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Biocentric Composition Techniques from the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Selin, Hannah Claire
Selin, Hannah Claire
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Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2024-08
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Music Composition
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/10579
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the ways in which contemporary composers engage with nature through music. Through three case studies of compositions by Hildegard Westerkamp, John Luther Adams, and myself, I highlight a toolbox of biocentric composition techniques: techniques for meaningfully incorporating the natural world into music without exploiting it. In the process, I help to define the varied and ever-growing field of biocentric music—a new phrase I have coined to refer to the longstanding tradition of music based in mutual relationships between humans and nature.
The three case studies represent a variety of different approaches to biocentric composition in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, many of which involve the use of new technology. I argue that biocentric music is distinguished from other music that deals with nature by its relationality: composers must prioritize building a relationship with their environments as part of the creative process. Without this connection, composers run the risk of harvesting their sonic materials in a way that is analogous to the extraction of other natural resources: for their own benefit and that of their listeners, without consideration for the environment in all its complexities and varied life-forms.
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