Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemOrganisational and Behavioural Norms that Promote or Diminish Wellbeing in Orchestral Musicians( 2023-07)Abstract An experienced orchestral musician employed Self-Determination Theory as a framework to investigate why musicians seek orchestral occupation and asked what it is that motivates and sustains them throughout the work life cycle. The orchestral workplace is well- established in the literature as hierarchical and controlling and the task driven nature of orchestral performance is technically demanding with few opportunities for individual artistic exploration. Quantitative and qualitative data created twelve self-report profiles from players across a variety of job designations in the wind, brass and string sections of an orchestra. This orchestra, the OSO, worked within a cooperative business model for 20 years from its inception and now operates within a corporate organisational structure. These twelve musicians believed themselves fortunate, and had embraced orchestral life willingly, not as a second best to solo or chamber music, but for the depth of emotional expression, and the beauty and shared experience of the orchestral canon. The study supports previous research that found an orchestral occupation aligns with well-integrated and highly valued life goals. However, high demand and low control co-exist in the workplace and an organisational culture of negative feedback and ineffective policies and procedures stimulated unresolved conflict and compliance reactance in interpersonal relationships. Working within the corporate business model, many of the musicians found themselves excluded from the decision-making with siloed communication across levels of the company. This effectively blocked and exacerbated unhealthy situations out of the control of the musicians and created situational triggers in the social-contextual environment that negatively impacted the social gradient and psychological and physical health of the musicians.
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ItemToward a Practical Rediscovery of the Art of 19th-Century Preluding: A Horn Playing Perspective( 2023-04)This thesis explores and recreates the nineteenth-century art of preluding, with a focus on the horn virtuoso, Jacques-Francois Gallay (1795-1864) and his works. When attending a concert of western classical music today, certain formalities are taken for granted – that the music one expects to hear are those pieces listed in the program or that the performers know exactly what notes they are about to play. Musical conventions of the nineteenth century called for a diametrically opposed approach from performers: concerts began with an improvised (or semi-improvised) prelude, and programs of pre-composed repertoire were often woven together by improvised transition passages. In this way, performers asserted their status as creative individuals – most performers in the nineteenth century were also, to some extent, composers. Horn players today rarely incorporate preluding into their performances. This project puts forward arguments for exploring improvisation in a historically informed context. The research is informed by a practice-led framework. This comprises an exploration of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century treatises on preluding, as well as contemporary literature on improvisation; a practical investigation of Gallay’s unaccompanied works; and the presentation of a 60-minute recital including composed repertoire linked by improvised preludes. This research highlights that incorporating improvisatory elements into horn players’ private practice and public performance offers the performer benefits: a deepened understanding of the score; a more thorough understanding of harmony; and an increased engagement with one’s audience. This project encourages the discovery of new perspectives in the area of historically informed performance on the horn.
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Item‘RESILIENCE’ AND EVERYDAY LIFE AS ‘TRAUMA’: LEARNING LESSONS FOR GROWTH THROUGH USING MUSIC( 2023-02)In the subfield of sociomusicology, traditional approaches to understanding music use in everyday life have focused on use in specific and isolated cases. For instance, in Tia DeNora’s foundational text, Music in Everyday Life (2000), theoretical explanation of the interplay of these cases is lacking. This thesis proposes a new theoretical framework and model that expands on this approach to include a more holistic explanation of music use that builds on interdisciplinary and specific perspectives of resilience and everyday life as trauma. I argue that these new perspectives, utilising the theory of posttraumatic growth, can fill this gap and explain music use in everyday life as a process of ‘learning lessons for growth’, thus contributing new analytical approaches to sociomusicology. Besides DeNora’s text, the interdisciplinary works specific to this thesis are from David Chandler and Mark Epstein from the fields of global politics and psychology respectively. The particular music that is analysed to demonstrate the framework are pop songs from a recent Billboard ‘Global 200’ chart and a classical song cycle, ‘Narrow Sea’, recently composed by Caroline Shaw. Also considered in these analyses are music videos and social media.
