SOUNDING PLACES: SITUATED CONVERSATIONS THROUGH THE SOUNDSCAPE COMPOSITIONS OF HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP
Type
Publication
Authors
Category
Thesis
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Publication Year
1999
Publisher
York University, Canada
URL
[ private ]
Abstract
In this dissertation, I consider the significance of Hildegard Westerkamp's work to current scholarship in the area of feminist epistemology, and to contemporary electroacoustic music in the genre of soundscape composition, specifically in her receptive, dialogic approach to particular places and their sonic, social, political and technological resonances.
In Chapter Two I discuss how Canadian concert composers deal with the idea of Canada as a place within music of the last century, differentiating the generalized myths of nationalist music from Westerkamp's focus on specific places. In Chapter Three, I focus on the position of soundscape composition within electroacoustic music, using feminist epistemology as a critical lens. Chapter Four is a biography of Westerkamp. Chapter Five is about my analytical methods: I bring together critical and feminist theory with James Tenney's gestalt approach to musical analysis, and listener responses.
In Chapter Six I discuss the importance of soundwalking to Westerkamp's association with acoustic ecology, to her early compositional formation, as well as to her work as a radio artist, through an analysis of Kit's Beach Soundwalk. The CD ROM also includes a website and an interactive installation about soundwalking. In Chapter Seven, I analyze Cricket Voice, a wilderness piece about the sounds of a cricket in the desert and about the urban person's experience of desert as spiritual refuge and alien environment. Moments of Laughter, the subject of Chapter Eight, is a performance piece based on Westerkamp's musical relationship with her daughter. The CD ROM includes excerpts of Moments of
Laughter linked to images and score excerpts. In Chapter Nine, I analyze Breathing Room, a miniature intended to reflect Westerkamp's overall style. I interpret Breathing Room as a representation of a cyborg body, using Donna Haraway's ironic image of the cyborg. The CD ROM includes an installation based on this analysis. In Chapter Ten, I
analyze Gently Penetrating Beneath the Sounding Surfaces of Another Place, which is representative of Westerkamp's current international work, based on her experiences of
sound in New Delhi. I chronicle the construction of this piece in a section on the CD ROM called "In the Studio." The conclusions consider interactivity in the hybrid form of the dissertation, in the developing relationship between Westerkamp and myself, and in the constructed dialogues of my analyses.
In Chapter Two I discuss how Canadian concert composers deal with the idea of Canada as a place within music of the last century, differentiating the generalized myths of nationalist music from Westerkamp's focus on specific places. In Chapter Three, I focus on the position of soundscape composition within electroacoustic music, using feminist epistemology as a critical lens. Chapter Four is a biography of Westerkamp. Chapter Five is about my analytical methods: I bring together critical and feminist theory with James Tenney's gestalt approach to musical analysis, and listener responses.
In Chapter Six I discuss the importance of soundwalking to Westerkamp's association with acoustic ecology, to her early compositional formation, as well as to her work as a radio artist, through an analysis of Kit's Beach Soundwalk. The CD ROM also includes a website and an interactive installation about soundwalking. In Chapter Seven, I analyze Cricket Voice, a wilderness piece about the sounds of a cricket in the desert and about the urban person's experience of desert as spiritual refuge and alien environment. Moments of Laughter, the subject of Chapter Eight, is a performance piece based on Westerkamp's musical relationship with her daughter. The CD ROM includes excerpts of Moments of
Laughter linked to images and score excerpts. In Chapter Nine, I analyze Breathing Room, a miniature intended to reflect Westerkamp's overall style. I interpret Breathing Room as a representation of a cyborg body, using Donna Haraway's ironic image of the cyborg. The CD ROM includes an installation based on this analysis. In Chapter Ten, I
analyze Gently Penetrating Beneath the Sounding Surfaces of Another Place, which is representative of Westerkamp's current international work, based on her experiences of
sound in New Delhi. I chronicle the construction of this piece in a section on the CD ROM called "In the Studio." The conclusions consider interactivity in the hybrid form of the dissertation, in the developing relationship between Westerkamp and myself, and in the constructed dialogues of my analyses.
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https://hildegardwesterkamp.ca/resources/PDFs/writings-pdf/Andradiss.pdf
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