Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive
Date
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Musical Arts
Department
Music
Committee Chair
Kimberly Patterson
Committee Member
Elise Blatchford
Committee Member
Josef Hanson
Committee Member
Marcin Arendt
Abstract
Roots is an audio recording project that represents cello repertoire based on global folk traditions. It acknowledges the value of varied musical styles and influences in an effort to increase awareness and inspire more performances of music from these traditions. Some of the works in this project lack accessible recordings for other performers to reference, and this project is meant to help bridge that gap. I chose five pieces for the recording portion, each by a composer representing a different geographical location and cultural background. The selected works are Folk Suite for Solo Cello by Daniel Delaney, Variations on a Slovak Theme by Bohuslav Martinu, A Set of Chinese Folk Songs by Zhou Long, Dam Mwen Yo by Nathalie Joachim, and Five Pieces on Folk Themes by Sulkhan Tsintsadze. In this accompanying document, I provide details on each composer, their use of folk influences, and my program notes for each piece. In the recordings, which took place in February of 2026 at the University of Memphis, I used this background information to influence my musical and technical decisions. The recordings illustrate differences in timbre, vibrato, glissandi, and right hand articulation. In addition to details on the music and composers, this document explains logistics such as how music was chosen, timeline, specifics of the recording process, and album details.
Library Comment
Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.
Notes
Open Access.
Recommended Citation
Sears, Christine, "Roots: A Recording Project of Cello Repertoire Based on Global Folk Traditions" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive. 3995.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/3995
Archival Statement
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Comments
Data is provided by the student.