This thesis examines the composition of three different musical works through the use of my constraint-based patterns. I have explored the patterns through spreadsheets and also SuperCollider: a software for algorithmic composition and audio synthesis. The aim is to find how the patterns can be used to reach clear contrasts while maintaining coherence in the music, as well as finding challenges and possibilities within the patterns, while exploring how evaluation of the artistic results can contribute to improved methods. While I see the main method as autoethnographical, with the core focus on composing, I have also used feedback from other composers, and through focus groups, as a way to collect data. Throughout this thesis I describe my process of constructing patterns and composing music, accompanied by my reasoning and relevant feedback. My results from analyzing feedback, score and patterns are that while some ways of using the patterns are well suited for achieving contrast and coherence, problems arose related to (among other things) musical form and predictability. Evaluation through feedback and interviews resulted in a better understanding of the patterns, and different workflows allowed for different viability in the evaluation. The most valuable insight is that the greater the amount of composition parameters which are controlled through constraint-based patterns, the simpler each individual composition parameter has to be in order to reach contrasting results that I find satisfying. My conclusion is that I can therefore design each individual composition parameter with high coherence to reach contrasting results when the composition parameters are applied on the same musical structure.

Violin repertoire composed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries placed new demands on performers. While numerous pedagogues have written etudes and treatises analyzing traditional techniques, far fewer have thoroughly examined contemporary techniques. Many of the existing etudes and exercises inspired by contemporary violin repertoire are of a very high difficulty level and may seem unapproachable to students with little to no experience performing the music of recent decades. As a result, many violin students are unacquainted with the language of new music. This dissertation is intended to help fill a gap in the pedagogical literature by serving as a resource that familiarizes advanced students with the notation and proper execution of the non-traditional techniques commonly found in contemporary violin music. This document includes a survey of violin repertoire written since 1970, an analysis of the non-traditional techniques used most often in the works examined, methods for approaching specific technical problems that arise in them, and nine etudes originally composed by this author. The etudes focus on nine contemporary techniques, ranging from contact point variations to changing subdivisions, and are intended for study by advanced violinists interested in performing contemporary music.

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In this dissertation, I present the score for the opera Ganymede 5 – Act I and the research paper on Kate Soper’s opera Here be Sirens. Ganymede 5 was first written in the summer of 2019 and premiered at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival on 18 September 2019 by ENAensemble at the Plays and Players Studio Theatre. Following this production, the creative team (myself, the librettist Aleksandar Hut Kono, the director Rose Freeman, and our producers Nicole Renna and Anaïs Naharro-Murphy) met and decided that the opera’s first act was dramaturgically unsalvageable. Working with Aleksandar, Rose, and my composition advisor Andrea Clearfield, I set about rewriting the first act. This new act, with an entirely new libretto, new plot, and a larger orchestra is included here in full score. In the paper, I present three approaches to understanding Kate Soper’s 2014 opera Here be Sirens. In the first chapter, I develop an analytical model using Jacques Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage as a scheme to map the evolution of the sirens Polyxo and Peitho. I argue that their evolutionary arcs together form one complete cycle of the mirror stage, where Peitho begins the opera immediately before the mirror stage and finishes well in the middle, while Polyxo starts in the middle of the mirror stage and is ultimately able to exist via sublimation. With this mapping in hand, elements of the musical and dramaturgical unfolding are contextualized, and most importantly, the relationship between speaking and singing is understood. In the second chapter, I look at the diegetic/nondiegetic orientation of the opera’s musical discourse, the narratological registers within which the opera unfolds, and the role eclectic musical styles play in the plot and in the perception and meaning of time. Together, these three windows into the work illuminate a complex, dynamic set of interactions that generate an astonishingly novel but immediately accessible opera. In the third chapter, I present the transcript of an interview I conducted with Kate Soper where we discuss a variety of topics, from the symbolic meaning of spoken language to the practical considerations of using an onstage piano played by the singers. I annotate in footnotes parts of the interview that deal directly with other parts of the analysis, and specifically those parts where Soper’s statements contradict my own analytical conclusions. The last chapter is a brief, rhapsodic consideration of this work as an analyst and composer. It first presents some paths forward for future research using the tools developed and wielded in this analysis. It then moves on to the way my own compositional dispositions framed my analysis and how they are vital to understanding what is included and what is left out of this work. Soper’s compositional voice deserves consideration on a composer-to-composer level, as it challenges some of the prevailing value-systems around contemporary music. To that end, I reconsider my analysis as if it were a composition lesson, looking at what questions – such as those around technique – are not worth asking from a compositional or analytical perspective. / Music Composition / Accompanied by one .pdf score: Ganymedes 5: An Opera in 3 Acts

