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This is the written commentary on a practice-based period of research. This research has focussed on the development of a substantial series of new musical compositions considering the development of unique and personal identity in composition. As well as broader technical consideration the commentary emphasises the incorporation of new technology and electronic media into composition, collaborations with other creative artists and performers and in developing vocal music with Matthew Welton, a literary collaborator. The commentary prioritises three main compositions; the terminus wreck for cello and electronics; My name is Peter Stillman. That is not my real name. for piano and electric piano and; Things that are blue, things that are white and things that are black. for piano, electric piano, prepared piano with clarinet/bass clarinet, cor anglais, horn, viola, cello and at least 16 violins. These are all substantial pieces between 15 and 30 minutes in duration for a variety of forces and, particularly between the two piano works, demonstrate a clear trajectory of development. Chapters are also dedicated to smaller-scale chamber works, vocal music, collaboration and the house of bedlam, a new ensemble formed as an element of the research.

As an analytical and critical survey of Sibelius' symphonies and tone-poems, this study is designed to fill a significant gap in the research of this composer which hitherto has been primarily concerned with historical and musicological issues. Those analytical investigations which exist, typically as a supplement to more biographical concerns, have not made use of modern techniques nor are they comprehensive. Beyond this self-evident purpose of processing analytical findings, the thesis aims not only to demonstrate a symposium of Sibelius' compositional techniques but also to give a new perspective to these achievements. The layout and presentation of material has been designed to facilitate this dual purpose, dispensing with a mere catalogue of analyses in favour of grouping their findings into considerations of larger issues. Thus, Part I - 'The Symphonies' - reflects the layered analytical approach to each work in chapters which move from the general to the particular (Style, Form, Tonality, Thematic Process) selecting examples from the entire genre appropriate to each issue. The final chapter in this section concludes by synthesising those areas in a detailed analysis of a single work. Part II - 'The Tone-Poems' - opens with a more general discussion of the two genres in question revealing cChtrasts and consistencies. Thereafter, their survey divides into two apparently chronological sections, though in fact the distinction is a stylistic one and complements internal considerations of the symphonies themselves. The application of reductive, layered analysis appears to be new in this context and its findings reveal a more progressive compositional attitude than has previously been credited to a figure generally viewed as reactionary. Its evidence, notably in the areas of extended tonality and formal compression, suggests an historical placing for Sibelius within twentieth-century musical developments, indicating both his awareness of the problems facing composers of the period and his personal solutions. The final chapter discusses this essentially speculative topic, its more subjective standpoint balancing the analytical objectivity which constitutes the majority of the thesis. Its conclusion is modest: Sibelius as neither reactionary nor revolutionary, but, nevertheless, progressive.

The commentary focuses on the predominantly applied extraneous media in my music, that is, the inclusion of literary sources. The discourse begins with a biographical sketch (Chapter 1), followed by a succinct description of the concept of polymediality, which involves two dimensions: the work-immanent compositional and polymediality on the process of staging (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 considers literary sources as a constituent component of music's polymediality. The first part is preoccupied with the implementation of textual elements and vocality in instrumental works, with special reference to the orchestral piece AKANTHAI. Simultaneously, this section elucidates a series of fundamental architectural tools and aspects of the music, encompassing (a) the methodological advancement concerning analogous relationships, (b) the processing of linear transitions and polyphonic settings depending on the model of imitative interaction, (c) the polydimensional articulation of homogeneity, (d) the aspect of permanent fleetingness, (e) the different facets of hybridization and their implications, (f) the question of the musico-literary intermediality form, and (g) the concept of polyaesthetics. To this extent, the commentary reports on a research aiming at elaborating the hypothesis that musical and non-musical elements, like the literary sources, are mustered from a diversified spectrum of coherent principles. Turning to the example of the opera entitled DIE JAGD, the second part of Chapter 3 is concerned with the situative conditions resulting from the abrupt omission of the relationship to the libretto, whereby the focus is displaced 'outside' the textual frame of reference. Chapter 4 briefly highlights the scope of three further text-related parameters of the music in conjunction with their aesthetic issues: the specified titles of the works, the delineated expressive nuances, as well as the descriptive commentaries and textual depictions found on the score. Furthermore, the chapter outlines the consequences of two-dimensional theatricality and meta-theatricality. In conclusion, the commentary argues that the compositional procedure adopts literary references for the benefit of creating self-generated concepts. In other words, constituted within a plethora of musical and extra-musical elements, texts function as energetic catalytic stimuli; they become the key mechanism to enhance interactive system performance amidst the music's structural-strategic and conceptual framework.

