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Full-Text Articles in Composition
Ways Of Silence And Other Absences In The Music Of George Crumb, Jean-Patrick Besingrand
Ways Of Silence And Other Absences In The Music Of George Crumb, Jean-Patrick Besingrand
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The music of American composer George Crumb (1929-2022) is undeniably singular in the musical landscape. His aesthetic is often characterized by his exploration of timbre, his graphic scores, his use of quotation, his theatricality, and his interest in unusual instruments. This study proposes to take a different approach to Crumb’s aesthetic through the spectrum of silences and other absences. The concept of silence will be broken down and reconstructed through the Japanese concept of ma (間) and of empty spaces. Multiple types of silences and absences will be considered throughout this dissertation, expanding thus the concept of silence not only …
Play Makes Perfect: An Exploration Of Game And Play Elements In Composition And Performance, Gabrielle Chou
Play Makes Perfect: An Exploration Of Game And Play Elements In Composition And Performance, Gabrielle Chou
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This dissertation aims to explore the intersection of play and games in Western classical music and define a new category of pieces, “ludic pieces,” which contain play structures and game mechanics within their composition. Starting with surveying perspectives in ludology and ludomusicology, including those by Roger Caillois, Johan Huizinga, Jesper Juul, Katie Salen, and Eric Zimmerman, I will examine various definitions of a “game” and what its qualifying aspects are. I will then turn to music and consider pieces that interact with play and games without containing game structures, including examples of musical humor and pieces which evoke the imagery …
Identity And Complexity In Chaya Czernowin’S Ina, Eliav Kohl
Identity And Complexity In Chaya Czernowin’S Ina, Eliav Kohl
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Chaya Czernowin’s Ina (1988) for solo bass flute and six pre-recorded flute parts, unfolds the drama of a protagonist battling her conflicting inner voices. Czernowin interrogates the concept of identity and asks the questions—what is an identity? To what extent can a particular identity endure its own complexities? My analysis demonstrates how the growing levels of musical complexity represent the growing independence of Ina’s multiple inner voices, and how musical simplicity enables their unification. I present two oppositional forces: an intertwining force, and a splitting force. The intertwining force acts very much like a gravitational force in the musical domain—it …