Music's Meanings

Music's Meanings

Students' final project in the OSU course "MUSIC 6645 Music's Meanings" created an interactive essay explaining the meanings in one piece of music. During the course, they studied works by a range of composers including J.S Bach, Wolfgang Mozart, Georges Bizet, and Florence Price; each student chose their piece to research and exhibit for this project.

 

What it Means to Truly Love: On Carrie Jacobs-Bond’s 1901 Song “I Love You Truly”

Nick Booker

This project explores the life and music of Carrie Jacobs-Bond, a composer from the Midwest who may be lesser known now but was once one of the most popular composers in the country.

Read Nick's essay below.

File
What It Means to Truly Love (opens in a new window)3.89 MB
A sepia photograph with Carrie Jacobs Bond seated in front of John Philip Sousa and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Clarke
Carrie Jacobs-Bond with John Philip Sousa and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Clarke

 

A sepia photograph of Carrie Jacobs Bond seated and holding paper
Carrie Jacobs-Bond in 1913
A black-and-white photograph of a house resting on a hill in front of a large field
Carrie Jacobs-Bond’s 1916 Home in La Mesa, California known as “Nest O’ Rest”
A black-and-white headshot of Carrie Jacobs-Bond
Carrie Jacobs-Bond, circa 1917

An Exploration of Allegory in “Jesu, meine Freude” by Dietrich Buxtehude

Christopher Dent

As we begin to explore the chorale cantata setting of “Jesu, meine Freude” by Dietrich Buxtehude, we will have the opportunity to view examples of allegory and musical imagery used throughout Buxtehude’s work.

A screenshot of a YouTube video of several musicians on a church sanctuary stage
From a performance at Indianola Presbyterian Church
A painting of a man playing the cello and looking off to his left
Dietrich Buxtehude playing the viol from "Domestic Music Scene" by Johannes Voorhout (1647–1723)
Sheet music depicting verse 3 of "Jesu, meine Freude"
Score image of verse three of "Jesu, meine Freude" by Dietrich Buxtehude
A orange brick church with light green steeples against a bright blue sky
Marienkirche at Lübeck, the church where Buxtehude served as organist beginning in 1668

Narrative Moments within Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition

Amelia DuPlain

An analysis of narrative moments within Modest Mussorgsky’s ten movement piano work Pictures at an Exhibition, a piece that was inspired by the death of painter and architect Viktor Hartmann.

Read Amelia DuPlain's essay below:

A black-and-white photograph of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Illustrations of a human in an egg costume with bird mask, feathered wings, and talon feet
Sheet music for a piece called "Promenade"

Narrative Delineation in Strauss’ Tone-Poem; Don Juan

Austin Thomas

An in-depth analysis of the narrative moments found within Don Juan.

Read Austin Thomas' essay below:

File
austin_thomas_essay.pdf (opens in a new window)4.19 MB
A painting of Richard Strauss, looking into the camera and wearing a blue suit in front of a green background
Richard Strauss

 

A painting of a man and woman engaged in a passionate kiss
Depiction of Don Juan and his lover

The Bells of Notre Dame: Ringing with Exoticism

Cristina “Trinity” Vélez-Justo

A deep dive into the mysteries of Alan Menken’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s (1996 film) first musical number, “The Bells of Notre Dame,” and how it captured and relayed the essence of Renaissance/Medieval France to contemporary American audiences.

Read Cristina "Trinity" Vélez-Justo's essay below:

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cristina_trinity_velez-justo_essay.pdf (opens in a new window)414.95 KB
The album cover for The Bells of Notre Dame soundtrack presented by Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records' The Bells of Notre Dame album
A photograph of Steven Schwartz, smiling into the camera with arms folded
Steven Schwartz (Lyricist)
A photograph of Alan Menken, smiling into the camera
Alan Menken (Composer)

Drama and Music in Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Mortes

Gareth Whelan

An overview of some ways in which Hector Berlioz encoded and communicated his dramatic vision of the Requiem text in his musical treatment of the same.

