Chilnualna : numerology, speech orchestration, and natural sound

Digital content

Author/Creator: Virzi, Nicholas Anthony, author.
Contributor: Applebaum, Mark, degree supervisor. Thesis advisor; Ferneyhough, Brian, 1943- degree committee member. Thesis advisor; Ulman, Erik, 1969- degree committee member. Thesis advisor; Stanford University. Department of Music.

Summary: This dissertation consists of five musical works composed at Stanford University between 2014 and 2019. (1) Aux Imagistes II: Wide Arc -- Low in the Northern Sky (2016), String Octet, Ca. 13 min. Written for the JACK and Spektral Quartets; (2) Six Silver Rings of (((Aquamarine))) (2017), Flute, Clarinet, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Ca. 5 min. Written for Distractfold; (3) Songbird (2018), String Quartet and Birdsong (Tape), Ca. 10 min. Written for the JACK Quartet; (4) Linguaglossa (2018), Vocal Sextet, Narration, Film, Ca. 16 min. Written for Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble; (5) Chilnualna (2019), Two Voices, Natural Sound, Chamber Orchestra, Ca. 14 min. Written for Ensemble Dal Niente. In the following sections, I will outline the practices employed within individual pieces and sketch a broader trajectory spanning these works. Although beginning as poetic etudes in mimesis, my music becomes oriented towards a deeper introspective journey, in which each piece is understood as a pathway to self-discovery.