In this thesis, I demonstrate how analysis through literary criticism can provide a commentary on Appalachian song. While literary analysis of both sacred and secular song lyrics is an approach that is largely overlooked in this region’s traditional music, it nonetheless provide…
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This dissertation asserts the value of James Lyon’s Urania to the field of American music history as a vital contribution to the development of music in the British colonies prior to the War for Independence. While previous scholarship acknowledges Urania’s importance as the fir…
A pianist and pedagogue whose career spanned much of the twentieth century, the name of Marion Rous has until now only gained the occasional cursory mention in an index or appendix. In particular, previous scholarship has all but completely overlooked the contributions of Rous a…
The American sublime aesthetic, discussed frequently in literature and art of the United States, is equally manifest in the nation’s symphonic music as a concurrent and complementary aesthetic. The musical application of the American sublime supports and enriches current scholar…
Pauline Oliveros’s (1932–2016) work is characterized by its activist influences. With compositions such as Sonic Meditations, Deep Listening, and Crow’s Nest, it seems clear that her experiences as a queer and feminist woman were integral influences in her work. Oliveros flouris…
When Arthur Berger (1912–2003) is mentioned in the history books, it is often as a mid-20th century American composer, or a practitioner and teacher of music theory who, during his tenure at Brandeis University, had trained a generation of theorists and composers. This dissertat…
In rural antebellum America, a curious convergence of piano production and exuberant creativity inspired backcountry craftsman with little to no formal training in musical instrument making to create their own keyboard instruments. Each amateur-made instrument deviates from the …
This dissertation has two primary aims: to demonstrate how women guitarists have been the primary advocates for the construction of a guitar-specific institutional landscape, and — with a specific focus on American guitarist Vahdah Olcott Bickford (1885–19890) — to narrate the h…