Date of Award

2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Music

Program

Music

Supervisor

Dr. Peter Paul Koprowski

Second Advisor

Dr. Paul Frehner

Abstract

Paths Entwined for Orchestra is a fourteen minute composition that focuses on a process of progression from a diatonic canon, to increasingly complex harmonic sonorities. The piece is divided into five sections. The climax of the piece, in section four, presents twelve note chords in contrasting vertical arrangements. It triggers section five, in which the chief element is a canon at the perfect fifth, resulting in a moving cluster with all twelve notes present. Sections four and five are anticipated by a series of episodes. Section one is a pandiatonic canon resulting in a cluster. Section two, first introduces all twelve pitches, but in two distinct groups, pentatonic and its complement. The third section adds a specific order to the already presented twelve notes, and through various permutations, leads to the following climax. The number five is central to the symmetry of the composition. In addition to being in five sections, the middle section is comprised of five subsections, while the following apogeum (section four) is comprised of five antiphonal pairs. Furthermore, an interval of a fifth (perfect or diminished) is a building block in the canons and various other gestures.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.