Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses

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End date: 2006 × Start date: 2006 × Type: PhD thesis ×

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    Mande popular music and cultural policies in West Africa
    Counsel, G. ( 2006-05)
    During the independence era in West Africa (1958–1980) many nations embarked on ambitious programmes aimed at rejuvenating their traditional art forms. These programmes were realised through new cultural policies, with music the prime target of the governments’ campaigns. I contend that in the search for an appropriate voice West African governments focussed on one group of musicians, the Mande griots. It was through their musical compositions that the State communicated ideology and doctrine to the public. I assert that to focus on a specific ethnic group and promote them as cultural ambassadors was a policy that conflicted with the core principles of West Africa’s governments, who upheld a doctrine that promoted nationalism over ethnocentrism. It was a neo-colonialist strategy designed to consolidate the rule of the governing party, a contention which I support through an analysis of the role of griots in West African society and an appraisal of the careers of musicians, musical recordings, and musical styles. This thesis represents a historical account of Mande griots in West Africa with respect to their influence on local and national politics. Part of the aim of this thesis is to create a comprehensive and accurate catalogue of West African musical recordings and groups, the results of which are located in the appendices.
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    The development of a cognitive framework for the analysis of acousmatic music
    HIRST, DAVID ( 2006-05)
    This PhD in Music Composition is in the form of a written dissertation plus a series of electroacoustic music compositions on Audio CD. The thesis develops the “Segregation, Integration, Assimilation and Meaning” (SIAM) framework for the analysis of acousmatic musical works derived from research on auditory cognition. This framework is applied to a detailed analysis of Denis Smalley’s “Wind Chimes”. The dissertation finally asserts that the framework developed for the analysis of acousmatic music has been demonstrated to be effective and it discusses some implications for future research. (For complete abstract open document)