Travels with Alex: Music for viola obbligato and various ensembles
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Bolley, Richard. 2020. Travels with Alex: Music for viola obbligato and various ensembles. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]
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Text (Travels with Alex: Music for viola obbligato and various ensembles)
MUS_thesis_BolleyR_2020.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (40MB) |
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Other (Travels with Alex 1)
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Other (Travels with Alex 2)
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Other (Travels with Alex 3)
MUS_thesis_BolleyR_2020_TravelswithAlex3.pdf - Supplemental Material Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (365kB) | Preview |
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Other (Travels with Alex 4)
MUS_thesis_BolleyR_2020_TravelswithAlex4.pdf - Supplemental Material Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview |
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Other (Travels with Alex 5)
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Other (Travels with Alex 6)
MUS_thesis_BolleyR_2020_TravelswithAlex6.pdf - Supplemental Material Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (332kB) | Preview |
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Other (Travels with Alex 7)
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Other (Travels with Alex 8)
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Other (Travels with Alex 9)
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Abstract or Description
Travels with Alex is a cycle of nine pieces for viola obbligato and various combinations drawn from an ensemble of 24 musicians (including two performers on Tibetan instruments). Ideally these compositions are to be played as a complete cycle, given the use of a large-scale durational interval succession to derive the relative durations of the individual pieces and sections within them. However, performance individually or in smaller combinations is also possible. The initial inspirations were twofold: the gift to the composer of a Tibetan thangka, and the travel writings of the French Buddhist, Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969). Musically speaking, the cycle explores a range of methods, serial and otherwise, for ‘composing out’ from small, modal, mantric motifs. In Buddhist traditions, these and others like them have been used to invoke the presence of a particular bodhisattva (a ‘patron deity’, or mythical being, committed to guiding humanity towards Enlightenment) — in this case, Tārā or Jetsun Dölma, amongst whose attributes devotees prize her protection of travellers. The supporting commentary explains how these micro-elements are used to build a musical structure lasting around an hour. The commentary credits a compositional lineage featuring particular works of Tōru Takemitsu, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Peter Maxwell Davies and Jonathan Harvey. Specific technical indebtedness is also ascribed to other twentieth-century figures such as Igor Stravinsky, Michael Tippett, Elliott Carter, Witold Lutosławski, Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez. Amongst the original features of the cycle is the juxtaposition of typical Western orchestral instruments with instruments used in Tibetan Buddhist ritual practices (played in the recording by Tibetan monks) and the inclusion of poetry in French inspired by David-Néel’s writings. The latter appears in two of the nine pieces, involving the addition of a countertenor to the instrumental ensemble.
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Item Type: |
Thesis (Doctoral) |
| Identification Number (DOI): |
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| Keywords: |
Music Composition, transcultural, Tibet, viola ensembles |
| Departments, Centres and Research Units: |
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| Date: |
31 January 2020 |
| Item ID: |
29189 |
| Date Deposited: |
26 Aug 2020 14:13 |
| Last Modified: |
07 Sep 2022 17:18 |
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URI: |
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