Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses

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    Beyond barriers: Creating a space for deeper connection between individuals from diverse religious traditions through a dialogic group music therapy process
    Notarangelo, Astrid Danielle ( 2021)
    This project has emerged in response to a community need to create further platforms for interfaith dialogue in Bendigo, a regional city in Victoria, Australia. Community tensions about a new mosque highlighted a need to build stronger relationships amongst the interfaith and wider community. These tensions were at odds with my experiences of creating musical spaces for the expression and exploration of diverse spiritual and religious identity as a music therapist at the local hospital. In these spaces, listening and respect mattered. My close proximity to people with diverse religious perspectives helped me to be more aware of diverse others in the community and of the current tensions. I wanted to see how music could help. An ethnographic approach captured the journey from the institutional context out into the community to engage in a community-based research project, a collaboration with the interfaith community in Bendigo. A cyclic, emergent action research process evolved into a series of focus groups where individual lived experiences of religion and religious rituals were shared, using music as a focus and a support for communication. Eleven collaborators from six different religious traditions in Bendigo came together to take part in a dialogic group music therapy process – musical presentation (Amir, 2012). This process offers a model for listening and engaging in a group. From this process, music playlists, drawings, focus group dialogue and phone interview feedback were generated. This material revealed the strong sense of connection that collaborators felt with others in the group and their enjoyment of coming together to share diverse faith identities in this creative space. The process also highlighted that the vulnerability and challenges that come from engaging in creative processes were valuable and brought new perspectives and growth. The vitality of music as a mode of communication, through which identity, feelings, memory and culture can be explored was highlighted. Collaborators commented on the depth of the experience and the connection to others within a short space of time. Despite the different associations collaborators each had with music, they saw it as helpful in communicating religious identity. Music supported the group to remove some of the usual barriers that existed between them in this new creative space. One of the key statements developed through collaborator feedback was that “This process has the potential to increase understanding, knowledge, and connection in our community”. The project highlights the importance of creating spaces for the exploration and sharing of diverse religious identity. Possibilities for music therapists as advocates, negotiators and community-builders in these kinds of processes are also raised. Engaging in a dialogic group music process highlighted a form of ‘attunement’ between collaborators that related to musical concepts and processes. Music’s capacity to re-conceptualise broader processes and relationships was also highlighted through connecting this project to the concept of ‘community as a harmonic landscape’, as a way of sharing the project with the wider community. Collaborators felt that the process they experienced could act as a ‘stepping stone’ into further creative community action.
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    Exhibiting music: music and international exhibitions in the British Empire, 1879-1890
    Kirby, Sarah ( 2018)
    Between 1879 and 1890 there was barely a year in which an international exhibition was not held somewhere within the British Empire. These monumental events were intended to demonstrate, through comparative and competitive displays, the development of every branch of human endeavour: from industry and manufacturing, to art and design. They were also a massive and literal manifestation of the Victorian obsession with collecting, ordering, and classifying the world and its material contents. Though often considered in scholarly terms of grandiosity—of Victorian monumentalism and Benjamin-esque phantasmagoria—exhibitions were also social events, attended by individual members of the public for both education and entertainment. Music, as a fundamental part of cultural life in the societies that held such events, was prominent at all these exhibitions. This thesis interrogates the role of music at the international exhibitions held in the British Empire during the 1880s, arguing that the musical aspects of these events demonstrate, in microcosm, the broader musical traditions, purposes, arguments, and anxieties of the day. Further, it argues that music in all its forms—whether in performance or displays of related objects, and whether deliberately or inadvertently—was codified, ordered, and all-round ‘exhibited’ within the exhibition-sphere in multiple ways. Exploring thirteen exhibitions held in England, Scotland, Australia and India it traces ideas and trends relating to music and the idea of ‘display’ across the imperial cultural network. This thesis begins with an historical survey of music and exhibitions in London from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the 1880s, analysed through the lens of contemporary discourses around music and concepts of display, and recent museological scholarship on the presentation of musical art in physical space. Arranged thematically rather than chronologically, several broad concepts relating to music at the 1880s exhibitions are then examined. These include a discussion of musical instruments as spectacularised commodities within the phantasmagoric exhibition space, music as both an educational device and a means of entertainment and leisure in line with contemporary theories of rational recreation, and the ways exhibitions created forums for engagement for Western audiences with non-Western musics.
