<p> Studies of musical agency have been growing in the field of music theory since the publication of Edward T. Cone's book <i>The Composer's Voice </i> (1974). Indeed, recent publications by scholars such as Robert Hatten and Seth Monahan demonstrate that musical agency continues to be a topic worthy of investigation today. These authors tend to explore the function of agents within a piece, virtually ignoring the way agents arise in music. In this dissertation I work toward a solution to this problem by developing a theory of musical agency that explores the following questions: (1) How do virtual agents emerge in music? (2) What is the relationship between agency and narrative? (3) Can virtual agents influence music at levels deeper than the surface? </p><p> I propose that the concept of musical intention provides music theorists with a possible answer to this question. Action Theory, a robust subfield active in philosophy and sociology, views intentionality as a focal point in research on human agency&mdash;research that deserves more attention in studies of musical agency. Following assertions by action theorists Donald Davidson and Alfred Mele, I argue that an entity only attains the status of an agent when it performs an intentional act. With respect to music, then, I outline six categories of intentionality that can offer support to an agential hearing: gesture, contradiction of musical forces, unexpected event, conflict, repetition/restatement, and change of state. Further, I suggest that certain passages of music can be interpreted as intentional acts performed by virtual musical agents.</p><p> I begin by reviewing the literature surrounding Action Theory in philosophy and sociology, and Agency in music theory in Chapter One. After defining each category of intentionality in Chapter Two, I investigate how the categories of intentionality interact with recent theories of musical narrative and Schenkerian analysis in Chapter Three. To demonstrate how my insights apply to analysis, I examine Beethoven's Bagatelle Op. 126, No. 2 and Mendelssohn's Song Without Words Op. 30, No. 6. These two analyses also serve as an introduction to the way in which my methodology is applied in analysis. In Chapter Four, I use the categories of intentionality in combination with both narrative and Schenkerian analysis to develop an agential reading of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A, D. 959. My agential analysis adds nuance to Hatten's (1993) and Charles Fisk's (2001) readings of the work. I suggest that two agents are present at the beginning of the movement, and I investigate how these agents act throughout all four movements of the piece. In the first three movements, the two agents are in conflict with one another, and by the end of the fourth movement the two agents achieve a synthesis that resolves their conflict. Not only does an understanding of intentionality in music clarify earlier work on musical agency, but it also provides opportunities for richer interpretive analyses. To conclude my dissertation I suggest possible avenues for further investigation, and I briefly apply my methodology to a passage of post-tonal music.</p>

No description available.

<p> While the American composer John Cage is often classified as an influential figure in the realm of modernist music, the controversial nature of Cage's work has proven to be more far-reaching than many had initially contended. Through a process of re-examining the work of Cage through a postmodern lens, this thesis rejects the notion that Cage was confined to the realm of modernism, and demonstrates that the composer not only exhibited postmodern tendencies through his ideas and concepts, but also aesthetically in his compositions. By illuminating these postmodern compositional practices and postmodern-influenced belief systems expressed by Cage as an artist, a reinterpretation of the composer and his work is carried out, while also addressing criticisms leveled toward Cage as a postmodernist. Through this contemporary reanalysis, the thesis demonstrates that Cage was a composer that transcended genres and classifications to ultimately resonate as a viable figure of postmodern music.</p>

<p> Inharmonicity is a concept implicit in acoustic systems that explains the production of non-linear (non-integer) harmonics. While inharmonicity in and of itself is not always audible per se, its effects are no less than creating the basis for timbre and differential sound discrimination. In other words, inharmonic and non-linear signals are essential for human audition, yet they appear and disappear almost instantaneously. This paper attempts to elucidate the wide-reaching effects of inharmonicity and non-linear dynamic systems in a concrete sense by examining their relationships to the listening body and mind, as well as in an abstract sense in considering the theoretical implications of noise and non-linearity on the process of thought, potentiality, and subjective meaning-making. </p><p> The paper opens with several accounts related to foregrounding historical ideas about the relationship between sound and body, leading up to a contemporary understanding of sound in the sense of physics and acoustics. Therein, a modern account of inharmonicity and perception is given through current research in psychoacoustics, psychology, and dynamic systems. Finally, the tactic of &lsquo;creative listening&rsquo; is introduced following from a discussion of the relationships between noise and thought in 20^th- and 21^st century aesthetics and philosophy.</p>

In this thesis we construct a critical encounter between the composer John Cage and the philosopher Gilles Deleuze. This encounter circulates through a constellation of problems found across and between mid-twentieth century musical, artistic, and philosophical practices, the central focus for our line of enquiry being the concept of experimentation. We emphasize the production of a method of experimentation through a practice historically situated with regards to the traditions of the respective fields of music and philosophy. However, we argue that these experimental practices are not reducible to their historical traditions, but rather, by adopting what we term a problematic reading, or transcendental critique, with regards to historical givens, they take their historical situation as the site of an experimental departure. We follow Cage through his relation to the history of Western classical music, his contemporaries in the musical avant-garde, and artistic movements surrounding and in some respects stemming from Cage’s work, and Deleuze through his relation to Kant, phenomenology, and structuralism, in order to map the production of a practice of experimentation spanning music, art, and philosophy. Some specific figures we engage with in these respective traditions include Jean-Phillipe Rameau, Pierre Schaeffer, Marcel Duchamp, Pierre Boulez, Robert Morris, Yoko Ono, La Monte Young, Edmund Husserl, Maurice-Merleau-Ponty, Alain Badiou, and Félix Guattari. In so doing we seek to find between these practices points of both conjunction and disjunction which enrich our understanding of Cage’s and Deleuze’s work, and, more widely speaking, of the passage of twentieth century music and philosophy in general. Here we hope to make contributions to the fields of continental philosophy and music theory especially, and to open a point of engagement with the nascent field of sound studies.

