Character, Ground, And Contradiction In My Recent Music

This thesis discusses contradictory foreground-background relationships within my MPhil portfolio of compositions. Part I elaborates a constellation of concepts. Foreground organization is considered as “character,” the treatment of musical material as if it is a living subject, while background organization is approached as “ground,” a frame which mediates and is mediated by character. The contradiction
between these levels is examined as a directed, multileveled syntax. The discussions are contextualized with examples from nineteenth- and late twentieth-century music as well as from philosophy, cultural theory, and non-musical art-forms. Part II discusses how specific techniques have actualized these concepts, focusing upon issues of behavior, shape, and stratification. In the conclusion, I analyze how an aesthetic of contradiction redefines relationships between sound and meaning.