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In the Western classical tradition, musicians play music from notated sheet music, called a score. When playing music from a score, a musician translates its visual symbols into sequences of instrument-specific physical motions. Hence, a music score's overall complexity represents a sum of the cognitive and mechanical acuity required for its performance. For a given instrument, different notes, intervals, articulations, dynamics, key signatures, and tempo represent dissimilar levels of difficulty, which vary depending on the performer's proficiency. Individual musicians embrace this tenet, but may disagree about the degrees of difficulty. This thesis introduces musiplectics (musiplectics = music + plectics, Greek for the study of complexity), a systematic and objective approach to computational assessment of the complexity of a music score for any instrument. Musiplectics defines computing paradigms for automatically and accurately calculating the complexity of playing a music score on a given instrument. The core concept codifies a two-phase process. First, music experts rank the relative difficulty of individual musical components (e.g., notes, intervals, dynamics, etc.) for different playing proficiencies and instruments. Second, a computing engine automatically applies this ranking to music scores and calculates their respective complexity. As a proof of concept of musiplectics, we present an automated, Web-based application called Musical Complexity Scoring (MCS) for music educators and performers. Musiplectics can engender the creation of practical computing tools for objective and expeditious assessment of a music score's suitability for the abilities of intended performers. This thesis is based on research submitted for publication at ONWARD'15." A 'pause' is a pleasant interruption along a path; followed by an architectural invitation to stop, explore, stand, lean, sit or lay down. A successful place of 'pause' stimulates the senses and possibly alters the mood of the visitors. / Master of Science

The succeeding pages contain scores of my music—Passage to Kublb, Dalamhati ni Osang, Pintig, and Talibun-ag. "Passage to kublb" , for large orchestra, is a travelogue. Using a certain number of intervals, the instruments go through a journey, signifying life's constant changes and ceaseless motion. Melodic and rhythmic motives are used, fragmentation, and variation of timbral colors. "Kublb" is a fictional place; in essence, a destination of one's life journey. "Dalamhati ni Osang" (Lament of Osang) for a soprano, bass clarinet and marimba, is a composition revolving around a hextatonic scale which goes through a process of change as the music progresses. The text, written in the Filipino language, conveys the lament of a woman wanting to escape from her sorrows as she pleads her beloved to "lull" her; thus the repeated phrase "iduyan mo, o hirang" which means lull me or cradle me, my beloved. The woman's concept of "sleep" is an end-goal from which she frees herself of bitter memories of the past. The nuances of the vocal lines point to some native materials common to the Filipino "kundiman"(ballad). Use of expressive lines in legato phrasing, repeated sections (ABA form), and in some instances, use of embellishments like the repeated grace notes. The hextatonic scale is the composer's own material injected to some pre-formed structure already existing as in the mentioned ballad. "Pintig" (Pulses of Mother Earth) which was originally written for the "Elektra Women's Choir" during a pre-Christmas choral reading is a study of tribal vocables and different vocal effects. Stomping of foot, tapping, and other ritual sounds are employed to concoct an amalgam of primitive or earthy vista. (Note that the recording provided with this thesis is simply a reading session of the piece). "Talibun-ag " is a coined title from the Filipino words "tali" and "bun-ag" (bondage and birth) which if combined literally can mean "birth of freedom". This is a music drama for a chamber ensemble (piano, alto flute and percussions), a mono-dramatist and a choral quartet.

