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Outfacing the Storm is a song cycle that tells the story of the spectacular failure-turned-triumph of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Expedition was an attempt to trek overland across the whole of the Antarctic continent. Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, launched from England in August of 1914 with twenty-eight men. Within weeks of entering the polar latitudes, ice ensnared the ship. The Endurance remained stuck fast until the spring breakup crushed its hull, and it sank in November of 1915. The crew struck out for civilization, and, after six months and over one thousand miles of travel by foot, by ice-drift, and by lifeboat, they returned home alive. The Expedition’s safe return was heavily credited by its crew to Shackleton himself. A man of intense character, burning passion, and unfailing determination, Shackleton put the needs of his crew ahead of all else. His individual dedication to each member of the voyage was an inspiration to each. Ernest Shackleton, however, was a private man. He hid his own concerns from all except those closest to him. During the Expedition, he feared for the well-being of the crew. In the largest sense, he feared failure. Shackleton was only ever content while at sea. “Sometimes,” he wrote to his wife, “I think I am no good at anything but being away in the wilds… I grow restless and feel any part of youth is slipping away from me and that nothing matters… I feel I am no use to anyone unless I am outfacing the storm in wild lands.” This song cycle tells the tale of the Expedition through Shackleton’s eyes. The cycle is in eleven movements—nine recounting the story, plus a prologue and epilogue. All of the text is Shackleton’s own. The nine middle movements are taken from Shackleton’s memoir about the voyage, South. The prologue and epilogue are taken, respectively, from an interview and the above letter. / Music, Butler School of / text

In this study the author investigates his interpretive practice as a conductor, revealing how interpretive operations occur not as discrete and isolated activities, but rather an intertwined cyclic process. The study was based on an experiment of the author conducting five scores on two different occasions separated in time by between one day and several months. The study design included extensive content analysis of over 30 hours of video in which more than 12,000 codes were applied and collated. The study design also included traditional texted research, autoethnographic writing (a 25,000-word practice journal), semi-structured interviews, the use of Sonic Visualiser, and the documentation of a range of score study methods which the author describes as ‘listening in silence'. Although there are numerous studies that compare different performances of the same piece, and consider the extent to which differences are intentional and/or creative, none has been undertaken by a conductor in the role of artist-researcher. The study develops what the author calls the ‘ethos of multiple interpretability', suggesting that a conductor can be ‘animated by' the belief that there is no single correct way to perform a work specified by a score.

This portfolio of compositions is a logbook on how trans-disciplinary collaboration, gestural embodiment of sound and social context influenced my work as a composer between 2008 and 2013. In most pieces, community based environments with experts in fields other than music were crucial to explore new sound worlds and creative processes beyond my solely scope. While music composition is traditionally a lonely act, this collaborative approach allowed me to repeatedly answer two questions that fascinate me: How can other fields of knowledge inform music? And: How can music inform other fields of knowledge? In some cases, I even used the score to foster transdisciplinary collaboration, like in "Nadir" and "Bisbiglio Qualcosa en el mio Orecchio" where collaboration between musicians and non-musicians is necessary. / Music

