University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Musical Rhetoric and Sonic Composing Processes Kyle D. Stedman University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Music Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Scholar Commons Citation Stedman, Kyle D., "Musical Rhetoric and Sonic Composing Processes" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4229 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Musical Rhetoric and Sonic Composing Processes by Kyle D. Stedman A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Joseph M. Moxley, Ph.D. Trey Conner, Ph.D. Marc Santos, Ph.D. Meredith Zoetewey, Ph.D. Date of approval: June 12, 2012 Keywords: Music, Sound, Composition, Creativity, Aesthetics Copyright © 2012, Kyle D. Stedman DEDICATION I dedicate this project to Margo, who partnered with me through writing marathons, bad moods, cluttered desks, long conferences, and endless drives between Orlando and Tampa. She never stopped speaking truth into me and reminding me how good I am at this whole teacher/scholar thing. And she filled our home with music, the best writing support of all. I also owe a debt to the fifteen composers who took the time to talk to me about their work, as well as all the composers over the years who have translated their musical instincts into words through interviews. My ears have changed because of all of you; I hear things differently now. I’ve also been buoyed by everyone at the University of South Florida: the wisdom of my committee and professors, the zany friendship and camaraderie of my fellow graduate students (especially my officemates in The 257), and the persistent patience and kindness of the English department staff. Finally, a special thanks is owed to the two people who taught me about the field of rhetoric and composition and convinced me to listen to what it was whispering to me: Twila Yates Papay told me that I was equipped to be a writing professor long before I thought of that as an option, and the late Jim Slevin showed me that this path is one that fulfills my intellectual, personal, and ethical goals. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iii Abstract .................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 Why a Project on Music and Sound? .......................................................................4 Methodology ..........................................................................................................11 Arguments and Organization .................................................................................16 Chapter 1: Making Meanings from Sound and Music .......................................................19 Sound ....................................................................................................................22 Sound and Time .........................................................................................23 Delivered and Accidental Sounds ..............................................................26 Music ....................................................................................................................31 Comprehensibility and Cognition ..............................................................32 Comprehensibility and Form .....................................................................34 Musical Meaning ...................................................................................................37 Associations and Music as Language ........................................................38 Musical Emotion ........................................................................................42 Conclusion .............................................................................................................47 Chapter 2: Control and Identification: Composing and Understanding Musical Rhetoric ....................................................................................................................50 Composing Musical Rhetoric ................................................................................52 A Legacy of Control: Classical Rhetoric and Baroque Music ...................54 Understanding Musical Rhetoric ...........................................................................65 The Surgical Transplant Approach to Rhetoric .........................................66 Broadening Our View of Rhetoric .............................................................71 Burke, Music, and Identification ...............................................................76 Conclusion .............................................................................................................81 Interlude 1 ....................................................................................................................83 Chapter 3: Composers on Influences and Audiences ........................................................89 What We Collect: Specific and Subtle Influences .................................................93 New Audiences, Near and Far .............................................................................100 Knowing and Trusting Audiences .......................................................................111 Audiences Finding Meanings ..............................................................................121 Musical Emotions and Film .................................................................................128 i Chapter 4: The Canons of Musical Rhetoric ....................................................................137 Invention ..............................................................................................................138 Invention as Ignoring and Creating Limitations ......................................142 Purposes for Composing ..........................................................................145 Arrangement ........................................................................................................147 Arrangement as Form and Development .................................................148 Style ..................................................................................................................156 Style as Orchestration ..............................................................................159 Memory ................................................................................................................165 Memory as Score .....................................................................................168 Memory Technologized ...........................................................................174 Delivery................................................................................................................180 Performance as Collaboration ..................................................................182 Improvisation ...........................................................................................186 The Future of Performance ......................................................................190 Interlude 2 ..................................................................................................................193 Chapter 5: Students Understanding and Making Music ..................................................199 Introduction ..........................................................................................................199 Why Students?` ........................................................................................202 Format and Organization .........................................................................204 Why Verse? ..............................................................................................205 Students Understanding Music ............................................................................207 Form (or, Following the Rules) ...............................................................207 Influence ..................................................................................................215 What Music Says .....................................................................................226 Students Making Music .......................................................................................235 Composition Courses ...............................................................................236 Invention Processes and Emotions...........................................................243 Computers and Composition ....................................................................247 Performance .............................................................................................254 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................261