Musical Composition

In 1850, after five years of planning, Liszt began composing music for his Italian opera, _Sardanapalo_, after Byron. It was central to his ambition to attain status as a European composer, but he abandoned the project halfway through. La Mara (1911), Humphrey Searle (1954) and others declared the manuscript fragmentary and partially illegible, but in 2016 this verdict was categorically overturned when work began on an edition of what Liszt notated: almost the entirety of Act 1. This article draws on an array of sources – published and unpublished – significantly to update our knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Liszt’s composition and abandonment of _Sardanapalo_. In light of his inconsistently Italianate music and idiosyncratic treatment of the libretto, it also reinterprets Liszt’s mid-century aesthetic orientation, as a confidant of Wagner and would-be pillar of Franz Brendel’s future neudeutsche Schule. By contextualizing key aspects of the uncovered musical score and libretto within Liszt’s mid-century writings on aesthetics, it posits character, declamatory melody and the visuality of the stage as (initially) critical criteria in the communication of a literary narrative, and suggests that Liszt’s impulse towards symphonic poetry may first have been kindled within the aesthetic potential of opera.

As a result of recent publications in the field of music theatre there has been a resurgence of interest in this highly misunderstood art form. This paper discusses the methodology and results from an online survey which investigated emotional responses to orchestration1 and instrumental aesthetics in contemporary music theatre. This report summarises the current literature, demonstrates gaps in the field, and suggests how further research may benefit the development of new music theatre. The research tests the hypothesis that music theatre is accidentally alienating to non-familiar audiences because of its complex musical language and perceived associations with opera and the ever-popular Broadway/West End musical. Since the 1960s, music theatre has been used to express artistic experimentalism in music performance. This paper aims to elucidate the connections between the instrumental and orchestration choices made by music theatre composers and the effects they have on a modern audience to identify key indexes which may indicate the art form’s failure to capture audience imaginations or to engage audiences emotionally. This research indicates that audiences generally have a good perception of instrumentation in music theatre. There is also evidence to support the hypothesis that there is a connection between lack of aesthetic appreciation (the admiration of beauty in art) and negative emotional response. However there remains a gap in our understanding of the abstract nature of music theatre, which some audience members struggle to comprehend or engage with emotionally.

An insurance man, a rocker, a partisan, a deportee, a bandoneonist.... What can such different figures have in common? Very little, you might say, apart from the fact that they are among the main protagonists of "contemporary music", a world from which people generally prefer to keep away because it seems distant, complicated and incomprehensible. But is it really so?
The exciting story proposed in the book intends to bring contemporary music closer to its potential listeners through the stories of people such as Stockhausen, Gershwin, Berio, Xenakis, Takemitsu, Piazzolla or Sofija Gubajdulina who, in their variety, give an idea of the exceptional richness of the musical languages of the 20th and 21st centuries and their closeness to the human condition of our time.

Of the many genres and types of groups young composers learn to write for, orchestra can be especially challenging, requiring both depth and breadth of training. Studies have shown that the practical experience in working with an orchestra is essential to the development of the composer’s craft, and that the score is the primary source of communication between the composer and interpreters, including performers and conductors. Based on the research literature and my extensive experience as a conductor and coach of student composers, I provide suggestions and strategies for teaching and learning to compose for orchestra.

The advancements of technology in the music industry move at a rapid rate. Within the past century, the core industries have evolved into numerous sub cultures and niche employment careers. Throughout these historical developments, certain individuals have undoubtedly been
identified as the seminal mavericks of the industries, bringing forward creative innovations within their fields.

The history of film music has witnessed this same trait during which many composers have been hailed as the seminal individuals of their time. Max Steiner is repeatedly accredited as being the first to synchronize musical elements of score to the visuals (Pratt, 2009), notably in Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack’s King Kong (1933). Bernard Herrmann kickstarted the collaborative approach to composition which led to the iconic Alfred Hitchcock films Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960). Five time academy award
winner John Williams undoubtedly has left his mark on the film music scene, and whose ‘big orchestral sound’ can be found on numerous blockbuster films, such as Schindler's List (1993), Jaws (1975), the Indiana Jones (1981) and the Star Wars (1977) franchise. The 21st
Century has continued to bring forward pioneering individuals within the industry of film music, with one arguably leaving a footprint as large as the others. Hans Zimmer is an internationally renowned film composer, producer and performer, and has built up a celebrity-grade reputation as one of the most influential composers of the 21st Century. Zimmer has scored music for over a hundred films, collaborated with many world class directors and received numerous awards for his compositional works.

