Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemThe first sixty years of music at St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, c. 1887-1947( 1983)The choral foundation of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne is unique in Australia and one of very few outside the British Isles. The tradition of the Daily Office sung by a professional choir of boys and men has long existed in English cathedrals and collegiate chapels, but the transference of the tradition, even to British colonies in the nineteenth century, was anything but automatic. The revival of English choral music which had followed in the wake of the Oxford Movement earlier in the century must have provided considerable impetus at the time, but musical foundations were less easily set up in new places than maintained in the old ones. St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne was opened for worship on January 22, 1891 with a new organ partly installed, an organist newly arrived from England, and a surpliced choir seated in the chancel. The choral foundation had been conceived as an integral part of the cathedral from the start, for it was the wish of the Chapter that the cathedral use "conform as far as possible to what is understood as cathedral use in England". It is a mark of the confidence of early Melbourne that, before the building was finished, an organist could be appointed and a choir formed, the revenue for which would have to come from general funds not yet available. There were no endowed canonries and no endowments for a choir school. There was also no resident cathedral community, no residential canons, in fact no one who lived on the site at all. The Bishop's palace and the deanery were both some distance away, the precentor lived away and, since the school was not a boarding school, there were no masters living in the close. All of these things were to make the daily choral worship more difficult than in a traditionally appointed cathedral with close and canons houses, deanery and palace and perhaps even accommodation for the lay clerks. Such difficulties were the price to be paid for a new cathedral on a central site in a city area already established. The object of this study is to examine the background to, and early development of, the musical foundation of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne up to the end of Dr.A.E.Floyd's time there as organist in 1947. The study is based largely on accounts in The Church of England Messenger, a limited number of cathedral records, and two A.B.C. radio broadcasts on A.E.Floyd. These have been supplemented to a small extent with conversations with surviving musical associates of Floyd. A fuller account must await less restricted access to the cathedral records and the availability of Dr. Floyd's papers and library which have recently passed into the hands of his son, Dr. John Floyd, of Mornington. (From Introduction)
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ItemTeaching the flute to young children using an approach based on the music educational principles of Zoltán Kodály( 1986)Recent developments in flute design have made it possible for children to begin tuition on the flute at the age of six or seven, some three or four years earlier than was previously possible. An examination of the flute teaching methods currently being used in Australia reveals however that existing methods of teaching do not adequately fulfil the musical and psychological needs of such young children. This dissertation sets out to demonstrate that the music educational principles of Hungarian composer, scholar and teacher, Zoltán Kodály, provide an excellent starting point for the development of a method designed specifically to meet the needs of young children. The bulk of this study is an examination of areas of importance to those teaching the flute to young children, and in the penultimate chapter, a Kodály-based flute method is outlined to demonstrate in practical terms how such a method may be structured.
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ItemAnalytical and aesthetic concepts in the work of Leonard B. Meyer( 1987)This thesis argues that Meyer’s analytical and aesthetic thought are interdependent. Essential terms used in developing the theory of Emotion and Meaning in Music belong to the realm of private language. It is through the correlation of these terms with specific musical structures that the theory becomes accessible to verification. In his later analyses, put forward in The Rhythmic Structure of Music and Explaining Music, Meyer eliminates specific references to perceptual events. Instead he locates qualities produced by perception (for example ‘motion’ or ‘incompleteness’) in their intentional object, a musical structure. Aesthetic presuppositions remain in effect though descriptive language takes on the appearance of objectivity. Significant evidence of this is found in Meyer’s rejection of organicism and reappraisal of melody. An exposition of Meyer’s theories of rhythmic grouping and linear structure is included in the thesis for the purpose of clarifying his analytical methodology and use of graphic symbols. His concept of linear structure is distinguished from that of Heinrich Schenker. A comparison of their analyses of two works clearly demonstrates the consequences of Meyer’s aesthetic ideas, in that the ‘intentional object’ of his analyses is quite distinct from Schenker’s organically-unified structure. A final chapter discusses the ramifications of Meyer’s work for further discussions of the interrelationship between aesthetic ideas and analytical practices.