by Li Chi Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-137). / PREFACE --- p.iii / Chapter Chapter One --- PROLOGUE- THE CLASSICAL AND ROMANTIC STYLES --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- THE CONCEPT OF DIALECTICS AND TRANSCENDENCE --- p.9 / Chapter Chapter Three --- STUDY OF FRANZ LISZT'S SYMPHONIC POEMS --- p.15 / Les preludes (1848) --- p.18 / Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne (1848-9) --- p.27 / Tasso: lamento e trionfo (1849) --- p.38 / Heroide funebre (1849-50) --- p.47 / Prometheus (1850) --- p.55 / Mazeppa (1851) --- p.63 / Festklange (1853) --- p.71 / Orpheus (1853-4) --- p.79 / Hungaria(1854) --- p.86 / Hunnenschlacht (1857) --- p.95 / Die Ideale (1857) --- p.103 / Hamlet (1858) --- p.112 / Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (1881-2) --- p.120 / Chapter Chapter Four --- EPILOGUE - SOME OBSERVATIONS --- p.128 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.134

This thesis proposes an alternative approach to sound synthesis. It seeks to offer traditional string players a synthesiser which will allow them to make use of their existing skills in performance. A theoretical apparatus reflecting on the constraints of formalisation is developed and used to shed light on construction-related shortcomings in the instrumental developments of related research. Historical aspects and methods of sound synthesis, and the act of musical performance, are addressed with the aim of drawing conclusions for the construction of algorithms and interfaces. The alternative approach creates an openness and responsiveness in the synthesis instrument by using implicit playing parameters without the necessity to define, specify or measure all of them. In order to investigate this approach, several synthesis algorithms are developed, sounds are designed and a selection of them empirically compared to conventionally synthesised sounds. The algorithms are used in collaborative projects with other musicians in order to examine their practical musical value. The results provide evidence that implementations using the approach presented can offer musically significant differences as compared to similarly complex conventional implementations, and that - depending on the disposition of the musician - they can form a valuable contribution to the sound repertoire of performers and composers.

This thesis attempts an intervention in popular music classification. It argues that popular musicians do not only choose the titles to their works, but go further to define the genres of these works. The dynamic at play is such that most popular musicians claim to produce works of different and new genres with each new work they create. By engaging with the works of a selection of Nigerian popular musicians, the thesis demonstrates that the disorderliness in popular music branding can be restricted. Through a critical discourse analysis of the textual elements of the material and of ‘alternative’ audience contributions, the thesis advocates a new genre of popular music, namely the genre of ‘political music’. This distinctive genre is extractable from the otherwise conventional genres of popular music, and is composed of three comprehensible subgenres namely protest political music, unity political music and terrestrial praise political music. The study’s selection is made of popular music material from hip hop, reggae, afro-beat, and juju genres. They are delivered in popular Nigerian languages ranging between Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, English and Pidgin English.

No description available.

Toru Takemitsu (1930--96) composed several musical works which adopt as their titles quotations from James Joyce' s final and most revolutionary novel, Finnegans Wake. In this thesis I focus on one of these compositions, Far Calls. Coming, Far! (1981) for solo violin and orchestra. I explain the ways in which Takemitsu and Joyce possess similar philosophies and aesthetics, and examine their mutual interest in the phenomena of dreams. The Wake explores one night of a family's unconscious sleep activity and is heavily influenced by Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. I argue that Takemitsu composes Far Calls. Coming, Far! as a "dreamwork" modelled after Joyce's similar literary endeavour. Accordingly, I categorize the analogous dream structures between Takemitsu's music and Joyce's text. These are: The Dreamer, Language, Time and Water, which I discuss in turn.

No description available.

This dissertation, which takes the form of a creative project as is sanctioned by the Doctor of Arts Curricular Program, is an investigation of artsong literature, composers and musico-poetic structure. The work is a textbook designed for an undergraduate course in song literature and is accompanied by a performance-based interpretation workbook. The author's approach to the artsong is a threefold one: the artsong is considered as a unique performance idiom and is examined for the characteristics common to all; distinctive features are examined which identify specific sub-genre classifications within the body of artsong; specific artsongs are investigated from a performance aspect in order to develop an appropriate methodology for the interpretation of an individual song. This work includes information about historical analysis, performance practice, translation, phonetic transcription and the characteristics of versification unique to each language covered.The unique contribution of this work, however, is the workbook of sixty-five artsongs.In the workbook, the student is guided through a systematic approach to the interpretive process. The student is asked to examine the poem for type, mode of address and imagery and is asked to consider elements of rhyme, meter and poetic structure. The student is guided through an investigation of the characters both present and implied in the poetry; the student is asked to consider the structural elements of the musical setting in order to better discern the composer's response to the poem. Additionally, the student is asked to place the speaker-the person whose voice he or she is bringing to life-in time and location as well as construct a profile of the speaker's character. At the beginning of the workbook the entire process is demonstrated for the student; as the student progresses through the workbook, he is expected to perform more and more of the tasks until he can independently create a performance-based interpretation.The work contains copious musical examples as well as a source guide to instructional materials (scores, translations, recordings) and a brief glossary. / School of Music

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-254).

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-70).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 328-358 ).