Date of Award

4-2020

Degree Name

Master of Music

Department

Music

First Advisor

Dr. Lisa Coons

Second Advisor

Dr. Carter Rice

Third Advisor

Dr. Christopher Biggs

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Maria Cristina Fava

Keywords

Electronics, chamber ensemble, anacalypsis, new complexity, timbral

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The title of this piece, Anacalypsis, takes its name from the text Anacalypsis: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions, written by Godfrey Higgins in 1836. The word anacalypsis is an antonym to the word apocalypse and comes from the Greek word ανακάλυψης which translates to find or discovery. In his two-volume treatise, Higgins attempts to unveil "a most ancient and universal religion from which all later creeds and doctrines sprang.”

Reading through Higgins’ text brought me to the intriguing idea of a time before religion, and, more conceptually, a time before civilization. I imagine this sort of “before-time” to have a darkness and stillness to it as well as a violence and primitiveness. And in some ways, I feel as though it speaks to an existentialism that exists within each of us as we question our genesis. This piece is a metaphysical wandering towards an anacalypsis and a representation of the existential experiences one might reflect upon along the way.

Download

Included in

Music Commons

Share

COinS