La noción del aparato sonoro en la obra de tres artistas colombianos

En este trabajo se propone realizar un análisis del elemento sonoro en las prácticas de tres artistas contemporáneos colombianos -- Esta búsqueda se realiza desde una mirada filosófica que indaga sobre cómo el sonido conecta el cuerpo opaco interior del ser con el mundo exterior, tratando y se sustenta en la forma en la que los artistas utilizan el sonido en sus obras, teniendo como punto de partida esa pretensión de alcances ontológicos: sonido que define al ser y su relación con el mundo y da lugar al interrogante sobre cuál es la resonancia de ese mundo interior en la creación de la obra artística -- La idea fundamental de esta búsqueda está sustentada en la existencia de los cambios en la sensibilidad implicados en la irrupción del aparato sonoro en la cotidianidad -- El sustento referencial se acerca de manera directa a plantear la existencia de un ser sonoro, permeado desde antes de nacer por la onda vibratoria; un ser producto de fuerzas históricas moldeadas en la resonancia -- Se utiliza el concepto de acusmática para proponer un régimen de lo sonoro, allí donde de manera directa se insertan todos los dispositivos que al aparecer interrogan y jalonan la percepción

A graduate piano recital : an analytical study

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a historical and musical analysis that illustrates characteristic features of musical compositions from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth century styles. The structural analysis of the pieces reveal the evolution in the musical expression regarding line, texture, form, and the technical skills employed by the composers through polyphonic, homophonic, and twelve-tone procedures. The works of this recital represent four different styles: The prelude and fugue among the important forms of the Baroque style; the sonata embodying the principles of balance and unity of the Classical style; the etude and waltz as representative of the Romantic style; and the nocturne as an illustration of the transformation of the melody, harmony, and rhythm in the music of the 20thcentury.

O género sonata em Portugal: subsídios para o estudo do repertório português para tecla de 1750 a 1807

O repertório português para instrumentos de tecla da segunda metade do século XVIII encontra-se disperso em bibliotecas e arquivos, em Portugal e no estrangeiro, essencialmente sob a forma de manuscrito. Neste repertório, a sonata emerge como um género musical de grande importância. De facto, as duas coleções de sonatas publicadas na época constituem as únicas obras para instrumentos de tecla impressas em Portugal durante todo esse século. O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar um inventário do repertório português composto para instrumentos de tecla durante o período acima descrito, focando a respectiva descrição formal e as características composicionais das sonatas em geral, e na produção de cada compositor português em particular, bem como as suas biografias e perfis. De forma a estudar a sonata portuguesa e o seu desenvolvimento no período compreendido entre 1750–1807, foi realizado um levantamento das obras portuguesas existentes para instrumentos de tecla deste período. Este levantamento foi acompanhado por pesquisas biográficas sobre cada compositor e por uma abordagem analítica baseada na Teoria da Sonata de James Hepokoski e Warren Darcy. A divisão deste período em dois subperíodos demonstra variações significativas na evolução da sonata portuguesa. O estudo deste repertório demonstra que a sonata é o género musical predominante e define o modelo da sonata portuguesa deste período, para além de caracterizar o desenvolvimento da sonata em Portugal em paralelo com o desenvolvimento deste género musical em Itália e Espanha; ABSTRACT: The Sonata Genre in Portugal: Contributions for the Study of the Portuguese Keyboard Repertory from 1750 to 1807 The extant Portuguese repertory of the second half of the eighteenth century for keyboard instruments is dispersed in libraries and archives, in Portugal and abroad, mainly in manuscript form. In that repertory, the sonata emerges as a genre of great importance. Indeed, the two collections of sonatas published at the time are the only works for keyboard instruments printed in Portugal throughout the entire century. The aim of the present work is to make an inventory of the Portuguese repertory written for keyboard instruments during the above-mentioned period, with a focus on its formal description and the compositional characteristics of the sonatas in general and in the production of each Portuguese composer in particular, in addition to the biographies and profiles of the latter. In order to study the Portuguese sonata and its development in the period comprised between 1750–1807, a survey of the existing Portuguese works for keyboard instruments from that period was done. This survey was followed by a research on the biography of each composer and an analytic approach based on the Sonata Theory by James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy. Dividing this period in two sub periods showed significant variations on the evolution of the Portuguese sonata. The study of this repertory shows that the sonata is the predominant musical genre within it and identifies the Portuguese sonata model of this period, besides characterizing the development of the sonata in Portugal in parallel with the development of the same genre in Italy and Spain.

