Brown Eyes, Black Magic

Authors

Marcus Duane Norris JRFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Music (MM)

Major/Program

Music

First Advisor's Name

Orlando Garcia

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Jacob Sudol

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Joel Galand

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

composition, composers, orchestra, chamber orchestra, black composers, black music, african american music, african american composers

Date of Defense

3-28-2017

Abstract

This thesis consists of a large composition for chamber orchestra titled Brown Eyes, Black Magic and an accompanying analytical paper. The piece, approximately twelve minutes long, is a tribute to women of color in America. The title pays homage to the “Black Girl Magic” campaign that CaShawn Thompson founded in 2013 to empower women of color by highlighting their achievements in different fields (Wilson 2016). Although the piece is not programmatic, I tried to create a mysterious sound world, in which the listener focuses on the beauty of ever-shifting sonic colors. The composition explores musical texture and timbre, and is influenced by the works of Orlando Jacinto Garcia, Georg Friederich Haas, Krzysztof Penderecki, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern.

Identifier

FIDC001733

Recommended Citation

Norris, Marcus Duane JR, "Brown Eyes, Black Magic" (2017). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3270.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3270