This thesis explores how voice, the body, and gender interact to characterise the eponymous leading roles in Richard Strauss's Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909). Approaching the vocality of the two title characters from the perspective of a performer, I use vocal line as notated in the score as a basis for exploring constructions of women at the time these two operas were composed. Because these operas were created during the fin-de-siècle, they occupy a crucial transitional point between Romantic and Modern vocal writing, when, in contrast to the practices of the bel canto era, the singer was expected to demonstrate ever-greater fidelity to the notated score. Therefore, the voice is largely manipulated by another (the composer) to perform sounds that construct her identity, and hence, her gender. I expand upon this absolute to show how in these operas, gender performativity is manifested in the musical notation. The operatic soprano voice, when manipulated for certain effects, performs 'conventional' aspects of a female character's gender (for example, its pitch range), but I argue it also has the ability to communicate something more visceral, something that transcends gender norms, and also language itself. Building on a wide range of analytical and critical discourses ranging from gender theory to vocal technique, my thesis explores how a soprano singer navigates the extreme vocality present in these two operas, and in the process articulates a range of constructions of identity of women in the fin-de-siècle. In analysing the vocal writing of these two works, it becomes apparent that gender dichotomies are effectively voided in passages within these seminal operas, which nevertheless comment directly on fin-de-siècle 'femininity' or 'masculinity'. My research analyses vocal gestures from a technical standpoint and, in so doing, suggests that gender norms become obsolete at those crucial moments in which voice and body are pushed to physical and expressive limits.

Hollywood film composers work within a complex process of film production, with limited control over the final outcome. Certain contextual agents have shaped the developing craft and caused recent Hollywood film music (since 1980) to depart from the symphonic neo-Romantic style that has traditionally and commonly been associated with Hollywood film scores. Developments in storytelling, changing demographics among filmmakers and composers, evolving business models, and the influence of television have altered the content and style of Hollywood films and film music. Furthermore, technological advances in film, soundtrack, and music production have contributed to changes in prevalent composer practice. Film music is always mediated by the films it accompanies and contemporary Hollywood films that speak a progressive language tend not to use conventional music of the classical Hollywood tradition. Film music must bow to commercial pressures that are often at odds with originality. An analysis of the workload distribution among composers in the 50 top-grossing Hollywood films each year between 1980-2009 reveals an uneven distribution skewed towards a select few individuals. These composers exert considerable influence on their field. Further findings summarized in this thesis also show a statistically significant increase in non-melodic minimalist writing as well as strong correlations between non-orchestral instrumentation and non-traditional musical styles over the past three decades. This thesis assesses recent Hollywood film music practice and the opportunities and challenges screen composers face. Acknowledging the role and influence of so-called contextual agents in film music composition means to consider film scores in the spheres of conceptualisation and compositional practice. The key research question addressed in this thesis is: 'What is the context in which Hollywood film composers actually work and how does this affect their creative practice and the musical outcome?'

This thesis investigates one of the key figures of Russian pianism in the twentieth century, Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus (1888 - 1964). Although Neuhaus is known, particularly in the West, as an important pedagogue of the Moscow Conservatory rather than a performing artist in his own right, this thesis seeks to address the tension between Neuhaus's identities as a pedagogue and his overshadowed conception of himself as a performer - thus presenting a fuller understanding of his specific attitude to the task of musical interpretation. The reader is introduced to aspects of Neuhaus's biography which became decisive factors in the formation of his key aesthetic, philosophical, pedagogical and performative beliefs. The diverse national influences in Neuhaus's upbringing - from his familial circumstances, European education and subsequent career in Russia - are investigated in order to help locate Neuhaus within the wider contexts of Russian and Central European culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition, this introduction will highlight ways in which Neuhaus's national identity has been oversimplified in recent literature by both Russian and non-Russian authors. Whilst this thesis draws on a range of contemporaneous and recent international sources throughout its investigation, it presents a substantial amount of Russian-language material that has previously been unavailable in an English translation: this includes many writings and articles by Heinrich Neuhaus, his colleagues and the leading musicologists and critics of his time. The core of the thesis traces Neuhaus's personal philosophical approach to the act of performance and explores the impact it had on his interpretations of Beethoven and Chopin. This will show that despite aspiring to a modern, Urtext-centred approach and sensibility to the score, Neuhaus's Romantic subjectivity meant that he was unafraid of making assumptions and decisions which often misinterpreted or transformed the image of the composer to reflect his own artistic identity. Thus, the investigation of Heinrich Neuhaus as a performing artist, alongside his role as a pedagogue, presents a powerful model of interpretation as a creative process, from which performers today can learn.

Abstract This thesis discusses the music idea, music aesthetics and writing skills of the author¡¦s composition JING. The music idea and aesthetics of the JING are inspired by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The common important issue that these three isms concern about and also the point inspires the author is Nature. The author uses Repetition as the music writing skills to represent the constancy of the nature. In other words, music repetition and the variation of the repetition is what the author wants to experiment in the composition JING. In order to learn how the repetition used and represents the Nature in the three isms, the author also studies and analyzes important ritual music for the rites of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Furthermore the author discusses how repetition works and means in western music. Concluding the discussions on the three pieces of ritual music and the western music, the author comes out her own point of view which becomes the important material and creating process in JING. JING is consisted of three movements. The first movement is JI, the second is ZHI, and the third is JIE. Although the three movements are titled differently, the points that the author wants to present are all the same and is about Constant Nature. The author experiments the skills of repetition in the piece throughout to show her intention for understanding Constancy of Nature.

This Master's thesis deals with a critique of popular music by the British conservative philosopher Roger Scruton. It is based on a premise that this critique is not purely aesthetic, as it is deeply rooted in Scruton's conception of art, culture, and man. The first part of the thesis, therefore, deals with this broader context, and its outcome is an explanation of the reasons why Scruton rejects popular music as an integral part of popular culture. The second part of the thesis focuses on Scruton's philosophy of music, in other words, on questions of musical aesthetics: what the ontological status of music is, what the nature of its meaning is, what its value is, and what its 'ethical power' is. The third part is devoted to the critique of popular music itself: first, the concept of popular music is clarified, and then the outputs of the two previous chapters are linked to fully grasp Scruton's condemnation of popular music. In the end, the thesis points to problematic aspects of Scruton's theory: it questions the adequacy of applying the model of evaluating classical music to the case of popular music.

The hypothesis of this study entails the formulation of interpretative solutions for J. S. Bach's Capriccio in B flat major. The "Interpretative Analysis" mentioned in the title, strives to provide a synthesis in which the cognitive understanding of the music can contribute to a more informed aesthetic interpretation of the music. In the ensuing study this objective is realised by examining the origin of the work and the sources from which it was handed down, the style in which the Capriccio was composed and conceived, the performance practices prevalent in the early eighteenth century and the applicability thereof to the music of J. S. Bach, the structure of the Capriccio, and lastly the different instruments on which the Capriccio can be performed and the impact which this choice has on any performance thereof. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus.

The hypothesis of this study entails the formulation of interpretative solutions for J. S. Bach's Capriccio in B flat major. The "Interpretative Analysis" mentioned in the title, strives to provide a synthesis in which the cognitive understanding of the music can contribute to a more informed aesthetic interpretation of the music. In the ensuing study this objective is realised by examining the origin of the work and the sources from which it was handed down, the style in which the Capriccio was composed and conceived, the performance practices prevalent in the early eighteenth century and the applicability thereof to the music of J. S. Bach, the structure of the Capriccio, and lastly the different instruments on which the Capriccio can be performed and the impact which this choice has on any performance thereof. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus.