Portfolio of original compositions
- Authors: Nabal, Ruhan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , Music -- South Africa , Piano music , Marimba music
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45569 , vital:38671
- Description: This Orchestral Suite was inspired by the art illustrations fromBrian Froud’s book ‘Good Faeries Bad Faeries’, where each piece in the suite represents a drawing from his book, portraying three good faeries and three bad and is in many ways a tone poem. Each piece calls for different orchestration to create individual colour to make each piece unique. Permission was not consented to include the drawings. The line-up is as follows: I. Waters of Wisdom – Overture to the faerie realm (good) II. The Thoughts of the Melancholic Faerie – She contemplates of past and present (bad) III. A Banshee Passing – the idea of death as coming unknowingly and going quietly (bad) IV. Introduction to Faerie Lilu – clearing the mist V. The Faerie Lilu – the provocateur of restlessness – she inspires wild dreams, lost fantasies and gives artists their sparks of genius (bad) VI. A Cluster of Hedgerow Pixies – They are very mischievous – in a (good) way. VII. The Dance of the Oboe Faerie – a Finale (good). While he dances, he also sings of the faerie realm. A number of composers inspired me to pursue such a work, and firstly G. Holst has left his mark on me. The first and sixth movement was inspired by the ‘Planets’. The fifth movement is actually in homage to the French composer Frank Martin with the composition ‘Petite symphonie’ where he displays the piano and harpsichord – as I have done. The second and third movements are attempts to portray film music, such as composers H. Zimmerman and D.Elfman. The last movement has many neo-classical elements displayed and I. Stravinsky had a notable influence on this piece. All the composers mentioned here have contributed in more than one piece at some point in time. The theme of the work, the magical theme, always makes me reminisce my childhood where I would in amazement wonder about my grandmothers glorious garden in search of all that is magical, and composing this took me back to that time of innocent, child-like wonder
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- Date Issued: 2018
Composition portfolio
- Authors: Boesack, Lenrick Jonathan Angus
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Piano music , Prepared piano music , Saxophone music
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56233 , vital:26786
- Description: This short composition portfolio comprises 40% of the requirements for the Master of Music Degree in performance and composition at Rhodes University. In addition to the music presented here, I played two public exam recitals of 70 minutes each. While I played piano as a child, my main instrument during my BMUS studies at the University of Cape Town (2004-2007) was the saxophone. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Polymyositis(an auto-immune desease) which particularly affected my breathing and therefore my ability to play the saxophone. For this reason I opted to play my recitals on the piano. The first recital focused on interpretations of Swing Era, Bebop and post-Bebop standards such as: Someday my prince will come, What is this thing called love, In your own sweet way, Eternal Triangle, Recordame, Peace, Dolphin Dance, Caravan and Some other blues. The second recital comprised of seven original compositions that were presented in trio, quartet and quintet settings.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Rachmaninoff, Horowitz, and the discursive arena between (re)composition and performance : the case of Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata, opus 36
- Authors: Maritz, Gerhardus Petrus
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Rachmaninoff, Sergei, 1873-1943 , Horowitz, Vladimir, 1903-1989 , Sonatas (Piano) , Piano music , Concertos (Piano)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020784
- Description: This treatise aims to uncover possible reasons as to why composers rework their compositions. In attempting to answer questions regarding musical and extra-musical (referential) criteria, surrounding conditions and the role performers play in acting as conduits of the aforementioned, the study focuses on three versions of Rachmaninoff’s second Piano Sonata, opus 36. The first of these was composed in 1913, the second constitutes the composer’s revision of this work in 1931, and the third, a subsequent amalgamation of both previously mentioned versions by pianist Horowitz in 1943. The research is grounded in the theoretical ideas of organicist musical structuralism and thematic/motivic transformation (Reti), musical hermeneutics and phenomenology, musical forces (Larsen) and authenticity in musical performance (Taruskin). In addition this study explores methods of critical reading that may be used to disclose the conflicting yet complementary demands of “conciseness” and “drama” contained within the parameters of the three aforementioned versions of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata Op. 36. An introductory chapter is followed by one in which a historical context provides the intertextual matrix against which the musical personae of Rachmaninoff and Horowitz, as well as the three versions of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata Op. 36, may be understood. The chapter thereafter provides a concise overview of the history of musical analysis and the Tendenzwende which signified the change from a purely positivistic analytical approach to a post-modernist perspective on musical critique, against which background a motivation is provided for the analytical approaches applied in this treatise. Chapters 4 and 5 present detailed readings of the sonata from the perspective of “conciseness” and “drama” respectively. In conclusion, the final chapter reflects on findings made and conclusion drawn, with particular reference to the authenticity debate in current musicological discourse.
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- Date Issued: 2014