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This thesis explores the stylistic traits of Thomas Ades' (b. 1971) early vocal and chamber works from 1989-95 through a series of case studies and places this work into context both in terms of his historical position and his approach to composition in relation to prevalent trends and theories. The first chapter details the aims and objectives of the thesis and reviews relevant literature. Ades is placed in context by looking at his musical career and the composers who influenced him. Compositional traits are identified and analysed and theories relating to postmodernism, references to the past and extra-musical influences are explored in relation to his music. The remaining Chapters 3-7 present close readings and analysis of a selected number of compositions that explore how musical techniques, and Ades' willingness to absorb influences, past and present are brought together to achieve different poetic intentions. In Chapter 3 four early vocal works, two for solo voice and piano, The Lover in Winter (1989) and Five Eliot Landscapes Op. 1 (1990), and two anthems, O thou who dids't with pitfall and gin Op. 3a (1990) and Gefriolsae Me Op. 3b (1990), reveal the compositional techniques that form the basis of his early compositional style and the influence of a range of composers. In Chapter 4 the analysis of three arrangements Les Baricades Misterieuses (1994), Darknesse Visible (1992) and Cardiac Arrest (1995) reveals Ades' approach to timbre, register and texture. An original work, the Sonata da Caccia Op. 11 (1993), explores a forceful confrontation between baroque and contemporary techniques that serves not only to highlight the compositional traits of Ades but also his relationship with the music of Couperin. Chapter 5 focuses on Ades' use of historical genre and formal structures and addresses his engagement with symphonism and sonata form in the Chamber Symphony Op. 2 (1990). Links with surrealism and the metaphorical impact of Ades' realisation of the programme in Living Toys Op. 9 (1993) is considered in Chapter 5. The extent to which music is able to, in terms of musical ekphrasis, represent works of art is considered in two movements from Areadiana Op. 12 (1994) and The Origin of the Harp Op. 13 (1994). One persistent thread that runs through Ades' work is his use of music as a metaphor, the idea that music can express more than itself. Ades engages the use of titles, programmes, literature and the visual arts in order to reinforce this concept. His music reveals a highly systemized approach to pitch organization and an imaginative approach to timbre that reveals an extraordinary sensitivity to tone-colour and register. Rhythmic complexity and temporal layering are also central to his compositional process. In order to expose the way in which individual melodic strands within a texture relate to each other I have developed a way of presenting these layers in graphic form. I use a system of colour-coding that identifies the intervallic character of individual threads within a texture as they either co-operate to create harmony or co-exist to pursue different agendas in terms of intervallic identity and momentum.

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This dissertation examines L'homme armé Masses written during c.1450-c.1500, focusing on two aspects, the use of phrases 3 and 4 of the melody and the choice of pitch for the deployment of the respective cantus firmi. Altogether 34 Masses are considered. Chapter 1 reviews current information about the 1'homme armé melody itself with evidence given for the different endings to phrases 3 and 4 in the sources Mellon and Casanatense. Part I examines the deployment of the two key phrases in six contexts, Chapter 2 showing how large-scale structures are erected on them, and the next revealing a consistent pattern for using phrase 4 imitatively. Sounding of the two phrases simultaneously (and at times one of the outer portions of the ternary melody against the central one) is explored in Chapter 4. The influence of the motivic make-up of the polyphony on the choice of phrase is investigated in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 deals with their manipulation for a musical portrayal of the Mass text. Part I concludes by reviewing where cadential contexts and the desire for full sonorities governs the choice of either phrase 3 or 4. Part ii examines the question of the pitch levels upon which different Masses deliver the source melody, starting with the G Mixolydian mode of the original. Settings presenting the song on G (either Mixolydian or transposedD orian) are considered the norm and are not reviewed. The exceptions are the six Naples Masses -a case is presented as to why not one Mass is in this mode. Completely canonic L'homme armé Masses are scrutinised, showing how composers avoided a problem encountered in anonymous Naples VI, where the comes at the subdiapente dictated the mode of the Mass. Josquin's F Ionian setting is investigated, then Compere's and Obrecht's E Phrygian readings and finally the D Dorian deliveries of Regis, Pipelare and La Rue.

Traditional folk song is a reflection of the society that creates it. In the Catalan case it reflects not only Catalan society but also those of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, for whom forms of the Catalan language are native. This present thesis investigates the corpus of folk song in Catalan and puts it into the context of the nation states that encompass it, i.e. France and Spain. The great era of European folk-song collection was between the mid-19th century and the First World War. The early part of this period coincides with the Catalan Renaixença: the revival of interest in Catalan language and culture. However, in the Catalan case, extensive song collection continued through the cultural periods of Modernisme and Noucentisme and up until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Much was documented in the publications of the Obra del cançoner popular de Catalunya, but even that great unfinished work has had no critical appraisal to date. A second theme of this thesis is therefore to begin such an appraisal, and put the work into the context of all of the major Catalan folk-song collections, which contain thousands of songs collected in both France and Spain. All the songs considered here are to be found in books, journals and recordings published between 1852 and 2001. The subject matter and song types are described and categorised, ranging from ballads and love songs to drinking songs and Christmas carols. The songs of the Països Catalans are compared with the music and songs of other traditions to identify influences and possible sources of specific material. With reference to work currently (c. 2001) taking place in Catalonia, the focus of this thesis ranges from the descriptive to the interpretative and analytical. The analyses consider words and music taken together, with performance too where possible. Because the song corpus is large but not well known, this thesis may be used as a high-level reference source to find the material. A computer-based indexing system (a database) has been developed as part of this project with the ambition of eventually providing a single, unified and more detailed reference source for all of the songs, centred on the field work of the still incomplete Obra del cançoner popular de Catalunya. The thesis is accompanied by a CD-ROM (PC only) containing the database as it currently stands. An additional database is also provided on the CD-ROM: a much-needed index of the contents of the Romancerillo Catalán of Manuel Milà i Fontanals. The databases are tools for continuing research and indicators of significant directions that future work might follow.

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