2014 Theses Doctoral

A Time for Everything, for chorus: Analysis of a Musical Meditation

Bryan, Courtney

This dissertation consists of two parts, an essay and a four-part cycle of choral works, including four full scores of A Time for Everything (meditation on Ecclesiastes 3), Come Away, My Beloved (meditation on Song of Songs), Intercession (meditation on Romans 8), and Faith, Hope, and Love (meditation on 1 Corinthians 13).
The essay includes an introduction presenting an overview of A Time for Everything for chorus, a description of my creative process, and my ideas of music and spirituality that inform the composition. It also includes an in-depth analysis of each of the four choral works.
A Time for Everything for chorus was conceived as a series of musical meditations, and composed for the vocal ensemble Ekmeles. The four pieces were premiered at Roulette Intermedium, and Issue Project Room in New York, and at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey between 2012-2013. Scores and recordings of these works make up the second part of the dissertation.