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Physica, a Composition for Women ´s Choir and Live Electronics

Matthys, Joel W
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1367938890

Abstract Details

2013, DMA, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Composition.
Physica is a four movement choral composition for SSAA women ´s choir and computer. The text is drawn from the writings of two female medieval mystics, Hildegard of Bingen (1098 AD - 1179), and Julian of Norwich (1342 - 1416). Three excerpts from Hildegard of Bingen's text Physica form the core of the first, second, and fourth movements, while excerpts from Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love appear in the third movement and juxtaposed against the Bingen text in the first movement. The work explores the unique way these women have described the natural world, by turns familiar and archaic, whimsical and prophetic. The music pays homage to Renaissance chansons and madrigals, particularly the works of composers Clement Janequin and Carlo Gesualdo, through the use of imitative counterpoint, text painting, and onomatopoetics. The computer part is triggered and synthesized live, with harmonies and textures derived from recordings of the text, and is executed in the software environment Pd-extended using my own version of the RTcmix computer music language embedded as a compiled external. As the piece progresses, the text is increasingly distorted to reveal the harmonies of the piece, and to emphasize the great emotional and intellectual distance between these two medieval women and our modern selves.
Mara Helmuth, D.M.A. (Committee Chair)
Mike Fiday, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Joel Hoffman, D.M.A. (Committee Member)
38 p.
Music
Computer Music; RTcmix; Womens Choir; Hildegard of Bingen; Julian of Norwich; Composition;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Matthys, J. W. (2013). Physica, a Composition for Women ´s Choir and Live Electronics [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1367938890

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Matthys, Joel. Physica, a Composition for Women ´s Choir and Live Electronics. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1367938890.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Matthys, Joel. "Physica, a Composition for Women ´s Choir and Live Electronics." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1367938890

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1367938890
351
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.