Tübingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2005.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2006. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Apr. 26, 1999, Apr. 24, 2000, Oct. 27, 2003, and Mar. 27, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-44).

Thesis--Dorpat.

Th.--Etud. angl.--Montpellier 3, 1986.

Th.--Méd.--Montpellier, 1904-1905. / Montpellier, 1904-1905, n ° 70.

This research investigates the process of “opening out” spaces with sound as an approach to sonic arts practice, investigating the spaces that sounds articulate, reveal and imply in our encounter with them. It positions spatial aesthetics as a key consideration at each stage of the creative process and connects approaches to spatiality in sonic arts practices with contextual considerations drawn from, for example, phenomenological accounts of spatial and sonic experience, human geography, architecture and acoustic ecology. The portfolio consists of seven sonic artworks and two collaborative projects that each engage with these ideas from a different perspective, exploring a number of applications, contexts and outcomes in the investigation. This accompanying commentary discusses these works, providing an introduction to the portfolio followed by a discussion, in the subsequent chapters, of the practices explored and developed in the research process.

Copyright markets, it is said, are ‘winner takes all’ markets favouring the interests of corporate investors over the interests of primary creators. However, little is known about popular music creators’ ‘lived experience’ of copyright. This thesis interrogates key aspects of copyright transactions between creators and investors operating in the UK music industries using analysis of various copyright related documents and semi-structured interviews with creators and investors. The research found considerable variety in the types of ‘deal’ creators enter into and considerable divergence in the potential rewards. It was observed that new-entrant creators have little comprehension of the basic tenets of copyright, but with experience they become more ‘copyright aware’. Documentary and interview evidence reveals creators routinely assign copyright to third party investors for the full term of copyright in sound recordings: the justification for this is questionable. An almost inevitable consequence of this asymmetry of understanding of copyright and asymmetry of bargaining power is that creators become alienated from their copyright works. The empirical evidence presented here supports historic and contemporary calls for a statutory mechanism limiting the maximum copyright assignment period to ten-years.

This thesis consists of a portfolio of nine compositions accompanied by a written commentary and (where possible) audio recordings of these pieces. The compositions span a variety of instrumentations from large orchestral works to solo and chamber works. In the accompanying commentary I discuss the technical foundations of my compositional language, examining selected aspects of my gestural, harmonic, and timbral language to shed light on my creative process. The development and prominence of each of these aspects is discussed, with particular emphasis on the evolution of my timbral language. I demonstrate how I use extra-musical stimuli to determine compositional parameters for various musical elements affecting large-scale structures, gestural, harmonic and timbral language and more broadly the aesthetic impulses of a piece. As part of this, I discuss the importance of a concept that feeds into a work’s title to help determine various structural elements. I also explain how the views and thoughts of composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Arlene Sierra, Thomas Adès and Dai Fujikura have helped shape my approach to extra-musical stimuli. Chapter One focuses on a number of aspects of my compositional language, including extra-musical stimuli, gesture, harmony and timbre and covers a discussion of Stormscape, Momentations, Night Airs, Shadows Create the Night and Nacreous Contours. It also considers historical precedents for the techniques that I used in my works, tracking something of a trajectory through these to my music. In Chapter Two I discuss my choral work Apparitions in more detail, exploring how textural elements help to define the structure and enhance word-painting. Chapter Three centres on a detailed discussion of how extra-musical stimulus has been mapped musically affecting parameters such as structure, gesture and harmony in Roil in Stillness: Ripples and Waves. In Chapter Four a detailed discussion of a personal creative process sheds analytical light on Rainbow Fires. Here a number of different aspects are discussed with a focus on extra-musical stimuli, gesture, harmony, timbre and the application of ‘information theory’.

