Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemFootprints: the assimilation of extra-Classical elements in a compositional language( 2015)Footprints: The Assimilation Of Extra-Classical Elements In A Compositional Language consists of a folio of compositions in two volumes, and a dissertation. Both the folio and the dissertation explore a range of extra-Classical elements that are assimilated into my artistic output. The dissertation also investigates the musical genesis of each element, and how their assimilation creates my own compositional language. A preliminary discussion defines applicable terms, and the differences between borrowing and stylistic allusion, before moving into a broad literature review. An array of extra-Classical influences are investigated, along with their role in my compositional process. The focus then moves to a progressive analysis of my orchestral work Ithaka. The integration of extra-Classical elements within the work is examined, followed by a similar investigation into my chamber works Organica and Concertino. An analysis of the presence of extra-Classical influences in my other folio works concludes the investigation. An overall conclusion revises the diverse elements present in my creative output, how they interact to form my unique compositional language, and what directions the assimilation of these elements might take in the future.
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ItemSpanish music and its representations in London (1878-1930): from the exotic to the modern( 2013)This thesis argues that the landscape of Spanish music in London evolved between 1878 and 1930 from Romantic exotic constructions to a recognition and appreciation of Spanish musical nationalism, which reflected some of the concerns of post-war musical modernism in a newly cosmopolitan context. This transformation will be traced through the study of specific protagonists and events that contributed to the English reception of Spanish music during this period. While the development of Spanish nationalist music and its important intersections with French music have been studied in numerous texts, little has been written on the English engagement with Spanish music. A key event in defining musical and theatrical Spain in the latter part of the nineteenth century came from France in the guise of George Bizet's Carmen (1875, London 1878). The opera, and its many parodies and theatrical re-workings in London, provides a foundation for discussions of Spanishness in late nineteenth-century England, and influenced the reception of Pablo Sarasate and Isaac Albéniz. In the Edwardian era, closer ties between England and Spain, increased travel possibilities and specialist writers rekindled enthusiasm for Spanish music. The anti- German currents of the pre-war years and the influence of French writers and musicians set the scene for the further English appreciation of Spanish music in the aftermath of the death of Enrique Granados in 1916. The English success of the Ballets Russes production of The Three-Cornered Hat (1919), with music by Manuel de Falla, marked the broader acceptance of Spanish musical nationalism. With the critical recognition of Falla's neoclassical works of the 1920s Spanish music achieved further acknowledgement in England from cosmopolitan critics. At the same time the Spanish guitar was seen to embody many aspects of post-war Spanish music, and through the concerts of Andrés Segovia established itself in a new guise in London. By 1930, the recognition and popularity of Spanish music indicated the extent to which it had integrated and evolved beyond the Romantic stereotypes prevalent half a century earlier.
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ItemVerdi's exceptional women: Giuseppina Strepponi and Teresa Stolz( 2015-05-15)This thesis investigates several of the persistent myths that surround Verdi’s life and career and those of the women with whom he had intimate relationships. Verdi’s self-image as a poor peasant whose success owed nothing to anyone else except his father-in-law, and the unwillingness in the scholarly literature to acknowledge any permanent threat to the unassailable solidarity of his marriage to a saintly wife whose past left no scars, reveal conflicts between public myth and private reality. In addition, the stereotype of the imperiously demanding ‘diva’, when applied to the two women under discussion, is not sustainable on close investigation. This thesis explores Verdi’s professional and personal relationship with exceptional women, focussing on two of the most important women in his life, the singers Giuseppina Strepponi and Teresa Stolz. It demonstrates his shifting power-balance with Giuseppina Strepponi as she sought to retain intellectual self-respect while his success and control increased. It presents a fresh appraisal of Teresa Stolz through examination of her letters from 1871 to 1895 and claims that, far from showing her to be an unintelligent and sometimes malicious gossip as is often stated in the scholarly literature, the letters demonstrate her astute evaluations of operatic performances and her buoyant affection for Verdi. The thesis argues that the two women fulfilled different functions as ‘handmaidens’, the one supporting and enhancing Verdi’s creativity at the beginning of his professional life, the other sustaining his sense of self-worth, at the end of his professional life; that each woman was an essential benefactor without whom Verdi’s career would not have been the same.
