String quintet No.1 ghost town portraits

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Steven J. Landis Jr. (Creator)

Institution

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )

Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Advisor

Mark Engebretson

Abstract: I am drawn to the quiet places, the empty mysterious places, where it seems civilization--with bindle in hand--jumped a boxcar to somewhere else. A mixed sense of desolation and apathy mingles with a small stubborn hope and a large wonderment in a place like Ravenswood, West Virginia where the American dream is dying, even as it is reborn in some other zip code. Fort Lonesome sits at a crossroad of barren fields and sprawling sky in South Central Florida, a place where time has more meaning in a potter's field. A small facet of the Florida Everglades once used by the U.S. military as a bombing range, Holey Land is as beautifully remote as it is harshly desolate. My work, String Quintet No.1, seeks to portray these places as they journey their final steps of the life cycle, from decay, to death, and finally the hereafter. The main focus of this thesis is the composition. The supporting narrative and documentation is intended to further illustrate my compositional narrative. Cartography is supplied to demonstrate geographic seclusion, as well as location in relation to populated areas. A photo journal of each location is included, to add visual representation of the sound world created by the composition. Demographic and historical archival information corroborate my findings. Lastly, I include a sound recording from the premiere of the work.

String quintet No.1 ghost town portraits
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Created on 5/1/2013
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Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2013

Keywords

21st Century Composition, Chamber music, Chamber string orchestra, Music about ghost towns, String quintet, Timbral music

Subjects

Ravenswood (W. Va.) $v Songs and music

String quintets (Violins (2), viola, cello, double bass) $v Scores

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