Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Music

First Advisor

J. Jenkins

Abstract

In her late period of solo piano composition, Canadian composer Ann Southam (1937–2010) developed her own signature postminimalist style combining the static consonance of minimalism with the disruptive instability of twelve-tone serialism. This study analyzes three selected solo piano works in this compositional style: Slow Music: Meditations on a Twelve Tone Row (1979), Qualities of Consonance (1998) and Simple Lines of Enquiry (2007), illustrating how Southam develops a twelve-tone row through minimalist techniques. Additionally, the present study interprets salient structural, harmonic, and temporal elements through the context of gender and sexuality. An outspoken feminist, Southam considered her use of minimalist processes to be a political musical metaphor for “women’s work.” A more private lesbian, potential manifestations of queer identity are also considered. Through analysis that incorporates queer and feminist frameworks, this study elucidates compositional structure and provides additional interpretation for musical metaphors related to gender and sexual identity.

Rights

© 2024, Elizabeth Churchya

Included in

Music Commons

Share

COinS