The practice-based PhD research project comprises the development and application of composition strategies and techniques generated through interdisciplinary collaboration to integrate elements and ideas from non-sonic disciplines into the musical discourse of new music-theatre works, specifically opera. I explore mechanisms of mapping and association that engage with both the specific subject matter of each piece and the creative collaborative environment in which they are created, thus generating different compositional resources that I use to inform the creative process. By using mapping techniques, I can deeply engage and communicate a subject matter on different levels in the musical composition.
The framework for this research is the intertwining of art and science on a variety of levels from a music compositional perspective. Within this framework I explored the integration of knowledge and data from natural and social sciences to inform the composition of four science-based music-theatre works: In response to Naum Gabo: Linear Construction in Space No. 1 (2020), Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing (2021), The Flowering Desert (2022), and TRAPPIST-1 (2023).
With this approach I aim to closely link these works with their particular subject matter, instead of being composed based just on my personal musical taste. By consistently and cohesively applying the strategies and techniques explored in this research, the outcome is not creating music about science or music inspired by science, but, instead, music embedded with science in which the scientific data and knowledge inform the composition decisions. The subject matter is therefore intertwined within the musical discourse, its performativity and theatricality, and its relationship with the other disciplines and collaborators involved in the creation of these works.
The research is presented as a Research Catalogue exposition.
My research questions are:
To answer these questions, I present a portfolio consisting of a compilation of strategies and techniques that I developed and applied in the composition of four science-based music-theatre pieces created through interdisciplinary collaboration. Each strategy and technique is accompanied by specific examples extracted from the scores and the documentation, showing their application in context. The portfolio is divided into two sections, each focusing on one of the research questions.
For the purpose of this research, I will distinguish between strategy and technique as follows:
- Composition Strategy – A conceptual overarching approach that defines an artistic decision with a purpose. For example, using data from a planetary system in order to integrate the rotation of the planets into a sonic event.
- Composition Technique – The execution of an idea in a score[1]. For example, the transformation of data into musical parameters that can be read by the performers.