A major part of gamelan’s appeal lies in the prevalence of aural transmission for both karawitan (traditional gamelan music) and new compositions. It is a medium through which I hope to have created music that departs from existing repertoire to an interesting degree, satisfyingly rich with fresh ideas even to specialists’ ears, without losing the players’ comprehension-of-the-whole that is a prerequisite of good ensemble. This comprehension can be much aided by building on existing norms, to make use of that which has been honed over generations by knowledgeable players, to extend rather than replace conventions of garap (musical realisation from an abstraction of, and/or partial notation of a piece). For this reason the pieces presented here tend to start with an initial tweak to a karawitan norm which then requires a cascade of related tweaks to garap. The initial modifications I explore in this body of work fall into two strands: 1) Garap for 3-beat gatra; and 2) Garap to three-note seleh-chords – to seleh notes harmonised with the kempyung above and the kempyung above that, for example harmonisation of seleh low 6 with 3 and high 1. For subsequent transmission of music initially created in these ways, full scores will not most usefully aid other musicians whether their wish is to play, to lead rehearsal of, or to analyse pieces. What is required instead is a guide to the interconnected set of ideas and skills required to realise a piece from various media. Ideally this guide will convey the desirability of adaptation of those realisations to context: to sets of players, to sets of instruments, to performance situation, to musical whims. That is, the means of transmission ought not inadvertently define “the piece” as an immutable ideal. Hence the submission as a website, for clear connecting of multiple media sources in the communication of my extended garap methods. This PhD/website is hosted by the University of York at http://php.york.ac.uk/library/dlib/johnjacobsphd/

This thesis explores new music created for gamelan in Britain, focusing primarily upon works for Javanese gamelan. It explores the historical conditions and human motivations which have made composition for gamelan such a distinctive part of the UK scene, and explores the range of works created through a series of taxonomical spectra. It considers how composers writing for gamelan in the UK situate themselves amongst the transcultural influences they are at play with in their composition. This is explored through a variety of lenses: looking at how composers use, avoid or mix musical structures associated with gamelan and those from other systems; whether or not they draw upon creative processes and methods of transmission associated with traditional gamelan music; and what happens when gamelan instruments are combined with those from other systems or with electronically-generated sound. It also explores narratives of authenticity and hybridity, and the interrelationship between British gamelan composition and the wider cultural scene. It questions the extent to which the British gamelan scene is distinct from other international gamelan communities, and the extent to which it is not, suggesting that the appearance of difference is in fact more of an inflection, coloured by local conditions, history and individuals, but nevertheless an expression of the same contemporary trans-state cosmopolitan flows (Turino 2003) that characterise gamelan cultures around the world.

This portfolio presents the results of my doctoral research, Feast of La Tirana 2012 (Chile): Musical analysis and compositions based on field research, developed in the Music Department of The University of York from 2011 to 2015. This project is based on fieldwork developed in La Tirana, a small village located in the arid desert of Atacama, Chile, in 2012. Here, nearly two-hundred-thousand of the faithful attend the celebrations for the Virgin Carmen every 16th July, giving rise to a celebration known as ‘The Feast of La Tirana’. The aim of this research was to investigate the characteristic musical parameters and practices found in La Tirana, and to explore new creative possibilities afforded by their application in a variety of musical contexts (specifically big band composition, small and large jazz group performance, contemporary chamber music, live performance with electronics, and rule-based contemporary systems music). The research included ethnomusicological inquiry, in parallel with an ongoing dialogue with performers from La Tirana, which was principally intended to inform the creative practice (composition and performance) that is the focus of this portfolio. This supporting research resulted in two articles that additionally seek to update the musical analyses available in English and Spanish on the music of the Atacama desert. The outcome of this process is a portfolio of six practical projects and two accompanying articles.

This portfolio comprises the nine pieces written during my PhD research at the University of York and a commentary about the process of composition. My work seeks to focus on timbre and texture as guiding parameters, with due attention to comprehensibility through unity of material. I first give an overview of my compositional processes during the years previous to my research. Then I discuss the general principles of my present approach, sketching the links between it and earlier work. Finally, I illustrate these principles by discussing individual pieces and the links between them.

