Post-Tonal Theory and Composition: A Guide of Compositional Possibilities

Alexandre Mascarenhas Espinheira – [email protected]

This work is the result of research aiming at the elaboration of a Guide of Compositional Possibilities, using Post-Tonal Theory as an auxiliary tool for composition. It also includes a discussion of the literature on the notion of ‘composing-out’ and the musical composition Oxowusí, along with a description of the process of its elaboration.

The first chapter is an introduction that leads the reader across basic ideas and the choices made during the research process. The second one reviews the literature focused on the Post-Tonal notion of ‘composing-out’, that is, a series of musical surface motives enlargement procedures which intend to organize larger musical spans, contributing to the structural unity of the piece. The third chapter discusses the model to be used in the Guide of Compositional Possibilities, taking composition textbooks written in the second half of the Twentieth Century as reference. The fourth Chapter presents the final form of the Guide, which is divided into two large parts: the first one comprising pre-compositional topics, and the second one dealing with musical surface. The fifth chapter contains the description of the compositional procedures used to create the piece Oxowusí, based itself on possibilities presented by the Guide, and tries to show its use in a dynamic situation. The chapter also includes the complete score of the piece.