Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 7-1-2020 Prescribed Freedom, Proscribed Freedom: Compositional and Improvisational Balances in Jazz Andrew W. Saliba Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Composition Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Recommended Citation Saliba, Andrew W., "Prescribed Freedom, Proscribed Freedom: Compositional and Improvisational Balances in Jazz" (2020). Master's Theses. 5165. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/5165 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PRESCRIBED FREEDOM, PROSCRIBED FREEDOM: COMPOSITIONAL AND IMPROVISATIONAL BALANCES IN JAZZ by Andrew W. Saliba A thesis submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Music in Composition Music Western Michigan University June 2020 Thesis Committee: Dr. Andrew Rathbun, Chair Dr. Scott Cowan Prof. Matthew Fries Copyright by Andrew W. Saliba 2020 PRESCRIBED FREEDOM, PROSCRIBED FREEDOM: COMPOSITIONAL AND IMPROVISATIONAL BALANCES IN JAZZ Andrew W. Saliba, M.M. Western Michigan University, 2020 Jazz is a recent and flexible art form, rooted in the twin musical strains of occidental canon and folkloric African-American music. From its genesis, jazz musicians have had the difficult task of reconciling these seemingly opposite musical parents while simultaneously building a new musical canon that respects and upholds its past, even as it celebrates new individual voices. Like any multifaceted challenge this balancing of elements has not always gone smoothly, and attempts to codify the delineation and categorization of jazz remain controversial even now. There is additional challenge in defining the nature of “free” improvised music. While free music is often labeled “free jazz,” there are wide swaths of improvised music that have originated and matured entirely separately from jazz itself. Yet it is also true to say that improvised individual expression is core to the identity of jazz. Jazz then becomes a three-legged structure comprised of composition and canon, the communal nature of folkloric music, and the individualistic freedom of improvisation. This paper serves as a practical exploration of the connections between these apparent extremes: free improvisation and pre-composed jazz. A detailed analysis of the conceptual underpinnings of nine pieces of mine, composed between the years 2018 and 2020, form the foundational element of this exploration. These pieces served as exploratory works for combining jazz, free improvisation, aleatoric composition, and elements of Western classical music. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 II. NOTATION AND OMISSIONS .............................................................................5 Chart Formatting ..........................................................................................5 Engraving .....................................................................................................6 Time Feel and Groove .................................................................................7 III. PROCESS AND OVERVIEW ................................................................................8 Notes ............................................................................................................8 Silent Minority (Lead Sheet) ...................................................................... 8 The Bild-Up .................................................................................................9 Pictures of the Floating World ...................................................................10 Lark’s Song ................................................................................................11 What is the Sun but a Caster of Shadows ..................................................11 A Smile in Many Stages ............................................................................12 Nothing 2 (Blues) ...................................................................................... 12 Silent Minority (Ensemble)....................................................................... 13 Elegy ..........................................................................................................13 Mauka ........................................................................................................14 IV. MUSICAL ANALYSIS .........................................................................................15 Silent Minority (Ensemble)........................................................................15 ii Table of Contents—Continued The Bild-Up ...............................................................................................18 CHAPTER Pictures of the Floating World ...................................................................20 Lark’s Song ................................................................................................22 What is the Sun but a Caster of Shadows ..................................................24 A Smile in Many Stages ............................................................................26 Nothing 2 (Blues) .......................................................................................27 Elegy ..........................................................................................................28 Mauka ........................................................................................................31 V. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................33 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................35 Collected Scores and Lead Sheets .....................................................................................35 Silent Minority (Lead Sheet) .................................................................................36 The Bild-Up ...........................................................................................................40 Pictures of the Floating World ...............................................................................42 Lark’s Song ............................................................................................................47 What is the Sun but a Caster of Shadows ..............................................................51 A Smile in Many Stages ........................................................................................58 Nothing 2 (Blues) ...................................................................................................61 Silent Minority (Ensemble)....................................................................................62 Elegy ......................................................................................................................89 iii Table of Contents—Continued Mauka ..................................................................................................................107 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................108 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. “Silent Minority” harmonic foundation .....................................................................................15 2. Emaj9 inversions above E root ..................................................................................................16 3. Fmajor 9 and G major 9 inversions above an E root .................................................................16 4. Various Entries of the Melodic Cell ..........................................................................................19 5. “Pictures of the Floating World” Opening .................................................................................20 6. Beat Schemes in 12/8 Meter ......................................................................................................21 7. Foundational Anlo-Ewe (West-African subgroup of the Ewe people) Drum Pattern ...............21 8. “What is the Sun but a Caster of Shadows” Opening ................................................................25 9. Line 15 of “What is the Sun but a Caster of Shadows” .............................................................26 10. Motif for “A Smile in Many Stages” .......................................................................................27 11. Final Measure of “Nothing 2 (Blues)” .....................................................................................28 12. “Elegy” Fanfare Motif .............................................................................................................29 13. Beginning of “Elegy” Melody .................................................................................................29 14. “Elegy” Interrupting Chord......................................................................................................30