Abstract

Music is a by-product of place and time. Musicians have opportunities to use the idea of place in their music. Thus, music has regionally distinctive characteristics which reflect human perceptions of the physical environment. Artists of the past and present focus on geographical themes, and paint a picture of ‘place’ in their music. This thesis focuses on the music of a geographical location: Utah. Musicians wrote of Utah in hymns of the past, and contemporary musicians continue to write music about Utah. This thesis answers the questions: Is music characterized by geography? How have the local musicians been influenced by the physical geography of Utah? Included are hymns from various years, biographies of several artists and a sample of contemporary music on Utah. Also included are the results of a questionnaire given to twenty musicians residing in Utah. Conclusions are made from this information that music is indeed characterized by geography, to a great degree.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Geography

Rights

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