The purpose of this dissertation is to discover if Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio incorporates a number of stylistic features typical of guitar music written by Mexican contemporaries from 1988 to 2003. These features include the use of complex musical notation, highly disjunct melodic contour, extended techniques, innovative timbres, rhythmic complexity, rapidly changing dynamics, atonality, percussive effects and repetitive rhythmic and/or melodic cells. As a point of departure a list of guitar works by representative Mexican composers was compiled. From this list the following works were chosen since they exemplify the stylistic trends I wish to highlight: Tres Instantáneas (1988) by Manuel Enríquez, Sonata (1992) and Elegía 2 (2000) by Hebert Vázquez, Haikus (2000) by Ana Lara, Sydolira (2000) by Gabriela Ortíz, and Impello (2003) by Francisco Javier González Compeán. By comparative analysis, I have associated certain stylistic features between these contemporary Mexican composers. I have been able to get a glimpse of some of the underlying stylistic unities found in these guitar compositions that seem rather separate. There are a number of stylistic features common to all of the composers discussed herein as well as few characteristics where only some of them converge. However, this research shows that Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio is representative of several stylistic features commonly found in guitar music written by contemporary Mexican composers. There is a vast variety of Mexican guitar works created in recent years that remain unknown to today’s classical music world, academic community and general public. Mexico possesses a large repertoire of guitar works, music for solo guitar and guitar with a wide array of ensemble combinations from duets to large ensembles and guitar concertos. Many of these works would undoubtedly challenge a performer of the highest caliber. One of the purposes of this project is to promote contemporary Mexican classical guitar music. I hope to awake interest in this contemporary music style and encourage other musicians to include Mexican works in their concert repertoire.

This Doctor of Philosophy submission consists of a folio of original compositions with an accompanying critical commentary. The compositions in the folio draw on the inspiration of a number of composers associated with the “Western Classical” tradition, as well as the influence of other musical styles and traditions such as Jazz. The commentary explores various aesthetic principles, musical influences and technical compositional approaches that stimulated the development towards an individual compositional output. A focus of the commentary is to draw attention to the unique synthesis of significant musical influences as evidenced in the folio, thereby elucidating a gradual development towards the attainment of a personal compositional style during candidature. The folio consists of an eclectic collection of works, including many vocal works, chamber works and orchestral pieces. A seminal chamber work in the folio, Le Tombeau de Monk, exhibits the synthesis of several influential composers and styles. Also included in the folio is an extended symphonic work for combined orchestral and choral forces, Symphony for a Busy World, which represents the culmination of many compositional features that were developed throughout candidature. To provide background and perspective to the folio of compositions, the commentary highlights a number of influential compositional techniques and idiosyncrasies with regard to thematic development and harmonic language, as well as specific features of rhythm, orchestration and vocal writing. Detail regarding these compositional processes is provided, discussing the influence of particular compositional approaches relevant to the body of works in the folio within a music history context, whilst also identifying the application of compositional processes and approaches encountered in the folio.

abstract: Composers and performers alike are pushing the limits of expression with an ever-expanding sonic palette. There has also been a great expansion of saxophone repertoire over the past few decades. This has lead to an increasing number of advanced pieces incorporating saxophone extended techniques. As younger saxophonists discover these compositions, they too become inspired to implement these techniques in their own playing. There is a need for broader selections of introductory to intermediate compositions with saxophone extended techniques. It is the goal of this project to expand this repertoire for pre-college and early-college saxophonists. These target-level saxophonists are those who have already begun their studies in extended techniques. Three commissioned composers have contributed pieces for this target level of saxophonist with the purpose of bridging the gap between first attempts of extended techniques and the advanced pieces that already exist. Saxophonists who have the standard techniques to perform compositions such as Sonata for E-flat Alto Saxophone and Piano by Paul Creston will be suited to approach these compositions. In addition to the compositions, the author has composed short warm up exercises, utilizing selected extended techniques. A professional recording of the resulting compositions and exercises are also included. The enclosed document will provide a performer's analysis to help instructors of potential performers navigate the extended techniques and provide insight on other challenging aspects of the compositions. It is not the intention of the following document to teach the individual techniques. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2015

