Masters composition portfolio

This portfolio will consist of three related parts. The first will part will be an essay in which I will consider listening in relation to ‘acousmatic’ music looking at some of the ideas and concepts that have been influential in the development of my own approach to listening over the course of this masters. I will also attempt to justify this approach with reference to ecological acoustics and the importance of the role of source recognition to listener interpretation, and as a result composition. As will become evident from this study two dominant influences that have emerged in relation to my compositional listening practice over the course of this masters, are the, to some extent contradictory, positions occupied by the soundscape and musique concrete traditions. I will try and reconcile elements of these influences by arguing that Denis Smalley’s recent ‘space-form’ approach to listening and composition can act as a middle ground providing an approach that takes account of the referential and indicative aspects of sounds and the role played by ‘source-bonding’, whilst at the same considering relations at the intrinsic level of ‘spectromorphology’. Following on from this, the second part of this portfolio will consist of a more direct commentary on my own compositions, which I will relate to the discussion in the first half. I will therefore talk about specific elements of my compositions in light of my earlier considerations, directly applying some of the terms and concepts that were introduced in the first part to aspects of my own work. The final, and third part will be recordings of the compositions themselves.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

MMus(R)

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Glasgow

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Peter Alexander

• ML Literature of music
• MT Musical instruction and study
• M Music

Language dc:language

en