Creating both text and music for oratorios: portfolio of compositions and exegesis.

Abstract

This composition portfolio and exegesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, contains original creative works supported by a comprehensive commentary. The submission consists of one volume in two parts containing primary materials of original libretti and musical scores, and the secondary component of an explanatory exegesis. Part A includes the major oratorio work, called Bushfire Oratorio, as well as two small oratorio studies or minor works, called Bright Star: Estelle and Lionheart: The Threshold. Part B is comprised of an exegesis, which provides a commentary on the genesis, libretti writing and composition approaches, limitations and elucidations of the original works in the portfolio. Appendices follow the exegesis and include a list of sources, compact discs of sound recordings, and several other compositions relevant to the research. The purpose of the research was to investigate composing both the text and the music for oratorios linked by the archetypal literary form of the hero’s journey. The research method combined the creative roles of librettist and composer and, in doing so, facilitated a deeper understanding of the genre today. The disciplines of creative writing and musical composition overlap in this work and it is the convergence of these distinct trajectories in oratorio that was the focus of the research.