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Date of Graduation
Spring 2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
Department
School of Music
Advisor(s)
C. William Rice
Abstract
This paper investigates the musical inspiration behind the collection of choros composed by American percussionist-composer, Gordon Stout. Three of Stout’s choros, Choro No. 1: Americana, Choro No. 3, and Choro No. 7: The Road Less Traveled are discussed in detail within the context of traditional Brazilian choro and the solo guitar pieces by Augusto Marcellino, which directly inspired Stout’s compositions. The research for this project included consulting musicological texts on choro, interviews with the composer and his colleague Pablo Cohen, listening to choro recordings, score study of traditional choro lead sheets, as well as the scores of Marcellino and Stout, and the performance of Marcellino’s Choro No. 9: Remeleixo and Stout’s Choros Nos. 1, 3, and 7. The paper shows the development of choro and its many representational roles in Brazil. The musical style and character of traditional Brazilian choro is then represented in the solo guitar choros of the Brazilian composer, Augusto Marcellino. Stout’s choros take elements of Brazilian popular music via Marcellino’s choros, and place them in a contemporary art music setting. The three forms of choro discussed in this paper, traditional choro roda, Marcellino’s solo guitar works, and Stout’s contemporary chamber works, all show the representational capabilities of music.
Recommended Citation
Harris, Elayne, "Choro of Gordon Stout: Representation in a living art" (2015). Dissertations, 2014-2019. 7.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019/7
