Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemHurdy-gurdy: new articulations( 2016)The purpose of this thesis is to expand existing literature concerning the hurdy-gurdy as a contemporary musical instrument. Notably, it addresses the lack of hurdy-gurdy literature in the context of contemporary composition and performance. Research into this subject has been triggered by the author’s experience as a hurdy-gurdy performer and composer and the importance of investigating and documenting the hurdy-gurdy as an instrument capable of performing well outside the idioms of traditional music. This thesis consists of a collection of new works for hurdy-gurdy and investigation of existing literature including reference to the author’s personal experience as a hurdy-gurdy composer and performer. It will catalogue and systematically document a selection of hurdy-gurdy techniques and extended performance techniques, and demonstrate these within the practical context of new music compositions created by the author. This creative work and technique investigation and documentation is a valuable resource for those seeking deeper practical and academic understanding of the hurdy-gurdy within the context of contemporary music making.
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ItemThe genetic basis of singing ability: a twin study( 2016)Music is a human universal, an integral part of all known human culture. While most people possess the capacity for music perception and production, individual differences in various forms of music abilities are evident in the general population. The diversity in abilities has sparked intense debates regarding the relative importance of nature and nurture in shaping music ability. While in recent years, researchers have begun to explore the genetic basis of music perception abilities, the interrogation of the genetic basis of music production abilities has been relatively scarce. Singing is an ideal paradigm for investigating the genetic basis of music ability; it is a universal, multifaceted music ability that is spontaneously emergent and shaped by formal and informal music learning environments. The present study therefore employed a twin study design to investigate the genetic basis of singing ability and estimate the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors influencing singing ability using a comprehensive set of singing tasks and measures. The study also aimed to identify environmental factors associated with singing ability and examine whether these factors have a genetic component, and whether shared genetic influences might explain the association between singing ability and these factors. The twin study was conducted online using a purpose-built online program Let’s Hear Twins Sing, which enabled twins to participate regardless of their geographical location. The 30 minutes online twin study comprised three singing tasks (vocal pitch-matching, singing a familiar song, and melody imitation), two music perception tasks and a questionnaire on music and singing background. The study took approximately 30 minutes to complete and the study data were captured online in real-time and saved on a server for subsequent analyses. The final sample consisted of 70 monozygotic (55 female; 15 male) and 38 dizygotic (24 female; 7 male; 7 male-female) twin pairs (mean age = 32.4 years), the majority were recruited through the Australian Twin Registry. Univariate genetic modelling revealed that both the objectively-assessed singing ability across all tasks and self-rated singing ability had similarly significant and substantial genetic components (A = 69-72%). Additive genetic influences also contributed significantly to the variation observed in various singing task measures, with moderate to large heritabilities (A = 44-71%), negligible to moderate common environmental (C = 0-37%) and moderate unique environmental (E = 19-40%) influences. Significant moderate to large genetic components were also estimated for environmental variables associated with singing ability: instrumental expertise (A = 68%), years of music training (A = 46%), and public singing engagement (A = 66%). Bivariate genetic analyses revealed that the associations between singing ability and both instrumental expertise and years of music training were mediated significantly by shared additive genetic influences. The novel findings therefore provided preliminary evidence for the role of genes in influencing singing ability and formal music training, as well as a partially shared genetic basis for singing ability and music training. The promising results establish a valuable background that encourages further behavioural and molecular genetic interrogations into the genetic bases of various types of music abilities.
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ItemFolio of Compositions( 2016)Folio of compositions comprising of two orchestral works and three chamber works, composed by Michael Bakrnchev.
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ItemMarjorie Lawrence’s Australian and European troop tours, 1944-1946( 2016)In 1944 While the Australian Army battled Japanese troops in New Guinea and the Allied Nations continued the fight against Axis forces in Europe, a performance of German operatic works sung by Marjorie Lawrence was being cheered on at a remote army base in Australia’s Northern Territory. By 1946 Lawrence was singing the same German repertoire in Berlin to an audience of United States, Russian, French and British Generals accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic. This dissertation aims to answer why an opera singer was chosen to entertain one of the biggest military audiences of World War II in Australia, why an Australian was chosen to sing at the highly diplomatic Berlin concert in 1946, why Lawrence was singing Wagner, Richard Strauss and other German composers’ works to Allied forces at all and on both occasions, why Lawrence sang the repertoire she did.
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ItemFolio of compositions( 2014)A folio of compositions including orchestral, choral and solo instrumental works. The music eschews overtly dramatic structures based on narrative, focusing rather on subtle explorations of colour, harmony and mood, with the concision and detailing of miniature forms as a touchstone.
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ItemFolio of compositions( 2015)Elliott Hughes completed this folio of compositions including works for orchestra, large jazz ensemble, trombone choir and instrumental duo. A distinct voice is created through a hybridity of contemporary classical and jazz styles, building small (sometimes borrowed) musical fragments back into multiple larger structures, conceived to affect body and mind.
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ItemFolio of compositions( 2015)My thesis consists of a folio six musical compositions and subsequent recordings of those compositions amounting to 55 minutes of music. Across my masters candidature I have been focused on developing musical compositions with cohesive and engaging sound worlds and exploring the musical possibilities inherent in placing limits on the compositional process. The folio includes two orchestral pieces for varying orchestral forces, a work for clarinet quartet, a duet for trumpet and trombone, a duet for cello and piano, and a trio for flute, cor anglais and piano.
