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MMus thesis, School of Music, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / The subject of Christian church music has sparked controversy for centuries. In this dissertation I highlight the most recent discussion about the ‘worship war’ debate, namely the infiltration of contemporary popular music into what once was considered a sacred arena. I explore some of the shortcomings of Contemporary Church Music with the intention of answering two questions: Is there a style of music that is most appropriate for Christian worship and that best represents Christian identity? and, How can South African Christians express their own unique cultural identity in their Church Music? I seek proof of the link between musical choices and demographics in three Evangelical churches in Johannesburg via insights gained in a worship questionnaire and series of interviews. I conclude that music has the ability to construct both identity and a sense of place and that Contemporary Church Music (CChM) is distinct from contemporary secular music in two ways: its purpose and the identity of the musicians and congregants who participate in its performance. Addressing the latter, I explore a demographics model and conclude that every congregation boasts a unique identity which is affected by music, church history and cultural upbringing. I argue that Indigenous Worship is critical in answering both questions

This commentary supports my PhD composition portfolio. The composition processes of each piece are related to my central research questions, which concern the creation of new sounds using overtone-based scales and extended instrumental techniques. I have developed four main conceptual composition themes and these are represented in the thirteen compositions in the portfolio. In this commentary I consider how each composition was developed around these conceptual themes.

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This thesis is structured around three key phases in the process of collaborative music-making - composition, preparation, and performance - examining the function of indeterminacy at each stage, and the way in which musical factors are determined. At what point in the creative process a musical decision is made, the path chosen, and critically, by whom the decision is taken, are all explored in the context of a portfolio of pieces performed and recorded as part of this practice-led research. The portfolio comprises recordings of projects undertaken with composers, as well as pre-existing repertoire, and the written commentary explores my creative role as a performer in relation to that of the composers and the other performers I have worked with. Practical issues faced in collaboration, practice, and performance are dealt with, as are questions of musicality, and the notion of success in musical performance.

In 2005, Dennis Kam completed the Sonata Ibis which the ensemble Ibis Camerata premiered at the Festival Miami at the University of Miami that same year. The composition is the last of five versions of the same work, originally written for piano solo. The work was recorded by the Ibis Camerata, on their CD titled Glisten, and released in 2006 on the Albany Records music label. The composition presents an important addition to the existing repertoire for the ensemble of clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Sonata Ibis is a single movement work not following traditional forms. The work reflects the composer's conscious aim of making works with different versions. One of the issues that this study takes up is the evolution of the Sonata Ibis through all five versions. Analysis of musical materials and techniques used in the Sonata are also a part of the study. One chapter of this paper deals with Dennis Kam's biography. One chapter discusses the formal structure and musical idiom of the work. Performance-related issues from the ensemble and a pianist perspective are discussed in the remaining two chapters.

Orientador: Florivaldo Menezes Filho / Resumo: O presente trabalho de pesquisa teve como objetivo fornecer subsídios para o melhor entendimento do pensamento melódico na música contemporânea. Por meio da análise descritiva e comparativa da estruturação melódica de quatro importantes peças do repertório pós-1945, verificou-se a hipótese de que elas preservam caracteríticas de épocas anteriores, assim como apresentam semelhanças entre si, o que permite que sejam relacionadas estilisticamente. As peças escolhids foram: Madrigal I, de Henri Pousseur; In Freundschaft, de Karlheinz Stockhausen; Sequenza IXa, de Luciano Berio; e Dialogue de l'ombre double, de Pierre Boulez. Elas foram escolhidas pela sua relevância no repertório e pelo fato de terem sido compostas para instrumento monódico solo, formação que força o discurso musical a se focar em aspectos melódicos. Os métodos analíticos aqui presentes baseiam-se principalmente em modelos propostos por Schoenberg (1996), Toch(1994) e De la Motte (1993). Os resultados das análises demonstraram que grande parte da construção melódica das peças analisadas é composta por estruturas e procedimentos que já se faziam presentes no repertório tradicional modal ou tonal. Ao mesmo tempo, os resultados destacam contribuições criativas enriquecedoras por parte dos compositores na utilização destes mesmos procedimentos e estruturas. / Abstract: The presente reseach aimed the better understanding of the melodic thinking in contemporary music. Through desciptive and comparative analysis of the melodic structure of four important plays of the post-1945 repertoire, it was verified the hypothesis that they preserve the characteristics of previous periods, as well as present similarities among each other, wich allows them to be styliscally related. The chosen works were: Madrigal I, of Henri Pousseur; In Freundschaft, of Karlheinz Stockhausen; Sequenza IXa, of Luciano Berio; and Dialogue de l'ombre double, of Pierre Boulez. They were chosen according to their relevance in the repertoire and because they were composed for solo monodic instrument a formation which induces the musical spreech to focus on melodic aspects. The analytical methods here presented are based mainly on propossed by Schoenberg (1996), Toch(1994) and De la Motte (1993). The results of the analysis demonstrated that most of the melodic construction of the pieces mentioned above is formed by structures and procedures that were already present in the traditional modal or tonal repertoire. At the same time, the results highligted enriching creative contributions by the composers in the use of these same procedures and structures. / Mestre

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.

This thesis explores the eleven solo piano nocturnes by living American composer Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), to serve as a performer's guide. Characteristics of previous nocturnes provide historical context for Liebermann's pieces, illustrating similarities to the style developed by John Field, Frédéric Chopin, and Gabriel Fauré. Other musical influences on Liebermann, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferruccio Busoni, demonstrate his relationship to the Western art music tradition and placement within the canon. Four distinct facets of Liebermann's musical style are presented: his reliance on traditional formal practices, motivic coherence, his particular harmonic vocabulary, and his use of texture. Liebermann's works use consonant triads, third relations, and smooth voice leading; because of these features, Neo-Riemannian models are suggested as a potential lens through which to view and analyze these pieces. In particular, hexatonic systems and their depiction of the musically "uncanny" relate to how Liebermann's music can have a sort of "defamiliarizing" and destabilizing effect on the listener. The salient musical features of motivic coherence, harmonic relationships, and formal innovations within tradition are presented for each nocturne alongside descriptions of musical character, to capture the essence and spirit contained within the works. The pieces verge on the fantastic and the rhapsodic, demonstrating Liebermann's imaginative approach to tradition. By utilizing a harmonic language that both synthesizes gestures of the past with a rich history of suggestive emotional content, and that innovates with a more modern and dissonant sensibility, Lowell Liebermann has achieved a distinctive musical vocabulary that captures the poetic and dark essence of nocturnes.

Grand Central is a twenty-minute multi-media work for chamber orchestra, live audio processing, and video projections. The piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's New Music Ensemble, and will be premiered in March 2013. Composing a multi-media work poses many challenges, including the methodology of how to work with diverse components, the interplay between these elements, and how to best utilize the performance space to its full potential. The work is inspired by my experiences at Grand Central Terminal during my childhood and the musical material is derived from the building’s infrastructure and rich cultural history. The first chapter of this treatise examines the genesis of the composition, Grand Central’s history, and technical considerations related to the integration of technology, orchestration, and staging. The second chapter is encompassed by a thorough movement- by-movement analysis, complete with explanations of pitch derivation, formal principals, and programmatic considerations. / text