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ItemRubato in Scriabin’s 24 Preludes Op. 11: The Score and Piano Roll Recordings( 2022)The Twenty-Four Preludes Op. 11 of Alexander Scriabin, written over a period of eight years between 1888 and 1896, are a quintessential representation of the composer’s first period of composition. This collection of pieces presents to modern day pianists the challenge of conceiving an interpretation representative of the freer performing culture of Scriabin’s time. In performing the Twenty-Four Preludes Op. 11, performers of the work should give recognition to the score as a communicator of the composer’s rubato style. Within the current literature, studies have thoroughly documented Scriabin’s performing style, focusing particularly on his unique approach to rubato through the analysis of his recordings; however, research has largely ignored the role of the composer’s score markings and indications as directions for rubato. This study aims to explore Scriabin’s use of score directions to convey rubato through a concurrent investigation of his recordings of Preludes Nos. 1, 2, 13 and 14 and the written music. Findings evidence a correlation between Scriabin’s performance of rubato and the different markings and indications in the score, which, aside from his tempo directions, are not necessarily associated with tempo modification. The results of this study provide a framework that performers may use to inform their interpretation of the Twenty-Four Preludes Op. 11, as well as other Scriabin works. This thesis serves as part of a component worth 25% in compliment to larger performance exam worth 75%.
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ItemFolio of Compositions( 2022)Drawing inspiration from the constant, internal movement of the human body, to the hum of cityscapes and stillness of the natural world, this portfolio seeks to provide the listener with a range of unique experiences which encourage them to hear everyday sounds in new ways. The resulting portfolio encompasses works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, and electronics. It takes inspiration from the author's experience as a medical doctor, with stethoscope recordings providing a window into the human body, while binaural recordings of the lived environment provide an immersive and meditative listening experience. It seeks to build upon the foundations set by the pioneers of Musique concrete and challenge conventional notions of music and sound.
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ItemThe 24 Monographs of Frederick Septimus Kelly( 2022)This thesis presents an analysis of Frederick Septimus Kelly’s 24 Monographs for piano in light of the composer’s private writings. Through a comparative analysis between the Monographs and other piano works, connections are drawn between Kelly and the composers who impacted him. These connections are illuminated by Kelly’s diaries, which are held at the National Library of Australia. In the past, these have revealed much about the composer’s life for biographers, but this analysis has sought from them a better understanding of Kelly’s music. Among its findings are clues to the meaning of the title ‘Monograph’, a regimented harmonic ordering of the 24 pieces and a strong connection to the piano writing of Johannes Brahms.
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ItemAn Analysis of Gideon Klein’s Music: Renewing Perspectives on a ‘Holocaust Composer’( 2022)Gideon Klein (1919-1945) was a Czech-Jewish pianist and composer born in Prerov. He later moved to Prague to pursue his high school and tertiary musical education until the invasion and annexation of Czechoslovakia, and establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by Nazi Germany. His education was halted, mere months into his tertiary studies, and his performance career was curtailed to private performances, until he was deported to Theresienstadt on 4 December 1941, where he was interned and later moved to Furstengrube and murdered in late-January 1945. Musicologists and students have tended to focus on the final period of Klein’s life, often dismissing the works prior to his internment. Investigations often analyse specific works, interrogating them in isolation. My research takes a broader stance on Klein and his works, investigating his entire corpus demonstrating that his compositional development was continuous throughout his life. Klein’s identity has been reconstructed by scholars within a ‘resistance’ narrative. I seek to renew perspectives on Klein by offering new interpretations of compositional choices. I reveal previously overlooked continuities across Klein’s oeuvre and present him as a composer consistently interested in pursuing modernist techniques across his tragically short life.
