MMus, Wits School of Arts, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / This research report explores the compositional identity South African composers, mostly born after 1976, are constructing. I conduct a critical ethnographic micro study of the Wits Contemporary Performance Ensemble (WCPE), a group of young composers and performers dedicated to workshopping and performing new compositions. South African compositional identity is explored and problematised in Chapter 1, along with the identification of two schools or types of composition within South Africa. The history and formation of the WCPE is discussed in Chapter 2, while the third chapter draws on interview data to present and problematise the field in which young composers work, discussing a series of perceived ‘lacks’ that affect their ability to produce new music. The fourth chapter critiques and evaluates the progress the WCPE made, using Timothy Rice’s model of the Subject-Centered Musical Ethnography (2003), to interpret what the music of these young composers is saying about the time and place in which they live. The conclusion considers the impact the WCPE has had on young South African composers and the necessity of a group like this in the formation of a new South African compositional voice.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

It is my contention that the worlds of instrumental and electroacoustic music are essentially grounded in one basic reality – the physical properties of sound. If there is a divide, then it is based on compositional models and conventions. This is not to diminish the stylistic or technical differences between the two but rather to make the case for a focus on the core aspects of sound, in order to discover different ways of exploring various possible relationships between music for instrumental performer(s) and digital (electroacoustic) means. My thesis stems from the argument that every sound has its own spectromorphology– its own inner life governed by envelope, spectral content, energy and internal pulsation. This leads architecturally to considering the relationship of micro- to macro- phenomena and provides the essential foundations for all the compositions in this portfolio. Taking Pierre Schaeffer’s concept of the “sound object” as its starting point, my portfolio explores various forms of interaction between instrumental and electroacoustic techniques, methodologies and aesthetics, via a range of outcomes for fixed media, acoustic instruments, and combination of instruments with electroacoustic media.

This thesis, A Portfolio of Original Compositions, contains six musical compositions and accompanying commentary presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition at the University of Aberdeen in 2017. The focus of these musical works is on the composition of music for the human voice, though there are significant examples of instrumental composition included in the portfolio as well. The focal point of the accompanying commentary is an extended work for choir, string quartet and percussion ensemble titled Endless, which uses verses from Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel-Prize-winning collection of devotional poetry Gitanjali as its textual basis. The other works contained within the portfolio, O Great Beyond, Songs of the Questioner, The Dream I Knew, Ave, maris stella and When daylight came…, are shown in the commentary to be important examples of supplemental research that led to the composition of Endless. The individual chapters of the accompanying commentary discuss various aspects of research-based composition found throughout the portfolio, again with specific emphasis on Endless. These include the approach to form and text setting, the use and development of musical motives, the approach to harmony and specific techniques of orchestration. The commentary also discusses how research into the music of other cultures, most importantly the pitch and ornamental systems employed in Indian music, has informed the composition of the works contained in the portfolio.

The material for this piece is all based around immutable musical objects and how they interact with one another. The opening movement takes various ostinato patterns and has them combine with different bass notes. The second movement attempts to merge three melodic fragments with three different chords and the final movement is a sequence of unchanging passacaglias which overflow into an ecstatic conclusion. The whole thing reminded me of someone rearranging furniture in a room; the actual pieces don't change but, rather, combine in different ways to make something pleasing. Hence, the title: "How About Here." / text

This dissertation is a fantasia in f-minor for piano and orchestra. The accompanying treatise is an analysis of the piece, which discusses the composer’s influence and inspiration, as well as issues of form, melody, harmony, and various other compositional elements. The purpose of the analysis is to provide the listener/reader with the necessary background to truly understand and appreciate the eclectic nature of the work, which has elements from several different musical genres, including classical, jazz, gospel, R & B, funk, and hip hop. / text

No description available.

Inaug.-Diss.--Köln. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: p. 207-215.

This portfolio of compositions researches the use of DNA sequences as a system for music composition. The main objective is to identify and create musical expression using sequences of DNA, which carry embedded structure and organisation. An effective model of DNA sonification was implemented through the use of a Parameter Mapping Sonification Interface that can obtain a musical rendering of the genetic material through the replication of different stages of DNA coding. In this way the composer could make compositional decisions a priori in mapping musical parameters (musification), and make use of sonification as a tool in order to successfully generate, organise and develop musical material in a compositional system based on DNA and RNA sequences. This is in contrast to a hard scientific sonification perspective, where unedited outputs are presented as a musical composition. As a result, the portfolio provides an intelligible corpus of music that integrates science, literature, cultural heritage and the social sphere in order to deliver my musical discourse. Nine compositions are presented in the portfolio, each of these explores the use of sonification and musification as a compositional tool to generate and organise musical materials.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University