“STARLIGHT SUITE”: A COMPOSITIONAL EXPLORATION OF THE ARGO NAVIS CONSTELLATIONS IN THREE MOVEMENTS

<p>This thesis explores a compositional technique in which stellar constellations are arranged upon musical staves in a variety of iterations to create a basis from which to draw melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material. These raw extrapolations of unaltered notes are then arranged and orchestrated into thematic music for full orchestra, centered around elements from the mythological background behind the constellations used. An accompanying analysis explains the specific applications of this technique within each movement of the work, the significance of each, and the variety of ways in which musical inspiration was drawn from the raw materials. The objective of this work is to expound upon a largely unexplored compositional approach in a way that not only challenges the listener to draw parallels between the visual, aural, and literary elements of the stars, but to do so in a way that is enjoyable to the average concert-goer.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Music

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Music

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Miller, Adam

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Stephen Lias
• Dr. Benjamin Morris
• Dr. Michael Murphy

• Composition
• Music
• Starlight
• Astronomy
• Orchestral
• Suite

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/624

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1703