Sound and style: a compositional exploration of appropriated source material: portfolio of compositions and exegesis

Abstract

This submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, consists of a portfolio of original compositions supported by an exegesis. The materials are presented in three parts contained in two volumes; Part A in Volume One, and Parts B and C in Volume Two. Part A, the portfolio, contains the following five works: Moto Fuoco, a suite of four pieces for symphony orchestra; Requiem Lux Aeternam, four movements for chamber choir, strings, percussion and electronics; Love, Lust, Life and Loss: Choyce Madrigals on Intimately Procured Poetic Texts, a suite of four songs for a cappella vocal quartet; Five Characteristic Songs for Baritone and Guitar; and the Bonetti Motets Project, for a cappella chamber choir. Part B, the exegesis, explains the conceptual and aesthetic framework for the compositions, followed by chapters on the compositional methods and techniques adopted for individual works. Part C contains sound recordings of the works presented on two CDs. The aim of this project has been to appropriate a diverse range of styles and sounds as source materials that form part of the compositions. These source materials have originated from forms of contemporary popular music such as hip-hop and rap, jazz, drum and bass, electronic dance music, and heavy metal; as well as earlier styles of art music such as medieval plainsong, the Renaissance madrigal genre, and characteristics of Baroque and Renaissance style. As part of this process, it was important that these source materials were adapted to fit with stylistic conventions of the instrumental or vocal performance medium for which the compositions were written, yet still retain aspects of their aural and/or stylistic characteristics in this new context. This highlighted a creative and methodological tension that has been explored and resolved through the generation of the composition works.