This dissertation comprises an examination of the author’s compositional processes in general, and a discussion of the practical application of these principles in the composition of Objets à réaction poétique (2015-16) for nineteen musicians. Most notably, this composition and accompanying dissertation seek to substantiate the author’s hypotheses that structural- coherence may be achieved through a process attempting to assess the degree of salience of musical materials, and based upon these assessments, to ‘optimise’ associated durations & temporal-placements of materials. The various means by which salience may be achieved & quantified are examined in detail, as is the process through which an appropriate setting for the disposition of salient events is created.

Composing is widely recognized by both researchers in music education and the NAfME (National Association for Music Education) as an important element in music education. However, composing as a primary activity has still not yet been established as an important aspect of secondary music education, particularly in the large ensemble setting. This study shows the efforts and outcomes of high school instrumental students as they created a notated musical composition for either a concert band or orchestra. What processes and approaches enabled these secondary instrumental students to compose for a large ensemble? What are the characteristics of the completed compositions composed by these secondary instrumental students? What impact did this experience have on the student composers who participated in this activity? In order to answer these research questions, qualitative instrumental case studies were conducted with eight high school instrumentalists, who participated in 7 workshop processes for composers to compose notated composition for either band or orchestra over a 3-month period. Using both expository method and discovery method, I taught and witnessed the processes of these eight students as they explored and discovered their compositions for band or orchestra, which were performed at the final recital. The result revealed that given an appropriate environment and tools, high school instrumental musicians can compose successfully for a large ensemble such as orchestra or band. Although these students had limited background in music theory, they were able to discover ways to create their desired effect by exploring and navigating sounds using the notation software, their primary instrument, and secondary instruments such as a piano. The experience fostered their curiosity for other instruments in the ensemble and nurtured their desire to learn more about them. This research opportunity gave all students a positive musical experience.

This essay presents a conceptual analysis of my piece Unavoidably Sentimental for Large Ensemble. Specifically, the paper traces the roots of the musical thinking in the piece to a notion of Sincerity that emerges from David Foster Wallace’s books and essays. The term New Sincerity, coined by Adam Kelly, is deployed to consider what a post-postmodern Sincerity could sound like in contemporary music. The paper provides general background to the literary discourse around the concept of New Sincerity as an extension of Lionel Trilling’s formalization of Sincerity and Authenticity. It suggests some examples of how a renewed sense of Sincerity could incarnate in contemporary music. As a background for the analysis of Unavoidably Sentimental itself, the paper provides background to my prior engagement with concepts like irony and authenticity in music. Unavoidably Sentimental is analyzed as a linear process, in which the piece tries to emerge out of a net of self-aware referential musical objects into the creation of sonic states of unmediated human communication between the musicians and the audience. I present different musical strategies in which the piece confronts the limitations of human communication through music, contextualized with reference to the portrayal of communication in Wallace’s writings.

This dissertation consists of two parts: Convergence Lines, my twenty-four-minute composition for ten instruments and electronics, and this subsidiary essay. Convergence Lines was written in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Pynchon’s V. At the center of this discussion is my creative process in imagining a musical corollary to Pynchon’s fictional world: his large cast of vivid characters, far-flung settings, and disjointed sense of time. I also detail my attempt to fashion a formal parallel to the novel’s unorthodox structure of two independent strands of narrative that converge towards the end. I discuss the role of allusion in Pynchon’s work and in my own, and the various points of reference the music is meant to invoke. A second important topic is the role of electronics in the composition, presenting both a technical analysis of the tools employed and an aesthetic perspective, considering how the intrusion of non-acoustic sounds mirrors a central theme of V.: the gradual replacement of the animate by the inanimate. The thesis endeavors to explain from a composer’s perspective, and in an integrated, organic manner, the poetic, musical, and technical aspects behind my work.

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This dissertation explores the complex and intuitive elements of the author’s musical compositions. It investigates the concept of a composer’s ‘compositional voice’ by looking at the aesthetic and compositional techniques that are used to express it. In particular, it looks at the author’s expression of astronomy through his music, along with its realisation through both advanced and elementary performers. The aesthetic is examined by looking at astronomy and its relation to music. It observes the intricate ways that concepts to do with astronomy can be expressed through music, as well as the instinctive act of self-expression that arises from emotionally engaging with these astronomical concepts. The techniques used by the author to express these aesthetical ideas are generally found to be either complex or intuitive, and in turn can result in music that is difficult or simple. The complex techniques are found to be mostly process-based, using canons and subtractive and additive repetition in a similar manner to Olivier Messiaen, Steve Reich and György Ligeti. The intuitive techniques are made of instinctive creative decisions and use elements of performer improvisation and aleatory. The performer is the physical manifestation of the compositional voice; this relationship is developed through the application of both advanced and elementary performer techniques are used to reflect the author’s engagement with complexity and intuition. Due to their advanced technique, the advanced performer is found to be especially fit to realise the multilayered processes. These processes are used by composer Brian Ferneyhough, who appears to use the notion of ‘difficulty’, especially in terms of notation, as being an aesthetic technique itself. Other composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók and Benjamin Britten have written music for elementary performers. Furthermore, Britten and Peter Maxwell Davies have also written pieces for ensembles that include both advanced and elementary performers. All of these pieces that involve elementary performers have generally been found to be written either with the intention of being a didactic tool or with the intention of contributing to the composer’s immediate community. The aim in my aesthetic, however, is to combine the complex and intuitive aesthetic with both advanced and elementary performers towards a compositional voice that can embrace the elementary within complex processes. In short, the music aims towards being not only a service to the community but also an elementary-complex compositional voice capable of being relevant to the composer’s astronomy-related aesthetic. An analysis of the author’s compositions reveals evidence of the collaboration between complexity and intuition in the astronomy-related aesthetic, which is complexly realised in Messier 7 and intuitively realised in Stellar Meditations and Celestial Dances. It can also be found in the complex techniques in Celestial Shadows and the intuitive techniques used in the first two movements of Pale Blue Dot, and the interaction between the elementary and advanced performers that occurs in the IONS suite. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Experiences as a composer and performer in Australia involve a number of significant collaborations with musicians from diverse cultures and musical backgrounds. The musical result incorporates a number of world music elements in the form of drones, rhythms and the use of instruments such as modified guitars and the tabla. But it is distinctly different in content and approach from the generic term, World music, because it deals almost exclusively with music traditions where improvisation is central to collaborative processes. The application of the term ‘intercultural improvisation’ is a more useful descriptor of the process in which musicians from diverse backgrounds cross the boundaries of their music and step into ao zone of experimentation. This is explored through composition and improvisation that cross musical boundaries / Master of Arts (Hons.)

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in printed format.

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This thesis attempts to gauge the strengths and limitations of the Java programming language in terms of its use in the production of multimedia compositions: in particular, the ways in which Java supports the creation of interactive, non-deterministic musical works. An original solution to the problem of multimedia design is presented: a hierarchically defined, basic, yet flexible scripting language that is interpreted using Java. This scripting language allows the user to incorporate his/her own media into a coherent and interactive form using a small set of simple keywords and basic operators. It also allows new functionality to be added by advanced users with a basic knowledge of Java. By investigating how such a scripting language may be implemented, the extent to which Java may be applied towards multimedia applications in general is revealed.