This dissertation examines Boulez's notion of 'centre and absence' in relation to his use of text in composition and how his ideas have acted as a springboard for my own compositions. Boulez's writings about 'centre and absence' are investigated as well as its implementation in two vocal works: Improvisation II of Pli selon Pli and Cummings ist der Dichter. This is followed by a detailed commentary on my own music, demonstrating why and how I became interested in Boulez's notion of 'centre and absence' and the effect this has had on both my vocal and my instrumental music. The culmination of this study is my work Sense of Place, for large ensemble, which uses the novel Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino as a 'centre and absence'.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. 14 August 2014. / Reinforcement learning is a branch of machine learning wherein an agent is given rewards which it uses to guide its learning. These rewards are often manually specified in terms of a reward function. The agent performs a certain action in a particular state and is given a reward accordingly (where a state is a configuration of the environment). A problem arises when the reward function is either difficult or impossible to manually specify. Apprenticeship learning via inverse reinforcement learning can be used in these cases in order to ascertain a reward function, given a set of expert trajectories. The research presented in this document used apprenticeship learning in order to ascertain a reward function in a musical context. The agent then optimized its performance in terms of this reward function. This was accomplished by presenting the learning agents with pieces of music composed by the author. These were the expert trajectories from which the learning agent discovered a reward function. This reward function allowed the agents to attempt to discover an optimal strategy for maximizing its value. Three learning agents were created. Two were drum-beat generating agents and one a melody composing agent. The first two agents were used to recreate expert drum-beats as well as generate new drum-beats. The melody agent was used to generate new melodies given a set of expert melodies. The results show that apprenticeship learning can be used both to recreate expert musical pieces as well as generate new musical pieces which are similar to with the expert musical pieces. Further, the results using the melody agent indicate that the agent has learned to generate new melodies in a given key, without having been given explicit information about key signatures.

This thesis, A Portfolio of Original Compositions, contains six musical compositions and an accompanying commentary presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition at the University of Aberdeen in 2018. The focus of my research at the University is sacred choral music composition, though not exclusively; many instrumental works and secular choral and vocal works have contributed to the development of my compositional technique. The portfolio contains two large-form sacred works: the St Andrew's Mass, a setting of the mass ordinary for chorus and quartet, and Babylon, a 30-minute work for large choir and percussion on themes of journeying and solitude, excerpting texts from both sacred and American folk sources. This commentary will focus on these works, as they have been the focal point of my research at the University, with supplementary examples of techniques and ideas from the other shorter works in the portfolio. The individual chapters of the accompanying commentary will discuss various aspects of research-based composition found throughout the portfolio, with particular focus on my use of text, texture, and harmony. I will examine how these elements are used in the St Andrew's Mass and Babylon, whereas these two works comprise the bulk of my research. Additionally, I will discuss the contributions of influences from works by other composers of the past and present, as well as folk and traditional sources, to my compositional outlook and research.

This paper examines the ways in which involvement with both French spectral music and Afrological forms of improvisation has informed my current work as a composer. I present a brief overview of the major concerns and preoccupations of both musics as well as an account of the overlapping histories of spectral music and Afrological improvisation, with particular attention to the concepts of liminality and rhythmic thresholds in the light of recent music perception research. Finally, through an in-depth analysis of two of my recent compositions, Echoes (2008) and Baltimore/Berlin (2008, rev. 2011), I show how this ongoing inquiry allows us to think about composition in new and fruitful ways.

This dissertation is in two parts: Part A is the score for the original composition, PendulumV: DM. Part B is a companion essay to the musical composition. Pendulum V: DM is a 17-minute work for large ensemble and live electronics. It was commissioned jointly by the Wet Ink Ensemble and AMP, with support from the TANK performance space and the National Endowment for the Arts. The piece was premiered on November 10th, 2009 by the Wet Ink Ensemble, under the direction of Carl Bettendorf at the TANK in Manhattan, NY. Pendulum V: DM is the most ambitious presentation of many concepts that have been critical to my recent musical thinking--namely, the use of physical movement and shape as models for musical structure and texture; the relationship of timbre and texture to the cognition of structural complexity; the paradox of difference and repetition; the ambiguity between physical gesture and audible structure; and the use of various characteristics of schizophrenia (considered as a virtual phenomenon rather than an actual clinical condition) as a model for the representation of expansion and interconnectivity. In the companion essay I will discuss the ideas listed above, show how they are related to one another, and demonstrate how in some respects they are all individually analogous to multiple characteristics of an important unifying model for many of my compositions: pendulums. I will alternate between technical and aesthetic descriptions of the work, in order to demonstrate how these ideas have been musically integrated. I will also refer to other recent compositions of mine (String Quartet No. 3: "lift-tilt-filter-split" and Pendulum VI: "Trigger") that are closely related in order to show how these concepts and practices have been used in other instrumental contexts. Referencing these peripheral works will also demonstrate how my ideas relating to musical form have evolved, and how the fundamental musical materials and processes used within these forms have proliferated. Additionally, I will reference other important influences (including Gilles Deleuze, Samuel Beckett, clocks, comic-book characters, gestalt theory) in the hopes of getting closer to the broader social meanings embodied by the work.

