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Nigel Westlake's Omphalo Centric NIGEL WESTLAKE’S OMPHALO CENTRIC LECTURE: A GUIDE FOR PERFORMANCE INCLUDING A BIOGRAPHY OF THE COMPOSER AND AN EXAMINATION OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE WORK DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Grant B. Dalton, M.M. ***** The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Susan Powell, Adviser Professor Russel Mikkelson ________________________ Professor Marc Ainger Adviser Music Graduate Program Copyright by Grant Beckett Dalton 2006 ABSTRACT This document is an examination of Nigel Westlake’s first marimba quartet, Omphalo Centric Lecture. The study includes a biography of the professional career of the composer, an analysis of the work, a study of the many different versions of the work, and considerations for the performance of the work. The biographical material was attained primarily through email correspondence with knowledgeable people and through published interviews with Nigel Westlake. Some of these knowledgeable people include prominent Australian percussionists, the composer himself, and his wife, Jan Westlake. The analysis is a look at the design of the composition. It is primarily focused on the rhythmic content of the Omphalo Centric Lecture since the piece is so heavily driven by the rhythms. The primary content of this rhythmic drive is created by the use of multiple ostinati of differing lengths used simultaneously to provide the accompaniment to the melody. The examination of the many variations on this work traces the development of Omphalo Centric Lecture from its genesis as a trio for bass clarinet and two percussionists to its arrangement as a marimba quartet for the Australian percussion ensemble, Synergy. Since Omphalo Centric Lecture was published in the version for ii four marimbas, this piece has been arranged for many different configurations of instruments, and it has been arranged for ensembles that vary in size from six or more down to a duo with electronic accompaniment. The discussion of rehearsal techniques is derived from email correspondence from leading performers of the work and from percussionists who have contributed to the knowledge of this piece. These performers and educators were limited to those that have published comments on the performance of the work and performers who have commercially available recordings of the composition. iii Dedicated to my wife, Jennifer, and my son, Beckett iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Prof. Susan Powell for her guidance through this project. Her support in this effort is so greatly appreciated especially due to the extra needs that have presented themselves due to the fact that I have written this paper from my home in Birmingham, Alabama. Her time reading and responding to the numerous email messages has not gone unnoticed. Thanks also go to Dr. Russel Mikkelson and Dr. Marc Ainger for their time and willingness to take on the additional commitment and workload of being a part of my doctoral committee. I wish to thank my entire family for their support and encouragement with regard to all aspects of my life. My deepest thanks must go to my wife, Jennifer, for her understanding of the time commitment that had to be made toward the completion of this paper. I also wish to thank all of the accomplished percussionists that assisted with this project. A special acknowledgement must go to Gary France for allowing me to have an advance copy of an interview he did with Nigel Westlake that had great significance with the focus of this paper. I offer my most sincere thanks to Philip South for his willingness v to take so much of his time to answer questions regarding this work. His intimate knowledge of Omphalo Centric Lecture through his many performances as a member of Synergy Percussion has proved to be of immense value to this project. Finally, I wish to offer thanks to Jan Westlake for her ultimate support in the writing of this paper, and for her permission for the use of the musical examples and scores of Omphalo Centric Lecture. This paper simply would not have been possible without her selflessness and her willingness to spend so much time working with me to get so many details of her, and her husband’s, lives correct. The information that she was able to provide, and the encouragement that she gave during the process, were of immeasurable help. vi VITA October 10, 1972……………Born – Huntington, West Virginia 1995………………………... B. S. Instrumental Music Education, Lipscomb University. 1998………………………... M.M. Percussion Performance, The Ohio State University. 1999 – 2001 ……………….. Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University. 2001 – present………………Instructor of Percussion, Samford University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Music vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract …………………………………………………………………………….ii Dedication ………………………………………………………………………….iv Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………….v Vita …………………………………………………………………………………vii List of Figures………………………………………………………………………x Chapters: 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………1 2. Biography of Composer Nigel Westlake…………………………………... 