The Conductor as a Compositional Resource: A Categorization and Demonstration of Composer-Specified Functions of the Conductor (Contemporary)

The conductor as a compositional resource is contrasted with the conductor as a resource of performance, governed by tradition and expediency rather than direct compositional choice. The monograph establishes seven categories and eighteen subcategories of composers' explicitly verbalized or notated uses of the conductor as a compositional resource, on the basis of demonstrable patterns of usage in compositions. The seven categories reflect the compositional treatment of the role in relation to cuing, control, electronic sounds, other conductors, limitations on the role, exchange of the role with that of performers, and dissociation of gestures and movement from sound. Specific examples are drawn from seventy-seven compositions, published and unpublished, by fifty-six composers to illustrate the dimensions within each category and subcategory. The conclusion discusses implications of this new compositional option for conductors and composers of contemporary music.

Name thesis:degree_name

D.M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Munn, Debra Zae

• Music

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8521845

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/70841