Regenerating interest in traditional musical styles through East/West compositions : a model for an integrated university music curriculum in Malaysia

Hashim, Mohd Nasir (2002) Regenerating interest in traditional musical styles through East/West compositions : a model for an integrated university music curriculum in Malaysia. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Abstract

The research that constitutes this thesis has several interrelated goals.  In the broader context, it aims to contribute towards the fulfilment of a cultural policy in Malaysia towards unity between Malay, Chinese and Indian elements in society through the arts.  More specifically, it responds to a problem that interest in the traditional musics of Malaysia is in decline, as the younger generations increasingly prefer pop music with a western flavour.  The central part of the thesis involves the creation of a new kind of composition for Malaysia, East/West music, which is integral to a new curriculum now being implemented at the University of Malaya:  its aims are to attract young students back to the arts and to propagate a spirit of intercultural cooperation.

In the early part of the thesis, the background to the main issues is examined, and relevant aspects of traditional Malaysian music introduced.  A method is then developed for integrating the various traditional musics into a new compositional style with western influences and impetus, including a modernised notation.  Four examples of original East/West compositions are included in the thesis, together with a description of how and why they were created, the scores and supporting compact discs.

To facilitate a fuller understanding of the compositions and the traditional instruments employed in them, the eastern ensemble styles they incorporate are described and documented, either in the main text or in the appendices.  Digital samples of all the instruments have been carefully collected and are included on the supporting compact discs;  there is the discussion of how timbers of particular instruments can be blended, and how the extensive inventory of sounds can be utilised both as a library resource for students on university courses and as material for future compositional work.

The last major element in the thesis is a detailed description of the new music curriculum that is being implemented under the author’s direction at the University of Malaya.

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