Mansion: Inner Cosmologies, Thresholds, and Contacts
This dissertation is in two parts. The first is the dissertation essay, which features an analysis of the work Mansion, and the second is the score to the Mansion Cycle, written for the International Contemporary Ensemble between 2009 and 2011. The score is included as an appendix, and consists of five works, which may be performed individually or as a complete cycle. In order of appearance, the works are Prism Path, Altar of Two Serpents, Mansion, Luciform, and Portals Before Dawn. The essay is an investigation of poetic and aesthetic concerns in my compositional practice, as well as an analysis of my composition Mansion, for two alto flutes, percussion, and pre-recorded electronics. Broadly describing the work as an "inner journey", I discuss the relationship of mythological themes to my music and titles, citing examples such as the labyrinth and the trope of the "central structure." I then relate these concepts to my use of form, citing other works in the cycle as points of comparison, and identifying ways in which recurring ideas are elaborated in my body of work. The historical context of my work in "mixed music" is briefly considered, alongside my aesthetic interest in the medium and my choice of musical tools. I then present a concise analysis of the discourse in Mansion, and describe how its language of "thresholds and contrasts" operates on a moment to moment level.
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