Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DMA

College

College of Creative Arts

Committee Chair

Mitchell Arnold

Committee Member

Kym Scott

Committee Member

Hope Koehler

Committee Member

Beth Royall

Committee Member

Andrew Kohn

Abstract

This project investigates Joby Talbot’s choral composition Path of Miracles, focusing on interpretive insight as well as musical and extra-musical understandings related to the subject matter, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. It explores the sources and methods of generating dramatic intensity and seeks to understand how the composer achieved particular dramatic effects. The project proceeds along two related modes of inquiry. The first involves musical evaluation, particularly of pitch, motive, harmony and rhythm techniques, in a somewhat traditional analysis. The second investigates the ways in which musical techniques generate the dramatic and psychological character of the moment. This approach involves understanding the texts and their background (as some are not readily comprehensible at surface level) and evaluates them in the context of particular musical passages. Specifically, this study scrutinizes the use of additive compositional techniques and seek to determine how important dramatic and emotional moments are created. Much of the composition is episodic, with musical materials determined by the dramatic requirements. As a result, form and musical structure are not a focus of this project, although there are some significant formal elements, such as multiple recurrences of the Pilgrims’ Hymn, which occur for dramatic reasons. In addition, practical questions about selecting singers and performance venue, as well as other performance-related issues that this piece presents are addressed.

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