Musical Ambiguity in Analysis and Composition: Problems of Pattern, Value, Form, and Structure

This paper investigates different facets of musical ambiguity, defined as the ability of a musical work or passage to be understood in more than one sense. Chapter One introduces a model for analytical use and applies this model to Steve Reich's Piano Phase and Johannes Ockeghem's Requiem. Chapter Two applies concepts from Gestalt Theory and Kubik's "internal rhythms" to polyphony and variations from the mbira tradition of Zimbabwe. Chapter Three combines integral serialism's techniques of parametric structuring and Saussurean linguistics to develop a theory of internal musical "meaning" which is then used to generate formal archetypes of parametric polyphony in examples by Palestrina, Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern, and Berio. Chapter Four includes a critique of the roles played by musical ambiguity in the music theories of Schenker, Meyer, and Narmour and offers an alternative analysis of Haydn's Sonata no. 39 which features non-hierarchical representation of details within, and a network model of relationships across, the first nine phrases. Chapter Five defines two forms of structural ambiguity, diachronic and synchronic recomposition, within a discussion of "open works" and "open systems" which draws on the work of Umberto Eco and Jacques Derrida. The conceptual relationship of diachronic composition to Aurel Stroe's "morphogenetic music" and Marc Leman's "adaptive dynamics" is traced, and the concept is used in analysis of a passage from Berlioz' Requiem. The relationship of synchronic recomposition and literary irony is described, and the concept is used in an analysis of Webern's orchestration of Bach's Ricercare a 6. The author's composition BARK for two pianos and tape is examined regarding techniques of diachronic and synchronic recomposition within a serial structure. The Afterword discusses the relevance of the proposed analytical models to the impact of technological changes in sound reproduction on musical listening during the last century.

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

• Krause, Drew Stafford

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tipei, Sever

• Music

Identifier

(UMI)AAI9329088

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72443