With that said, Zimmer’s approach to film scoring production practices have been recognised as having a conventional industrial approach. He is an authority on certain production practices involving the combination of synthesised electronic music with traditional orchestral instruments and he has implemented these techniques into many of his 21st
Century soundtracks. Zimmer’s compositional style is argued as ‘romantic minimalism’, which can be described as a combination of minimalistic romantic musical ideas and the stripping away of musical textures (Wright, 2015). This technique has been demonstrated and
discussed through behind the scenes footage and Zimmer’s online masterclass series (2016).

In the 21st Century, film composers are under continuous pressure to create unique and innovative ideas for every film. Zimmer and his implementation of romantic minimalism has undoubtedly experienced criticism of producing formulaic music. As Zimmer attempts to
ensure diversity in his film scores, the definitive traits of romantic minimalism are harder to identify. Therefore, the intentions of this research project are to establish the traits and aesthetics of romantic minimalism attributed to Zimmer’s 21st Century film scores, as well as
brief research into his career. Through analysing films of various genres scored by Zimmer, the underlying aesthetics of his work can be discovered, as well as identifying the individual
genre dependant traits.

Scriabin's fascination with Theosophy was common amongst artists during Russia's Silver Age. This paper examines how interest in Theosophy emerged at this time in reaction to disillusionment with established religious norms, as well as to growing social and political tensions. In this context the research presented examines why the theosophical notion of cyclical evolution may have appealed to Scriabin, and attempts to establish a connection between theosophical dogma and Scriabin's highly personal eschatology, as expressed in the text to his unfinished 'Prefatory Act'. Scriabin's music is examined in a similar context, with particular consideration given to how the shape of the circle may be understood as inherent in certain musical structures and patterns, with examples drawn from Scriabin's Sonata No. 6, Op. 62, and Guirlandes, Op. 73, No. 1.

A discussion of rhythm, pulse, groove (and time) in electroacoustic music with specific reference to the audio project 'Metricity'. Abstract The 'Metricity' project is an umbrella term for my current creative explorations into what is for me very dangerous territory: pulse, rhythm and repetition. I will hopefully have completed a new work during a residency in Ohio in November 2016 which will explore creatively a number of methods for generating pulse and rhythm but which relies more on angularity rather than regularity as a driving force. Suffice it to say, I have been tempted by pulse and the 'metro' in numerous works, Junky perhaps being the most obvious. Pulse, rhythm and repetition allow for interesting aesthetic stances, particularly when one works primarily within the acousmatic tradition. Pierre Schaeffer used repetition as an aid to reduced listening. Many composers use repetition as 'something to hold on to' (Landy, 1994). It is obviously an hierarchical structuring device. Broadly speaking it can be developed (after Emmerson (1986)) from an abstract perspective (a sequencer and sampler) or be abstracted from 'happy accidents' found in manipulated materials. Given that repetition leads to redundancy, the compositional challenge for a work of 13-20 minutes is immense. Although Schaeffer was right to suggest that after one 'train' sound, the same sound repeated leads to the identification of quality over quantity, he failed to realise that we might actually be getting bored.

This dissertation presents a new and expanded context for interactive music based on Moore’s model for computer music (Moore 1990) and contextualises its findings using Lesaffre’s taxonomy for musical feature extraction and analysis (Lesaffre et al. 2003). In doing so, the dissertation examines music as an expressive art-form where musically significant data is present not only in the audio signal but also in human gestures and in physiological data. The dissertation shows the model’s foundation in human perception of music as a performed art, and points to the relevance and feasibility of including expression and emotion as a high-level signal processing means for bridging man and machine. The resulting model is multi-level (physical, sensorial, perceptual, formal, expressive) and multi-modal (sound, human gesture, physiological) which makes it applicable to purely musical contexts, as well as intermodal contexts where music is combined with visual and/or physiological data.