published_or_final_version / Music / Master / Master of Philosophy

<p> &ldquo;Mysticism,&rdquo; according to the Oxford dictionary, can be defined as &ldquo;belief in or devotion to the spiritual apprehension of truths inaccessible to the intellect.&rdquo; More generally, it applies to the aspects of spirituality and religion that can only be directly experienced, rather than described or learned. This dissertation examines how mysticism fits into the aesthetic, compositional, and musical philosophies of four prominent composers of the 20^th and 21^st centuries&mdash;Ernest Bloch, Olivier Messiaen, Sophia Gubaidulina, and John Zorn, with a cameo by the Jewish composer David Finko&mdash;and how their engagement with the concept of mysticism and the mystical experience can be seen in a selection of their works featuring the violin: Bloch's <i>Baal Shem</i> suite and <i>Po&egrave;me mystique</i>; Finko's <i>Lamentations of Jeremiah,</i> Zorn's <i>Kol Nidre,</i> <i>Goetia,</i> <i> All Hallow's Eve,</i> and <i>Amour fou</i>; Gubaidulina's <i> In tempus praesens</i>; and Messiaen's <i>Quartet for the End of Time.</i> These works exemplify the mysticism shared by these composers, despite their different religious and cultural backgrounds, particularly their belief in the transcendental nature of music. This belief is expressed in their works through programmatic, melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and formal elements, all of which display, to a greater or lesser degree, the influence of mystical philosophy and symbolism.</p>

高慧玲. / 手稿本(複印本) / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學, 1991. / Shou gao ben (fu yin ben) / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-99). / Gao Huiling. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 1991. / Chapter ´第¡章 --- 音樂的意義 / Chapter （一） --- Hospers的觀點 --- p.3-6 / Chapter （二） --- 對Hospers的駁斥 --- p.7-11 / Chapter （三） --- 音樂與符號 --- p.Dec-18 / Chapter （四） --- 表徵與表現 --- p.19-22 / Chapter ´第Ł章 --- 表徵論 / Chapter （一） --- 三種符號 --- p.23-26 / Chapter （二） --- 歌曲與表徵作用 --- p.27-31 / Chapter （三） --- 樂曲與表徵作用 --- p.32-51 / Chapter ´第Ø章 --- 表現論 / Chapter （一） --- 「表情」的三個向度 --- p.52-57 / Chapter （二） --- 音樂與情感的抒發 --- p.58-60 / Chapter （三） --- 音樂與情感的喚起 --- p.61-66 / Chapter （四） --- 音樂與情感的顯露 --- p.67-76 / 總結 --- p.77-79 / 註釋 --- p.80-86 / 書目 --- p.87-99

Hwang Yau-Tai the scholar and his music philosophy present the characteristics of emphasizing on social function and traditional Chinese literary men¡¦s thinking about beauty. Besides, his devotion to integrating Chinese music with Western music not only makes his composing style creative and peculiar, but makes he himself and his masterpieces have a status of continuing the tradition and starting a new era in Chinese modern music developing history. Therefore, in my research paper I will analyze his music philosophy and style. The paper is divided into five chapters. The first one is an account for my research motive and purpose, its strategy, and the sources of the information. The second one is the introduction of the musician¡¦s living stages and how they affect his style and philosophy. The third one is about the musician¡¦s particular time background and his two major music philosophy: social responsibility of musicians from Confucianism and nationalization of Chinese modern music from patriotism. The forth one is about his three stages of transformation in style and his composing background. I will discuss and analyze one of his most important masterpieces of per stage. The fifth one is the conclusion of his music philosophy, style, and his contribution to Chinese music. From Mr. Hwang Yau-Tai we can see the effort of a senior musician in keeping national style and in trying to save the nation by music education. He transferred the conflicts between Chinese and Western cultures into an aid to his creating. Furthermore, he tries to achieve the ideal of whole-personality education with music. No matter how Chinese and Western cultures develop, music education is the subject that presents its social function best and should be given more respect and support.

Iludens! - a concept-opera comprises conceptual essay and music portfolio. The conceptual essay explores musical, dramatic, and ritualistic aspects that qualify play as a structuring factor in culture. It aims at producing a multi-layered amalgamation of Philosophical Anthropology and Art, focusing on the strategies for creating a new piece of music - in this case, a conceptual opera (or performative oratorio). The music portfolio features several pieces composed by me throughout the doctoral period. Some pieces have a more direct connection to my doctoral research. The largest and most important one is the concept-opera Iludens, through which I developed patterns of aesthetic creation inspired by philosophical conceptions related to the notion of play. Also, as agon1 is one of the crucial aspects I was able to identify in the history of play, I have explored some agonistic features in culture and provided an interpretation of elements of conflictive interaction using the tools of contemporary concert music. The conceptual essay and the main piece of the music portfolio are intimately related. I consider music according to the Greek classic notion of mousiké, namely an entity of multiple knowledge and applications, rather than a mere craft of physical sounds.