Apple.

Hildegard of Bingen, Patron Saint of Migraine: A Criticism of Charles Singer’s and Oliver Sacks’ Retrospective Diagnoses

Alexandria Schneider

St. Hildegard of Bingen, born in late eleventh century Germany, remains one of the most prominent figures of Medieval times. Whether for the fact that she was a female scientist, composer, writer, philosopher, and theologian (among other accomplishments), or for her odd but interesting accounts and illuminations of her visions, Hildegard continues to be a subject of study in a variety of fields. Her gifted abilities in these areas seem miraculous to most, hence the reason why her gift of visions is considered a miracle as well. Because of these miracles and abilities, Hildegard was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, and also named a Doctor of the Catholic Church. In the field of neurology, however, two British scientists of the twentieth century, Charles Singer and Oliver Sacks, provide a simple explanation for Hildegard’s visions: the condition of migraine. Though both Singer and Sacks provide science-based evidence for their diagnoses, there are phenomena described in accounts of Hildegard that they do not provide explanations for; many questions surrounding the visions are still left unanswered. This paper will seek to provide evidence for why the reduction of Hildegard’s experiences to migraine should be questioned and reexamined. It will explore both Hildegard’s own words as well as Singer’s and Sacks’ interpretation of them. It will also examine colored illuminations of Hildegard’s visions created either by Hildegard herself, or under her direction.

The Use of Western Religion and Music in the Anime Death Note

Michelle Jurkiewicz

Since its inception as a manga in 2003, Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note has amassed a cult following, so much so that production company Madhouse developed Death Note into an anime which consisted of thirty-seven episodes and ran from 2006 to 2007. Death Note focuses on the story of Light Yagami, an exceptionally gifted high school student who is exceptionally bored with everyday life. One day, Light finds a “Death Note,” a book with a set of rules, one of which is: “The human whose name is written in this note shall die.” Light, believing the book to be a prank, decides to test the theory on a hostage situation reported on the news. The news station shows the criminal’s picture and name, so Light simply writes his name in the “Death Note.” After forty seconds, the live newscast switches to the hostages frantically escaping the building, and the police team discovers the criminal succumbed to a heart attack. Light realizes the “Death Note” is real and ponders the ethical dilemma of the notebook, ultimately deciding to act as “God” and eradicate the world of heinous criminals.

The series follows Light’s journey to become a god through the “Death Note” and by manipulating others. Although Death Note remains as one of the most popular anime, its overall plot and portrayal of a god, with its, perhaps, ironic usage of religious music, conveys a negative message. The varied types of religious music used in the original Death Note heighten Light’s position as a god and creates a conversation about the role of apocalyptic religion in Japanese culture. Viewers are left confused as to why sacred music is used to symbolize Light when he himself is filled with sin. In this presentation, I argue that the use of Western religious music, namely Catholic music, in Death Note juxtaposes Western religious culture with Japanese religious culture.

Reaching Towards Heaven:  An Examination of Robert Schumann’s Views About Religion in His Requiem Mass in D-Flat Major, Op. 148

Owen Hansen

Despite all the research that has been done about Robert Schumann’s compositions, his work as a critic and his long courtship/marriage to Clara Wieck Schumann, not much is known about him when it comes to the subjects of sacred music and the role religion played in his personal life. While Schumann’s compositional output was directed more towards secular works, he did create a handful of sacred pieces that showcased his already lauded treatment of meshing text and music into a harmonious and self-reflective product. One of the final published compositions Schumann wrote at the end of his life was the Requiem Mass in D-Flat Major. In examining the small selection of sacred compositions that Schumann created, I feel that the Requiem Mass provides a glimpse into his personal feelings concerning the role religion, how he viewed the subject of death, and how one can ask for forgiveness and repentance for one’s earthly sins. Through his Requiem Mass, Schumann was able to blend the different ideologies of the Protestant and Catholic faiths into a unified piece that could be performed and appreciated by the masses without being tangled by the different religious dogmas presented in their current states. This unique blending created a work that bridged the gap between sacred and secular music.

For my discussion, I will examine what was the motivation and purpose behind Schumann composing this Catholic Mass for the Dead when he was in fact a practicing Protestant. This will include examining Schumann’s treatment of the Catholic liturgy and how he injected his own Protestant and Humanistic opinions into his Requiem Mass. Concurrent with his treatment of the liturgical text, I will point out certain musical features in the Requiem Mass that also show different musical practices that Schumann borrowed from the Catholic and Protestant faiths. Included in this examination will be previous Requiem Masses by Mozart, Cherubini, Berlioz along with a selection of chorales by Bach and Schütz. To conclude, I will cover the reception by Schumann’s fellow composers and critics and why Schumann’s work has fallen into obscurity since the mid-nineteenth century.

Parking

Parking on campus is free on Saturdays. The lot directly to the west of Murphy Hall (across Naismith) is easily accessible.

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Lunch

Lunch for the MMRC Spring Symposium will be on your own. Below you may find a small list of suggested restaurants in downtown Lawrence on Massachusetts Street (for a complete listing, please see https://unmistakablylawrence.com/explore/eat/?sc=ALL&r=). Members of the MMRC will be available to transport Symposium participants to restaurants on Mass Street. For restaurants off Mass Street, please make your own arrangements.

Baan Thai

The Burger Stand at the Casbah

Free State Brewing Co.

Limestone Pizza Kitchen and Bar

Merchant’s Pub & Plate (Vegetarian/Vegan)

The Mad Greek Restaurant

The Roost

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Sponsors

The MMRC would like to thank the following departments at the University of Kansas for their support:

School of Music

Office of Research

Department of Dance

Department of Theater

Department of American Studies

Department of Film and Media Studies

Jewish Studies

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

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Thank you also to those who helped the MMRC during its formation, especially the KU music theory and musicology faculty and our student organization faculty adviser, Dr. Scott Murphy.