abstract: A New Home is a multi-movement musical composition written for a chamber orchestra of flute, oboe, clarinet in B-flat, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C, trombone, bass trombone, percussion (1), pianoforte, and strings. The duration of the entire piece is approximately fourteen minutes (movement 1: four minutes; mvt. 2: four minutes and thirty seconds; mvt. 3: five minutes and thirty seconds). As an exercise in compositional experimentation, some of the musical techniques explored throughout the piece are harmonic planing or parallelism, ostinati, modality, chromatic dissonance, thematic transformation, mixed meter, and syncopation, as well as issues of orchestral blend, balance, and color. The first movement, ironically titled “Don’t Panic,” highlights my initial anxieties on experimentation by creating hectic textures. The movement is structured around two main alternating sections of chromatic, chordal dissonance with more modal, melodic syncopation in addition to a developmental section, but a sense of rhythmic groove is prominent throughout. The second movement, “Still Here,” is a darker, more sensitive music as it explores various settings of its main thematic material interspersed with march-like episodes and a related secondary theme. The themes are organized around a diatonic scale that omits one pitch to comprise a six-note scale. The third movement, “Change of State,” recalls the modality and rhythmic liveliness of the first movement, and it bears a thematic relationship to the second movement. Much of the material also revolves around scales and mediant relationships to comprise an opening theme, a groove section, and an ethereal, glassy texture which ends the movement. Essentially, the piece closes with a calmer music in contrast to the brute force that opened the piece. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2016

abstract: Bruegel is a four movement composition inspired by the paintings and engravings of Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569). It is scored for Bass Clarinet in Bb, Electric Guitar, One Percussionist (Glockenspiel, Woodblock, Snare, Kick Drum, and Brake Drums), Piano and String Quartet. Each movement explores a painting or engraving from Bruegel’s catalog of works and attempts to embody each piece of art through the use of certain compositional techniques. The Cripples (Movement I) explores layered rhythms and disjunct melodic fragments which play on the idea of Bruegel’s painting of crippled men trampling over each other and stumbling. Small moments of balance are found throughout only to be lost. Patience (Movement II) is based on an early engraving of Bruegel, which depicts a lone woman who represents a virtue, in this case patience, surrounded by sin and vices. Juxtaposed textures are presented with patience eventually finding itself victorious to temptation. Children’s Games (Movement III) explores a painting which depicts a large number of children playing a plethora of different games. The movement uses graphic notation and plays with the idea of games to create a compositional “game” for the ensemble. Big Fish Eat Little Fish (Movement IV) depicts a large fish eating several smaller fish. A process is introduced which plays on the idea of increasing density and lasts for the bulk of the movement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2016

abstract: I believe the human mind is not an accurate reproducer of objects and events, but a tool that constructs their qualities. Philosophers Bowman Clarke, James John, and Amy Kind have argued for and against similar points, while Daniel Hoffman and Jay Dowling have debated cases from a psychological perspective. My understanding of their discourse surfaces in Cognize Normal-Like Pleez, a video installation designed to capture the enigmatic connection between perceivers and the things they perceive. The composition encapsulates this theme through a series of five videos that disseminate confusing imagery paired with mangled sounds. The miniatures operate in sequence on computer monitors set inside a haphazardously ornamented tower. Though the original sources for each video communicate clear, familiar subjects, the final product deliberately obscures them. Sometimes sounds and images flicker for only brief moments, perhaps too fast for the human mind to fully process. Though some information comes through, important data supplied by the surrounding context is absent. I invite the audience to rationalize this complexing conglomerate and reflect on how their established biases inform their opinion of the work. Each person likely draws from his or her experiences, cultural conditioning, knowledge, and other personal factors in order to create an individual conceptualization of the installation. Their subjective conclusions reflect my belief concerning a neurological basis for the origin of qualities. One’s connection to Cognize’s images and sounds, to me, is not derived solely from characteristics inherent to it, but also endowed by one’s mind, which not only constructs the attributes one normally associates with the images and sounds (as opposed to the physics and biology that lead to their construction), but also seamlessly incorporates the aforementioned biases. I realize my ideas by focusing the topics of the videos and their setting around the transmission of information and its obfuscation. Just as one cannot see or hear past the perceptual barriers in Cognize, I believe one cannot escape his or her mind to “sense” qualities in an objective, disembodied manner, because the mind is necessary for perception. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2018