Eco-structure data forms : classification of data analysis using perceived design affordances for musical outcomes

This paper explores a method of comparative analysis and classification of data through perceived design affordances. Included is discussion about the musical potential of data forms that are derived through eco-structural analysis of musical features inherent in audio recordings of natural sounds. A system of classification of these forms is proposed based on their structural contours. The classifications include four primitive types; steady, iterative, unstable and impulse. The classification extends previous taxonomies used to describe the gestural morphology of sound. The methods presented are used to provide compositional support for eco-structuralism.

Musical timbre analysis

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Petr Eben's oratorio Apologia Sokratus (1967) and ballet Curses and Blessings (1983): An interpretative analysis of the symbolism behind the text settings and musical style

The Czech composer Petr Eben (1927-2007) has written music in all genres except symphony, but he is highly recognized for his organ and choral compositions, which are his preferred genres. His vocal works include choral songs and vocal-instrumental works at a wide range of difficulty levels, from simple pedagogical songs to very advanced and technically challenging compositions. This study examines two of Eben‘s vocal-instrumental compositions. The oratorio Apologia Sokratus (1967) is a three-movement work; its libretto is based on Plato‘s Apology of Socrates. The ballet Curses and Blessings (1983) has a libretto compiled from numerous texts from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries. The formal design of the ballet is unusual—a three-movement composition where the first is choral, the second is orchestral, and the third combines the previous two played simultaneously. Eben assembled the libretti for both compositions and they both address the contrasting sides of the human soul, evil and good, and the everlasting fight between them. This unity and contrast is the philosophical foundation for both compositions. The dissertation discusses the multileveled meanings behind the text settings and musical style of the oratorio and ballet in analyses focusing on the text, melodic and harmonic construction, and symbolism. Additional brief analyses of other vocal and vocal-instrumental compositions by Eben establish the ground for the examination of the oratorio and ballet and for understanding features of the composer‘s musical style. While the oratorio Apologia Sokratus was discussed in short articles in the 1970s, the ballet Curses and Blessings has never previously been addressed within Eben scholarship. The dissertation examines the significant features of Eben‘s music. His melodic style incorporates influences as diverse as Gregorian chant and folk tunes on the one hand, and modern vocal techniques such as Sprechgesang and vocal aleatoricism on the other. His harmonic language includes bitonality and polytonality, used to augment the tonal legacy of earlier times, together with elements of pitch collections and limited serial procedures as well as various secundal and quartal harmonic sonorities derived from them. His music features the vibrant rhythms of folk music, and incorporates other folk devices like ostinato, repetitive patterns, and improvisation.

Zoroastrianism, Cosmology, and Chaos: A Detailed Analysis of the Musical Composition, Druj Aeterni

Druj Aeterni is a large chamber ensemble piece for flute, clarinet, French horn, two trumpets, piano, two percussionists, string quintet, and electric bass. My composition integrates three intellectual pursuits and interests, ancient mythology, cosmology, and mathematics. The title of the piece uses Latin and the language of the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism, and comments upon a philosophical perspective based in string theory. I abstract the cosmological implications of string theory, apply them to the terminology and theology of Zoroastrianism, and then structure the composition in consideration of a possible reconciliation. The analysis that follows incorporates analytical techniques similar to David Cope’s style of Vectoral Analysis.

Generation in context : an exploratory method for musical enquiry

This paper discusses a method, Generation in Context, for interrogating theories of music analysis and music perception. Given an analytic theory, the method consists of creating a generative process that implements the theory in reverse. Instead of using the theory to create analyses from scores, the theory is used to generate scores from analyses. Subjective evaluation of the quality of the musical output provides a mechanism for testing the theory in a contextually robust fashion. The method is exploratory, meaning that in addition to testing extant theories it provides a general mechanism for generating new theoretical insights. We outline our initial explorations in the use of generative processes for music research, and we discuss how generative processes provide evidence as to the veracity of theories about how music is experienced, with insights into how these theories may be improved and, concurrently, provide new techniques for music creation. We conclude that Generation in Context will help reveal new perspectives on our understanding of music.

View from a bridge : what makes a musical city

The attention paid by the British music press in 1976 to the release of The Saints first single “I’m Stranded” was the trigger for a commercial and academic interest in the Brisbane music scene which still has significant energy. In 2007, Brisbane was identifed by Billboard Magazine as a “hot spot” of independent music. A place to watch. Someone turned a torch on this town, had a quick look, moved on. But this town has always had music in it. Some of it made by me. So, I’m taking this connection of mine, and working it into a contextual historical analysis of the creative lives of Brisbane musicians. I will be interviewing a number of Brisbane musicians. These interviews have begun, and will continue to be be conducted in 2011/2012. I will ask questions and pursue memories that will encompass family, teenage years, siblings, the suburbs, the city, venues, television and radio; but then widen to welcome the river, the hills and mountains, foes and friends, beliefs and death. The wider research will be a contextual historical analysis of the creative lives of Brisbane musicians. It will explore the changing nature of their work practices over time and will consider the notion, among other factors, of ‘place’ in both their creative practice and their creative output. It will also examine how the presence of the practitioners and their work is seen to contribute to the cultural life of the city and the creative lives of its citizens into the future. This paper offers an analysis of this last notion: how does this city see its music-makers? In addition to the interviews, over 300 Brisbane musicians were surveyed in September 2009 as part of a QUT-initiated recorded music event (BIGJAM). Their responses will inform the production of this paper.

Space in Musical Semiosis : An Abductive Theory of the Musical Composition Process

Space in musical semiosis is a study of musical meaning, spatiality and composition. Earlier studies on musical composition have not adequately treated the problems of musical signification. Here, composition is considered an epitomic process of musical signification. Hence the core problems of composition theory are core problems of musical semiotics. The study employs a framework of naturalist pragmatism, based on C. S. Peirce’s philosophy. It operates on concepts such as subject, experience, mind and inquiry, and incorporates relevant ideas of Aristotle, Peirce and John Dewey into a synthetic view of esthetic, practic, and semiotic for the benefit of grasping musical signification process as a case of semiosis in general. Based on expert accounts, music is depicted as real, communicative, representational, useful, embodied and non-arbitrary. These describe how music and the musical composition process are mental processes. Peirce’s theories are combined with current morphological theories of cognition into a view of mind, in which space is central. This requires an analysis of space, and the acceptance of a relativist understanding of spatiality. This approach to signification suggests that mental processes are spatially embodied, by virtue of hard facts of the world, literal representations of objects, as well as primary and complex metaphors each sharing identities of spatial structures. Consequently, music and the musical composition process are spatially embodied. Composing music appears as a process of constructing metaphors—as a praxis of shaping and reshaping features of sound, representable from simple quality dimensions to complex domains. In principle, any conceptual space, metaphorical or literal, may set off and steer elaboration, depending on the practical bearings on the habits of feeling, thinking and action, induced in musical communication. In this sense, it is evident that music helps us to reorganize our habits of feeling, thinking, and action. These habits, in turn, constitute our existence. The combination of Peirce and morphological approaches to cognition serves well for understanding musical and general signification. It appears both possible and worthwhile to address a variety of issues central to musicological inquiry in the framework of naturalist pragmatism. The study may also contribute to the development of Peircean semiotics.

Theory and Analysis of Classic Heavy Metal Harmony

This thesis explores melodic and harmonic features of heavy metal, and while doing so, explores various methods of music analysis; their applicability and limitations regarding the study of heavy metal music. The study is built on three general hypotheses according to which 1) acoustic characteristics play a significant role for chord constructing in heavy metal, 2) heavy metal has strong ties and similarities with other Western musical styles, and 3) theories and analytical methods of Western art music may be applied to heavy metal. It seems evident that in heavy metal some chord structures appear far more frequently than others. It is suggested here that the fundamental reason for this is the use of guitar distortion effect. Subsequently, theories as to how and under what principles heavy metal is constructed need to be put under discussion; analytical models regarding the classification of consonance and dissonance and chord categorization are here revised to meet the common practices of this music. It is evident that heavy metal is not an isolated style of music; it is seen here as a cultural fusion of various musical styles. Moreover, it is suggested that the theoretical background to the construction of Western music and its analysis can offer invaluable insights to heavy metal. However, the analytical methods need to be reformed to some extent to meet the characteristics of the music. This reformation includes an accommodation of linear and functional theories that has been found rather rarely in music theory and musicology.