Portfolio of compositions

Abstract

At the initial stage of my dissertation I set out to plan the structure of the four different works. After brainstorming on the individual pieces, I realised that while the works would have made sense independently from each other, there would be no cohesiveness when put together. Hence, I became cognisant of the fact that a central idea had to be shared among all the works to achieve a holistic portfolio of compositions. According to Kurt Koffka in Gestalt theory, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”. As my subsidiary area was Communications, I recalled the various methods of communications which may occur in our lives. Thus I came up with an allegory to attach different situations of communication to each and every work. In addition, I wanted to focus only on one aspect, that of conflict. This would provide the foundation on which the dissertation would be based. Since conflict is a daily occurrence, each work focuses on instances we can relate to: 1. Conflicts during a conversation (String Quartet work) 2. Conflict within oneself (Choral work) 3. Conflict in relationships (Piano work) 4. Conflict in a tale (Orchestral work)