In this thesis I explore how music-text relations in Frank Zappa’s music work together to express a central narrative, with a particular focus on his use of musical allusion. First, I frame Zappa’s creative perspective from a Dadaist philosophy, illuminating an underlying critique of American culture through the use of musical and lyrical devices such as allusion. I explore how Zappa uses allusion as a narrative device and how these allusions affect a listener’s interpretation of a track. Finally, I provide an in-depth analysis of “Billy the Mountain” from the 1972 album Just Another Band From L.A. I first present an overview and analysis of the narrative as it is presented in the lyrics and then explore how musical parameters contribute to the narrative of the track. By understanding the interaction of music and text, I create a platform from which Zappa’s music can be better understood.

Hearing, together with other senses, enables us to perceive the surrounding world through sensory data we constantly receive. The information carried in this data allow us to classify the environment and the objects in it. In modern society the loud and noisy acoustic environment that surrounds us makes the task of "listening" quite challenging, probably more so than ever before. There is a lot of information that has to be filtered to separate the sounds we want to hear at from unwanted noise and interference. And yet, humans, as other living organisms, have a remarkable ability to identify and track the sounds they want, irrespectively of the number of them, the degree of overlap and the interference that surrounds them. To this day, the task of building systems that try to "listen" to the surrounding environment and identify sounds in it the same way humans do is a challenging one, and even though we have made steps towards reaching human performance we are still a long way from building systems able to identify and track most if not all the different sounds within an acoustic scene. In this thesis, we deal with the tasks of recognising sound sources or acoustic events in two distinct cases of audio – music and more generic environmental sounds. We reformulate the problem and redefine the task associated with each case. Music can also be regarded as a multisound source environment where the different sound sources (musical instruments) activate at different times, and the task of recognising the musical instruments is then a central part of the more generic process of automatic music transcription. The principal question we address is whether we could develop a system able to recognise musical instruments in a multi-instrument scenario where many different instruments are active at the same time, and for that we draw influence from human performance. The proposed system is based on missing feature theory and we find that the method is able to retain high performance even under the most adverse of listening conditions (i.e. low signal-to-noise ratio). Finally, we propose a technique to fuse this system with another that deals with automatic music transcription in an attempt to inform and improve the overall performance. For a more generic environmental audio scene, things are less clear and the amount of research conducted in the area is still scarce. The central issue here, is to formulate the problem of sound recognition, define the subtasks and associated difficulties. We have set up and run a worldwide challenge and created datasets that is intended to enable researchers to perform better quality research in the field. We have also developed proposed systems that could serve as baseline techniques for future research and also compared existing state-of-the-art algorithms to one another, and also against human performance, in an effort to highlight strengths and weaknesses of existing methodologies.

Metaphor is an important tool for describing musical structure and interpretation. Recent research suggests that metaphor goes beyond a linguistic device; we use conceptual metaphor frameworks and cross-domain mapping based upon our embodied experiences to understand our world around us. I review the linguistic origins of metaphor theory and show how the purview of metaphor theory has recently extended into cognitive domains through a case study, primarily using the work of metaphor scholar Zoltán Kövecses. I then review how two prominent music theorists--Michael Spitzer and Lawrence Zbikowski--have developed current theories of metaphor to refine their approach to music analysis. These sources provide an effective backdrop into my case study of isomorphic conceptual underpinnings of metaphors used in two prominent analytical essays in music theory, Donald F. Tovey's, "Tonality" and David Lewin's "Music Theory, Phenomenology, and Modes of Perception." Finally I utilize conceptual metaphor and cross-domain mapping to support my analysis of the tonal role of C♯/D♭ in Beethoven String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, op. 59, no. 1, first movement, and hexatonic cycles in Schubert Piano Trio in E♭ Major, D. 929, first movement. My analyses aim to elucidate the isomorphic aspects of evocative and useful metaphors in music analysis that help us engage with music in a deeper, nuanced manner.

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Poetic Afterthought is an original music composition for orchestra (2-2-2-2 / 4-2-2-1 / timp-perc / piano-harp / strings). The work comprises a cycle of seven orchestral pieces inspired by seven Chinese Classical poems. The seven orchestral pieces attempt to capture the moods and impressions of the poems while carrying hints of the original structures of the poetry as if the music speaks poetry itself.

