A commentary on submitted works : Sinfonia Concertante, Sonate en Tableaux, Elegy, Concerto for Violin and Orchesra, Lyric motets

• Main Author: Scott-Burt, Nicholas
• Published: University of Bristol 2011
• Subjects: 781.3
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.557263

This dissertation is a commentary upon five scores presented as a portfolio of research by musical composition. Background My compositional work prior to 2004 arose from neo-classical techniques, in a familiar-sounding tonal musical language. The works of the portfolio seek to depart from this. A post-modem view of musical language is that it may embrace multifarious sound-worlds, directly or obliquely referring to music of previous ages - using language as material. The way in which such material is presented is through structure, and this may exert as much influence on the style as do the harmony, melody and rhythm. Originality in music can be defined as the individuality of a composer's technique, (as opposed to merely the external effect of the music), and this taken to extremes may define the outer limits of a personal style, within which a much broader spectrum of style may exist. Method In Part Lmy own techniques in tonality, rhythm and structure are briefly examined in general terms before in-depth analyses of each work in Part 2. These reveal an evolution of technique: from the pure structuring of the Sinfonia Concertante, via the extreme but characterful Sonate en Tableaux, to the Romantic and semi-programmatic Violin Concerto, where rigorous structure is still fundamental to the effect of the music, but is much subservient to musical character. The shorter pieces (Elegy and Lyric Motets) demonstrate how the procedures of the other works may be scaled down to meet the needs of more intimate and less virtuosic music with the same level of craftsmanship. Conclusions Through the extreme working of my own structural procedures in these works I have established the parameters of a personal style, within which falls a broad range of musical language, and a consistency of approach from the grandest to the briefest of pieces; this now defining my personal voice as a composer.