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ItemComposition Portfolio( 2014)The research focus of this PhD thesis is the composition of two large-scale musical works. Central to this research is the exploration of how eclecticism, in terms of shifting methods of pitch-organisation, might be used as an expressive, aesthetic and philosophical response to the composition of an opera, and more broadly as the principal means of musical expression in the twenty-first century. To achieve concinnity within an eclectic framework, a limited number of styles or methods of pitch organisation have been used in both works. These are modes, pitch clusters, pitch sets and tonality. The major component of this PhD submission is a folio of two large-scale original works (with attached CD recordings). These are an opera in three acts, The Juniper Passion, and a triple concerto, Convergence for violin, cello, piano and orchestra. The purpose of the dissertation is to provide a background to eclecticism within the context of stylistic pluralism and postmodernism, to address the musical responses to the libretto in terms of character, time and place, and to show how philosophical and aesthetic perspectives have been interpreted and presented musically. The dissertation also provides technical analysis of key extracts from both works. Although there is no philosophical underpinning in the concerto per se, the analysis highlights a consistency in composition methods, especially in the use of the use of pitch clusters and modality
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ItemCreative collaboration in and as contemporary performance practice( 2014)Situated within the practice-led research paradigm, this thesis comprises a folio of recordings of four new works for piano and a dissertation, Creative Collaboration in and as Contemporary Performance Practice. Using the specific examples of the collaborative projects involving myself as performer and four Australian composers, this study integrates artistic practice and qualitative analysis to investigate collaborative creativity in composer–performer dyads working within the contemporary Western art music tradition. Three of the four recorded collaborations are used as case studies in the dissertation. Framed by the contemporary theories of collaborative creativity proposed by Vera John-Steiner and the creative cognition theory developed by Thomas Ward, Steven Smith and Ronald Finke, the discussion aims to provide insight into the creative processes of musical work-realisation and the way collaboration between composers and performers impacts on content-generation, notation, interpretation, and transmission of new musical works. Challenging the apparent schism between the ‘constructive’ and the ‘reproductive’ modes of musical practice characteristic of Western art music, a model of musical work co-construction is proposed, in which the ‘musical work’ is seen as a complex and dialectic interplay between the generative, interpretive, and performative processes that the composer and the performer engage with through a bi-directional feedback loop that exists within the collaborative setting. The study draws on a variety of qualitative research approaches and the method of Thematic Analysis specifically, enabling the identification of key themes through which to conceptualise, interpret and report the results of the research. The rigorous investigation of the collaborative case studies suggests that co-creative engagement between contemporary performers and composers in the process of musical work-realisation significantly enhances artistic outcomes and has important implications for contemporary performance and notational practices, the locus of creativity, and the participatory nature of artistic practice.
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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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ItemSergei Rachmaninoff in Melbourne; a performer's reflection through the twenty-four Preludes Opp, 23 and 32; from Mack Jost to the twenty-first century( 2014)This study concentrates on the performance of the twenty-four Preludes of Sergei Rachmaninoff. It comprises three parts. The first is a combination of a recording of the complete twenty-four Rachmaninoff Preludes. The second is a reflection on some of the performance issues within the Preludes, based upon the interpretative choices taken in this recording. The final part considers the career, writings and philosophies of Melbourne pianist Mack Jost (1918 - 2000) and how Rachmaninoff influenced pianists such as Jost and myself. As an introductory dialogue, the journey and reasons for my own affinity with Rachmaninoff are discussed along with my own unique relationship that has been forged with the Preludes. The reflections on the Preludes are prepared in an analogous style to Jost’s publications and discussions on performance, which are practically and performance based rather than analytical. They primarily reflect the interpretative choices considered in this particular recording, but also contemplate relationships between separate Preludes. Jost was one of the first Australian concert pianists to perform Rachmaninoff regularly in Australia, and was a keen supporter of the composer’s music throughout his life. His use and promotion of Rachmaninoff in both his concert and teaching careers will be examined alongside issues of dissemination of Rachmaninoff in Melbourne since the mid twentieth century. Indeed my recording of both Op.23 and Op.32 is one of the first by an Australian pianist in recent times.
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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.