The succeeding pages contain scores of my music—Passage to Kublb, Dalamhati ni Osang, Pintig, and Talibun-ag. "Passage to kublb" , for large orchestra, is a travelogue. Using a certain number of intervals, the instruments go through a journey, signifying life's constant changes and ceaseless motion. Melodic and rhythmic motives are used, fragmentation, and variation of timbral colors. "Kublb" is a fictional place; in essence, a destination of one's life journey. "Dalamhati ni Osang" (Lament of Osang) for a soprano, bass clarinet and marimba, is a composition revolving around a hextatonic scale which goes through a process of change as the music progresses. The text, written in the Filipino language, conveys the lament of a woman wanting to escape from her sorrows as she pleads her beloved to "lull" her; thus the repeated phrase "iduyan mo, o hirang" which means lull me or cradle me, my beloved. The woman's concept of "sleep" is an end-goal from which she frees herself of bitter memories of the past. The nuances of the vocal lines point to some native materials common to the Filipino "kundiman"(ballad). Use of expressive lines in legato phrasing, repeated sections (ABA form), and in some instances, use of embellishments like the repeated grace notes. The hextatonic scale is the composer's own material injected to some pre-formed structure already existing as in the mentioned ballad. "Pintig" (Pulses of Mother Earth) which was originally written for the "Elektra Women's Choir" during a pre-Christmas choral reading is a study of tribal vocables and different vocal effects. Stomping of foot, tapping, and other ritual sounds are employed to concoct an amalgam of primitive or earthy vista. (Note that the recording provided with this thesis is simply a reading session of the piece). "Talibun-ag " is a coined title from the Filipino words "tali" and "bun-ag" (bondage and birth) which if combined literally can mean "birth of freedom". This is a music drama for a chamber ensemble (piano, alto flute and percussions), a mono-dramatist and a choral quartet. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Soar! is a musical composition written for wind ensemble and computer music. The total duration of the work is approximately 10 minutes. Flocking behavior of migratory birds serves as the most prominent influence on the imagery and local structure of the composition. The cyclical nature of the birds' journey inspires palindromic designs in the temporal domain. Aesthetically, Soar! portrays the fluid shapes of the flocks with numerous grains in the sounds. This effect is achieved by giving individual parts high degree of independence, especially in regards to rhythm. Technically, Soar! explores various interactions among instrumental lines in a wind ensemble, constructs overarching symmetrical structures, and integrates a large ensemble with computer music. The conductor acts as the leader at several improvisational moments in Soar! The use of conductor-initiated musical events in the piece can be traced back through the historic lineage of aleatoric compositions since the middle of the twentieth century. [Score is on p. 54-92.]

Black Snow, an orchestral work composed by Michael Smetanin in 1987, was named after the book Black Snow by Mikhael Bulgakov. Newspaper articles, reviews and the literature researched, all comment on Smetanin’s style and on the influences that shaped that style. The aggressive and confrontational style of much of Smetanin’s music can be attributed partly to his love of rock music and jazz and partly to his mentor in the Netherlands, Louis Andriessen. The same sources quote other composers who also influenced Smetanin’s style. Three works in particular are named, that is, Trans by Stockhausen, Keqrops by Xenakis and De Tijd by Andriessen. It was decided, in the light of previous investigations into Smetanin’s music, to take one of these composers, namely Stockhausen and his work Trans, and discover how much Smetanin was influenced by this composer and this particular work. Trans was chosen because the similarities with Black Snow are less obvious. All aspects of Black Snow were examined - namely the harmony, rhythms, the important textures, serial/mathematical techniques, orchestration, the dramatic program, how the instruments are played - and then compared with Trans for similarities and differences. The results of the analytical investigation show that, while the internal organisation of the two works is very different, there are significant similarities between the two works in most of these areas. Serial/mathematical techniques could only be demonstrated in one area, and this is only conjecture.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Humanities / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Music / Master / Master of Philosophy

Ka is a one movement composition for chamber orchestra consisting of three sections. The work's harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials are derived from the Chinese I Ching ("Book of Changes"). The middle section was composed with the aid of a computer program written by the composer. The program generated the interval sequence arrays forming the harmonic basis for the piece. Ka is scored for flute, oboe, B𝄬 clarinet, bassoon, French Horn, trumpet, trombone, three percussionists, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The score is 62 pages with a 39 page analysis preceding the score. Ka has a duration of approximately 10 minutes with no pauses between sections.

Heroes Are Born Then Made is a theatre piece involving live actors on stage, and live music originating from an orchestra pit. The script and music is original. The music is meant to literally depict actions and emotions on stage whether the actors are present or not. The duration of the entire production is about two and one-half hours long. Six main actors are used with additional walk-ons. Sixteen musicians are required to make up the orchestra which is organized into a woodwind quartet, a brass trio, a string quartet, a piano, and a percussion quartet. The play is based on the author's conception of how people tend to treat each other when someone is caught at a disadvantage. Specifically it is a depiction of the conflict involved when the minor characters discover that the main character is trying to do something quite different from their definition of "normal."