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ItemStaying in tune: Exploring the perspectives of support workers in a long-term, community-based music therapy group( 2022)Music therapists are often assisted by support workers in their work with people with disabilities to enable access and participation during sessions. Support workers provide vital services to people with disabilities over a wide range of personal care tasks, including facilitating access to activities such as music therapy in the community. How music therapists interact and collaborate with this vital workforce, is key to the optimal provision of music therapy services. Music therapists have long been assisted by other workers in a variety of contexts and the literature has often reflected music therapists’ perspectives of working with assistants. However, scant attention has been given to the perspectives of the support worker in music therapy. Additionally, there is little literature addressing the community-based context. This master’s research project stems from my private practice group work for people with intellectual disabilities, which operates in a community venue. Support workers have assisted since its inception in 1998 and have always been engaged externally from the program, funded by the group member with disability. With the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2016 in Australia, access to and funding for support workers has increased and they have an important role in providing community access and participation. However, this burgeoning workforce has no set standards of training and experience, thus it is important to explore how best to collaborate with support workers who are variously trained and resourced. This research project aimed to explore the lived experiences of six support workers who provided assistance to group members with disability at a long-term music therapy group. Employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methods, rich data from semi-structured interviews revealed key aspects of this experience: that Support workers value information and guidance; that there is a reciprocal impact of the music therapy session on the support worker and of the support worker on the music therapy session; support workers can experience a sense of belonging and an inclusive culture; and support workers have and develop a range of skills sets as a result of long term involvement in group music therapy in the community. The findings provided a rich picture of the support worker's role in a community-based music therapy context. As support workers felt a sense of belonging and inclusion in the group, this expands the notion of inclusion in this music therapy group developed exclusively for people with disability in the community. Collaboration with and support through information and guidance to the support worker, drawing on their knowledge, skills, and abilities may provide a sense of inclusion and community within the session. This may create an optimal experience of staying in tune for all the group members at music therapy.
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ItemStory and Sound: Developing a narrative-led approach within Large Ensemble Jazz Composition( 2022)Music and storytelling have always held a significant relationship with each other. From antiquity to the 21st century, composers have employed the two mediums to produce context and meaning, and to express social and cultural identities within their work. One such composer was Richard Wagner, whose narrative-led compositional approach – and especially his use of leitmotif – left a lasting effect on not only 20th and 21st century classical music, but on music within other mediums (film, television, and video games). My research aims to further explore the relationship between music and storytelling, with a focus on its application in jazz composition. By unpacking thematic compositional devices employed by composers from different mediums, I have developed techniques and concepts to adapt and employ such devices in a contemporary large ensemble jazz context. Notably, I place a special focus on the concept of leitmotif and the various ways it can be employed in different contexts. Additionally, to assist in investigating more abstract meaning-making compositional techniques, I utilise an analytical framework derived from the conceptual metaphor theory of philosopher Mark Johnson, and the ecological approach to the perception of musical meaning by musicologist Eric Clarke. The techniques and insights derived from this practical and theoretical research are demonstrated in the composition of a new work using Dan Simmons’ 1989 novel Hyperion as the literary source material, in which the novel’s narrative will be “retold” in a multi movement suite for large jazz ensemble.
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ItemAn Exploration of Duo Singing in Virtual Reality and Videoconferencing( 2023)This thesis explored the key considerations of duo singing in virtual reality (VR) and videoconferencing (VC). The ability for musicians to interact in person has been highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing performers online in search of suitable collaboration platforms. While VR has re-emerged an alternative visual choice for musical collaboration, limited research exists that examines its affordances alongside VC for communication in networked music performance contexts. The purpose of this study was to explore the participant experience of singing with a partner in a VR and VC setting. A mixed-methods study was designed involving ten participants from Australia and the United States with access to the internet and a VR headset. Following a singing session in both settings, a semi-structured interview was conducted alongside an online questionnaire, used to supplement the interview. Thematic analysis of interview data identified five key themes across both mediums: presence, performance, affect, usability, and usefulness. Interviews revealed the influence of the physical and virtual environmental setting on participants’ emotional states, linked to their sense of self-awareness and singing confidence. Participants reported feeling more copresent and less inhibited in the VR environment, helping contribute to a sense of fun and creativity. However, a lack of accurate facial expressions in the VR avatar made timing and synchronisation more difficult for musical performance, alongside challenges related to physical comfort and body ownership. In the VC setting, greater accuracy of visual cues assisted with performance, although on-screen visibility provoked feelings of self-consciousness for less experienced singers. Ultimately, survey results indicated a stronger sense of connection and natural discussion in the VR setting, as well as an overwhelming preference among all participants for singing in the VR setting. Interviews indicating this result as the combination of factors such as being in a virtual environment with another performer, reduced inhibition from being an avatar and the overall novelty of the VR experience. Together, the findings suggest that the current suitability of platforms for online singing is contextuality dependent. VR may be suited for casual musical collaboration less confident singers, while VC may be ideal when the accuracy of facial cues is more important. Findings support prior research on the importance of visual cues in networked music performance while expanding knowledge into the use of VR platforms. These results help broaden our understanding of the influence of self-awareness on inhibition, while contributing to knowledge on visual communication in online music collaborations.