Browsing by Author "Watt, Martin"

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    A comparative style-critical analysis of representative piano works by Alberto Ginastera with specific reference to his application of the Malambo dance rhythm
    (2023) Preller, Ivan; Watt, Martin
    There is currently insufficient academic literature on the South American composer Alberto Ginastera and his compositional mastery. Ginastera's music is meticulously put together to create some of the most original examples of South American music in the twentieth century. He incorporated numerous Argentinian rhythmic and melodic elements into his music. The assimilation of the malambo dance rhythm, a fast-paced and heavily syncopated rhythmic device, within his music features throughout his vast oeuvre. This dissertation analyses and compares a selection of piano works written by Alberto Ginastera. The selected works are representative of the assimilation of the malambo dance rhythm within a selection of piano compositions. These piano works represent Ginastera's compositional output from one his first published works to his last published work, allowing for a thorough investigation into the composer's development over an extensive timespan. This study seeksto understand how Ginastera's assimilation of the malambo dance rhythm developed from his objective nationalistic works to his subjective nationalistic works, and finally to his neo-expressionist works. It takes an integrative approach to investigate how the musical parameters surrounding the utilisation of the malambo dance rhythm are applied, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the composer's compositional style. The conclusion of the study shows how the musical parameters surrounding the malambo dance rhythm occurrences develop organically, with different techniques being applied interchangeably in an increasingly sophisticated manner. Due to the limited academic sources on Alberto Ginastera, additional research is needed to further comprehend and appreciate the works of the composer and his influence on classical music in the twentieth century.
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    An angelic alter ego - a style-critical analysis of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Violin Concerto
    (2025) Vavatzanidis, Alexandros; Watt, Martin; Hofmeyr, Hendrik
    Einojuhani Rautavaara has recently become a contemporary classic of Western Art Music. His music's broad appeal is inherently due to his eclectic stylistic choices, particularly in his later works. Over the past few decades, a growing body of research has emerged on Rautavaara's music. This dissertation provides a stylistic analysis of his Violin Concerto from 1977, a composition which displays the embryonic traits of his later period. Previous academic works have failed to address this composition, and it has thus received no analytical attention yet. This dissertation seeks to discover the inner structure and mechanisms of the Violin Concerto. It does so by utilising Jan LaRue's style-critical analysis method. By doing so, one can extrapolate how smaller dimensions of music morph and combine to structure the composition; and determine which harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and textural manipulations and techniques are used within the music. The analysis is then contextualised within Rautavaara's various periods of composition, seeking to discover where it is categorised. By extension, it is then posited whether such a composition falls into a categorisation of Modernist, or Postmodernist ideals. Finally, a large rationale behind much of Rautavaara's music draws connections between semiotic imagery/concepts, and musical figures/titles. This allegorical connection is uncovered as the Violin Concerto is compositionally followed by Rautavaara's “Angel” trilogy of compositions. The final objective is to explore what we can learn about the composer's music in this period; and how the Violin Concerto may signal his change in musical aesthetics, or perhaps even stand in contrast to the “Angel” triptych's musical characteristics, and meta-physical allusions. This research paper concludes that the Violin Concerto exhibits traits found in Rautavaara's later Angelic compositions serving as an imperfect antithesis, are indeed Postmodern in attitude, providing an ironic metaphor of Rautavaara's own belief of mortality.