The model implies evaluating an interactive music system as a musical instrument design. Several properties are examined during the course of the dissertation and models based on acoustic music instruments have been avoided due to the expanded feature set of interactive music system. A narrowing down of the properties is attempted in the dissertation’s conclusion together with a preliminary model circumscription. In particular it is pointed out that high-level features of real-time analysis, data storage and processing, and synthesis makes the system a musical instrument, and that the capability of real-time data storage and processing distinguishes the digital system as an unprecedented instrument, qualitatively different from all previous acoustic music instrument. It is considered that a digital system’s particular form of sound synthesis only qualifies it as being of a category parallel to the acoustic instruments categories.

The model is the result of the author’s experiences with practical work with interactive systems developed 2001-06 for a body of commissioned works. The systems and their underlying procedures were conceived and developed addressing needs inherent to the artistic ambitions of each work, and have all been thoroughly tested in many performances. The papers forming part of the dissertation describe the artistic and technological problems and their solutions. The solutions are readily expandable to similar problems in other contexts, and they all relate to general issues of their particular applicative area.

Our paper present two 3D spatialization experiments in VR achieved during the creative process of the Empty Room project. The project shows how Virtual Reality can be considered as a good host for actual and future multi dimensional spatialization paradigms especially when we experiment electroacoustic music in VR, using Ambisonic and Binaural techniques.

Often the music making that occurs in a community can be more proactive outside the school than inside the school. Many student-initiated musical activities found outside the school have a strong sense of learning within a community, where new ideas are produced through autonomous engagement. This idea of making, which in this case is a musical encounter, is taken in this paper as an analogue of Martin Heidegger’s reading of the thing (Heidegger, 2001a). The thing in Heidegger, becomes not just an object, de-contextualised and removed from who has made the thing, but is seen as the embodiment of a shared musical making and meaning. What then is the role of assessment of music for those involved in this making process? For Heidegger the makers of the thing are those who are qualified to validate the thing? Following this thought is it that an external assessor, the teacher, has no validity in Heidegger’s reading? The implication is that those who teach music should work with students to comprehend their knowledge, so as to have any relevance in this context. This it seems is the only way to make the assessment relevant to those working outside the school to develop and sustain their interest. Without addressing this sense of two musical worlds schools will continue to be seen as a de-contextualised experience that does little for those whose experience is located and grounded in music that is predominantly social and autonomous.

Composers working in the sonic arts have frequently found themselves attempting to use spatial audio in ways that didn’t work as intended. Maybe more than any other facet of technological music, mastering spatial audio seems to involve a learning process in which one slowly discovers the things that work and those that don’t. The purpose of this paper is to foster understanding of spatial audio through examples of practical problems. These problems include both some general misconceptions about spatial hearing and some specific examples of things gone wrong. A particular lesson to be learned from this discussion is that there is no silver bullet for solving spatial audio problems, and every situation needs to be understood in appropriate terms.

Auditory display has a long history as a tool to provide people with events and the needed actions by means of sound. The use of audio as media has its advantage of being non-directional and the ability to cover a large area. The field of auditory display design had a continuous improvement in the past years. As a major factor in developing a design is is to be easy to be recognized by the most of the listeners , as well as and simple in terms of understand the semantics and implications behind it. This area of study has been the interest of the industry and the scholars. Where all employed new and experimental methods that can be accepted as a social standard and an appropriate for the environment. In the awareness of the salient of the phenomena of using music as a method in creating an auditory display , raised the questions about how the music can transmit the information as alarm, what are the music and sound elements that have major role on the effectiveness and sensitivity on the listeners, and what are the concerns that can affect learnability aspect. The cultural respect of the music learnability and preferences can be an example of musical training and personality in different countries such as the Japanese train station alarms or the Japanese ambulance sirens . Considering these aspects this project will be an attempt to discuss the music in the auditory alarms design. As well as continuation to my previous project which spot the light on the contrast between icons and melodic alarms in regard of aspects of learnability and the sonic environment consideration . This project will include the process of designing melodic auditory display. As well as it will investigate the possible feature for improvement . It is a multidisciplinary progression that includes psychoacoustics, musicology and engineering. the project could be an interest for music composers , researchers , and industrial designers.

