ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
Volume I
Music as Representational Art
Volume II
Awakening
by
Daniel Walker
Doctor of Philosophy in Music
University of California, Los Angeles, 2014
Professor Ian Krouse, Chair
There are two volumes to this dissertation; the first is a monograph, and the second is a musical composition, both of which are described below.
Volume I
Music is a language that can be used to express a vast range of ideas and emotions. It has been part of the human experience since before recorded history, and has established a unique place in our consciousness, and in our hearts by expressing that which words alone cannot express.
My individual interest in the musical language is its use in telling stories, and in particular in the form of composition referred to as program music; music that tells a story on its own without the aid of images, dance or text. The topic of this dissertation follows this line of interest with specific focus on the compositional techniques and creative approach that divide program music across a representational spectrum from literal to abstract. Four paradigms that encompass this spectrum are presented with examples from the orchestral canon to illuminate the paradigm characteristics, and the techniques and creative focus of the music. The paradigms are then used as a prism through which a contemporary case study piece may be examined in detail.
The case study piece, Pied Piper Fantasy, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by John Corigliano (1981), was chosen because it is a late 20th Century work that portrays transparent source material, and for the composer's clarity, and ingenuity in setting the story musically.
Two fundamental limitations apply to this dissertation, and to the music chosen for study. First, the music must speak for itself without the aid of text through spoken narration, or sung lyrics. And second, only orchestral works are considered - chamber music and solo instrumental works are not included. The focus of the dissertation is concentrated on story-telling in the language of music, with the full forces of a symphonic orchestra as its voice.
The composition that accompanies this monograph is a single movement work for orchestra that portrays an end-of-life metamorphosis; a metamorphosis that strips away a lush exterior to set free the purity, and simplicity that lies within.
Volume II
Awakening, is a large scale work for orchestra. It depicts the transition from one form of energy and consciousness to another - from rich experience to simple purity. In my personal view, this is the process that occurs at the end of life, so elements of the piece connect directly to the human experience as life draws to a close.
For the journey out of life, I took inspiration from an aspect of eastern belief called Yamantaka. Yamantaka can be thought of as a deity who guides an individual to the final level of consciousness, and Yamantaka also refers to the pathway itself. This particular deity/pathway is the last step out of the repetitive reincarnation cycle of samsara, and therefore is experienced by individuals who have attained enlightenment.
The piece is divided into three parts:
PART I:
The piece opens with soft breathing surrounded by wispy elements of sound, and suggestions of the life motif. The pitch F# is emphasized through drone effects, and is significant as a subliminal leading tone to G, which is the strongest pitch in Parts II and III.
The life motif is stated by a solo trumpet - a masculine character - which is later taken up in fragments by the strings. The quietness of the opening is slowly transformed through motion textures beginning in the winds and branching out to include the complete orchestra. The motion textures push life forward to a full climatic moment depicting the richness, and density of life experience. As the motion textures trail off Part II begins.
PART II:
Yamantaka appears through an opposing harmonic language derived from the word itself. A nine-pitch scale is used in a way that promotes dissonance and atonality to contrast and, in essence destroy the tonal elements of life in Part I:
Chaotic motion rises up to grinding tutti accents to depict the pain that is part of the transition out of life. The process continues to rise and fall in waves and reaches a second climatic series of accented clusters followed by a simple mantra. The breathing effect from the opening is reintroduced, and becomes weaker as the mantra opens up to the higher registers.
As the breathing draws to a close, a pure tone provides a transition to lifting upward.
PART III:
A bright motion texture changes the mood and begins to lift consciousness into the light. The texture expands and transforms into a rich reflection of the earlier life music. As the light motion texture emerges from the life music, strings reach upward. Piece by piece the motion texture drops away to leave a transparent sound that shimmers motionless in the air. A solo oboe states the life motif, and the piece closes on a pure G major chord - the resolution left subtly incomplete through the final voicing.