In this folio of compositions, which includes orchestral, chamber, electroacoustic and solo pieces, an attempt was made to capture some aspects that constitute the Maltese cultural identity in a sonic way. One of the most important factors is the omnipresence of the Catholic Church in Malta - its physical dominance of the Maltese skyline and the overriding influence it exerts on the Maltese community and lifestyle. Although no works in the folio can be said to fall under the genre of 'sacred music', there is an apparent reference to religion in some of these works. This is most notably reflected in Banda, an electroacoustic work, which includes various brass and vocal choir samples recorded during a 'Good Friday' procession in the Maltese town of Mosta. Another point of interest that is explored in the folio to some extent is the use of language in Malta. The island boasts of having two official languages, namely Maltese and English. Code-switching is therefore a very common phenomenon. Texts in both English and Maltese are thus employed in the composer's music. Passages of Love, for voice and piano, features a selection of poems in English by Maltese poet Marco Montalto. On the other hand, L-Ewwel Xita (lit. The First Rainfall), scored for voice, cello and percussion, features a traditional Maltese nursery rhyme as well as typical snatches of conversation heard on the streets of Malta. Sometimes the two languages occur in the same work. In another example of word-setting in music called Epilogue, original words by Louis Mac Niece appear alongside a Maltese translation of one of the verses. One cannot help but notice the various contradictions present in the Maltese Archipelago. The struggle to retain Malta's unique cultural identity while submitting to 'foreign' pressures is of note here. In the folio, this is manifested by the presence of Maltese folk-like melodies in Peprina (from Fjuri, a work for piano, clarinet, violin and cello), which contrasts the forward-looking Juillet - an experimental, electroacoustic piece that was partly written at the CCMIX Studios in Paris in 2006. Despite the `inconsistencies' inherent in Maltese culture, the folio can be regarded as a celebration of Malta's rich and diverse history - one that saw numerous settlers leaving an indelible mark on the island and its people. The French, for instance, were amongst the many colonisers of Malta. Many of the composer's works contain techniques that are associated with fin de siccle Paris, such as orchestral Katina, for example. The title of Zammit's orchestral Kavallier (lit. knight from Ritratti) pays homage to The Order of the Knights of St John, whilst the primary musical idea of this work stems from a variation of an early nineteenth century dance by August Voigt entitled 'St. Julian's Cottage'. (St. Jullian's is a seaside area in Malta and was one of the first to be adopted by the British on their arrival).

The body of research that this document accompanies and which forms a folio of compositions has sought to develop a new type of music utilising elements from both the western art music and bagpiping 1 traditions. The orchestral2 medium is combined with the experiential philosophy of piping (discussed below under "musical relativity", page 5) free composition is mixed with pre-compositional event determination (such as serialism and its consequences from the 20th century); orchestral forms3 are generated using traditional piobaireachd4 phrase structure and aesthetic. The resulting method of composition is called "Manntaireachd technique5". This research was primarily driven by a desire to apply traditional piping compositional methods to the classical tradition and thus create a new medium that could potentially facilitate greater exchange, both philosophically and practically between these two cultural groups. A secondary objective was to broaden the technical range of bagpipe usage and context. The philosophical and formal aspects taken from the piping tradition are discussed below in sections 2, 3 and 4. Some classical inspiration was drawn from Luciano Berio (specifically his series of pieces entitled Sequenza), Luigi Nono (Intol/eranza 1960?) although a very wide range of music was appraised when making stylistic and timbral decisions, more detail of which is placed in the bibliography. Other sources drawn upon for this research were: Anton Webern (form and function), Wojciech Widlak6 (for development of Manntaireachd technique, discussed below (page 13)) and S.1. Witkiewicz (see below, page 41) for his theories on art. The Piobaireachd Society's series, Major General Thomason's and Archibald Campbell of Kilberry's 'Ceol Mor'? have been extensively employed in researching pibroch style and form (discussed below). The methodology was tested through application in the accompanying folio of compositions; Chamber Symphony Number 1 (chamber ensemble), Symphony Number 1 (symphony orchestra), Cockroaches (chorus, solo male voices and chamber ensemble), The New Deliverance (vocalists and large orchestra), Manntaireachd 1 (string quartet), Bezpanski Pies (harp and soprano), Lament for the Lime Tree (Scottish smallpipes, borderpipes and string quartet), Welcome to the Twelve Tones (solo borderpipes). 1 Hereafter referred to as 'piping' in compliance with common usage. 2 Meaning a variation of the tradition orchestral ensemble established since the early 18th century and expanded latter half of the nineteenth century, and other combinations of the instruments employed therein in chamber ensembles. 3 symphony, opera. 4 Hereafter 'pibroch', the anglicised spelling of the Gaelic term used to describe the highest form of pipe music 5 This is a term invented by the author to describe the technique. 6 Professor of composition at the Cracow Music Academy, Poland, successor to Penderecki in this position. 7 'Ceol Mor' is Gaelic for 'Big Music' and is the term used by pipers to describe pibroch as opposed to 'Ceol Beag'('Little Music') or music which is extended from collective social function such as dance or marching, which is not considered by pipers to be 'art music'. Thomason published the first collection, called 'Ceol Mor' in 1900, followed by the piobaireachd Society's first series (abandoned and replaced by a new series). Archibald Campbell of Kilberry published his 'Ceol Mor' collection in 1948. Between them, these publications include almost all of the known and collected pibroch.