Colloque international "Lumière et musique : Appropriations, métaphores et analogies"
19-21 Novembre 2018, Paris, Fondation Singer Polignac
Programme et inscription : https://www.singer-polignac.org/fr/missions/sciences/colloques/1626-lumiere-et-musique-appropriations-metaphores-analogies

Les cantates d'essai de César Franck pour le Prix de Rome (1838-1841) L'éclosion d'une personnalité musicale Au printemps 1835 César-Auguste Franck quitte son pays natal, la Belgique, où il a terminé ses études musicales au Conservatoire de Liège dans la classe de Joseph Daussoigne, neveu de Méhul. À treize ans, Franck se rend à Paris, accompagné de son père Nicolas-Joseph Franck. En effet, préoccupé par la carrière de son fils, il l'inscrit au Conservatoire afin qu'il y suive l'enseignement le plus complet, qu'il y obtienne de nombreuses récompenses et commence une brillante carrière de pianiste virtuose.

The aim of this research was to explore whether the use of mobile technology contributed to develop thinking skills, learning and musical performance. The population included students with a BA and MA degrees who participated in the 'Composition and improvisation in real-time' course. They used technological-musical tools (Ableton Live and M4L), turning computer, tablet devices and smartphones into a 'laptop ensemble'. The research method included questionnaires that were given to students at the beginning and end of the course and in-depth interviews with students during and after the course. Findings indicated that the pedagogic model studied, which examined an innovative teaching-learning strategy, established digital-musical literacy and led to meaningful learning, while experiential experience during musical performance in the group.

O presente ensaio propõe uma análise estética e formal da obra Opus 11/3 (1914) de Anton Webern (1883-1945) sob a ótica da Momentform encontrada em obras como Kontakte (1958-60) de Karlheinz Stockhausen – conceito e peça elaborados na década de 1950 pelo mesmo.

This Part 2 describes the various structures of melodies as more complex versions of the metrical structures discussed in Part 1. In this way, the metrical structure and the grouping structure will be integrated into one theoretical entity.

In Chapter 5, the various structure of phrases will be understood as roughly being metrical unit. By returning to the metrical structure for analysis, the various irregular structures are clearly understood as the result of a kind of compositional technique.

In Chapter 6, the details of various phrases will be understood as a combination of metrical structures, as a complication of metrical structures. The way to create such combinations is through syncopation.

Professional singers and studio vocal teachers can be assisted to perform and learn modern art songs – in this paper, an Australian art song, „I‟m Nobody‟ from Nigel Butterley‟s cycle, “Frogs”, by applying performance strategies to help resolve challenges encountered in the learning process. The paper aims to give professional singers and studio vocal teachers assistance in learning and performing the work through a performance analysis, a recent approach to writing about vocal performance. The performance analysis draws on some of the strategies submitted from professional singers in a larger study and uses a theoretical framework based on John Rink‟s (2002) principles of performance analysis and Sharon Mabry‟s (2002) ideas for developing confidence in securing pitch in twentieth century music, to discuss my preparation of the song. The main performance challenges performing Butterley‟s song were, for me as a singer, singing the correct pitches, being accurate with the rhythm and g...

A partir del libre juego de la imaginación, y utilizando algunos conceptos de acústica de manera totalmente libre, en este texto he querido reflexionar sobre la naturaleza de la música electrónica y electroacústica, y en particular, en torno al "problema" de la relación entre dichas prácticas y la ejecución musical instrumental.
El texto consiste en una serie de ecuaciones especulativas y totalmente imaginarias, que resumen aficientemente los conceptos que quiero abordar y sus relaciones.
La parte final es un libre juego sobre las implicaciones "físicas" de la reflexión, que, como advierto en la introducción, son pura ficción e impostura. Es decir, éste texto NO es científico.

