Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemMusic and criticism: a study of some trends during the twentieth century( 1964)To spend time and energy in criticizing music the critic must value music highly. To criticize criticism implies also that one considers criticism of the arts worthwhile. The concert-goer who expects only that he shall enjoy a relaxing evening will probably not bother even to read the notes in his programme, and even if he does so. He will look for no more than a few technical sign posts to lessen his confusion if a work new to him is included in the programme. Such an attitude implies that its possessor dismisses music as an inessential luxury, and that he relegates the composer to the role of entertainer. Plainly, such a concert-goer does not value his music enough to discuss it. Fortunately he is not the only kind of person who listens to music, although he may be monomer than is often realized. His is certainly the easiest attitude to adopt, for to take music and criticism seriously involves much hard thought. The idea that art is a form of human communication is a widely accepted one. Most of the disputes which arise about this notion are concerned with the questions of what and how art communicates rather than whether it does so. Another way of looking at art is as a form of discipline: one cannot create in any artistic form, nor can one fully respond to a work or art, without the exercise of self-discipline, and the study of particular branches of the arts has long been recognized as a way to the achievement of a disciplined mind. The value of art lies in both of these aspects: in what it communicates and in the kind of activity it demands from those who take part in it. These two are inseparable – one cannot discuss the “content” of a work of art without discussing the means by which it is communicated, although, as we shall notice later, one can become involved in an arid discussion of the means alone. A musical work does not concern itself with conceptual thought, as many learned critics have noted. They hold that in this respect it differs from poetry, which can express concepts. They do not seem to have noticed that great poetry does not discuss ideas as philosophy does, but demands an emotional involvement, as painting and music do. All three arts also demand an intellectual involvement, but it is not of the strictly logical or syllogistic kind, even in reputedly “intellectual” poetry. Poetry and painting represent situations known to human beings by experience, in such a way that the expression of experience renders it comprehensible. (From Introduction)
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ItemMusic and the ordinary listener: music appreciation and the media in England, 1918-1939( 2000)This study examines the nature and impact of the music appreciation movement in England between 1918 and 1939. Protagonists of this movement, notably Percy Scholes and Sir Walford Davies, sought to foster a love of "good" music amongst the listening public, through written and verbal expositions of composers, works and music history. This thesis draws on hitherto untapped archival resources of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Oxford University Press and Percy Scholes' own papers (held in the National Library of Canada). It contextualises the movement both musically and socially, examining diverse efforts to inculcate musical taste. Inexpensive music appreciation books such as Dent's Master Musicians series and Kegan Paul's The Music-Lover’s Library were immensely popular. A case study of the contribution to music appreciation of Oxford University Press, with its Musical Pilgrim series, is followed by an exploration of Percy Scholes' contribution to the popular literature on music. Scholes' Oxford Companion to Music crowned his association with the Press. The public-service policies and programming of the British Broadcasting Company (established in 1923) were of profound importance in the development of music education for the mass public. Programming of the long-running Foundations of Music series is assessed to determine the content of the music appreciation "canon" of works, and BBC publications which supported such programmes are also examined. Percy Scholes and Walford Davies were prominent BBC figures who broadcast to the "ordinary listener" on a regular basis throughout the inter-war period. The nature and impact of educational gramophone records and, perhaps the most striking medium of music appreciation, annotated player piano rolls produced by the Aeolian Company, are similarly explored in detail. Throughout this study, documentary evidence - particularly that of letters from individual listeners - of the reception of these various music appreciation endeavours is incorporated. This facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the place of serious music in the lives of English people during the 1920s and 1930s, restoring the balance in a field of scholarship hitherto focussed narrowly on the achievements of composers during the English Musical Renaissance.
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ItemMusic therapy's relevance in a cancer hospital researched through a constructivist lens( 2001-09)A constructivist research paradigm informed an investigation of the relevance of music therapy (MT) in a cancer hospital, that is, (a) what did MT do(?) and (b) did it help? Over three months, criterion sampling was used to elicit interpretations from five sources: 128 patients who participated in MT, 27 patients who overheard or witnessed MT, 41 visitors, 62 staff, and the researcher who was also the MT clinician in this study. The researcher’s interpretations were recorded in a reflexive clinical journal and the respondents’ interpretations were written on anonymous open-ended questionnaires. The MT program was predominantly characterised by the use of patient and visitor selected live music. Thematic analysis, informed by grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), and content analyses were performed on the five groups of data with the support of ATLAS/ti (Muhr, 1997) software. Many patients and visitors who experienced MT reported that MT elicited a range of affective responses and altered imaginings. Responses were especially characterised by memories being revisited but also characterised by the respondents’ “transportation” to new spaces or thoughts and physical sensations. Some staff and patients who overheard MT also reported similar experiences. The researcher, and often staff and visitors, also perceived that MT elicited affective and imagined sensations in patients.