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    Ideals and realities: a study of the life of Franklin Peterson
    Crichton, Ian Kieran ( 2009)
    The purpose of this thesis is to examine the career of the second Ormond Professor of Music in the University of Melbourne, Franklin Peterson (1861-1914, Professor 1901-1914), to reassess his achievements in light of a fuller knowledge of his career, and to assert his place in the development of music as a professionally-oriented discipline at the University. Peterson is a relatively unknown figure in the history of the University of Melbourne, and perceptions of him have been filtered through the prism of the scandal that accompanied the ejection of his predecessor, George W.L. Marshall-Hall, from the Ormond Chair in 1900. Peterson has been characterised as a conservative and reactionary figure, yet his principal achievement was the introduction of performance studies into the music degree, which was taught through the Conservatorium structure established by the University in 1895. Peterson's career prior to the Ormond Chair has never been adequately investigated, and this thesis clarifies his work at the University of Melbourne in light of a fuller knowledge of his writings, associations and activities during the 1880s and 1890s. Peterson's work at the University of Melbourne has implications for the wider history of the professionalization of musicians because he implemented reforms that made the University one of the first such institutions in the British Empire, if not the world, to offer music degrees that included a test of performance ability in the graduation requirements. This investigation follows a methodology based on Magali Sarfatti Larson's sociological analysis of profession. The key concept in this analysis is ‘cognitive exclusiveness,’ which for the purposes of this thesis consists of four interdependent factors: the definition and organization of a body of specialized knowledge, implementation of structures for transmitting and testing the acquisition of this body of specialized knowledge, participation in professional activities and discourse, and the use of knowledge as a tool of market control. Peterson's formation was cosmopolitan, with studies undertaken in his native Scotland, in Germany, and at the University of Oxford. Peterson's earliest activities show an interest in educational work, commencing with his role as organist at Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh, and as a founder of the Edinburgh Bach Society. Prior to his appointment in Melbourne, Peterson's writings included a large number of articles for the Monthly Musical Record and publication of textbooks. Peterson's reforms to the structure and content of the music courses at the University of Melbourne reflected his writings and activities during the 1890s. This thesis advances a new interpretation of Peterson's establishment of the Conservatorium Examinations Board, showing how it resulted in the erosion of influence of other bodies of professional authority, including the Musical Society of Victoria and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Peterson's work at the University of Melbourne established a model for music degrees that remains normative in Australia, and was copied by McGill University in Canada in 1910. His achievement in establishing a performance-based music degree, which was adopted throughout Australia, makes him one of the most influential music pedagogues this country has known.
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    Can copyright cope with music?
    Bunting, Susan Lynette ( 2001)
    The purpose of this dissertation is to consider whether the copyright regime that presently exists in Australia adequately protects different kinds of music. It reviews the history of music and copyright law with particular emphasis on English law as this forms the basis of Australian law. It examines how the courts have handled music under the copyright regime and considers the problems that the history of copyright law present for the protection of improvised and indigenous music. The dissertation concludes that although copyright has problems coping with some kinds of music such as jazz, aleatory music and indigenous music, these problems do not warrant wholesale changes in copyright law. Copyright, while trying to protect all forms of creative works is also trying to protect two mutually exclusive objects, the creator and the public. Nineteenth century developments in copyright gave much greater protection to the creator, but began to lose sight of the other important rationale for copyright, dissemination of information and creation of the public domain. Present day developments are going even further. The balance is changing and the public, and ultimately the creator, is the loser. The question that confronts today's legislators is, should the copyright regime, with its inherent philosophies based on eighteenth and nineteenth century ideas of property and creativity, be retained and simply amended as required, or should it be abandoned altogether. This thesis posits the view that wholesale alteration of copyright law to include improvised music and music which is orally transmitted and collectively composed will not benefit the public. It is not in the best interests of creators who have a right to reasonably freely available information. Nor would it be of benefit to indigenous societies since it would be imposing ideas that might conflict with the creative ideals of those societies.
