Augeries is a multi-channel electro-acoustic composition for flute, clarinet, percussion, and tape. It is intended to be diffused through an 8-channnel playback system. Inspired by the first four lines of William Blake's Augeries of Innocence, Augeries captures the qualitative aspects of Blake's poetry by presenting the listener with an equally aperspectival aesthetic experience. The small-scale structure reflected on the large-scale form - the infusion of vastness and expansiveness into the fragile and minute. Augeries incorporates techniques of expansion and contraction, metonymic relationships, dilation and infolding of time, and structured improvisation to create an experience that is designed to explore the notion of musical time, and to bring to the listener the sense of time freedom. The critical analysis suggests that the increase in the notions of musical time, the aesthetics with which they conform, and the new time forms created, encapsulate communicative significance. This significance exists within a horizon of meaning. Semiotics illuminates an understanding of the structuring techniques used to render time as an area of artistic play. Understanding the aesthetics and mechanisms through which these techniques can be used constitutes a shared horizon of meaning. The concepts of cultural phenomenologist Jean Gebser, as explicated in The Ever-Present Origin, are used to contextualize these notions, through a description of the various consciousness structures with specific attention to the space-time relationships. Of specific concern are the aperspectival manifestations in music in the twentieth century and beyond. Special emphasis is given to the area of electro-acoustic music, particularly spectral music. The theoretical analysis explores how the various techniques are used to create an aperspectival experience, and includes specific descriptions of the technique of refraction as metonymy, and pitch set analysis of the technique of expansion and contraction.

An investigation was done on the methods used by performers of classical flute music to improve their flute tone. A literature study was done and a methodology created. This resulted in detailed dissection and then discussion of the various aspects that influence flute tone. Thereafter a series of practice charts were developed, which can be used to guide performers, students and teachers in their experiment to improve and diversify flute tone. The key areas of flute tone that were examined are: embouchure, lip flexibility, vibrato and tone colour. It has been found that different methods work for different people to improve their flute tone, and therefore personal experimentation is necessary in order to achieve the required tone, which also depends on personal taste. / Dissertation (MMus (Performing Art))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Music / MMus / unrestricted

Chronomorphosis is a chamber ensemble piece for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano, and percussion. The work, comprising three movements is approximately fourteen minuted in duration. One of the most apparent characteristics of the work is its progression from non-metrical time organization involving aleatoric elements to metrical time organization involving changing meters but no aleatoric elements. The Pitch set is a constant element throughout the piece. The instrumentation selected exhibits a variety of color in all ranges: the flute in the upper register, the clarinet, viola, and vibes in the middle register, and the cello and the timpani in the lower register, the piano having access to all registers.

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This dissertation provides a performance guide of Códigos Secretos for flute and electroacoustic sounds (2004) written by Gabriela Ortiz and commissioned by Mexican flutist Alejandro Escuer. Ortiz's compositional language reflects the influence of her teachers in Mexico and London, and the exposure to the evolving musical landscape during her formative years. Her decision to explore the electroacoustic realm stemmed from her fascination with the unlimited possibilities offered by working with a variety of acoustic sources and technological equipment that allowed her to experiment with different musical ideas, compositional processes and unique soundscapes. Códigos Secretos presents various challenges due to the absence of a preface or guide and several elements that may be unfamiliar to flutists, making it challenging or inaccessible to understand and perform the piece. The performance guide includes detailed explanations of the flute and computer scores, addresses discrepancies between different versions of the piece, and provides guidance on improvisatory sections and the execution of extended techniques. These elements enhance the performer's understanding of the piece and facilitate effective engagement and synchronization with the computer, enabling an artistic performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to inform performers and researchers about Gabriela Ortiz's compositional language, raise awareness about the diversity of Mexican music, and bring Ortiz's compositions to a broader audience, making her works more accessible.

There are very few significant sonatas for flute and piano written between 1880 and 1918, a period of unusually rich stylistic diversity. Gabriel Pierné composed his Sonata in D Minor, Op. 36 for piano and violin in 1900, and later transcribed it for flute and piano. Unfortunately, the work has not been embraced to a significant extent by either violinists or flutists. The wealth of violin sonatas from this period might explain it not becoming part of the canon for violinists, but this is not the case for the flute repertoire, where it seems that it should hold a place of genuine importance. Since little has been written about Pierné as a composer or about this piece in either of its versions, this project is intended to promote an understanding of the work in its historical and theoretical context and to advocate for more frequent performances. This document also suggests an alternate version of several particular passages so it can better represent the characteristics of today's flute and its modern techniques. This research will help other flutists and flute professors to introduce and spread an awareness of its existence and ideally helping to establish its place in the flute repertoire. From a historical standpoint, this dissertation also offers a case study of Gabriel Pierné's place, both stylistically and institutionally, in the history of French music in fin-de-siècle. Both of these goals fill important gaps in the existing research literature.