Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 30
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Folio of Compositions
    Maticevska, Lilijana ( 2023-04)
    Master of Music Composition - Folio of Compositions Four original compositions composed between 2021 and 2022 comprising of: - [looped square symbol], for orchestra. Recording duration 11 minutes and 28 seconds - You Can Call Me CV01, for contrabassoon. Recording duration 8 minutes and 50 seconds - 8 Preludes to the Deepsea Metro, for piano. Recording durations of each movement: 1 minute and 4 seconds, 1 minute and 35 seconds, 2 minutes and 28 seconds, 1 minute and 13 seconds, 1 minute and 8 seconds, 1 minute and 28 seconds, 2 minutes and 33 seconds, 1 minute and 17 seconds - The Second Sound of the Future (Overture and Act 1), for triple chamber ocarina in C, double bell bass trombone, Hatsune Miku and electronics. Recording duration 29 minutes and 17 seconds.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    “A Thousand Twangling Instruments”: Towards a Functional View of Inner Music
    Chadwick, Remy ( 2023)
    In the words of Shakespeare’s character Caliban, music can sometimes take the form of inward “humming” about the ears – an experience without external sonic stimulus. However, there are currently too many distinct scholarly terms referring to this experience. This thesis calls for a functional view of inner music to resolve definitional issues in the literature. To address the problem, I explore the topic from psychological and philosophical perspectives, and from the interdisciplinary intersection of these disciplines. My study outlines the available research and investigates an emerging hypothesis in the literature: the music memory corpus. Applying this hypothesis to musical expectations, music recollections, and inner compositions, I propose a functional, interdisciplinary conception of inner music. Such a conception may enlighten the nature of music, which in turn holds significance for theoretical and practical domains in which music is applied. This thesis concludes with key questions for the future study of the topic.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Phenomenological mechanics — an intercultural musical perspective: an inquiry into the experience of directional movement in intercultural music, applying time and motion concepts from physics
    Ward, Michael Francis ( 2022)
    This study is an inquiry into the experience of “vectorial” (i.e., directional) motion in music. It proposes a conceptual model for the experience of directional motion. It then applies the model interculturally, examining the relationship between Western and Eastern linear and cyclic cultural representations of time and corresponding compositional organisation. In its conclusion, it proposes geometrical models of Western and Eastern musical forms as helix and vortex, respectively, presenting musical works that exemplify these concepts. The major research question of the dissertation is “What is the nature of the experience of directional movement in music, and how can this experience be conceptually represented?”. It examines this question via the principal methodological process of a thought experiment. There are four research areas — music as phenomenological mechanics, composition as intercultural metaphor, applications to musical performance and analysis, and newly imagined instruments and novel compositional processes — and 12 research propositions — three primary, three secondary (two exegetical), two tertiary, and four artefactual. The primary research propositions examine the experience of vectorial motion in music, proposing a phenomenologically determined, hierarchically organised, multi-parameter, form-void vector field model. Referencing this model, the dissertation proposes that the experience of directional motion in music can be compared to principles from mechanics, albeit at a purely phenomenological level — a proposition that gives rise to the concept of phenomenological mechanics. In the application of the concept of phenomenological mechanics to composition, the dissertation proposes a novel characterisation of musical development as a phenomenological representation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics — as the phenomenological “organisation of sound” from low to high potential energy states, and from chaos to order. The secondary research propositions present the idea that the experience of musical motion differs in Western and Eastern cultural contexts in accordance with contrasting Western linear and Eastern cyclic cultural representations of time — metaphorically apparent in their respective musical forms — and in accordance with the dualism and monism that characterise form-void representations and their paradigms more broadly. These secondary research propositions thus apply the concept of music as phenomenological mechanics to the concept of composition as intercultural metaphor. The dissertation proposes that, whereas Western music develops vectorially and teleologically to achieve an overall linear form, Eastern music develops non-vectorially and non-teleologically to achieve an overall cyclic form — a process consistent with the concept of intensification, as coined by UK ethnomusicologist Martin Clayton to describe “non-teleological large-scale processes" proceeding by "a process of expansion”. As an application of the research to the performance and analysis of music, the dissertation’s tertiary research propositions thus propose the concept of Western and Eastern musical forms as helix and vortex. Referencing the musical time concepts of Zuckerkandl, Clayton, Kramer, Cage and Fraser, and the musical improvisation concepts of Feisst, the exegesis research propositions and discussion analyse the major and minor artefacts — respectively, a composition and an improvisation, for a 12-drum harmonic tabla set and two variations of modified guitar — as exemplifications of the concepts contained in the written work.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Folio of Compositions
