Formal synthesis in post-tonal music

Tonality during the common-practice era carried conventions that ultimately manifested formal schemas. Post-tonal composers’ diverging treatment of form escapes the generality of such schemas, and the relative lack of formal methodology for post-tonal music has left a considerable gap in the literature. When writers do discuss form in post-tonal music, the discourse generally focuses on form within a single composition, a single composer’s output, or at best a narrow school of musical style or philosophy. This thesis posits a concept that I call formal synthesis as a basic principle of form applicable to a broad range of musical styles, genres, and eras. Formal synthesis is a process that combines two or more previous musical passages into one musical passage. This organizational principle covers a broad spectrum of formal possibilities, varying by formal function, structural level, and method. In chapter one, I summarize previous discussions of form in post-tonal music and define the categorizations of formal synthesis. The following chapters refine the concept of formal synthesis through analyses of Steve Reich’s Drumming, Béla Bartók’s Piano Suite op. 14, and Thomas Adès’ Asyla. These composers belong to three different generations and nationalities, and the pieces belong to distinct styles and genres

Synthesising Folk Influences and Contemporary Compositional Techniques in Pursuit of an Original Musical Language

As both a traditional Irish musician and composer, I am always striving to effectively fuse folk music and contemporary compositional techniques together. From a young age, I was immersed in all aspects of Irish folk culture from music to folklore and these early influences have become a fundamental source of inspiration for my works. This research project examines how the syntheses of ethnic music with contemporary techniques, have informed my composition portfolio and culminated in the development of my individual approach, where timbre and folk idioms combine to form a distinctive stylistic genre. Many composers have delved into this area in the past, Seóirse Bodley, Eric Sweeney and Donnacha Dennehy are three Irish composers that I have highlighted as contrasting examples of how this integration of styles has emerged and been established. Throughout the body of this thesis, I explore how a new approach to the juxtaposition of folk music, narrative, structure, harmony, melody, rhythm and timbre relates to the overall stylistic sonic resultant. The accompanying portfolio consists of ten compositions ranging from solo to orchestral and including electronic music. Three original Irish jigs and one Finnish joik (a Sámi folk song), form the basis from which the majority of folk material is extracted. The range of instrumental forces utilised, explores the transformation of the folk tunes in various acoustic guises and with regard to the electronic medium which allows for resynthesis in another contextual framework

Liminal aesthetics : perspectives on harmony and timbre in the music of Olivier Messiaen, Tristan Murail, and Kaija Saariaho.

Harmony and timbre have traditionally been viewed as separate parameters by music scholars and treated as such by composers. Once timbre had been understood scientifically, however, as arising from a fundamental frequency and its overtones sounding at different amplitudes, it became desirable to replicate this structure in music. The composers associated with spectral music, a movement which first emerged in Paris in the 1970s, have enthusiastically explored this closer relationship between harmony and timbre, blurring the distinctions that once existed between these concepts. This thesis examines this new liminal relationship between harmony and timbre, asking how their closer unity has affected the aesthetic decisions made by composers in and around the spectral movement. The thesis takes a perspective which is historical and contextual, tracing this aesthetic shift through representative texts and scores by Olivier Messiaen, Tristan Murail, and Kaija Saariaho

Sydney Conservatorium of Music handbook

1998 handbook for the Sydney Conservatorium of Musi

Sydney Conservatorium of Music handbook

1998 handbook for the Sydney Conservatorium of Musi

Analysis and resynthesis of polyphonic music

This thesis examines applications of Digital Signal Processing to the analysis, transformation, and resynthesis of musical audio. First I give an overview of the human perception of music. I then examine in detail the requirements for a system that can analyse, transcribe, process, and resynthesise monaural polyphonic music. I then describe and compare the possible hardware and software platforms. After this I describe a prototype hybrid system that attempts to carry out these tasks using a method based on additive synthesis. Next I present results from its application to a variety of musical examples, and critically assess its performance and limitations. I then address these issues in the design of a second system based on Gabor wavelets. I conclude by summarising the research and outlining suggestions for future developments