Abstract
The eight compositions in this portfolio deal with the interactions between layers of contrasting musical materials. Each piece presents, in fact, a variety of musical materials, each one of them characterized by a specific musical profile (defined in melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and timbral terms), which suggests a given psychological or character type. Rather than juxtaposing the contrasting material, as in a Stravinskyan block form, my main concern — very much influenced by Elliott Carter — has been to superimpose them in polyphonic, multi-layered textures (or 'blocks'), which typically change quickly as each piece proceeds.The harmonic language of the compositions in this portfolio display elements of atonality as well as remnants of traditional ways of thinking about tonality. They explore a broad range of harmonies, some of them more consonant or more diatonic, other ones more dissonant or more chromatic, a strategy that actually helps defining the variety of contrasting musical characters used in each composition. In addition, most pieces employ a restricted amount of large (6 to 9-note) pitch-class collections.
Several compositions involve voices, including the two most ambitious in scope: Cai uma Rosa..., a small opera for four singers and orchestra; and Do Desconcerto do Mundo, a cantata (in five movements) for two amateur choirs and large (professional) ensemble. All such vocal pieces set Portuguese texts from widely divergent sources, including renaissance as well as contemporary, art as well as popular poetry. In general, they seek to explore the rhythmic and phonetic character of the Portuguese language as well as reflect different aspects of their poem's semantic content.
| Date of Award | 2017 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | George Benjamin (Supervisor) & Silvina Milstein (Supervisor) |