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    Dreamtime wisdom, modern-time vision: tradition and innovation in the popular band movement of Arnhem Land, Australia
    Corn, Aaron David Samuel ( 2002)
    This thesis presents a detailed study of popular bands from Arnhem Land. It documents the history and scope of their creativity, and attests to the ingenuity and dedication of the musicians and communities who have fostered this regional movement of musical expression. Its specific aim is to establish how concepts and practices which are integral to the social and intellectual foundations of local cultures have influenced the creative approaches of these bands, and have guided the syncretic incorporation of traditional themes, aesthetics and musical materials to their repertoires. Research has been largely guided by direct consultations with musicians and other local commentators from Arnhem Land which have been conducted over a series of field trips to the region and other destinations. It was through these consultations that the regional development of the popular band as a new medium for celebrating and extending profound expressions of the ancestral and of the binding kin relationships between band members became a focal research interest. Popular bands from Arnhem Land have been at the forefront of stimulating and guiding social debate about balancing the continuity of tradition with socio-technological change in their communities since their inception in the mid 1960s. Their activities are predicated on technological and inter-cultural exchange, and the history of their development reveals much about the strategies deployed and challenges met by local peoples in this endeavour. Even so, their activities are still circumscribed by the endemic qualities of their traditional cultural heritage. Song analysis with a particular emphasis on lyrics and form is utilised in this thesis as a principal method for demonstrating traditional influences in their repertoires. Interpretive commentaries provided by musicians in the field and secondary references to relevant ethnographic studies also contribute to its development of a new framework for understanding and appreciating the creativity of these popular bands. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates how musicians in popular bands from Arnhem Land have conducted their creative engagements with new musical media and technologies to intellectualise, advocate and effect the continuity of their own durable traditions.
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    Essential and inevitable ideas: a musico-dramatic analysis of Fritz Hart's 1919 opera "The Fantasticks" op. 35
    Stanke, Steven ( 2010)
    The aim of this thesis is to examine musico-dramatic development and motivic organisation in Fritz Bennicke Hart's seventh opera, "The Fantasticks" op. 35. It examines and comments on Hart's approach to the correlation between musical procedures, and dramatic and textural elements. It argues that Hart created and manipulated motifs that are effective and appropriate to the accompaniment and illustration of dramatic events, character elucidation, interpretation of emotional response, and generation of form. This thesis accompanies critical editions of the full score, piano/vocal score, and orchestra parts, and included a critical commentary. It also accompanies a premiere concert performance of the opera with full orchestra.
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    Composing biographies of four Australian women: feminism, motherhood and music
    GRAHAM, JILLIAN ( 2009)
    This thesis examines the impact of gender, feminism and motherhood on the careers of four Australian composers: Margaret Sutherland (1897–1984), Ann Carr-Boyd (b. 1938), Elena Kats-Chernin (b. 1957) and Katy Abbott (b. 1971). Aspects of the biographies of each of these women are explored, and I situate their narratives within the cultural and musical contexts of their eras, in order to achieve heightened understanding of the ideologies and external influences that have contributed to their choices and experiences. Methodologies derived from feminist biography and oral history/ethnography underpin this study. Theorists who inform this work include Marcia Citron, Daphne de Marneffe, Sherna Gluck, Carolyn Heilbrun, Anne Manne, Ann Oakley, Alessandro Portelli, Adrienne Rich and Robert Stake, along with many others. The demands traditionally placed on women through motherhood and domesticity have led to a lack of time and creative space being available to develop their careers. Thus they have faced significant challenges in gaining public recognition as serious composers. There is a need for biographical analysis of these women’s lives, in order to consider their experiences and the encumbrances they have faced through attempting to combine their creative and mothering roles. Previous scholarship has concentrated more on their compositions than on the women who created them, and the impact of private lives on public lives has not been considered worthy of consideration. Three broad themes are investigated. First, the ways in which each composer’s family background, upbringing and education have impacted on their decision to enter the traditionally male field of composition are explored. The positive influence from family and other mentors, and opportunities for a sound musical education, are factors particularly necessary for aspiring female composers. I argue that all four women have benefited from upbringings in families where education and artistic endeavour have been valued highly. The second theme concerns the extent to which the feminist movement has influenced the women’s lives as composers and mothers, and the levels of frustration, and/or satisfaction or pleasure each has felt in blending motherhood with composition. I contend that all four composers have led feminist lives in the sense that they have exercised agency and a sense of entitlement in choices regarding their domestic and work lives. The three living composers have reaped the benefits of second-wave feminism, but have eschewed complete engagement with its agenda, especially its repudiation of motherhood. They can more readily be identified with the currently evolving third wave of feminism, which advocates women’s freedom to choose how to balance the equally-valued roles of motherhood and the public world of work. I assert that Sutherland was a third-wave prototype, a position that was atypical of her era. The third and final theme comprises an investigation of the ways in which historical and enduring negative attitudes towards women as musical creators have played out in the musical careers in these composers. It is contested that Sutherland experienced greater challenges than her successors in the areas of dissemination, composition for larger forces, and critical reception, but appears to have been more comfortable in promoting her work. The exploration of their careers demonstrates that all four of these creative mothers are well-respected and recognised composers. They are ‘third-wave’ women who have considerably enriched Australia’s musical landscape.