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ItemThe experience of group music therapy for six bereaved adolescents( 2001-08)This research is an investigation of the experience of group music therapy for bereaved adolescents. In order to collect the data for this project, the researcher facilitated ten music therapy sessions with six young people utilising two music therapy techniques: group improvisation and group music sharing. At the conclusion of sessions, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with the participants in which they described their experience of being in the music therapy group. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using the qualitative research methodology of phenomenology, based on the Giorgi (1975) model. The results of this investigation showed that their developmentally appropriate desires for fun, freedom, control and the achievement of group cohesion were essential in order for the six bereaved adolescents to successfully address the emotions of grief and share stories that strengthen continuing bonds with their loved ones who have died. Significantly, the young people noted that music sharing and improvisation allowed them to express their feelings, including negative feelings, as well as share their stories without relying solely on the use of words. Some felt that participation in the group had also facilitated discussion of their grief in diverse environments, or that it had promoted an examination of existential issues related to their loss.
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ItemPauline Viardot: her music and the Spanish influence( 2000)Pauline Viardot (1821-1910) was a Mezzo-Soprano of international acclaim and a respected vocal pedagogue of the nineteenth century, but also a composer of some renown. As a result of Viardot's extensive travels, she developed an interest in a variety of different European musical styles. This thesis is a detailed study of selected solo vocal works to help ascertain defining characteristics of Viardot's compositional style with particular emphasis on her use of Spanish styles and techniques which until now have remained unresearched. The findings will reflect the composer's interest and interpretation of cultural musical elements that are stylistically foreign to French listeners. Also referred to will be Viardot's stay in Spain during 1842. Until now, details of this tour have remained incomplete.
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ItemComposer, wife and mother: Margaret Sutherland as conflicted subject( 2001)Margaret Sutherland (1897-1984) is regarded as one of the most innovative and influential Australian composers of the first half of the twentieth century. As early as the 1920s, she could be compared with contemporary composers in Europe who were reacting against aspects of the Romantic style of the nineteenth century. Sutherland was brought up in the midst of a liberal, intellectual, creative and artistic family, in which her principal role models were single women and intellectual men, and her musical aspirations were encouraged and fostered. Having studied for two years in Europe (1923-1925), she returned to Australia, where she expected to develop her vocation as a composer. In 1927 she married, and had two children, the first in 1929 and the second in 1931.During her troubled marriage she experienced conflict beyond her expectations in combining the pursuit of her musical aspirations with her domestic responsibilities as wife and mother. To date, an in-depth feminist biographical study of Sutherland has not been attempted, yet the challenges women face in successfully combining marriage, motherhood and career can only be revealed through closer inspection of this female experience. Using a methodology derived from contemporary feminist biographical theory, the basis for and manifestation of the conflict Sutherland experienced between her public, musical and her private, domestic roles will be explored. It will be shown that in spite of the difficulties faced as a woman composer and in her private life, she managed to achieve a considerable amount, making contributions which should be valued, both in the private, domestic sphere, and in her public life as composer and champion of the interests of Australian composers and Australian music in general. The nature of her achievements suggests that she had the tenacity to avoid being smothered by the unhappiness of her circumstances, or to allow her individuality and ambitions to be thwarted by domesticity.