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ItemMomentum: experiential development in music composition( 2014)Momentum is an experiential, cumulative music composition and blogging project, conducted throughout 2012. For 366 consecutive days I collected and recorded sonic material that comprised musical and non-musical field recordings, intentional and incidental found sounds, snippets of musical works, and improvisations. I then sculpted and layered the recordings utilising a digital audio workstation and an arsenal of audio editing tools. The outcome is a four hour-long sound-art work. I invited contributions to the project, and as a result more than 60 people from all over the world collaborated on Momentum, providing recordings to be included in the project. Momentum was conceived as an exercise in experimental and experiential composition. The project was created sequentially and chronologically, with new musical material being introduced and intermingling always with the existing material at the end of the work. I lived Momentum as I created it; it became a part of my everyday life and the project and my lived experiences influenced one another. The goal in conducting Momentum was to explore cumulative compositional processes via a method of self-imposed disciplined practice. This involved building, over one year, hundreds of micro compositions that were then disassembled and recomposed into one musical work in 12 movements, one for each month of the year. Each completed movement is 15-30 minutes in length. Via a blog and other online platforms my audience were able to engage with both the day-to-day processes and practices involved in the smaller pieces as well as the larger monthly movements as they were completed. Momentum investigates the results of a disciplined and habitual approach to art making; a non traditional and community oriented compositional method which is self-derivative, chronological and directly cumulative. Momentum was created within strict guidelines, via a process whereby each day’s work was partly derived from and informed by the previous day’s work, but where the majority of the creative material was unknown in advance. Momentum examines the role of audience in the creation of a body of work, through transparency of process and by opening this process up to feedback and collaboration. This exegesis is reflective of the process that I used to develop Momentum; the art and research framework grew and developed simultaneously. Momentum has since gone on to encompass a 30 minute album, created cumulatively over one month in Istanbul, a 4 day and night live performance event in the Melbourne Fringe Festival, and an ongoing, online community sound art collective. The work-in-progress was (and remains) accessible via several online sources, and the audio is free to listen to, download and re-purpose within the confines of a Creative Commons License. I continue to invite feedback, comments, audience participation and derivative works via the music site SoundCloud , my blog , email, Facebook , Twitter and other social networking media.
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ItemYou light up my life: a phenomenological study of interpersonal relationships between music therapists and adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities( 2014)This research is an investigation of the lived experiences of music therapists who have established meaningful interpersonal relationships with adult clients with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD). Although music therapists in clinical practice observe the benefits of music therapy for this group of clients, there has only been four research studies conducted since 1990 (Agrotou, 1998; Lee & McFerran, 2012; Oldfield & Adams, 1995; Wigram, 1997). This presents a need to conduct an empirical research study that examines and understands the non-verbal interactions and meaningful interpersonal relationships between music therapists and their adult clients who have PIMD. This qualitative study was informed by phenomenology whereby five pairs of music therapists-clients were invited to participate. Each music therapist was interviewed and asked to describe his/her experience of building the interpersonal relationship with the client. The study also included a video recording of a single music therapy session of each pair. In the last part of the interview, the music therapist watched the video footage with the researcher and identified a meaningful moment. To analyse the interviews, a descriptive phenomenological microanalysis method (McFerran & Grocke, 2007) was used. The results of the interview analysis then informed a subsequent analysis of video footage. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) was used for video analysis, which further resulted in the development of a new video microanalysis method, Interpretative Phenomenological Video Analysis (IPVA). The interview analysis resulted in five distilled essences of individual experiences and a final global essence. The process of establishing interpersonal relationships with an adult with PIMD was described as requiring mutual efforts over time with the context impacting on the quality of relationship. The music therapist’s role in improving psychosocial wellbeing of the client was thought to be significant. The video analysis resulted in five thick descriptions of meaningful moments. A further interpretive analysis was conducted to discover the implicit meanings of each moment to the music therapist, the client, and the pair as were seen and perceived by their music therapists. The classification of meaningful moments suggested by Amir (1992) were utilised for this process. The results indicate that three clients experienced moments of joy and ecstasy, and two clients experienced moments of completion and accomplishment. Three music therapists experienced moments of completion and accomplishment, and two music therapists experienced moments of surprise. On the interpersonal levels, three pairs experienced moments of physical closeness, and two pairs experienced moments of musical intimacy. The findings of the current study provide a fresh perspective about the processes of music therapy with adults with PIMD. The types of moments identified also provide insights into the meaningful moments that lead to psychosocial wellbeing in a long term. Moreover, the current study incorporates descriptions of contemporary practice, that challenge some of the assumptions associated with more conventional approaches to practice with adults with PIMD. Based on these findings, the future direction of music therapy with adults with PIMD is discussed. Improving work conditions of music therapists working in community settings is highlighted as important, and Community Music Therapy is proposed as one approach that might actualise the true meaning of social inclusion and meaningful participation in community for adults with PIMD.