This folio of compositions represents three years of practice-led research into the development of my own distinct compositional voice, through the use of techniques and ideas that I have explored and developed. All of the works presented here are concerned with at least two of the following areas, which have been the focus of my research during this time: note rotation as a method for expanding on a small amount of material, free rhythm and bar-less notation, movement form, and the corporeal aesthetic of the American composer Harry Partch (1901-1974). The pieces in this folio were all written between October 2009 and September 2012. They employ a variety of forces, from chamber to orchestral, including two vocal works. Through these compositions, common threads can be traced, as I explored and investigated these different compositional techniques and ideas, all of which reach a peak in the two summative pieces of the folio, the orchestral work 'trees and paths I loved fade' and the smaller-scale song cycle 'cloud chamber music'.

This portfolio includes pieces for ensemble, solo instrument, voice and choir as well as electroacoustic music, which are products of research into various aspects and degrees of freedom and control within a composition. Through collaboration with performers from different backgrounds, the pieces explore elements of improvisation by means of a variety of methods: graphic and conventional notation, written and verbal instructions, choice of materials within a given framework, or freedom of structure with given materials. Music from different cultural backgrounds is discussed in this commentary, outlining how these influences may hint at different ways of approaching freedom and control in music.

The ten works presented here were composed between early 2012 and early 2015. They chart a process of experimentation, development and clarification with regards to my personal approach to composition and share a broad set of musical ideas. The works are diverse in terms of forces, aesthetics and sound-worlds, but are unified by the application of musical dialectics that can be metaphorically traced back to the investigation of human perception, an interest which ultimately derives from my experiences as a performer of notated and improvised music. This investigation is represented practically, descriptively, and metaphorically in various ways across the folio. This is not a scientific study: my own curiosity about the conscious and unconscious processes which shape one’s perception of the world provided a starting point for the construction of a set of musical relationships. These formative dialectics may provoke a listener to think about perceptual phenomena, or they may have an entirely different effect.

My portfolio of compositions includes eight original scores, plus two revised scores and accompanying recordings. The recordings are presented on one CD and one DVD. Written over three years, the compositions are for a variety of instruments from solo piano through to orchestra. Most of the works have been performed, either by professional musicians or by students. My research is focused on the role of breath within the dynamic relationship between events, reverberations and rests. My primary goal was to compose decaying musical shapes from the concrete object to silence. In this commentary, I also discuss other aspects of my compositional practice, such as individual ritardando techniques. I have analysed the harmonic progression, pitch materials and structure for some of my pieces. In chapter II, I explain how my music is related to the ideas of the musical gestures of appearance and disappearance. In chapter III, I clarify the method of organising broken looping as repetition. Both chapters also include an explanation of my cultural, musical background and influences.

Fragments are essential for the realisation of my musical ideas. This commentary explains the musical, aesthetical and philosophical backgrounds to my work, and also the detailed compositional processes employed. Chapter one is a brief overview of Sigimsae and main-tone as found in traditional Korean music, which subsequently become transformed in my composition through the integration with contemporary Western musical elements. Chapter two analyses six compositions in this folio to clarify how unique sounds and forms are developed and achieved through the ever-changing fragment.

Sexual and mystical ecstasy can be linked to experiences of loss of self; they are thus instruments for an individual to reach a higher dimension through a process that encompasses body and mind. These ideas can also be expressed through music; Theogyny, the composition accompanying this writing, is an a cappella polyphonic piece delivered entirely by my voice to express a woman’s dissolving identity during a mystical sexual experience. I contend that a female voice sonically extended to the extremities of its range is the most appropriate instrument to reflect this. First of all I formulate a “theogonic hypothesis” that posits how the idea of God was born in mankind following its experience of sexual ecstasy, not of natural phenomena as commonly believed. I then examine the experience of loss of self and how it can lead to the union with God, mainly focusing on three instances: dismemberment, mystical ecstasy, sexual jouissance. I illustrate how the dissolved self can reach the divine dimension and will explain why mystical experiences necessarily need to come to an end. After these points are established, I explain why human voice is the best instrument to express jouissance, especially when expressed not in the melody but in the cry. I describe how human voice was traditionally both used to pray God and feared as a demonic power, then I concentrate on women’s voices and genderless, pansexual voices. In the third part I focus on my own work: after an overview of my musical aesthetics and career, I prove how the philosophical and musicological ideas expressed so far can be found in my music and will give an in-depth look at some of my most notable compositions; finally I describe the compositional and performance process of Theogyny. Just like Theogyny itself, this dissertation presents itself as a gradus, a progress towards a cathartic end.