Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemBeyond incantation: paths to the interpretation of André Jolivet's Sonata for flute and piano( 2013)French composer André Jolivet (1905-1974) contributed several important works to the flute repertoire, constantly pushing the limits of the instrument’s technical and expressive capabilities yet maintaining a musical language distinct from that of French compositional trends in the mid-twentieth century. His two concertos and sonata written between 1949 and 1965 are seldom performed, with flautists preferring to engage with the programmatic pre-1945 works Cinq incantations pour flûte seule and Chant de Linos. This thesis adopts the methodology of practice-based research, and seeks to facilitate an informed and engaging performance of Jolivet’s 1958 work, the Sonata for flute and piano through contextual study and analysis.
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ItemOh the humanity! Humour and performance in a contemporary art practice( 2013)This Masters project discusses humour and performance through the use and presentation of a number of video and photographic artworks. Humour can be derived from the ability to imaginatively juxtapose imagery and ideas to create unexpected relationships and outcomes. Art and creativity can function in a similar manner. This MFA seeks to examine and develop a contemporary art practice, through contrasting imagery and ideas in a performative and humourous way. The project draws parallels between the strategies and functions of humour and art, exploring the possible relationships between the two. The thesis explores questions arising from the artworks produced resulting from an investigation of specific historical and contemporary artworks and a discourse around performance. Through consideration of art historical examples, some linages and links to ways of conceiving, thinking and discussing performance and humour are made. The research acknowledges the problems of taste and subjectivity as it applies to humour, in concert with art. The project reflects upon the role of the artist, his motivations and takes excursions into formal and material concerns of photography and performance to clarify their relevance and significance to contemporary art practice and this project. Themes and ideas brought to the surface are used as foils, something to defend or push against and experiment with. They sometimes act as shadowy motivations that assist in the production of artwork. These themes include mans’ relationship to the landscape, personal histories, digital and analogue photography in the age of technological convergence, the image, self and representation, notions of personhood, contemporary performance and art. Through discussion and uncovering the toil of artwork and ideas engaged with, the humanity of the project is revealed.
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ItemDon Giovanni's avenging women( 2013)A common misconception surrounds the role of the female characters in the opera Don Giovanni, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787 to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Today’s performance practice often excludes the duet “Per queste tue manine,” between Leporello and Zerlina. This thesis explores the implications of reinstating this important duet and its associated scene as both highlight a significant transfer of dominance from male to female. Its reinclusion sheds new light on the strength of the female characters in Don Giovanni. Issues of domestic violence (Zerlina and Masetto), abandonment (Elvira) and passionate revenge (Anna) are analysed to expose the shortcomings of productions that omit “Per queste tue manine” with its transfer of power from men to the women. These women are not neurotic, forgettable, or dependant. Rather, all possess a strong sense of self and like Giovanni are ambitious. Peter Sellars’s and Jose Montes-Basquer’s productions (both from 1991) offer contrasting dramatic interpretations of femininity in Don Giovanni, and are analysed to propound feminist viewpoints on characterisation. Dramatic intention is discussed as a necessary performance tool which, when applied, aids the understanding of characterisation for an audience. Theatre-great Konstantin Stanislavski’s techniques provide scope for the exploration of feminist characterisation in performance. The words of Aristotle, Sylvia Plath, and Sophocles offer literary connections between powerful femininity, abandonment, and the art of tragedy, which align with the feminist conclusions that are drawn here. The viewpoint of powerful femininity with which this thesis is aligned is that of Susan Gilbert and Sandra Gubar, as outlined in their feminist literary criticism The Mad Woman in the Attic (1979). Gilbert and Gubar advocate that readers and audiences be clearly presented with the influential attitudes of fictional women in literature; a concept that is brought to light in this thesis through an exploration of Elvira’s, Zerlina’s, and Anna’s attitudes and behaviours. Giovanni’s three women creates an immensely powerful feminine unit, which is exhaustively explored throughout the four chapters that comprise the thesis. Through an examination of the musical score, recordings, DVD performances, program notes, and musical and non-musical literature, all supporting the author’s personal engagement with the music of Zerlina, this thesis uncovers the powerful femininity often hidden within the characterisations of Mozart’s operatic creations. In Hebrew, the name Zerlina means ‘beautiful dawn’; Don Giovanni, guided by Zerlina, and when interpreted in the manner suggested, may too head towards its own innovative and beautiful dawn.