A Folio of Original Compositions for Various Performing Groups\ud with Detailed Analysis : Volume 1 of 2

The overall aim of this study was to produce a body of original music in a contemporary art-music style, framed within a portfolio of six works. These works are designed to illustrate aspects of my individual style as a composer through the musical techniques employed, the instrumentation chosen and the reflection of my musical influences which emanate through the works themselves. The works included in this portfolio are composed and arranged for a variety of forces, from solo instrumental to large-scale orchestral music. It is my aspiration that this portfolio will demonstrate versatility in my ability to write for assorted combinations of instruments at an appropriate standard. A detailed analysis of each work accompanies the portfolio. This analysis outlines my aims in writing each piece along with musical concerns I experienced in the process of composition and, at times, how I dealt with or approached these concerns. For each work the pitch source material, compositional devices and instrumentation used in writing this portfolio are discussed under relevant headings. A CD accompanying this portfolio contains audio representations of the works created by computer software (midi format). As a caveat, it should be noted that the computer’s interpretation of the music is not always entirely representative of the sound that would be produced by the actual performer, however, for all works the advice and consult of a specialist performers, conductors and composers was sought. Some works within the portfolio were performed in a live setting during the course of study however such substantial changes were made to the works which rendered any recordings that were made virtually obsolete. Unfortunately, efforts made to produce live and/or studio recordings of completed works towards the time of submission were rendered impossible due to a lack of available resources