Thesis
Writing for Guitar Groups with and without Orchestra and Creative Work: Concerto Score 'Old Earth - New Skies'
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2007
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.365
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Abstract
All musical instruments have idiosyncrasies and pose technical problems for the composer. The guitar is especially challenging particularly for the non-guitarist composer.
Writing for groups of guitars poses additional problems in orchestration. Writing for guitar and orchestra presents the specific challenge of how the instrument might compete with much louder instruments and groups of instruments.
This study - Writing for Guitar Groups with and without Orchestra - discusses, examines and experiments with concepts and techniques that seek to overcome some of these challenges. Compositions and arrangements by other guitarists/composers are analysed for common practices in guitar group writing, and compositions have been written for the study to give examples of various orchestration/arranging possibilities in writing for guitar groups. A concerto for a group of guitars was written to combine the challenge of writing for guitar groups and writing for them with the accompaniment and interplay of orchestral forces. The concerto, Old Earth - New Skies, submitted in score and demonstration recording, is the centrepiece of this study.
It is evident that a judicious use of registral, timbral and rhythmic contrasts grants increased control over the integration of guitar groups and their interplay with orchestral forces. The issue of amplitude and the guitar is examined for contemporary solutions and the study reveals both advantages and drawbacks of the application of sound reinforcement.
The idiosyncrasies of the guitar are such that, commonly, only composers proficient on or knowledgeable about the instrument have been represented in the established repertoire. This trend is shown to be changing but, for potential non-guitarist composers, sources of information about how to write for guitar and guitar groups remain scant.
Details
- Title
- Writing for Guitar Groups with and without Orchestra and Creative Work: Concerto Score 'Old Earth - New Skies'
- Creators
- Peter J. Martin
- Contributors
- Michael Hannan (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- 136 pages, 162, 42 pages of music
- Identifiers
- 991013194513802368
- Copyright
- © Peter J Martin 2007
- Academic Unit
- School of Arts and Social Sciences
- Resource Type
- Thesis