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    Analysis of Summa by Arvo Pärt
    (2011) Patrick, David; Watt, Martin; Sandmeier, Rebekka
    This study presents a musical analysis using a process of pitch mapping. Pitch rows are presented graphically to demonstrate the visual design of the music. Description of the process is preceded by a discussion of some of the historical, and philosophical factors that are relevant to the development of Pärt’s tintinnabuli music. The musical and political history of Estonia and some of its other composers are presented as an important resource for understanding Pärt’s music. The use of proportions and formulas in the music is presented as being connected to a long line of similar practice in the fields of music, mathematics, physics and astronomy that has been used in the pursuit of an understanding of the Universe. Although informed by an extensive depth of spirituality, research and construction, the music remains an intensely personal expression of the composer. In this combination of structure and intuition it is able to resonate with people across many different cultures, and across many visible and invisible boundaries. Through the establishment of tonal stability in tintinnabuli music, extra-musical codes and symbols can be placed within its structure. This is achieved through a compositional process that includes both highly organized proportional formulas and creative intuition. The process of pitch mapping as a method of musical analysis demonstrates how this can be done. Pitch mapping is presented as a creative process of musical analysis. Visual images and animated visual images are used to add to an understanding of the music.
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    A comparative analysis of two guitar transcriptions of Isaac Albéniz's Granada
    (2011) Rontsch, Marc; Watt, Martin; Grace, James
    The solo piano works of Isaac Albéniz have been extensively transcribed and performed by many guitarists. Granada, the first movement from his Suite Española for piano is a favourite amongst guitarists - sometimes even more so than amongst pianists. This dissertation offers a comparative analysis of the very first transcription of Granada by the renowned Romantic composer and guitar virtuoso Francisco Tárrega, and a more recent transcription by Stanley Yates. The aim of the study is to identify and critically evaluate various transcription techniques employed by these transcribers, in order to determine the extent to which their transcriptions of Granada are similar and different.
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    Philip Glass's Tirol Concerto for piano and orchestra (2000): a compositional analysis of the Second Movement
    (2015) Delport, Wilhelm H; Watt, Martin
    Philip Glass is best known for his role in the establishment of the 1960s minimalist movement, which was characterised by an extensive reduction of musical means. Since the mid-1970s, the composer has adopted a richer, more complex musical language, and distanced himself from the minimalist label. Academic scholarship on the composer's more recent compositions is severely limited, with the result that he is often still viewed as a minimalist. This dissertation's focus is on a more recent work by Glass, the Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2000), and thus seeks to contribute to our knowledge of the composer's more recent stylistic development and the extent to which it is minimalist. The research approach entails compositional analyses of the concerto's second movement from both literary and theoretical perspectives. The movement's conception, its background and factors that had an influence on its compositional content are explored through literature studies. This is followed by theoretical investigations of its musical characteristics through the application of functional harmonic analysis and neo-Riemannian theory. Findings from the research provide evidence that the composition's title stems from the 'Tyrolean character' that was requested by its commissioners. However, relations between the movement and the film The Truman show (1998) challenge the composer's affirmations of a Tyrolean folk-song basis. Musically, the movement consists of a simple, repetitive structural and harmonic framework that undergoes superficial variations through melodic, textural and rhythmic changes. Transformational coherence within a functional structure is an essential component of the movement's harmonic content. This dissertation concludes that the piece contains musical characteristics consistent with all of Glass's stylistic periods, including minimalism, as well as new compositional devices that have not been identified previously. It recommends further study of the composer's more recent output , especially through transformational perspectives, and a reconsideration of the ontology and appropriateness of stylistic labels such as minimalism.
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    Portfolio of compositions
    (2015) Warrington, Miles Simon; Watt, Martin
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    Portfolio of four original compositions
    (2015) Krige, Jacobus; Watt, Martin
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    Using musical structures to communicate emotion
    (2013) Krige, Jacobus; Watt, Martin
    This study investigates the hypothesis that music has the ability to strongly influence emotions in listeners. It begins by challenging the accuracy of this presumption, provides a general psychological and philosophical overview of human emotions and their relation to music, and hypothesises a theory that accounts for the numerous different findings by authors around this topic. The study then attempts to investigate in what manner specific musical structures are linked to the expression of certain emotions; firstly through a literature review and secondly through the execution of empirical tests. These findings are summarised in the Conclusion. An Annexure to this study provides graphic representations of specific musical structures on valence x arousal diagrams that are of value to composers of music.