Idiomatic Compositional Techniques in John Rutter's Requiem

<p>John Rutter is an extremely significant figure in choral music, and his 1985 Requiem is one of his most widely performed works. Despite this popularity, it has yet to be analyzed in a rigorous academic capacity. <em>Requiem</em> is a harmonically rich and sophisticated work, and said lack of previous analysis represents a gap in theoretical research. This thesis analyzes <em>Requiem</em> for significant harmonic structures and idiomatic compositional techniques and applies those techniques in an original composition. Subtopics of note included harmonic non-functionality, modulations, and orchestration. The original work is comprised of two movements for choir and piano respectively titled “Requiem Aeternam” and “I Heard a Voice from Heaven”.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Music

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Music

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Walsh, Marguerite

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stephen Lias
• Michael Murphy
• Benjamin Morris

• Music Theory
• Harmonic Analysis
• Non-functional Harmony
• Requiem
• John Rutter
• Sacred Music
• Composition

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/629

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1693