Interpreting a scored musical composition entails the composer’s relinquishing some control over the piece to the performer. In ‘open’ scores the composer relinquishes most control and in effect allows the performer to collaborate in the compositional process; in traditional scores the composer specifies as much as possible in order to leave little to no room for the performer to use personal judgment regarding interpretation. The principal focus of this portfolio will be to examine, through different scores and compositional techniques, a possible available spectrum between these two types of scores and to define more clearly different options presenting varying degrees of control over a score. The initial stimulus for this research stems from a fascination with alternative compositional scenarios that consequentially aid the creation of incidental musical materials that are not specified or scored. These moments resemble an improvisation in their immediacy of execution and erratic sound characteristics. Hence, it is this quality that many of the ‘open’ elements in these portfolio pieces try to extract, but not exclusively so. The thesis will also dwell on elements of performance psychology in attempts to better define the mechanisms at work in different interpretation/improvisation scenarios, as well as refer to non-classical musical traditions as an example of alternative didactic systems leading towards a non-score based, quasiimprovisational practice. Finally, each portfolio composition will be described in detail with a particular emphasis on its erratic sound-qualities, its ‘open’ element, or both.

A discourse concerning the importance followed by a study of piano pedagogy; of piano teaching method, its history and general aspects of piano technique; a fully comprehensive method of piano teaching from the very earliest stages to the advanced; a discussion of various important selected concepts incorporated in the method which require particular emphasis; the application of certain concepts in the various style periods, such as dynamics, tempo, tempo rubato, pedalling, ornamentation, to the teaching of a piece; a discussion of the psychology of piano teaching and practising. All of these various branches of study are imperative in the training of the prospective piano teacher. (Preface)

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Music / unrestricted

The introduction of Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) in the school curriculum is one of the changes brought about by the educational reforms in Botswana’s education system. Fullan (2005:42) observed that “any educational change becomes a reality when it is implemented with the involvement of the key role players.” In the case of my research, the primary school teachers and school management teams are the key role-players. This research was, therefore, conducted to explore the impact of teaching music within the CAPA subject as one of the changes brought about by the educational reforms in Botswana upper primary schools. I have found the phenomenological design appropriate for my research. Babbie and Mouton (2009:28) explain this paradigm as emphasising that “human beings are engaged in the process of making sense of their lives and that they continually interpret, create and give meaning to, define, justify and rationalise their actions.” In collecting and analysing data, a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to explore trends regarding the teachers’ perceptions, views, emotions, feelings, experiences and preparedness for the introduction of the CAPA subject.

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Music conservatories are central institutions to the field of classical music. In them, aspiring professional hone their craft, renowned musicians pass on their expertise to upcoming generations, and notions of exactly who and what is considered “musical” are forged and disseminated. However, the apparently self-evident place of conservatories in modern cultures of classical music obscures their historical novelty—it is only since the latter nineteenth century that these institutions have become a pervasive force in classical music pedagogy and culture. This dissertation explores this revolution of institutionalized training in classical music by analyzing the history of German music conservatories over a roughly ninety-year period, from the founding of the Leipzig conservatory in 1843 to the Nazi takeover of power in 1933. Combining archival research, extant musicological scholarship, and theoretical and methodological approaches developed in a variety of social scientific and humanities disciplines, each chapter traces and historicizes a key development in modern music-pedagogical thought and practice: 1) the crystallization of a set of pedagogies designed to produce competency in the performance of canonical musical works; 2) the development of music education as a discipline; 3) the emergence of ear training; 4) the rise of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze’s method of rhythmic gymnastics. Throughout, I show that conservatories not only served to reproduce specific musical practices (such as the faithful performing of musical works, or Werktreue), but that they also functioned as incubators for new ways of thinking about human musicality and the pedagogies that would produce it. In particular, the latter chapters outline central features of what I call the “psychotechnical turn” in music education in the decades surrounding 1900, arguing that this resulted from growing connections between conservatory pedagogy and the psychological sciences.