Tan Yuh Chaur Leonard

Paul Hindemith's Symphony In B flat for Band (1951) and Vincent Persichetti's Symphony No. 6 for Band (1956) are two of the most important works written for the wind band. Though they are commonly performed, scholarly interest in both works are limited, largely restricted to writers from the band community. In particular, the neoclassical elements of both works are largely undiscussed. Although they do not strictly belong to the neoclassical tradition, there are several neoclassical traits present in both works. This dissertation compares and contrasts both works, noting the neoclassical aspects of both works in the process. A range of analytical techniques will be drawn upon, including harmonic, voice-leading, motivic and formal analysis. Various compositional parameters - harmony, melody, form, orchestration and texture - will be analysed in detail, and the relationships between each of these parameters discussed. This study reveals that though both composers looked back to the past, their eventual musical products were distinctively different. Essentially, their differences stem from the fact that whilst Hindemith's neoclassical aesthetic leaning was very much of the Germanic tradition, Persichetti's showed influences of French Neoclassicism.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND In Singapore, the Ministry of Education (MOE) emphasises the importance of developing 21CC through Co-Curricular Activities (CCA). For example, the Handbook for the Co-Curriculum states that there ought to be an “intentional design” of CCA activities such that they create “authentic opportunities” for students to “practise” the 21CC (MOE, 2014, p. 16). This includes the development of 21CC through music CCAs, such as the school band.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS Sentiments on the ground, however, suggest that many band directors see the development of these competencies already implicit in current practice. Furthermore, there is no research in Singapore that has empirically examined the assumption that 21CC can be developed through music CCAs. There appears a need for empirical data to determine if and how 21CC are being developed by school band programmes as currently practised. This would also render any form of formal intervention more organic, persuasive, and authentic.
PURPOSE OF STUDY The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the development of 21CC through the school band; it aims to render explicit what might already be implicit in current practice. To achieve these goals, two high performing school bands (one Primary and one Secondary) were examined over a period of one year.

Practice, skill and competition are important aspects of participating in school bands and orchestras. However, writers have questioned their value. In this philosophical paper, I mine the writings of the American pragmatists–in particular, their theories of habit and experience–to construct a theory of action for instrumental music education, that is, a proposed framework of active musical doing in large instrumental ensembles. It comprises two facets: effortful practice and effortless performance, and serves as lenses to address issues with respect to practice, skill and competition in instrumental music. Central to this paper is the thesis that the active doing of music in bands and orchestras enables students to encounter the aesthetic peak experience.

In 1952, John Cage wrote 4′33″ which famously asked the performer not to play a single note: tacet. This provocative work raises a number of questions. In music—and by extension, music education—what does it mean to not do something? What does it mean to make no sound? More fundamentally, what is the nature of non-action, non-sound, and even nothingness in and of itself? Since Cage was influenced by Eastern philosophy, we journey to Asia in search of insights into nothingness and associated notions of absence and negation. In particular, we draw on the writings of Daoist philosophers, principally Laozi, to examine a quartet of philosophical terms, namely, wu (nothing/ness), wuwei (non-action), wusheng (non-sound), and wuaile (neither sorrow nor joy). Using these ideas, we propose a Daoist-inspired philosophy of music education, one that emphasizes the usefulness (yong) of nothingness (wu).