Becoming a composer: a portfolio of musical compositions documenting the development of a fluent composition practice incorporating formalist and intuitive methodologies

Abstract

This portfolio consists of nine compositions accompanied by live and reference recordings of the works. The compositions span a wide variety of instrumentations ranging from solo piano, string quartet, ensemble, choir and organ, and large-scale orchestral works. The portfolio aims to document my process of becoming a composer by exploring the development of my compositional technique which examines the influence of mathematical thinking in both intuitive and formalist approaches to composition, including the use of algorithmic and computer-assisted compositional techniques. The portfolio also examines autobiographical influences, including the use of ethnographical techniques based on the musical traditions of the Balkans and Caucasus.

My musical aesthetic is concerned with creating and communicating the unfolding beauty of nature and the cosmos. At the heart of it is a deep yearning to create music that adheres to the growth patterns and proportions found in nature and therefore attempts to feel and sound like living organisms unfolding in the temporal space. Like many composers, I am very interested in the close, historical relationship that exists between maths and music, and how an understanding of mathematics can help us to understand the complexities inherent in the natural world from the microscopic to the macroscopic. The central themes in the development of my compositional technique are the concepts of fractals, self-similarity and the golden ratio in musical form. Notable composers from whom I found inspiration in this area include: György Ligeti (self-similarity), Per Nørgård (Infinity Series) and Rolf Wallin (Fractals).

I explored various methods of composition from the purely intuitive approach combined with elements of mathematical thinking through to creating computer-assisted large-scale orchestral compositions using the Common Lisp-based computer software programmes: Opusmodus and Slippery Chicken. The major breakthrough in my research came when I discovered and subsequently studied Joseph Schillinger’s System of Musical Composition. Learning about his rigorous approach to mathematical thinking in music helped me to find exciting news ways in which to compose music intuitively whilst incorporating my mathematical ideas applied to rhythm, melody, harmony, self-similar structures and orchestration. My final piece, Now for Orchestra is a 30-minute post-modern composition for large forces that brings together a multitude of intuitively applied mathematical and algorithmic/computer-assisted techniques combined with elements of self-reference, quotation, dense and filmic textures, and juxtaposition of tonality/atonality.

List of Works:

String Quartet No.1 (The Accursed Mountains) Composed: 2012 Duration: 13 minutes Instrumentation: string quartet First performance: Edinburgh Quartet at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh in March 2012.

What the Frac! for ensemble Composed: 2012 Duration: 6 minutes Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, vibraphone, percussion, violin and cello. First performance: Edinburgh Napier University Contemporary Music Ensemble at Stockbridge Parish Church, Edinburgh in November 2012.

3 Piano Études Composed: 2013 Duration: 9 minutes Instrumentation: Solo piano First performance: Lliam Patterson at The Reid Hall in November 2019.

String Quartet No.2 (The 3 Rooms of Melancholia) Composed: 2013 Duration: 12 minutes Instrumentation: string quartet First performance: Edinburgh Quartet at St Giles’ Cathedral in March 2013.

Prayer for choir and organ Composed: 2014 Duration: 6 minutes Instrumentation: choir (SATB) and organ First performance: Edinburgh Napier University Chamber Choir at St Giles’ Cathedral in March 2014.

Night Circus for large orchestra Composed: 2017 Duration: 12 minutes Instrumentation: 3 (III=picc).3.3 (III=bcl).3 - 4.3.3.1 - Timp – perc (7): Xylophone/Marimba/Glockenspiel/Suspended Cymbal/2 Bongos/2 Congas/Snare Drum/Bass Drum/Tam-Tam/4 Tom-Toms – Pf/celesta - strings (16.14.12.10.8) First performance: N/A

Now for large orchestra Composed: 2021 Duration: 30 minutes Instrumentation: 3.3.3.3 – 4.3.3.3 – Timp – perc (4): Xylophone/Glockenspiel/Wind Chimes/Suspended Cymbal/Clash Cymbals/Tam-Tam/Bass Drum/Tubular Bells/Snare Drum/Waterphone (bowed)/2 Congas/2 Bongos/4 Tom-Toms - glass harmonica – Pf – Harp – Strings (16.14.12.10.8) First performance: N/A

Approximately 90 minutes in total