Aspects of continuity and closure in three ‘broken consort' compositions.
- Submitting institution
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University of York
: A - A - Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies : A - A - Music
- Output identifier
- 67124735
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This output comprises three compositions: _Pansori_ (viola, piano), _Against the Shadows II_ (bass clarinet, piano), and _Awakening Night_ (flute, viola, harp) – with recordings from live, streamed, or studio performances. Each work asks interrelated questions about i) writing chamber music using ‘broken consorts’, ii) aspects of continuity and iii) ‘closure’: a re-evaluation of the ‘coda’ in contemporary music.
The ‘broken consort’, once an anomaly, has with the piano and soloist line-up obtained a ubiquity that disguises the timbral problematics of highly contrasting methods of sound production within a small ensemble. A common response is to project independent instrumental ‘roles’ (cf. Birtwistle). The composer’s research question leads to the opposite: holding the musical emphasis in balance across the ensemble and allowing equality to emerge between the parts. Since there are few moments where any instrument becomes a significant soloist, it is the combined instrumental textures and timbres that create an understanding of structure. The juxtaposition of many distinct, short sections necessitates a consideration of how fragmentation may be avoided, and continuity maintained. In part, the consistent use of unified instrumental timbre-textures inevitably supports cohesion, but continuity is actively projected through the use of elements that repeat across section boundaries (such as a pulsation), or higher hierarchical features such as broad, structural repetitions that use limited pitch areas. These act as signals that help bind large sections together: for example, _Awakening Night_, b.43, which presents a figure that unites the first half of the work. The final question is concerned with the performativity of closure: not just the conclusion of a compositional process but an audible coming-to-a-close; a ‘coda’. Following the example of the endings of Mahler’s late works, each of these pieces seeks explicitly to thematicise closure by means of the repetition of new material and, in particular, stasis and silence.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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