Roy Harris' American Symphony - 1938: A Perspective on Its Historical Significance and Autogenetic Elements With a Performance of a Reconstructed Modern Wind Ensemble Edition

American composer Roy Harris began writing a symphony for the Tommy Dorsey band in 1938, but the piece was never completed. This dissertation project chronicles the events surrounding the interesting collaboration between the composer and the bandleader, including problems incurred during the rehearsal process, the eventual abandonment of the project, and the discovery of the little-known band work. The paper includes information on the composer's life and works, an in-depth discussion of the compositional technique that Harris called “autogenesis,” and a detailed analysis of the two surviving movements of the band piece. The piece is also discussed comparatively with other significant works in Harris' symphonic genre, most notably his Folksong Symphony, also known as his Fourth Symphony. A significant portion of the research and preparation for the project was spent reconstructing a modern wind ensemble edition of the two surviving movements. A complete score of the reconstructed edition is included as part of this project.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2001

Author dc:creator

• Lamb, Brian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Corporon, Eugene
• Clark, Thomas
• Fisher, Dennis W.

• Harris, Roy, 1898-1979 American symphony, 1938.
• Dorsey, Tommy, 1905-1956.
• Band music, Arranged -- Scores.
• autogenesis
• Roy Harris
• wind ensemble edition
• Tommy Dorsey
• musical reconstruction

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Lamb, Brian
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 49834701
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2795/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc2795

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc2795