A Senior Recital by Cody Schreer

Abstract

The thesis will be an hour performance showcasing the cumulative technical, creative, and musical skills I have gained over my four years at Carthage as well as program notes detailing the music being performed. My performance consists of pieces I have learned from the beginning of freshman year to musical pieces I am learning right now. The focus will be on the growth of a musician and the mindset of always wanting to learn and grow. I also want to portray the notion that music at any level can be enhanced indefinitely with higher musicality and technique. Some highlights of techniques I’ll be showing from my pieces are as follows: In the Sonata by Henry Eccles I am able to make subtle phrasing by knowing what the piano plays while I am playing. In the Vanhal concerto I am able to show higher technique by changing the feeling of certain repeated passages in different keys. In the Dragonetti Concerto I am able to show various bow strokes between fast, slow, slurred, staccato and harmonic passages. In regard to my program notes I will be able to take what I’ve learned in my multiple music history classes as well as a music history seminar to write professional and well-informed descriptions of the pieces. I also took a symphonic literature class that focused on how to write program notes and I will be able to take the structure that I used from that class to outline how I will create the notes for my own thesis.