How can we talk about free improvised music? Would it be possible to teach free improvisation? It seems that because of the absence of· pre-specified rules and prescriptive materials, this practice presents itself as impermeable to analysis. Also, developing guidelines for teaching free improvised music may be considered difficult This study presents rhetoric as a suitable area for establishing a discourse on free improvisation. Rhetoric is being tested in understanding this music in structural and intentional terms. Using the combination of examining the author's own development as improviser, and the results from seven improvisation projects, this investigation has set out to propose that the social environment in which this music activity is realised is crucial for understanding this practice. The creation of form and content collectively has uncovered ethics as the primary force in establishing the style of free improvised music. Ethics, the driving force in rhetorical theory, helps us to understand this music aesthetically, opening ways for the development ofpedagogical approaches. It appears that the realisation of this activity is important for developing individual expressiveness and may be a model for a new music educational system.

A conscious and meaningful exploration of texture and texture procedures has been avoided by the majority of contemporary Art music since at least the 1990s. It is not so much that composers have not resort to textural procedures rather most of them seem to stop thinking “texturally” and when they do they tend to fall back on traditional and thus exhausted techniques. Also the categorization of most recent textures, namely the ones after the 1950s, is something that written sources seem to have neglected and there is no real agreement on how they should be categorized. A need for investigation on these matters seems to be obvious. A new way of thinking about texture is required; one that could help us to comprehend more fully the phenomenon of texture. The compositions and written commentary that support my research will, I hope, produce a successful textural conception, and its effective realization in a new consonant aesthetics, that will contribute to new perspectives on texture and textural procedures. By seeking inspiration and ideas in the textural music of composers such as György Ligeti, Kristof Penderecki or Witold Lutosławski, I will not try to create new textures per se but instead I will construct my musical narrative having texture as the touchstone of my composition thought.What is important in my musical narrative is the creation of moments of relaxation and tension. These two qualities have in the past been engendered by harmonic devices of dissonance creation and resolution. My research aims to demonstrate that an analogous effect can be achieved by the manipulation of texture. But in order to better understand the textural phenomena a reflection on rhythm and time is necessary. Music being a temporal art form, and taking in account that in order to establish a textural condition, or transition between different textural moments, a certain amount of time is required, the way we experience the passage of time is thus a pertinent topic that needs to be tackled. This additional topic of research will be crucial for the understanding not only of texture but also of one of music’s most important parameter – time.

Historically much of the activity in the area of visual music has been focused on the creation of visual compositions stimulated by musical performance. For the purpose of this investigation the studio practice will concentrate on the shared systems and language of composition, what Zilcer identifies as the 'application of formal compositional elements of music to painting'. 1 In part, the project will draw on the expertise of British composer Michael Berkeley and conductor Peter Manning.' The premise for the research is to identify the presence of process and system in each of the practitioner's work. Also through collaboration with a composer and conductor the project offers a further opportunity to consider the effects of music found in contemporary painting practice. The initial findings of the research are used to establish an intellectual framework where neither the audible or visual elements of the disciplines take precedence over each other. Three catalogue publications are included in the dossier: Tectonics, Uncertain Harmonies and Collision. The catalogues are a record of the work produced during the period of the PhD study and should viewed alongside the text in the following order: Tectonics, Chapter Two, Uncertain Harmonies (or Fall), Chapter Three and Collision, Chapters Four, Five and Six.

All art conveys interpretations and investigations of an ontological, metaphysical and spiritual nature. Literature, for example, uses every-day symbols and signs, some of which are mediated via metaphor to convey the authors' cultural context, belief systems and their own personal artistic nature. This paper attempts to describe a form of compositional process that is based on the formation of meaning through mediated structure. This may involve working directly with text or with multiple texts, referencing texts, or designing the structural component of a piece so that it refers to a conscious or unconscious process of memory. Utilising words allows for a creative interface across the disciplines of music and literature in which both contexts are at once juxtaposed and synthesised in a singular form. Reading literature is one of the most powerful ways of engaging with any type of culture; poetry offers a different type of engagement with its readership largely because of its generative use of metaphor. It is this type of poetic license and play with cultural and social expectations of literary meaning that I find most fascinating about the written word, and this is why I have chosen to engage with poetic and prosodic works in many of the pieces in this portfolio.

This portfolio of compositions which consists of six acoustic works for different ensembles I has the following research question as it's primary target: 'How do 1 integrate the influences and techniques from different styles and idioms 1 have worked in into one seamless mechanism which creates a singular, individual, personal musical identity without this identity taking the form of a random montage? ' This target is achieved through the employment of different compositional techniques. Some of these techniques, such as the numeric serial processes explained in detail in the foreward to the portfolio, have been used by other composers. In this case the individuality lies not only in the ways these techniques have been applied but also in the way they have been integrated with other compositional tools. This unique method of integration is based on my personal musical philosophy. Other techniques are quite innovative, outstanding amongst such techniques is that of morphing which I feel is the most original contribution that this portfolio presents in the realm of pluralism. This technique is gradually developed throughout the portfolio (as are other tools) and as can be heard it is very effective in creating a musical identity which is singular not only through the plurality of musical idioms present but also thanks to the plurality of techniques employed to mould these musical idioms and influences into a singular musical entity - hence the title 'Singularity through Plurality '.