La trascendencia de la música en el Perú va más allá del carácter estético que pueda adoptar por cada región en la que se genera. Su importancia recae en la capacidad de establecerse como un generador de identidad nacional y promotor industrial. En este contexto la experimentación musical y la difusión son dos aspectos que deben ser atendidos, comprendiendo la problemática actual de la industria musical en nuestro país. El Centro de Experimentación y Difusión de Música Contemporánea propone un emplazamiento estratégico para el desarrollo musical con importante riqueza paisajística dada su ubicación frente a un gran parque como es el “Campo de Marte” en el distrito de Jesús María en la ciudad de Lima, entorno que aporta favorablemente al desempeño de las actividades del usuario. Así también su relación directa con el Centro Cultural Sérvulo Gutiérrez enriquece el programa del proyecto. El proyecto por su parte dota de servicios al parque y a la comunidad. La investigación contempla marco teórico, proyectos referenciales, usuario, estudio del lugar, parámetros de diseño y programa arquitectónico; proponiendo así una solución programática y arquitectónica que pone en valor el producto artístico-cultural nacional, a sus autores, ejecutantes y promotores, atendiendo a su vez los requerimientos de una industria que potencia la identidad nacional y que contribuye con el desarrollo económico del país. / The transcendence of Music in Peru goes beyond the aesthetic value provided by its regional origin. Its importance relies in its capacity to serve as a conduit for national identity and a generator of economic growth. In this context, experimentation and diffusion of music are two aspects that must be broached with special attention given the intricate reality of the music industry in our country. The “Contemporary Music Center for Experimentation and Broadcasting” is a strategically located venue for the development and appreciation of music which offers rich landscapes and amenities as it is located across from “El Campo de Marte” and “Centro Cultural Sérvulo Gutiérrez” in the city of Jesus María, Lima. Hence, this architectural project provides both the community and the national reserve park with services. The investigation includes theoretical framework, referential projects, user, site analysis, design parameters and an architectural brief to present a well-substantiated programmatic and architectural initiative which goal is to enhance the artistic and cultural experience for the community. / Tesis

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In this study, the focus is on techniques for playing contemporary music on the viola and other bowed string instruments. These techniques include playing overpressure, some percussion techniques, special pizzicato and left-hand pizzicato techniques, different contact point techniques, various harmonic techniques such as Effleuré, multiphones and subharmonics, and trills. In order to effectively execute these techniques, it is important to experiment and practice them in various ways. To properly execute percussion techniques, for instance, it is suggested to seek guidance from percussionists and for pizzicato techniques double bass players or guitarists. For practicing part, this thesis should be a help for players struggling with the extended techniques. The use of these techniques is discussed with the goal of practicing them to achieve the highest level of performance possible. / <p>Den klingande delen, som utgörs av följande inspelningar, är arkiverad. </p><p>Knox, Garth, Viola Spaces, No 2: Sul Tasto “Ghosts”</p><p>Ligeti, György, Viola Sonata, First movement: Hora lungă</p><p>Kurtág, György, “Signs, Games and Messages”, Vagdalkozós</p><p>Kurtág, György, “Signs, Games and Messages”, Virág – Zsigmondy Dénesnek</p>