Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses

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    Music and the ordinary listener: music appreciation and the media in England, 1918-1939
    Prictor, Megan Joy ( 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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    Lineages of Garcia-Marchesi and other traditional Italian vocal pedagogy in Australia, 1850-1950
    Williams, Beth Mary ( 2002-09)
    Operatic and vocal history in Australia has received, since the 1960s, increasing attention from a body of researchers who have documented Australian performance traditions. Pedagogical traditions in Australia have been largely neglected however, and it is hoped that this thesis will contribute to ongoing studies in this area of Australian musical scholarship. Vocal pedagogy in Australia is largely derived from European models, yet many vocal teachers in Australia of the present day have little or no idea of the origins of their technique. After mapping pedagogical lineages of vocal teachers throughout Australia from 1850 to 1950, an attempt has been made to document and analyse the history of vocal pedagogy in Australia, particularly the influence of the vocal technique originating from the teaching of Manuel Garcia and his pupil Mathilde Marchesi, and other teachers trained in traditional Italian vocal technique. The thesis demonstrates that pedagogical lineages have special meaning and relevance in the historical study of vocal pedagogy and performance practice. Although the research maintains as its primary focus, the dissemination and influence of the traditional Italian and Garcia-Marchesi technique in vocal pedagogy in Australia, considerable effort has been undertaken to allow as complex as possible an understanding of the broader vocal pedagogical climate in musical centres of Australia.
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    The markers of interplay between the music therapist and the medically fragile newborn infant
    SHOEMARK, HELEN ( 2007)
    An emergent qualitative design provided the scaffolding for the micro-analysis of video footage and subsequent video-cued discussion with four reviewers. The collated material was used to prepare thick descriptions which were annotated for infant and therapist behaviours. A further thematic analysis of these behaviours provided 14 sets of behaviours used by the medically fragile newborn infants to indicate availability for interplay and 20 sets of behaviours used by the therapist in response to the infant. The interaction of these categorised behaviours provided seven markers of interplay between the music therapist and the medically fragile newborn infant.
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    Where heaven and earth meet : the buklog of the Subanen in Zamboanga Peninsula, Western Mindanao, the Philippines
    Berdon-Georsua, Racquel ( 2004-02)
    This thesis examines the music of the Subanen people of the Zamboanga Peninsula in western Mindanao, the Philippines through an investigation of their most important ceremony, the Buklog. Esteemed as the most elaborate and expensive socio-religious festival of the Subanen, the Buklog derives its name from a wooden structure holding the dancing platform called buklog. The Buklog is generally celebrated to propitiate the gods in some specific event in which the entire Subanen community participates. The occasion may be a thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, for healing, or for prestige for a new leader or a home comer. A Buklog may also be held as a memorial for the recent dead to reinstate their souls to heaven or as a fulfilment of a ritual vow or debt to restore order and salvation to creation after natural disasters, calamities and epidemics. The thesis is based on a detailed analysis of a Buklog celebration held in Dampalan, Pagadian City in May 2002. It describes the social life and cosmological ordering principles of Subanen society in general, identifies the common principles underlying the Buklog ritual and the myth expressly associated with it, and relates the sound and social structures and organisation found in the special performative and musical processes in the whole Buklog complex. This study of the Buklog begins by presenting the context of Subanen society. Contained in Chapters 1, 2 and 3, this background bears upon understanding of the Buklog as the aural embodiment of Subanen social and cosmological organisation. Chapter 1 describes the specific concepts that are central to Subanen cosmological system and worldview. Chapter 2 charts the organising principles related to the domains that are considered more practical, real and concrete in Subanen social life and organisation. Chapter 3 explores the relationship between the natural, social and mythical worlds of the Subanen through the general coherence of the symbols and meanings depicted in the Buklog myths and rituals. The analysis that occupies Chapters 4, 5 and 6 elucidates the connections between the structural features of Subanen social and cosmological systems and the contextual-performative framework of the Buklog in which meaningful and material processes are ordered. Chapter 4 focuses on the preparation of the Buklog's sacred implements and ritual space. Chapter 5 illustrates the customary characteristics and the practical sequences of the attendant rituals, and the intentions, effects or transformations for performing them. Chapter 6 analyses the three special performative processes of the Buklog: the Giloy (vocal genre), Gbat (dance), and Guni Gusharan (instrumental genre) and shows the common underlying principles between these genres and Subanen cosmological and social life. Together, the three chapters describe the total performance contexts of an actual Buklog that I witnessed in Dampalan in 2002 by examining the different symbolism and meanings of the various ritual paraphernalia, actions, sounds, visions and use of music in the preparation and performance of these rituals. The final chapter provides the summary and conclusion.
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    From sound effect to sound design: the development of a dramaturgical model for sound design in Rebecca – the musical
    Purcell, Kevin J. ( 2005-01)
    This dissertation presents a notional model, as a taxonomic system, to describe dramaturgical elements of sound design in musicals. Developed in tandem with a prototype virtual environment interface - termed ‘The MaxStage’ - and authored in the Max/MSP software, the thesis uses Rebecca - the musical as a case study to test the efficacy of the model. Rebecca - the musical is in the form of a Broadway-style musical. Consisting of two Acts, the work is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name. Whereas the technical art and practice of sound design for large-scale Musicals is increasingly well documented, the art form of sound design as a dramaturgical element in its own right, has received less attention. Analyses of the rôle of Sound-Designers in the theatre have tended to perpetuate the concept that sound design is commensurate with sound reinforcement. This tendency, however, delimits the creative potential of sound design to inform and elucidate the drama, as an extension of the musical score. A potentially more fluid interrelationship between music and sound design is postulated, as observed in the work of Sound-Designers for interactive computer games. As an electronic form of non-linear theatre, it is argued that new methodologies in adaptive-audio techniques, increasingly evident in computer gaming design, are relevant in defining an invigorated dramaturgy for sound design within the stage theatrical context.
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    Music therapy's relevance in a cancer hospital researched through a constructivist lens
    O'CALLAGHAN, CLARE ( 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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    The experience of group music therapy for six bereaved adolescents
    Skewes, Katrina ( 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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    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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    Issues in the critical reception of Ethel Smyth’s Mass and first four operas in England and Germany
    Kertesz, Elizabeth Jane ( 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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    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)