This portfolio of compositions was produced over a period of several years.spent as a part-time distance learning student of Bangor University. During this course of study, I resided for various periods in Spain, Italy and Thailand, and my obligatory visits to Bangor were made from these countries. Prior to the above period, I had also worked in Kenya, Kuwait and South Korea and visited India, China, Myanmar and Lao. All these international exposures had undoubtedly influenced these referential experiences which inform my work, whether overtly or obliquely The purpose of these studies was to provide the opportunity of exploring my compositional processes and developing my musical language, whilst at the same time enhancing my understanding of the various facets which inform my music. One outcome of the above is the identification of a compositional process that is frequently employed in my works that warranted classification and further exploration. 1

Written commentary submitted with a folio of compositions: 1. Achos for trombone and piano. 2. Au for eleven strings. 3. Cerulean for eleven musicians. 4. The Death of General Wolfe for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, violin, accordion or synthesizer and four percussionists. 5. Night Bus for Orchestra. 6. Sonata for violin and piano. 7. Temperamental in four parts with percussion.

This dissertation is a commentary upon five scores presented as a portfolio of research by musical composition. Background My compositional work prior to 2004 arose from neo-classical techniques, in a familiar-sounding tonal musical language. The works of the portfolio seek to depart from this. A post-modem view of musical language is that it may embrace multifarious sound-worlds, directly or obliquely referring to music of previous ages - using language as material. The way in which such material is presented is through structure, and this may exert as much influence on the style as do the harmony, melody and rhythm. Originality in music can be defined as the individuality of a composer's technique, (as opposed to merely the external effect of the music), and this taken to extremes may define the outer limits of a personal style, within which a much broader spectrum of style may exist. Method In Part Lmy own techniques in tonality, rhythm and structure are briefly examined in general terms before in-depth analyses of each work in Part 2. These reveal an evolution of technique: from the pure structuring of the Sinfonia Concertante, via the extreme but characterful Sonate en Tableaux, to the Romantic and semi-programmatic Violin Concerto, where rigorous structure is still fundamental to the effect of the music, but is much subservient to musical character. The shorter pieces (Elegy and Lyric Motets) demonstrate how the procedures of the other works may be scaled down to meet the needs of more intimate and less virtuosic music with the same level of craftsmanship. Conclusions Through the extreme working of my own structural procedures in these works I have established the parameters of a personal style, within which falls a broad range of musical language, and a consistency of approach from the grandest to the briefest of pieces; this now defining my personal voice as a composer.

The thesis, Seeking a Voice, comprising a portfolio of original musical compositions and a written commentary, is submitted to the University of Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music. The seven pieces in the portfolio of compositions portray my journey of looking for a personal musical voice during my research years at Bristol. They are for a range of instrumental and vocal forces, and are of various musical genres. The written commentary is divided into four chapters. The introduction is a reflection on my position of being a Hong Kong Chinese composer with a background consisting of eastern and western influences that determine my approach to musical composition. The first chapter is a self-evaluation of my research and compositions written during the past four years. The second chapter provides a discussion of the potential in applying certain elements of the folk songs, traditional music and instrumental techniques of China to pieces composed for western musical ensembles. The third chapter is a series of commentaries on individual pieces in the portfolio: Five Haikus for soprano, clarinet and percussion, Alive for orchestra, Confrontation for string quartet, Death and Tenderness for eleven players, Demise of the Cherry Blossoms for orchestra, Winter Poetry for woodwind quintet and Diary of a Jasmine Flower for solo piano. They present the inspiration and personal thoughts behind the compositions, analyses of how they are constructed, and also how they were influenced by my cultural background. The fourth chapter presents a glimpse of the direction of future compositions.

This thesis aims to outline my compositional path during the course of my academic study at the University of Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musical Composition. It presents three aspects that contributed to the creation qf my own musical language: environment (Bahrain vs Bristol), technique and influences. The commentary divides into two sections: in the first I discuss the influences, and how the bilingual music affected my composition. I argue that traditional music has always been a rich resource for many composers; the writer being one of them, particularly when they have encountered it directly and as a living tradition in early life. The second section embodies the views, ideas and techniques, which are applied in my compositions. The portfolio comprises original compositions arranged according to instrumentation: five songs Lover; I saw you; Your eyes; Love is a body and Flowers for female voice and piano, Vivid Dream for oboe and vibraphone, Volatile for bassoon and piano, Fragments for string quartet, Clarinet Concerto for clarinet and orchestra, and finally Bus Scenes for orchestra.