Maharsyalfath Izlubaid Qutub Maulasufa (Alfath Flemmo) adalah Binusian 2026 Jurusan Ilmu Komunikasi (MassCom) di Binus University @Malang. ALFATH memiliki pengalaman lebih dari 4 tahun dalam Produksi Musik menggunakan Digital Audio Workstation FL Studio dengan memanfaatkan Teknologi Artificial Intelligence (AI) dan Pemrograman Komputer untuk mengembangkan platform musik digital sebagai Media Komunikasi preview produk untuk bisnis ecommerce masa depan.

Keahlian Pemrograman Komputer: Python Kotlin Javascript HTML CSS Pawn C++ Flutter Server Developer Web Developer Bot Developer.

Keahlian Musik: Komposisi Musik, Aransemen Lagu, Produksi Musik, Percampuran (Mixing), Pascaproduksi (Mastering), Penulis Lagu, Desain Suara, Alat Musik (Piano, Gitar, Drum).

Jurnalistik: Reporter.

All’inizio del XX secolo molti compositori furono attratti dal fascino dei collegamenti accordali ciclici a distanza di intervalli regolari. Questi collegamenti permettevano di allontanarsi in maniera decisa dal sistema tonale, basato sul rapporto di quinta, per indagare le caratteristiche dei rapporti intervallari che dividevano l’ottava in parti uguali. Andò così affermandosi una tendenza alla ripetizione periodica di elementi musicali su livelli di trasposizione che tornavano alla posizione iniziale, in una sorta di progressione statica. Alcuni spunti ereditati dalla tradizione novecentesca hanno fornito le basi per sviluppare una tecnica di composizione musicale a carattere ricorsivo denominata ‘caleidociclica’. Applicato alla composizione, un caleidociclo (termine derivato da alcuni procedimenti grafici di M. C. Escher in cui le parti di un oggetto siano copie su scala diversa dell’oggetto stesso) impiega le proprietà verticali degli accordi per regolarne anche lo svolgimento orizzontale. Il calcolo razionale, connaturato a questo specifico modo di affrontare la composizione, non resta comunque mai fine a se stesso, proponendosi piuttosto come banco di prova per saggiare la capacità del musicista di passare da un’applicazione meccanica delle regole e delle tecniche a un’altra ben più flessibile, complessa e creativa.

Un’ intervista in sette domande ai musicologi Paolo Emilio Carapezza, Amalia Collisani e Heinz-Klaus Metzger; ai compositori Giovanni Damiani e Federico Incardona; all’organizzatore dei “Quaderni perugini di musica contemporanea” “, Alfonso Fratteggiani e a Marcello Giordano, giovane palermitano non professionalmente musicista.

The focus of composition teaching is usually on one-to-one sessions aimed at developing the student composer's voice and technique. These should be complemented by teaching about the working of the imagination and how to become more skilled in its use, both when imagining alone and when sharing imaginative work with artistic partners. The one-to-one form of compositional teaching has a long history, with younger composers recorded studying with more experienced masters. Modern developments in the understanding of the imaginative process suggest that this should be complemented by the study of the imagination, which is too often seen as a source of inspirations arising in an unexplained way simply from the composer's mind. This attitude towards the imagination could lead to developing composers being less effective in imagining ideas than they might otherwise be, uncritical of ideas which occur to them, and ill-equipped to share imaginative work with others. There are three aspects of the working of the imagination which could be taught: the psychology of the imaginative process; the activities within imagining any one idea; and the ways in which imaginative work can be shared in collaborative projects. I will describe research findings on each of these subjects, and set out reasons why studying them could help composers in their development.

This article questions how marginalised and emerging identities are negotiated in a particular type of musical collaboration: that between sean nós singers (the ‘traditional voice’) and composers of contemporary music in Ireland.

Drawing on Fabian Holt’s (2008) concept of locating marginalised musics ‘in-between’ cultural categories and genres (what he terms ‘in-between poetics’), and exploring both the socio-historical trajectory and development of sean nós singing and of contemporary music in Ireland using specific musical examples, I will examine what bringing emerging and marginalised voices to the fore might mean for previous conceptions of Irish musical identity. I argue that it is within these ‘in-between’ spaces that musical collaborations occur and that there is room for a pattern of marginality to emerge, one in which the ‘hidden’ or marginal voice of sean nós finds a new space and expression within a genre which has remained on the periphery of Irish musical culture. The concept of an ‘in-betweenness’ offers a conceptual framework in which music at the borders or boundaries of its own tradition or practice can find new ways to mediate its marginality and ‘otherness’ and to negotiate musical identity. Thus, marginality as a concept functions creatively within these collaborations, finding a space for a new or ‘emerging’ voice to be articulated in the process.

