https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/5189 2026-04-04T06:50:44Z 2026-04-04T06:50:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102049 2022-09-28T05:56:32Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Hallmarks : inspiration, progression and innovation in the flute works of Jack Behrens Abstract: With this prophetic phrase, John Cage opened his essay "Diary: Emma Lake Music Workshop 1965." His words can be considered a statement of the changing functions and recent developments in all the arts. No longer were composers bound, as they had been in the classical era, to the requirements of sonata form. Even the comparative freedom of through-composition and impressionism had been replaced by the mathematical precision of the twelve tone system. Finally, Cage himself advocated the removal of ego in the compositional decision making process through the use of chance elements and the I Ching. If, as Paul Griffiths states, avant-garde music began with Prelude a l 'apres-midi d'unfaune (1894),2 then the last century has seen impressionism, jazz, serialism, neoclassicism, electronic music, world and ethnic influences and pop culture all take their place at the forefront of compositional fashion. Moreover, changes which in previous eras would have taken decades to be recognised and validated have, in this century and the last, adopted speeds as fast as those of the media used to transmit them - instantaneous projection, assimilation and rejection, with the click of a mouse button or the tum of a dial. As Max Ernst stated "significant changes in the arts formerly occurred every three hundred years, whereas now they take place every twenty minutes"3. How, then, does a composer find and present his own voice, when so many have spoken, in so many languages, before him? Again, Cage provides the answer for some when he states: "I have nothing to say, and I am saying it, and that is poetry" 4• For Jack Behrens (b. 1935) the compositional road of inspiration, progression and innovation has been one started by mentors, travelled with friends but often experienced in solitude. This paper will endeavour to trace the genesis of Behrens' style - its growth through the discussion of key works, the processes used to create the works themselves and their relationships to his compositions for flute during selected time periods. Description: PH.D.MUSIC

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88201 2022-02-04T10:14:50Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Portfolio of compositions Abstract: In the research field of music composition, I have managed to demonstrate a variety of stylistic genres, utilising them into different techniques that are constantly employed by other European mainstream, such as Messian. In the course of these works, I tried to divulge create and innovative music which are fundamentally based on musical techniques. Thus, my aim in this dissertation is to employ creative musical inspiration but at the same time, departing from the traditional harmonic language and forms that were constantly employed up to the twentieth century. The works are presented and analysed in individual chapters, starting from the first composed works to the more recent. Each chapter consists of an introduction to the particular composition followed by an analysis of the music. In the case of the choir piece, an analysis of the poet's style and text is also included. The last section of each chapter presents the score. Description: B.A.(HONS)MUSIC

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/5190 2018-06-11T10:36:22Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The semiotics of London's theatre Abstract: Context is all. Human experience, which is a phenomenon shaped by meaning, can only ever take place in a context. Without a context, we cannot have human experience, or a meaning of it. Semiotic analysis and the urban context are the two key elements which will be discussed in this dissertation. Our semiotic approach will primarily follow that of Ferdinand de Saussure’s ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’. Our urban context shall be that of London, whose nucleus of the West End and the National Theatre we shall delve into. This analysis will specifically focus on these two mentioned, but it is necessary to point out that other genres of theatre within the city will not be explored, for reasons of focus and time constriction. De Saussure’s theory of the ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’ was originally intended for the study of linguistics, where the main object being analyzed was speech and language. Elaine Aston and George Savona describe de Saussure’s theory as thus: ‘What emerged from Saussure’s work was an understanding of language as a sign-system, in which the linguistic sign was further presented in binary terms as signifier and signified or ‘sound-image’ and ‘concept’. The two sides of the linguistic sign are arbitrary, which enables language to be a self-regulating, abstract system,capable of transformation.’ (Aston and Savona 1991: 5-6). Later on, theorists made use of the ‘binary terms’ in order to read their own subjects of interest. By replacing language and words with other social fields, the theory would be able to translate the system of meanings at play. Semiotics allows for the reading of meaning in both language and several other social phenomena. To clarify the basic concept of the method: The signifier is a vehicle -- in any form which can be detected by the human senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) -- which transmits the meaning of something, making it the signified. The two terms give distinctive roles to the scenario in question, and aids the reader in seeing the actions, relationships and/or layout more clearly. The method almost deconstructs the scenario by labeling the different parties at play. But it is all brought together again once the reader has understood the process between the two agents. De Saussure’s terms manage to describe the essentials for the system of a sign to work. That sign can be anything visible, tangible, edible, odorous, and/or heard. What it transmits can be anything perceived by the human brain, which then creates its own meaning or meanings. Description: B.A.(HONS)THEATRE STUD.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/4912 2017-10-10T07:10:22Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Traces of a metaphysical act : a study of Antonin Artaud's notebooks from the final period Abstract: It would seem that any discourse on Antonin Artaud departs from or resorts to Artaud’s 1938 collection of essays on the theatre: Le Théatre et Son Double. Critiques or attempts at understanding Artaud revolve around the idea of the Theatre of Cruelty, a term that is extracted from the first manifesto for Le Théatre de la Cruauté found in section VIII of the first edition of Le Théatre et Son Double. The majority of discourses on Artaud prior to the 1950s are highlighted by commentaries about his theatre projects and his insanity. From 1956 onwards Antonin Artaud’s work has been increasingly studied in various fields of research that are not necessarily confined to theatre studies and performance theory nor to wider scientific discourses on insanity and psychology. According to Peter Brook, Artaud’s particular influence derives from the power of his texts, and not from a practice that could serve as a model. Monique Borie reminds us that Jerzy Grotowski describes Artaud as a poet of the theatre, meaning a poet of theatrical possibilities. A poet who opens up the boundaries of that which is set, in order to open up the existing theatre to other possibilities. Seen in this light, Artaud may be described as a visionary who transmits his thoughts on the theatre in poetic form; a reflection that is supported by Artaud’s use of great metaphors whose power aims at going beyond the limits of the existing theatre. “The fact that Artaud never managed to materialize his proposals does not in any way compromise the legitimacy of his powerful influence on theatre practice. On the contrary -according to Brook- “the power of Artaud’s influence resides precisely in those texts that do not propose the application of a method or propose a technique that could be adopted. These texts offer a vision-limit that can be regarded as a horizon towards which one strives.” One of the main characteristics of Artaud's work is that of being able to be adopted in distinct areas of study and applied in different fields of research. The possibility of the dissemination of Artaud's work in distinct areas of research is a result of his work's Description: M.A. THEATRE STUD.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z