Composition portfolio & written commentary

Abstract

Interpreting a scored musical composition entails the composer’s relinquishing some control over the piece to the performer. In ‘open’ scores the composer relinquishes most control and in effect allows the performer to collaborate in the compositional process; in traditional scores the composer specifies as much as possible in order to leave little to no room for the performer to use personal judgment regarding interpretation. The principal focus of this portfolio will be to examine, through different scores and compositional techniques, a possible available spectrum between these two types of scores and to define more clearly different options presenting varying degrees of control over a score. The initial stimulus for this research stems from a fascination with alternative compositional scenarios that consequentially aid the creation of incidental musical materials that are not specified or scored. These moments resemble an improvisation in their immediacy of execution and erratic sound characteristics. Hence, it is this quality that many of the ‘open’ elements in these portfolio pieces try to extract, but not exclusively so. The thesis will also dwell on elements of performance psychology in attempts to better define the mechanisms at work in different interpretation/improvisation scenarios, as well as refer to non-classical musical traditions as an example of alternative didactic systems leading towards a non-score based, quasiimprovisational practice. Finally, each portfolio composition will be described in detail with a particular emphasis on its erratic sound-qualities, its ‘open’ element, or both.

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