Furthermore, I explore how the relationship between particular musical collaborations and identity in Ireland can contribute new perspectives to musicology in terms of revising existing issues within the discipline in relation to the theoretical, linguistic and descriptive frameworks used to analyse and explain the meaning of this music from an identity perspective.

Within the past decade, music-theoretical analysis of popular music has become increasingly common. Nonetheless, until quite recently the purview of such research has been relatively limited, focusing mainly on classic and art rock from the 1960s and 70s. While these repertoires have provided fertile ground for analytical exploration, several more recent genres and styles raise interesting structural, semiotic, and aesthetic questions that also merit study. One of the most distinctive types of contemporary popular music is electronic dance music, a broad category that includes styles such as techno, house, drum-n-bass, and trance. Electronic dance music differs from both rock and art music in a number of ways, all of which suggest avenues for productive theoretical investigation. While many genres of popular music are distinguished from each other on the basis of "surface" differences such as instrumentation or lyrical content, electronic dance music presents a distinctive overall formal structure in addition to its characteristic instrumentation. It also differs from most other types of Western music in its rejection of harmony as a primary musical parameter. Its use of pitch is typically restricted, with the majority of musical development taking place instead in the realms of rhythm, meter, texture, and timbre. Consequently, these areas should be principal concerns for the analyst wishing to pursue a close examination of musical sound in this repertoire. Rhythm provides an ideal starting point, as it seems to be the element to which listeners and fans of EDM relate most directly. This connection is most immediately apparent on the dance floor, where audiences physically enact the rhythms of the music. Written discussions of electronic dance music also tend to highlight its rhythmic qualities-references to its "unrelenting rhythm," "pulsing dance rhythms," and "irresistible tribal rhythm" are common (and fans often refer to the music simply as "beats" (as in, "let's go to the club and hear some beats"). Yet EDM poses a challenge to the analyst, for it differs in many ways from the repertoires that current music-theoretical models of rhythm and meter were developed to address. Transcription can give the impression that it is less complex rhythmically than these other bodies of music: although it typically consists of many different textural layers, each of which has a different rhythmic pattern, these patterns can appear quite simple when considered individually, and they repeat for long periods of time without changing. The

"The dialectic between soul and science, body and number, freedom and discipline, self and non-self – dare I say it? That’s culture in a nutshell. It is this very dialogue - this sustained interaction between ourselves and the world around us - that I wish to make audible through music."

A version of this article originally appeared in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/15/fibonacci-golden-ratio

The following thesis represents two recent strands of musical interest: ephemerality and the role of notation. Throughout this thesis I explicate the various ways I have engaged with these concerns and their application in my work. Additionally, I aim to situate my work within the context of contemporary compositional practices as a way of showing both origins of influence and ways in which my own work extends/expands on these influences. This thesis will address issues regarding the materiality impermanency of scores, documentation, interpersonal relationships, performative situations, and the performer/notation interface.

An audio paper on H e (a) r; a soundscape connected to ecology, acoustics and embodiment, drawing on encounters and what happens in the connection. A fluctuation between hear-here-her*-her. Originating in a work for the ensemble Nordic Affect’s concert at Nordic Music Days 2016, the piece has now been developed into both a quadrophonic and stereo version of H e (a) r (2017/18). The work has been released on Nordic Affect’s album on the Sono Luminus label.This audio paper unpacks the work’s compositional process as well as curatorial strategies, which link to my PhD research project’s ecological-enactive trajectory, including its socio-political backdrop.The audio paper references H e (a) r in its album version. It also includes Nordic Affect’s performance of Mirjam Tally’s Warm life at the foot of the iceberg. Other sonic material lists as follows: documentation material from H e (a) r’s workshops – field recording by Magnus Bergsson of a crawling glacier - field recording by Halla ...