Portfolio of original compositions.

Abstract

This submission comprises a portfolio of fifteen original musical works and an exegesis that comments on five of these works. Recordings of twelve of the fifteen compositions are included. These pieces demonstrate an ongoing investigation into structure, and the discussion will provide an insight into the constant process of experimentation and consolidation involved in developing such a body of work. In the exegesis I open with a general conversation on the compositional process and then focus on the formal problems inherent in this process. I then discuss the five scores included in the main volume, looking at how each are formed, and comparing their formal characteristics. This involves an analysis of the musical materials and how such materials are treated through repetition and transformation. I will also look at the aesthetic and stylistic concerns and how they inform the formal architecture of each work. An appendix includes the scores of a further ten works, with a brief introductory commentary on each.