Two Jacobs School of Music students, Jack Szczukaand Olivia Woodrow, have been named recipients of the 2024 Austin B. Caswell Awards. The awards were given to Szczuka’s paper, “Soviet Musical Orientalism: The Role of the Symphonic Works of Reinhold Glière,” and Woodrow’s paper, “An Argument On the Female Musicianship and Sexual Morality of Barbara Strozzi.” Congratulations!
Jack Szczuka (b. 2001) is a 4th-year bachelor’s student at Indiana University Bloomington, studying music composition at the Jacobs School of Music, as well as studying Central Eurasian Studies with a language track in Uzbek. His current and former instructors include Dr. Han Lash, Dr. Aaron Travers, Dr. P. Q. Phan, Dr. Don Freund, and Dr. John Supko. His paper Soviet Musical Orientalism: The Role of the Symphonic Works of Reinhold Glière will be featured in the upcoming issue of the UC Undergraduate Journal of Slavic Studies and has received multiple awards from IU and Macalester University. His piece Birga-Birga Boramiz, a text setting of the ancient Uzbek epic Alpomish, was awarded first place in the 2022 NOTUS Contemporary Choral Ensemble Student Composition Competition. His arrangement of the Kazakh folk song “Közimning Qarasy” was presented at the 175th Anniversary of Abay Qunanbaiuly celebration, jointly hosted by IU and Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. Outside of composition, Jack participates as a vocalist, pianist, and accordionist in ensembles in Bloomington, such as University Chorale, IU Slavic Choir, and the Bloomington Silk Road Ensemble. As a member of the Russian Language Flagship program, he will spend next year in Almaty, Kazakhstan, achieving professional fluency during the program’s Capstone.
“Soviet Musical Orientalism: The Role of the Symphonic Works of Reinhold Glière”
by Jack Szczuka
In this paper, I argue that while Glière’s music contains ethnographically sourced material from local cultures, it is a leading example of Soviet Musical Orientalism. I will examine four pieces of Glière’s —Shakh-Senem, Gyul’sara, Holiday at Ferghana, and Heroic March — and contextualize them with ethnographic referential collections and commentary on Glière and regional music trends at the time. As Glière borrowed melodies from regional folk songs as the majority of his themes in each piece, I will also compare them to the setting of the original, and show how the differences between the two highlight the gap in musical understanding between Russians and locals. With this, I emphasize the dynamics of Soviet censorship and musical ideas, regarding folk music itself and how composers in Russia responded to such requirements. By uncovering the nuances of the unique combination of compositional influence we better understand the cultural melding that gives this repertoire its identity.
Olivia Woodrow, originally from Indianapolis, is a junior at the Jacobs School of Music, studying Choral Music Education. She focuses on middle school education, with an emphasis on music accessibility and diverse repertoire selections. While at Indiana University, Olivia serves as president of IU’s branch of the American Choral Directors Association, and as the Director of Education for the Indiana University Singing Hoosiers. She is also an active member of the National Association for Music Educators, and a voice teacher with the Jacobs Academy: Virtual Academy.
“An Argument On the Female Musicianship and Sexual Morality of Barbara Strozzi”
by Olivia Woodrow
Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi became a public sex symbol because of the way she was characterized by the musical societies surrounding her, but used the poetry of her final opus to reject the immoral image that Venetian society had assigned to her. Examination of the moral duality of this woman necessitates an overview of her life juxtaposed to the music in her final opus. This paper was inspired by the thesis of Sara M. Pecknold, who argued that Strozzi’s sacred compositions were written to paint her as a reliable and honorable mother despite her history of courtesanship. However, Strozzi’s role as a courtesan is unproven, and a careful examination of the full collection of her work can demonstrate a moral change within the composer herself.
Austin B. Caswell was a devoted teacher and member of the musicology faculty at IndianaUniversity
The Austin B. Caswell Award was established in 1998 in honor of Caswell, a devoted teacher and member of the musicology faculty at Indiana University from 1966 until his retirement in 1996. Each spring, the award recognizes the best undergraduate music history projects submitted at the Jacobs School.
Caswell was born in Minneapolis, MN, the son of Austin B. Caswell Sr. and Corice Woodruff Caswell. A graduate of West High School (Minneapolis, 1949), Caswell received his B.A. in History from Amherst College (1953), and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Minnesota (1957, 1964).
His early years of teaching included the Vermont Academy and the University of Minnesota General College. But the bulk of his teaching career was as Professor of Musicology at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (1966-1996) where he served as Chairman of the Musicology Department for several years. He also taught for the IU Honors College (1973-2006) and the IU Intensive Freshman Seminar program.
A lifetime choral musician, Caswell also served as Music Director for several churches including Wayzata Community Church (Minneapolis, MN, 1961-1966) and First United Church (Bloomington, IN, 1966-1971).
