Belcher, Jason
(2023)
Contemporary Improvised Music Methodologies, Modes of Reading, and Hybridity of Notation in Burr Van Nostrand’s Voyage in a White Building I
and
Ae.M/Four-Mile Run for fixed media and optional performers.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Voyage in a White Building I is a 1969 composition by California native Burr Van Nostrand. A setting of Hart Crane's 1922 poem Voyages I, it shows an original attempt by a young composer to create a cohesive musical system of notation for a close-knit group of performers with wildly different musical training and backgrounds. Serving as a vehicle for both subversive sexual expression and political dissent, the work is especially notable for giving performers a substantial amount of control over its musical outcome as it progresses. Presented below is an analysis of Van Nostrand’s work that takes improvisation and performer-controlled variables into consideration alongside the more conventional techniques and structures observed in its score. Within this presentation, I outline how Van Nostrand's circle of composer/performer colleagues worked together in the realization of the score, influencing each other in their compositional processes. Following this, I turn to three recent performances of Voyage to demonstrate how recent performers’ knowledge of contemporaneous improvised idioms and methodologies have transformed the work. I aim for this study to be especially useful to 21st century performers and composers, as works that utilize hybridity and mobility of notation, genre, and performative methods are increasingly common in various concert music spheres.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
11 May 2023 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
12 January 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
11 May 2023 |
| Submission Date: |
3 April 2023 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
167 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Music |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Composition Improvisation Hybridity Mobility |
| Date Deposited: |
11 May 2023 19:35 |
| Last Modified: |
11 May 2023 19:35 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/44409 |
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