THE PUBLISHED VIBRAPHONE WORKS
OF CHRISTOPHER DEANE:
AN EXAMINATION AND COMPARISON OF
MOURNING DOVE SONNET AND THE APOCRYPHAL STILL LIFE
This is my DMA Document, my final research paper at The Ohio State University. This document represents about two years of preparation of music, interview, and research. Please feel free to download this file and use it for yourself, your students, or anyone else you feel that might benefit from it (be patient, it may take a minute or two to download). Please note that there are audio and video files imbedded (that's why the file is so large). Please read the final paragraph of the abstract to take full advantage of the multimedia capabilities.
In addition to the main body of the document, there are appendices with an errata list for each piece, as well as over 100 pages of transcribed interview material that I conducted with Mr. Deane. We discussed a variety of topics including his background, his approach to composing, and his thoughts about these two pieces.
I would love to hear any feedback about this document! Any comments about my ideas, or your ideas about the pieces that I didn't address, would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me by email.
Please visit OhioLink to download the entire document. Please contact me if you have difficulty accessing the file on OhioLink.
Abstract:
Composer/percussionist Christopher Deane has published two vibraphone solos, Mourning Dove Sonnet and The Apocryphal Still Life, which are performed frequently by collegiate and professional percussionists. Scholarly analysis of these pieces do not currently exist. This document provides the first known examinations of these compositions, offering advanced percussionists an in-depth theoretical and musical analysis designed to inform and guide future performances.
In addition to the focus on Deane's compositons, this document offers a concise history of the vibraphone and an examination of the extended techniques and effects required to perform these pieces. This study examines only those that are pertinent to Mourning Dove Sonnet and The Apocryphal Still Life. These include and in-depth focus on bowing, pitch bending, bowed harmonics, struck harmonics, dead strokes, mandolin roll, and glissandi. Further discussion of specialized vibraphone effects address bar music, continually sustained notes, and the use of the motor.
Background information is provided for each piece, as is a theoretical analysis, and examination of how these extended techinques are implemented, and a discussion relating to performance issues. A comparison of the two pieces concludes the document. An errata list for each piece, corroborated by the composer, is also included in two appendices.
To enhance the reader's understanding of the discussions, thirteen video and eighty-six audio examples are included as part of this document. Videos are used to demonstrate techniques and performance practices and an audio file is embedded into each figure containing a musical excerpt from the score. To utilize these multimedia features, this document must be viewed using Adobe Acrobat 6 or later. To view or listen to the embedded file, click on the musical excerpt or video poster frame.