Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.M.A.

Program

Music

Advisor

Joseph N. Straus

Committee Members

Stephanie Jensen-Moulton

Jason Eckardt

Tara Helen O'Connor

Subject Categories

Music Performance | Music Practice | Music Theory | Other Music

Keywords

Performance Practice, flute, David Bird, Brian Ferneyhough, Bethany Younge

Abstract

A framework of corporeal analysis posits that the physicality of the performer can be construed as a primary analytical parameter in a work. This dissertation seeks to set up such a method of analysis largely through anecdata and autoethnography with the aim of eliciting a deeper space for additional performer-driven analyses that prioritize the bodily knowledge of performers and their physical understandings of a work. Centering around David Bird’s 2013 work for solo piccolo and “no-less-than twenty-nine spatialized piccolos,” Atolls, three main aspects of corporeal analysis will be explored. These are: performance physicality as expressive connective tissue between flutist and audience, the construction of hypothetical geographic and atmospheric conditions implied within a work through the body as a barometer, and the sounds of pain and trauma activated through the physicality of sonic and metaphorical aspects of the work. An extended conclusion applies offshoots of these modes of analysis to Brian Ferneyhough’s solo work from the contemporary canon, Cassandra’s Dream Song through a study of salivary sounds in the work, and Bethany Younge’s Oxygen and Reality for piccolo, electronics, balloons, and lights through an exploration of prosthesis and adaptive technologies in performance.

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