Date Created

5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Arts

Department

College of Performing and Visual Arts, Music, Music Student Work

First Advisor

Hall, James

First Committee Member

Oravitz, Michael

Second Committee Member

Jaime, Andrés Felipe

Third Committee Member

Zia, Ather

Abstract

Vinicio Meza (b.1968) has had a significant impact on Costa Rican bassoon music, contributing over sixty chamber works featuring the instrument and a work for bassoon and orchestra. Despite his successful career and professional recognition, only a small number of his compositions have been the subject of academic study, offering a mere glimpse of the composer’s artistry. The present dissertation responds to this gap by utilizing Meza’s bassoon works as a vehicle to delve into his life and artistic production, following a qualitative approach to answer questions about his career and musical style, the historical and compositional particularities of his bassoon repertoire, and the performance aspects of Episodios.

The investigation relied mostly on primary sources, collecting data through literature review, archival research, score and manuscript analysis, performance preparation, interviews with the composer, and personal communications with other relevant musicians. The findings are organized in three sections. The first one provides a detailed description of Meza’s musical training and professional career, as well as a review of the available information about his compositions. The second section addresses the composer’s chamber music with bassoon through a comprehensive examination of the repertoire, documenting details about their genesis, publication, and recording, as well as the main musical characteristics of seventeen original compositions. The last section centers the discussion on Episodios, exploring the historical context in which the work came to be, offering an in-depth musical analysis of the piece, and weighing in on its performance aspects through interpretive suggestions and technical advice.

The research into Meza’s life offers the most detailed chronology of his artistic career to date. Moreover, the analysis of the repertoire accounts for numerous works that reflect the compositional style described by most scholars, and also sheds light on a less explored facet of Meza’s writing, identifying compositions influenced by Latin American popular music and other tonal and post-tonal languages and aesthetics.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Extent

178 pages

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

Digital Origin

Born digital

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