Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Repurposing material and idiom in new music

Keeffe, David ( 2018)

A folio of nine works is presented, which explore three significant aspects of the composer’s art. Firstly, “musical language” itself is used as an expressive device, and resulting expectations and associations are intended to stimulate the listener. Secondly, recognition of the significant cultural lineage of western music has encouraged the reuse and repurposing of established and even traditional elements beyond their usual contexts. Finally, the works explore the effectiveness of “musification” where non-musical cues, such as dramatic narrative and visual metaphors, are represented in musical terms. The works are mostly for larger ensembles, such as orchestra or wind ensemble, but the central work of the folio is a song cycle setting poems by the Melbourne-born poet and writer Walter J Turner.