The Ghost in the Machine is a piece of music far large wind ensemble. This piece is concerned with the interrelationship between the perception of time passing in music and the level of perceived density of musical activity. Specifically, the piece is designed according to the notion that the higher the level of musical activity within smaller intervals of time, the higher the perceived level of density. The piece consists of a large-scale density envelope that spans the length of the entire piece, wherein the level of density increases gradually towards and decreases away from the climax point. The shape of this density envelope is reflected on smaller scales that operate at various levels of the music, all of which are discussed in detail in the analysis part of the thesis. These density envelopes are used as a means of structuring the listening process over the course of the piece.

Cachalote is a work for 17 musicians inspired by the study of social behavioral patterns in sperm whales. The distinctive series of clicks produced by these mammals, known as "codas," are their primary means of communication. These patterns manifest in Cachalote as a series of "sound objects", whose specific arrangement symbolizes communication, and underlines the musical discourse. The sound of field recordings provided further inspiration for the music's texture and orchestration. The composer's creation of an extra-musical narrative related to the lifecycle of sperm whales determines the appearance and ordering of the work's main gestures, and articulates the overall structure.

This thesis contains two volumes. The first is a written text that describes my compositional techniques in the context of an analysis of Codecs. The second volume is the score of this work. Volume one is divided into six sections: Introduction, harmony, rhythm and time, melodic materials, form, live electronics and future directions. Each section describes techniques and processes I developed throughout the compositional process. / Codecs was inspired by the subversive proliferation musical materials though the use of audio codecs. I developed compositional tools based on encryption and compression in order to explore the audio codec metaphor. / Volume two is the full score of Codecs, a work for large ensemble and live electronics. It is comprised of three sections and has a duration of approximately 14 minutes. The work is scored for flute (doubling on piccolo), oboe, clarinet in Bb (doubling on bass clarinet), bassoon, horn in F, trumpet, trombone, tuba, string quintet and percussion. Electronic drum pads and captured live sounds are used to control the live electronic elements.

This dissertation develops a synoptic approach to the systematic identification and comparison of the distribution of material from the model in the Kyrie and in the Credo of six parody masses of Palestrina, Lassus and de Monte, published between 1570 and 1600. These masses are grouped in pairs and each pair is based on a different model. Knowing that the compositional approaches to parody vary from one composer to one another, the objectives of this research are as follows: (1) comparison of the parodic approach of two composers in masses based on the same model; (2) comparison of pairs of masses, considering that Palestrina and Lassus treat two of the three models; (3) comparison of the three masses of Lassus written on three different models. / The synoptic approach to analysis is very interesting, because after the simultaneous identification of the motives in the model and in the mass movements (Kyrie and Credo), the entire complex of selected motives and their use in the construction of the modules become very easily detectable. The results of this research show that: (1) the model does not dictate the treatment, because the same model is treated differently by two composers; for instance, two masses of Palestrina based on different models are more alike, than those of Palestrina and Lassus based on the same model; (2) the model seems to be more attractive to the composer when it is one of his own compositions; for example, Palestrina borrows more material from his madrigal Io son ferito to build his Missa Petra Sancta, than Lassus does it in his Missa super Io son ferito ahi lasso based on the same model; (3) the style of the model does not determine the style of the mass; motifs from a non-imitative model can be treated in imitation in the mass, and (4) the sections of the Kyrie are more suited to formal development (generated by the repetitions of modules), than those of the Credo.

Acheron, River of Woe is a large-scale piece for wind symphony accompanied by an analytical thesis. It is a single-movement programmatic piece lasting twelve minutes scored for a wind symphony consisting of three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two bassoons, contrabassoon, E-flat clarinet, three B-flat clarinets, A clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, four saxophones, four trumpets, four horns, two trombones, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, string bass, timpani, and three percussionists. This piece represents a journey on the River Acheron, inspired by quotations taken from several Greek poets of antiquity. The entire piece flows as one long, fluid stream of music, with different sonic currents, waves, and eddies moving through it. Modal theory governs its harmonic structure and is the foundation of the piece.