This thesis explores how voice, the body, and gender interact to characterise the eponymous leading roles in Richard Strauss's Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909). Approaching the vocality of the two title characters from the perspective of a performer, I use vocal line as notated in the score as a basis for exploring constructions of women at the time these two operas were composed. Because these operas were created during the fin-de-siècle, they occupy a crucial transitional point between Romantic and Modern vocal writing, when, in contrast to the practices of the bel canto era, the singer was expected to demonstrate ever-greater fidelity to the notated score. Therefore, the voice is largely manipulated by another (the composer) to perform sounds that construct her identity, and hence, her gender. I expand upon this absolute to show how in these operas, gender performativity is manifested in the musical notation. The operatic soprano voice, when manipulated for certain effects, performs 'conventional' aspects of a female character's gender (for example, its pitch range), but I argue it also has the ability to communicate something more visceral, something that transcends gender norms, and also language itself. Building on a wide range of analytical and critical discourses ranging from gender theory to vocal technique, my thesis explores how a soprano singer navigates the extreme vocality present in these two operas, and in the process articulates a range of constructions of identity of women in the fin-de-siècle. In analysing the vocal writing of these two works, it becomes apparent that gender dichotomies are effectively voided in passages within these seminal operas, which nevertheless comment directly on fin-de-siècle 'femininity' or 'masculinity'. My research analyses vocal gestures from a technical standpoint and, in so doing, suggests that gender norms become obsolete at those crucial moments in which voice and body are pushed to physical and expressive limits.

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In 1930s and 1940s Shanghai, musicians and artists from different cultures and varied backgrounds joined and made the golden age of Shanghai popular song which suggests the beginnings of Chinese popular music in modern times. However, Shanghai popular song has long been neglected in most works about the modern history of Chinese music and remains an unexplored area in Shanghai studies. This study aims to reconstruct a historical view of the Shanghai popular music industry and make a stylistic analysis of its musical products. The research is undertaken at two levels: first, understanding the operating mechanism of the ‘platform’ and second, investigating the components of the ‘products’. By contrasting the hypothetical flowchart of the Shanghai popular music industry, details of the producing, selling and consuming processes are retrieved from various historical sources to reconstruct the industry platform. Through the first level of research, it is found that the rising new media and the flourishing entertainment industry profoundly influenced the development of Shanghai popular song. In addition, social and political changes and changes in business practices and the organisational structure of foreign record companies also contributed to the vast production, popularity and commercial success of Shanghai popular song. From the composition-performance view of song creation, the second level of research reveals that Chinese and Western musical elements both existed in the musical products. The Chinese vocal technique, Western bel canto and instruments from both musical traditions were all found in historical recordings. When ignoring the distinctive nature of pentatonicism but treating Chinese melodies as those on Western scales, Chinese-style tunes could be easily accompanied by chordal harmony. However, the Chinese heterophonic feature was lost in the Western accompaniment texture. Moreover, it is also found that the traditional rules governing the relationship between words and the melody was dismissed in Shanghai popular songwriting. The findings of this study fill in the neglected part in modern history of Chinese music and add to the literature on the under-explored musical area in Shanghai studies. Moreover, this study also demonstrates that against a map illustrating how musical products moved from record companies to consumers along with all other involved participants, the history of popular music can be rediscovered systematically by using songs as evidence, treating media material carefully and tracking down archives and surviving participants.

Music Culture of the Elisabethan Convent in Prague Jakub Michl Abstract The Sisters of Saint Elizabeth (Elizabethan Nuns) were a spiritual order primarily focused on administering healthcare. Therefore, music was never the main focus of the order's activities, as it often was in others, particularly educational orders. However, thanks to the uninterrupted historical continuity of the Prague convent, which was exempted from the restrictions of Joseph II's era, many sources illustrating the convent music culture were preserved, including an extensive collection of music. The dissertation aims to describe this music culture in the context of the order structure and its personal hierarchy, as part of the city of Prague and its civic institutions, and in its everyday life and characteristics such as enclosure, hospital service and recreational activities. Music in convents was always tightly bound to liturgy. In the case of the Elizabethan order, significant music production was focused on the order's main liturgical feasts such as S. Elizabeth, S. Francis of Assisi, Porciuncula, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and also memorial services for deceased patrons of the convent. The convent cooperated with many lay musicians and composers such as F. X. Brixi, Z. V. Suchý, F. X. Labler, J. N. Bayer, among others. At the...