Tiempos del caos is a composition in five sections for chamber orchestra (28 players) and real-time computer-generated sounds, with a duration of approximately 15 minutes. A performer is required to control the computer-generated sounds which are produced using the software jMax. The inspiration for the form of the piece comes from my reading of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The harmonic material is derived mainly from analyses of the acoustical properties of recorded instrumental sounds.

Dialectics is a musical composition for 32-instrument wind ensemble. The materials and models used in the piece are based entirely on the harmonic series and on naturally-occurring acoustical phenomena that are stretched out in time, and that undergo a variety of transformational processes. A dialectic is created between two musical principles, each based in a different manner on the concept of reverberation.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease that can lead to important functional impairment. Although improvements in treatment have been made, still there are a high proportion of patients in whom response to treatment is not complete. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a condition characterized by bodily pain that often coexists with RA. Cross-sectional studies have shown that patients with RA and FM symptoms, or fibromyalgic RA (FRA), have higher disease activity scores than patients with RA and no FRA. Concern has been raised regarding the validity of RA disease activity scores in patients with coexistent RA and FM. In this prospective study, we hypothesized that patients with FRA have an impaired response to treatment measured by traditionally used scores. The present analysis used a study sample obtained from the ESPOIR French cohort. This is a longitudinal prospective cohort of adults with early RA. Patients with RA were classified in two groups according to the presence of FRA. RA disease activity scores (DAS28, SDAI, CDAI and HAQ) were compared as a measure of response to treatment at 6, 12 and 18 months. Results showed that after adjusting for confounders, patients with FRA (120) had higher activity scores than patients with RA and no fibromyalgic characteristics (548). DAS28 and other disease activity scores started out higher in subjects with FRA and while they improved to a similar extent as in the isolated RA group, they remained consistently higher among FRA patients. Achievement of low disease activity and of remission according to established activity score cut-points was significantly less likely in subjects with FRA. In conclusion, patients with FRA and RA had a similar response to treatment according the decrease in indexes of disease activity but more frequently missed the target of remission or low disease activity. These findings may have implications in RA treatment in patients with FRA, as therapy is escalated not in relation to change in scores but to achieving remission.

Concertino for Jazz Clarinet. Electric viola and Symphonic Orchestra is a composition of approximately fifteen minutes' duration, and is scored for two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two Bb clarinets, two bassoons, four F- horns, two Bb trumpets, three trombones (third bass), two percussionists, solo Bb clarinet, solo electric viola and strings. The piece is divided into two movements; Andante and Canon. Concepts derived from jazz music are employed in, for example, harmony and improvisation in the solo parts, whereas the orchestration is mainly traditional. The piece is written for two great Swedish instrumentalists; Putte Wickman, clarinet, and Henrik Frendin, viola. Stylistically this work is difficult in the orchestral parts, since it uses concepts from two different musical styles, jazz and classical. Influences originate from such wide-ranging composers as Mozart, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Chick Corea.

Symphonic Poem New Life is a composition in one movement for orchestra and yang-chin. The work is divided into six continuous sections. It is written in resultant form which is a cumulative process by which all major musical elements return at the end of the work. The tritone is the prominent interval used throughout the piece. Some graphic notation is also employed. The work has a performance time of approximately 13-15 minutes. The yang-chin is a Chinese string instrument similar to the Hungarian cymbalon, which is played with a pair of small beaters. These instruments have similar ranges, and either instrument can be used in this work.

Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra is a work of 15 minutes duration, scored for solo alto saxophone, flute (doubling piccolo), oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings. Within the work, an invented harmonic structure is combined with a freely improvised melody that is subjected to a large-scale formal process of phrase expansion and contraction. Layers of musical activity, involving interval templates (defined as invariant patterns of pitches), phrase-lengths, melodic contour, referential rhytlimic gestures, and pedal-notes are set in motion from the outset. While operating independently, these musical elements converge at major section points in the work, of which there are ten. The ultimate aim is to devise engrossing musical textures that embody variation within coherence, and possess strong goal-directionality. The method of composing with interval pairs represents a novel approach to harmony, and the resulting harmonic structures underlie much, but not all of the work. In terms of melody, the predominantly step-wise and back-circling (melody which moves away from then back towards a central tone) character is also of great significance in the work, providing the basis for much canonic imitation. The commencement of a new section in the work is often marked by two gestures: a treble pedal figure, and a "bouncing" figure, which occur in the first and last quarters of the work. Examination of larger-scale structures designated as "super-sections" (each comprising three or four sections) reveals the systematic phrase expansion and contraction that juxtaposes sections with short phrases next to those with long ones. This expansion and contraction of phrases creates the ultimate structure of the work. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate