From text to music: a Scots portfolio

Barron, Richard (2021) From text to music: a Scots portfolio. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This portfolio presents seven pieces or sequences of music setting or drawn from texts in Scots; in three of them, parts of the text also use other languages. The pieces are of varying scale, forces and forms. The commentary outlines the range and nature of the texts used and the compositional approaches taken to their use. The musical idioms of the pieces are discussed, as well as their forms and the forces used. The pieces are largely post-tonal and several are influenced by the serialist tradition. The commentary considers the portfolio in the broad context of Scots literature and culture, and notes the international context of three of the pieces. Two central aims of the portfolio are indicated: to recognise and exploit in music the expressive energies of Scots language and diction, and to embody in the range of pieces submitted the elements of dramatic contrast and dialogue inherent in many of the texts used. A third element is also considered: the exploration of ways in which visual perceptions and imagination as expressed in several of the texts may be evoked in the music. The importance of performance is considered. Finally, it is argued that the portfolio presents a sustained and coherent body of work, consistent in its compositional approach and productive in its use of texts.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music; P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Music
• Supervisor's Name: Sweeney, Professor William and Stanley, Dr. Jane
• Date of Award: 2021
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2021-82393
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 24 Aug 2021 12:32
• Last Modified: 08 Apr 2022 17:06
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82393
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82393