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ItemFolio of compositions( 2015)This folio of original music compositions includes 4 new works for: quintet (clarinet and string quartet); song cycle (soprano and instrumental septet), chamber symphony; and solo cello.
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ItemMusical identities of young people recovering from mental illness( 2015)This thesis details a Participatory project investigating how and why promoting young people’s musical identities can facilitate their recovery from mental illness. Studies describe how young people use music listening for managing aspects of their mental health across community-based (McFerran & Saarikallio, 2014; Saarikallio & Erkkila, 2007) and mental health settings (Cheong-Clinch, 2013). Music therapy is also articulated as a way to facilitate processes of recovery from mental illness (McCaffrey, Edwards, & Fannon, 2011; Solli, Rolvsjord, & Borg, 2013). Despite growing awareness of the potential of music to support recovery from mental illness, little is known about what conditions actually facilitate growth of musical identity in ways that foster recovery processes. This project aimed to address this gap by investigating what is needed in order to promote young people’s musical identities in ways that facilitate their recovery from mental illness. The intention was to understand both the processes involved and the resources required to facilitate recovery. A Participatory orientation (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008) was chosen to align with the recovery approach (Davidson, Row, Tandora, O'Connell, & Lawless, 2009; Slade, 2009b) of the youth mental health service where this study took place. The Participatory philosophy was also seen as appropriate to the social agenda of the study in seeking to address young people’s access to musical resources to promote their recovery. Eleven young people currently attending the music therapy program at the youth mental health service chose to participate across two emergent cycles of action and reflection. In the first cycle, young people participated in collaborative qualitative interviews exploring how their musical identities changed with experiences of mental illness and recovery. A critical interpretation of Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to gather and analyse the data. The finding from this cycle was a constructed grounded theory that detailed young people’s recovery of musical identity. A second cycle of research emerged from this theory, to explore what community-based resources are needed to further facilitate recovery. This cycle involved mapping young people’s musical needs compared to what was available and possible in the local community. Findings from this study were an identified set of musical needs of young people, and the initiation of the Youth Music Action Group to begin addressing the meeting of these needs through community partnerships and advocacy. Findings from this study indicate that promoting musical identity can facilitate young people’s recovery from mental illness by: contributing to a health-based identity, facilitating meaning-making, and supporting social participation. However, the findings indicate a number of conditions are necessary to facilitate these processes. First, the music therapy theory through which to construct these processes needs to accommodate both the pathology of young people’s expression of musical symptoms as well as acknowledgement of the resource of musical identity for recovery. Second, music therapy needs to be available to support young people’s recovery of musical identity during early stages. Third, community-based music resources need to be available and appropriate to young people immediately following their experience of music therapy. Fourth, modes of research need to expand in order to promote greater democratic participation of young people in ways that promote their equal citizenship. These findings contribute to music therapy and youth mental health knowledge, and can inform future service design.
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ItemCritical reflections on how research design and the attributes of a music program can affect investigations of the psychosocial wellbeing benefits of musical participation in mainstream schools( 2015)This project explores the challenges of investigating the psychosocial wellbeing benefits of musical participation in mainstream schools. For a decade, Australian policy literature has claimed these benefits are to be expected outcomes of all students’ participation in school music programs (Australian Government, 2005). Despite these claims, there is little to no consistent evidence supporting a link between musical participation and psychosocial wellbeing in this context (Grimmett, Rickard, Gill, & Murphy, 2010; Rickard, Bambrick, & Gill, 2012). The reason for this inconsistency has been linked to both the research designs and methods used (Knox Anderson & Rickard, 2007), as well as the nature of musical participation investigated (Darrow, Novak, Swedberg, Horton, & Rice, 2009). Despite the identification of these limitations, researchers have continued to use designs that contain them. This can be attributed to a lack of critical engagement with approaches to research in this field, including assumptions about the efficacy of certain research methods, and the capacity for generic school music programs to promote wellbeing. This lack of critical engagement appears to account for the enduring inconsistency of findings in this area. This thesis aims to address this lack of engagement by critically appraising the research approaches used in two small studies that aimed to demonstrate the psychosocial wellbeing benefits of school-based music programs. This was achieved by undertaking two critical reflection analyses on the methods, designs, and contexts of each study, as well as the attributes of the music programs investigated. The first of these identified a number of important research challenges related to the research methods and designs used. Among other things, these findings challenge the assumption that self-report surveys are a valid way of collecting data from students. The second analysis identified a number of music program attributes that are likely to inhibit the reporting of positive results. For example, findings suggest music education programs are unsuited to promoting psychosocial wellbeing. Based on these findings, this dissertation makes a number of recommendations for the design of future studies in this area. It is argued that research following these recommendations is crucial for this field. This is both to develop a richer understanding of the relationship between music in schools and psychosocial wellbeing, and to produce reliable evidence that is better placed to inform relevant policy. It is further argued that without such evidence, policymakers may continue to make uninformed claims regarding the link between music in schools and psychosocial wellbeing. In turn, this has the potential to destabilise policy support for music in Australian schools. Finally, this thesis calls on researchers in this field, and others, to critically engage with the way that knowledge is created. It is maintained that such engagement is the responsibility of all researchers in the social sciences, and that only when this occurs can we claim the knowledge we generate is meaningful, and serving the communities we investigate.