The Psalmodia Project

Author

Saulo Moura, University of KentuckyFollow

Date Available

8-5-2022

Year of Publication

2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Fine Arts

Department/School/Program

Music

First Advisor

Dr. Jennifer Campbell

Second Advisor

Dr. Kevin Holm-Hudson

Abstract

The Psalmodia Project is a set of twelve compositions based on the text of preselected psalms from the Bible. The book of Psalms, part of the wisdom literature section of the Biblical Canon, is a kaleidoscope of human emotions with a total of 150 poems describing ancient Hebrew stories of faith full of plot nuances easily represented by musical expression. The compositions cover a large variety of musical genres, from Latin jazz to classical music, from small to large ensembles, with an instrumentation that employs sounds from all five different instrumental families: keyboards, strings, percussion (pitched and non-pitched), woodwinds, and brass. Three of these Psalms are for solo voice with ensemble or piano accompaniment, while the others are purely instrumental with programmatic references to the text. They also alternate moments of pre-composed music and jazz improvisation over chord changes.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.287

Recommended Citation

Moura, Saulo, "The Psalmodia Project" (2022). Theses and Dissertations--Music. 208.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/208