This dissertation is in two parts. The first is the dissertation essay, which features an analysis of the work Mansion, and the second is the score to the Mansion Cycle, written for the International Contemporary Ensemble between 2009 and 2011. The score is included as an appendix, and consists of five works, which may be performed individually or as a complete cycle. In order of appearance, the works are Prism Path, Altar of Two Serpents, Mansion, Luciform, and Portals Before Dawn. The essay is an investigation of poetic and aesthetic concerns in my compositional practice, as well as an analysis of my composition Mansion, for two alto flutes, percussion, and pre-recorded electronics. Broadly describing the work as an "inner journey", I discuss the relationship of mythological themes to my music and titles, citing examples such as the labyrinth and the trope of the "central structure." I then relate these concepts to my use of form, citing other works in the cycle as points of comparison, and identifying ways in which recurring ideas are elaborated in my body of work. The historical context of my work in "mixed music" is briefly considered, alongside my aesthetic interest in the medium and my choice of musical tools. I then present a concise analysis of the discourse in Mansion, and describe how its language of "thresholds and contrasts" operates on a moment to moment level.

This paper will present the analysis of the author's compositional work Enfilade: Lamento-Cambiata. The analysis consists of two levels. On the first level, formal outline, timbral discourse, pitch construction are examined in relation to the compositional and aesthetic motivations. The results of these examinations are then carried to the second level of the analysis, which is concerned with the perceptual evaluation of the sounding result. Both levels are informed by the recent research on auditive analysis and spectromorphological categorizations of timbre and gesture. In this respect, a detailed spectromorphological analysis of the piece is performed by applying the taxonomic approach of Lasse Thoresen's work on spectromorphology, as well as UST categorizations of Laboratoire de musique et informatique de Marseille. Finally, the relationship of spectromorphological units with the formal design is compared for the purpose of shedding light to the relationship between the musical structure and listening experience.

<p> Aaron Copland is one of the best-known composers from the United States and is often credited with creating a distinctly American style. As a 20th Century composer, he departed from traditional classical compositional techniques and made some contrasting choices of medium when considering ensemble. Copland is recognized for his writings for Orchestra, Film, Theatre, and Ballet, but also wrote chamber works that are both thoughtful and creative. The majority of his chamber works consist of pieces written for piano and voice, however he also used strings, clarinet, and in his later works, flute. </p><p> His last decade of works including one piece for orchestra, three piano pieces, and three chamber works that are flute centric. <i>Duo for Flute and Piano</i> and <i>Threnodies I and II</i> for Flute (Alto Flute) and String Trio were written within the span of three years, and are all written as memorials for others. The commonality a of flute in these pieces and in such close compositional proximity is an oddity when you consider his instrumental tendencies. This paper will examine Copland&rsquo;s compositional choices for <i>Duo</i> and <i>Threnodies I and II</i> and will consider the connection between writing memorials for others and his own mortality as influencing this late style.</p><p>

<p> Franz Liszt was a famed composer who broadened the boundaries of piano technique in the nineteenth century. One of his more popular compositions, the <i>Tarantella</i>, found in his <i>Ann&eacute;es de p&egrave;lerinage </i>, was published in 1861 within the collection <i>Venezia e Napoli </i>.1 Liszt admired melodies he heard during his travels in Switzerland and Italy and often arranged and composed from his ideas and experiences. Tarantellas were thought to be dances that were played by various musicians to influence dance and cure diseases. They are played at a quick tempo and contain a simple single melody with short repetitive patterns. The Italian-inspired <i> Tarantella</i> was similar to his other works in borrowing of melodies from other composers&rsquo; works. However, this piece is unusual. Although it is called a tarantella, it does not fully reflect the standard characteristics of a tarantella. Liszt&rsquo;s <i>Tarantella</i> is a folk-like dance with a fast-upbeat tempo in a traditional Italian style, but contains a lyrical section in the second half which he called Canzona Napolitana. This is a departure from the traditional form of a tarantella. This paper discusses Franz Liszt&rsquo;s compositional choices of style and organization in his <i> Tarantella</i> and how he altered the traditional tarantella folk-dance by including a Canzona Napolitana. Other tarantellas will be discussed to compare the similarities and differences between Liszt and other composers. </p><p>

This thesis, A Portfolio of Original Compositions, contains four musical compositions and an accompanying commentary for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition at the University of Aberdeen 2017. The purpose of this commentary is to detail the compositional research methods used in the creation of a portfolio of original compositions during my studies. Though my compositional work encompasses a varied spectrum, the focus of my portfolio is in the operatic genre with the composition of Demimondaine, a forty-minute chamber opera in one act for four singers and chamber orchestra. The other three works, Madrigals Reimagined, O My Soul Supreme and Ave verum corpus, are important supplemental research projects contributing to the larger aspects of Demimondaine. The individual chapters of the accompanying commentary discuss the different aspects of research-based composition in the portfolio with special emphasis on Demimondaine. The first discussion of this document relates to collaboration with the librettist in the second chapter. In the third chapter, I present an analysis of my approach to the libretto in creating dramatic form of Demimondaine. The fourth chapter explores harmonic idiom, beginning with three aspects of experimentation during my early years of doctoral work to the realisation of how I approached harmony in my opera. The fifth chapter discusses musical development in drama with forms of opera especially in relation to the lament ground bass inspired by Purcell's 'When I am laid in earth'. The sixth chapter is dedicated to my approach to orchestration, including the timbre of instruments chosen and how they relate to the dramatic intention of the Demimondaine. Lastly in chapter seven, I include a reflective chapter comparing my process in composition and the completed result of the opera. I candidly discuss the strengths and weaknesses found after the performance, reevaluating the success of my process and study. This commentary is intended to convey my theoretical and analytical understanding of my own compositional process. Thus the chapters contained should be considered complementary and their organisation should not be considered as implying any kind of linear narrative.