Portfolio of musical composition: integration in music:udcontrolling diverse methods of expression withinudthe context of the globalisation of musical culture

摘要

Musical culture is increasingly globalised and technology allows us toudengage with an evermore diversified range of musical approaches,udtraditions and sound-worlds. How composers react to this diversity ofudmusical approaches is an important theme in contemporary composition.udMy approach to composition within this globalised situation has been toudfocus on the notion of ‘integration’ and creating structurally consistentudscore-based frameworks. I have composed a portfolio of work that reflectsudthe central focus of ‘integration’, concentrating on three inter-relatedudresearch areas:ud1. Exploring how one can integrate or frame improvisation and/orudelectronics into notated structural frameworks.ud2. Exploring the use of technology to translate or integrate materialudgenerated through improvisation into notational practice.ud3. Developing a coherent and individual technique and aesthetic thatuddraws on structural influences from a range of musical idioms, butudnever resorts to cliché or pastiche.udMy exploration of integration in writing the compositions in this portfolioudhas been primarily technical. I am fundamentally interested in the ‘nutsudand bolts’ of composition, how musical materials can fit together andudinteract. Therefore although the character and substance of the differentudmaterials I engage with is important, my foremost preoccupations whenudcomposing are the formal and technical aspects such as: structure andudproportion; pitch and rhythmic organisation; orchestration technique; theuduse of extended notations; and compositional processes such asudabstraction, permutation and rotation.udAs I outline in my commentary the composition in this portfolio reflects myudaesthetic position that working with an eclectic range of musical materialsudand diverse methods of expression such as improvisation and electronicsudis not an end-in-itself. By integrating diverse musical influences I am notudtrying to create a pluralist synthesis of different semantic paradigms, butudaim to find my own innovative, coherent and consistent compositionaludapproach.