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ItemIssues in the critical reception of Ethel Smyth’s Mass and first four operas in England and Germany( 2001-05)The composer Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) claimed that sex discrimination had prevented her from succeeding as a composer, and she cast much of the blame on the press. This study examines the critical reception of Smyth’s Mass and first four operas in England and Germany, with a focus on their premieres. It evaluates Smyth’s claims, and places the works more broadly in context, tracing the processes by which they gained performance, and the circumstances of the productions. Rich and multiple interpretations are made possible by reading from different perspectives, allowing the complexity of critical commentary and the subtle intersection of concerns with gender, nationalism and style to be revealed. Despite the pervasiveness of gender bias in the reviews, there is much more to the critical reception of Smyth’s music than the way in which it represents her in relation to patriarchal stereotypes of femininity. Performances researched include the Mass’s premiere in 1893 and its revival in 1924, and the early productions of Fantasio, Der Wald, The Wreckers and The Boatswain’s Mate. These operas were composed with hopes of performance both in England and Germany, and therefore provide the best case studies for an examination of press reception in these two countries, notwithstanding the fact that the first was performed only in Germany and the fourth only in England. The reviews are interpreted in light of the different contexts that affected critics’ perceptions: local circumstances, contemporary politics and knowledge about the composer. Chapter 1 explores the significance of Smyth’s biography and autobiography and Chapter 2 traces each work from composition to performance, examining the challenges Smyth faced and her responses to them. Smyth’s connections with royalty and aristocracy, both in England and Germany, were of great assistance to her, and this has hitherto been insufficiently acknowledged. Smyth’s music elicited a diverse range of praise and criticism from critics, and the last three chapters focus on issues of gender, discussion of the libretti and music of the operas, and national preoccupations. The complex question of gender in the Smyth criticism includes the problem of the woman composer, definitions of femininity and masculinity and the effect of Smyth’s feminism and persona on reception of her music. Critical writings rarely included detailed technical discussion of the music, but libretto and comedy, text-setting and orchestration all received attention. The division of Smyth’s career between England and Germany led to her being seen as foreign in both countries, and the performance of her music contributed to nationalist debates about the selection of repertoire. The division between English and German critics is most marked in their attribution of influence on Smyth’s operas. German critics distinguished various styles and genres in Smyth’s music and were perceptive in recognising the underlying eclecticism of her mature voice. Smyth’s countrymen knew she had studied in Germany and persisted in hearing this influence in her scores, although some allowed that she was contributing to the formation of an English voice.
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ItemA unity of vision: the ideas of Dalcroze, Kodaly and Orff and their historical development( 1993)Twentieth-century music education has been considerably enhanced by the respective-pedagogies devised by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Zoltan Kodály, and Carl Orff. Originality, even genius, aside, these educationalists drew upon past ideals in order to create music-learning strategies appropriate to individual needs and circumstances. This eclecticism embraced ideas as disparate as the Greek Choral Trinity, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's numeric notation, Galin-Paris-Chevé's music education method, Sarah Glover's and John Curwen's sol-fa, Mathis Lussy's theories concerning rhythm, Adolphe Appia's prophetic theories on stage-craft, Edouard Claparède's psychological research, Eugene Ysaÿe's thoughts on violin practice, and the "new wave" dance inaugurated by such artists as Isadora Duncan and Mary Wigman. Collectively, Dalcroze's Eurhythmics, Kodály's Choral Method, and Orff’s Schulwerk provide wide ranging principles and strategies for teaching music appropriate to young children and the training of professional singers and instrumentalists. The question remains, should the Dalcroze, Kodály and Orff systems be taught as mutually exclusive methodologies, a course of action strenuously advocated by some educationalists, or should each music teacher adopt a holistic approach, turning to the example set by these celebrated Swiss, Hungarian and German pedagogues, in order to create a music program tailored to the student's needs as judged by the professional teacher? The search for an answer gives rise to deep-seated methodological conflicts, at least one of which - the notorious 'fixed' versus 'movable' doh - has generated dissension amongst music educators for more than a century. At the same time, this investigation provides an opportunity to rectify the neglect which Anglo-Saxon educators have afforded Dalcroze's solfège studies and, no less, their neglect of his influence upon both Kodály and Orff.
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ItemAn analysis of Margaret Sutherland's sonata for clarinet and piano (1947)( 1984-12)The sonata for clarinet and piano by Margaret Sutherland has been selected as the subject for this thesis from a substantial list of sonatas by Australian composers. The choice was for two reasons: the sonata is the earliest surviving work for the combination and while not a major work, it is at least a substantial work by one of Australia’s most important composers. The work is written in a contemporary musical style, typical of its composer, so that it sounds fresh and musically challenging even in today’s musical environment.
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ItemThe significance of percussion in contemporary music between 1945 and 1970( 1981)Chapter one discusses the developments between 1900-1945, concentrating on composers’ growing concern for percussion instruments and percussive sound sources. Chapter two discusses trends between 1945-1970, revealing the particular relationship between the concepts of New Music and the material of percussion. Chapter three concentrates on a detailed discussion and analysis of four percussion works, which present examples indicative not only of the diverse range of percussion scores composed in the period but also of the connection between new ideas and percussion.