Read Gareth Whelan's essay here:

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gareth_whelan_essay.pdf (opens in a new window)86.06 KB
A large cathedral against a blue sky lit by golden sunlight
The chapel of Les Invalides, where the Grande Messe des Morts premiered in 1837.
A painting of Hector Berlioz
A portrait of Berlioz from 1832, five years before the composition of the Grande Messe.
A large symphony and choir standing on a stage
A performance of the Grande Messe des Morts by Leonard Slatkin and the National Orchestra of Lyon. On the right and left of the stage can be seen two of the four separate brass ensembles.

Death’s Lullaby: An Exploration of Fauré’s Requiem

Alexandra Taliani

Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor is gentle and peaceful, departing from the traditional requiem mass, reshaping the liturgy, and illuminating his views on death as a journey from this life to happiness above.

Read Alexandra Taliani's essay below:

File
Death’s Lullaby: An Exploration of Fauré’s Requiem (opens in a new window)3.03 MB
A large, dimly lit sanctuary inside a cathedral
An orchestra playing onstage with a large choir singing behind them
9/11 Met Tribute, Verdi’s Requiem
A carriage travels down a foggy road
Amadeus, Mozart’s funeral, Mozart’s “Lacrimosa”
Sheet music for "Introit"
"Introit"
Sheet music for "Introit"
"Introit"
Sheet music for "In Paradisum"
"In Paradisum"
Sheet music for "In Paradisum"
"In Paradisum"
Sheet music for "In Paradisum"
"In Paradisum" (End)

 

Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op. 32

T. Shizuma

Finding meaning in Holst's seven-movement suite, with each movement named after the planets from our solar system.

Read T. Shizuma's essay below:

File
t._shizuma_essay.pdf (opens in a new window)1.69 MB
An illustration of Gustav Holst on an orange circle against a navy blue background
Gustav Holst
A handdrawn circular chart with multiple numbers and mathematical symbols
Alan Leo's natal chart
A god sitting on top of a cloud threatens two eagles
Jupiter, from the series "Planetarum effectus et eorum in signis zodiaci" (The Seven Planets)
A circle filled with numbered panels of creatures engaging in various activities, below a god and multiple cherubim, or baby-like angels
Untitled

 

From Storybook to Concert Hall: Schumann’s Fairy Tales

Jaryn Danz

Nineteenth-century composers were frequently influenced by fantastic and mysterious elements of contemporary fiction, as investigated here in Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder for viola and piano.

Read Jaryn Danz's essay below:

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From Storybook to Concert Hall: Schumann’s Fairy Tales (opens in a new window)74.92 KB

 

 

 

 

 

An illustration of a man with a horse helping up a man on the ground
Caption: “Hans in luck” from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, courtesy of JSTOR
An illustration of a prince approaching a sleeping princess in a bed surrounded by ivy
“Sleeping Beauty” from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, courtesy of JSTOR

 

 

 

A brown wooden viola
The viola is a member of the violin family, played on the shoulder like a large violin.

 

Musical Meaning in Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony

Larissa Mulder

This research explores compositional choices American composer Amy Beach utilized in her symphony to represent the tragedies of emigration and the resilience of Irish identity.

Read Larissa Mulder's essay below:

A black-and-white photograph of Amy Beach
Amy Beach
Sheet music titled "Symphonie in Emoll (Gaelic)"
A grassy cliffside overlooking clear blue water
Irish Cliffs of Moher

 

A Deeper Look Into the Meaning of the First Bach Cello Suite

Justin White

Bach’s first Cello Suite is one of the most recognizable pieces of music, but there is spiritual meaning behind just notes on the page.

A black-and-white photograph of an old man playing the cello
Pablo Casals
A painting of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
A blue cover for a collection of 6 cello suites by Bach
Sheet music for Bach's first cello suite

Header image: Sketch, recto. Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. Piano concerto no. 5 in E♭, op. 73, first movement (sketches) : autograph manuscript, 1809? Concertos, piano, orchestra, no. 5, op. 73, E♭ major. Allegro (Sketches) Cary 44. Acquired from:  https://www.themorgan.org/music/manuscript/114194/1