My Academic Work



These papers look a whole lot shorter on the web than they do as text files in the word processor, but I keep my monitor at home set to a high resolution (1280x1024). They'll probably look a little more "scholarly" in length if you look at things in 640x480. I've done some minor editing for clarity in the process of webifying this stuff, but the original texts are for the most part left intact.

These papers are copyrighted, and should be treated as such. You're welcome to cite my work, but please let me know if you do. Not that I'll tell you not to, I just want to keep track of any citations I might get.


Papers listed chronologically:

The Shadow of the End: Issues of Completion in Charles Ives' Universe Symphony
December 1998. In my own humble opinion, this is probably the best paper I've written to date. It's not very long, but I think (now that I look back on it five years later) that it's a well-written, well-researched and academically ambitious (for an undergrad) piece of work.

A Twentieth-Century Tristan: Olivier Messiaen and the Autobiographical Meaning of Harawi, the Turangalîla-symphonie, and Cinq rechants
April 1999. This paper suffers from a little too much "interpretation," something I've developed a bit of disdain for in recent years. Still, I believe the premises it's based on are fundamentally sound. I like this paper because the nature of what I was discussing inspired me to be very flowery in the language I used, and I always enjoy penning a cleverly meaningful turn of phrase.

Qur'an and Mûsîqâ: Recitation in Egypt and Indonesia
November 2001. This is a study more of Qur'an recitation in general than in specific styles of Egypt and Indonesia, although those cultures are used as exempla. I wrote this paper before actually studying the Arabic language (al-lughat al-'arabîya), but I have since begun to do so.
Symmetry in Béla Bartók's Cantata profana
December 2001. A hardcore research paper, written for a class in research methods. In hindsight, this paper is probably a bit superficial.
Review: A History of Melody, Bence Szabolcsi
December 2001. A review and critique of Szabolcsi's 1965 book.
Elliott Maxim Antokoletz: a Bio-Bibliography
December 2002.
"There's a Beautiful Song": Early Gospel Ensembles Before World War II, A History and Selected Discography
May 2003. When I turned this paper in I included a CD with examples on it, but due to limited storage space and copyright issues, I have elected not to upload all the MP3 files.
Symbolism in the L'Homme armé Mass Tradition: A Composer's Perspective
May 2003. This paper accompanies my Missa L'Homme armé secundi toni (see #14 on the compositions page).
The sets of 24 preludes and fugues by J. S. Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich and Anthony Burgess
Summer-spring 2003. The working title for my master's report. Will surely be replaced by a much better title when I think one up.

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