    Tempany, Katharine Ingrid ( 2020)
    Monsoon Folio 1. Metal Downpour for large brass and percussion ensembles 10.00 2. Cloud Journey for Orchestra 8.00 3. The Wind Above the Ocean for alto flute and cello 7.00 4. Samudra Manthan for saxophone quartet, piano and three percussion 18.18 5. After the Rain piano solo 7.58 The folio works reflect a process of exploration across cultures, and through layers of subjectivity. As an entirety, the folio represents the trajectory of monsoon winds across the Indian Ocean towards Australia.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Folio of Compositions
    Pickering, Christopher James ( 2020)
    A Folio of Compositions for the Master of Music (Composition), by Chris Pickering, completed between 2018-2020. List of compositions: 1. The Straightened Arrow - For Orchestra (11:49) 2. Ceiling of Clouds - For Alto Saxophone, Acoustic Guitar, and Harmonium (5:30) 3. Sous Le Tourbillon - Suite for Piano (24:52) 4. Splinters of Diamond Light - For Orchestra (11:26) 5. Lesser Heroes - For Flugelhorn/Trumpet in C, Trombone, and Electric Guitar (8:31) The initial creative concept behind the folio was to investigate how the composer’s background as a songwriter with a contemporary pop influence could be explored within the expanded palette of contemporary classical composition techniques. The intention in undertaking larger-scale and more adventurous compositions was to explore how the composer’s sense of form and structure through pop songwriting – and the prominence of melody – could be applied within the extended durations and timbral textures of writing for larger groups, in more nuanced pieces of chamber music, and the challenges in additionally mastering scoring and orchestration techniques for various instruments.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Folio of works
    Lyon, May Catherine ( 2019)
    Master of Music Composition - Folio of Compositions Six original compositions, written from 2016 to 2019, comprising of: - 'On the Inside' for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano. Recording duration of 9 minutes 34 seconds - 'Ode to Damascus' for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Recording duration of 9 minutes 15 seconds - 'The Fate of Phaethon' for soprano, horn, and string quartet. Recording duration of 15 minutes 51 seconds - 'Echo' for soprano and horn. Video recording duration of 4 minutes three seconds - 'Phosphorus' for solo percussion. Video recording duration of 10 minutes 26 seconds - 'Ignition' for orchestra. Recording duration of 9 minutes 47 seconds
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    "Speaking in tongues": an investigation into a compositional practice informed by intercultural exploration
    Dargaville, Timothy ( 2019)
    There is an existing context for contemporary composers engaging in intercultural exploration through creative work, both in Australia and internationally. Taking a practice-led research approach, this study by composer Tim Dargaville investigates the ways that ceremonial forms and ritual practices can inform the creation of new music and the development of a personal compositional language. A folio of five compositions for solo instrument, string quartet, chamber ensembles and orchestra, with scores and recordings will be accompanied by a dissertation that aims to contextualise the process of creation, locating the development of the works within a broader understanding of approaches to intercultural exploration undertaken by Australian and international contemporary composers.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The pursuit of originality: aspects of unity and individuality through compositional synthesis
    Alvaro, Lorenzo ( 2018)
    This thesis forms case studies using compositions by its author Lorenzo Alvaro as a catalyst for understanding how originality is manifested in the consistent re-enactment of borrowing and self-borrowing. Understanding how compositions ‘come together’ through ‘Synthesis’ oppose long-debated theories of originality being an innate power giving rise to the notion of ‘genius’. More recent scholarship acknowledge borrowing and collaboration as a means for originality, and based on this, the thesis argues that true originality is nothing more than an ideal.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Folio of compositions
    Riley, Daniel ( 2018)
    Folio of 6 compositions including orchestral, choral and chamber music. The works traverse a stylistic spectrum, moving freely between the simple and the complex, synthesising liturgical choral traditions with instrumental modernism, resulting in a unique approach to harmonic and rhythmic materials.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Folio of compositions
    Bragg, Jake ( 2018)
    The works within this portfolio represent the culmination of my Master of Music candidature at the University of Melbourne. Commencing in February 2016, my two years of study have allowed for a meticulous examination of my compositional practice, resulting in a widening of how I approach writing and a greater focus upon my chosen musical language.