4 3. Analysis of Omphalo Centric Lecture……………………………………... 38 4. Versions of Omphalo Centric Lecture……………………………………...74 5. Rehearsal Techniques……………………………………………………… 100 6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………. 113 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….. 115 Appendix A…………………………………………………………………………118 Appendix B………………………………………………………………………… 139 viii Appendix C………………………………………………………………………… 161 Appendix D…………………………………………………………………………167 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 3.1 Diagram of the compositional sections of Omphalo Centric Lecture………39 3.2 Composite rhythm of the accents in measures 1 and 2 …………………….40 3.3 Opening rhythmic motif from measures 4 – 8……………………………...41 3.4 Variation of opening rhythmic motif from measures 8 – 12………………. 41 3.5 Example of variation in the melodic line at measure 18……………………41 3.6 Example of melody and stickings from measures 4 – 6…………………… 43 3.7 Example of part 3 measures 45 – 48………………………………………..44 3.8 Example of part 2 measures 53 and 54…………………………………….. 45 3.9 Musical example of parts 2 and 4 from measures 55 – 60………………….46 3.10 Example of the melody contained in parts 1 and 3 in measures 61 – 65……48 3.11 Example of parts 3 and 4 beginning at measure 69…………………………49 3.12 Example of the original melody beginning in measure 72………………… 50 3.13 Example of the variation of the melody beginning in measure 96………….50 3.14 Musical example of parts 3 and 4 measures 128 – 131……………………. 51 3.15 Musical example of part 1 from measures 140 and 141…………………… 52 3.16 Musical example of part 1 from measures 143 and 144…………………… 52 3.17 Musical example of part 1 in measures 146 – 148………………………….53 x 3.18 Musical example of part two measures 155 – 157………………………….54 3.19 Musical example of part four from measures 158 and 159………………... 55 3.20 Musical example of parts one and four from measures 158 – 160………… 56 3.21 Musical example of parts one, two, and four from measures 161 and 162…57 3.22 Musical example of parts one and three from measures 166 and 167………58 3.23 Musical example of part two from measures 166 and 167………………… 58 3.24 Musical example of part four from measures 166 and 167…………………58 3.25 Musical example of part two from measure 176……………………………60 3.26 Musical example of part one from measures 172 – 174…………………… 60 3.27 Musical example of part three measure 178……………………………….. 61 3.28 Example of parts two and four from measure 178………………………….62 3.29 Example of parts one and three from measure 180…………………………63 3.30 Example of parts one and three from measures 183 and 184……………… 64 3.31 Example of the variation in parts one and three at measures 187 and 188…64 3.32 Example of parts one and three from measures 193 and 194……………… 65 3.33 Solo melodic line from measures 195 – 197………………………………. 65 3.34 Musical example of all four parts from measures 206 and 207…………….67 3.35 Example of broken ostinato patterns from parts one and three from measures 224 – 228…………………………………………………………68 3.36 Musical example of parts one and three from measures 227 – 229………...69 3.37 Solo melodic line from measures 231 – 239………………………………..70 3.38 All four parts from measures 245 – 247…………………………………… 72 xi 5.1 Timothy Jones’s instrument arrangement…………………………………. 101 5.2 Alternate instrument setup…………………………………………………. 102 5.3 Tracy Wiggins’s instrument setup…………………………………………. 103 xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Omphalo Centric Lecture (published 1984) by Nigel Westlake is not only one of the most popular works for marimba ensemble, but it has become one of the most often performed musical compositions in all of percussion literature. In spite of this notoriety, there has not been a published study of this piece. As a proof of the popularity of this composition, one should consider the number of times in which it has been performed as a part of a showcase concert at the annual Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention. Over the thirty-year history of featured ensembles presenting concerts at PASIC, Omphalo Centric Lecture has been performed five times. This puts it in the same class as other masterworks such as Helble’s Diabolic Variations, Christopher Rouse’s Ogoun Badagris, and Tom Gauger’s Gainsboro. In fact, the only work that has been performed at more conventions is John Cage’s Third Construction. 1 One must also consider that Omphalo Centric Lecture did not exist for nearly the entire first decade of this convention. 1 Scott Cameron. “PASIC Percussion Ensembles: A Historical Overview.” Percussive Notes. April 2006, 58-64. 1 Omphalo Centric Lecture has sold over 1,300 copies as of 2006 even though the work has never been actively marketed by Rimshot Music, the Westlakes’ publishing company. It has been recorded by many percussion ensembles from all over the world, and, because of these numerous recordings, many groups attempt to put their own unique stamp on the work by creating different versions of the work.
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