Diferãs for orchestra

Abstract

The systematics of deferral and hierarchization, embodied in the Derridean term différance is inherent to the language as well as to music. The interplay between the musical materials that attempt to attain "meaning" via yielding to a chain of future materials or by assuming different functions within a hierarchical system provides the compositional terrain for this work. The first section of the piece aims to emphasize this systematic play of differing and deferring via employment of nine formal foci, dubbed as "forces." The second section utilizes these forces outside their native context, transforming them to mere sound events which are immune to the effects of différance. A number of local events in the piece are created via a computer-based generative process that provided pitch, rhythm and timbral data. Powered by a Music Information Retrieval System developed by the author, the aforementioned generative process derives the local material out of the "forces." However, this procedure is utilized dynamically as an aid for resolving local compositional matters rather than as a tool to provide fixed pre-compositional data. In a similar manner, the timbral comparison feature of the MIR system provided a guide for orchestration by informing the user the timbral similarity of two sound inputs. In [difeʁãs], this method is used to create orchestral sequences of similar as well as contrasting timbres. This dissertation consists of two separate documents: A report that summarizes the global and local compositional processes, and the full score of the piece.