Portfolio of Compositions: Using Indeterminacy to Achieve Texturalism

This document is submitted to support my portfolio submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in musical composition. It details my compositional intentions and the methods of notational problem-solving undertaken to realise those intentions. The portfolio explores the use of indeterminacy in musical notation as a device to create textural variety, and ultimately density, as thematic musical discourse in itself and as a means for word-painting when setting text.
There might be some audience-related problems with the perception of indeterminacy, and the compositions at the end of the portfolio aim to mitigate those problems. They also hope to exploit an understanding of concepts of foreground and background, or prominence, in textural perception when creating polyphonic structures.
It concludes that indeterminacy is a pragmatic and expedient notational device, as well as a creative one, in achieving various levels of musical texture. Indeterminacy should not be seen as a lack of composer input, but as a harnessing of the imaginative powers of that music’s performers.