First Advisor

Kauffman, Deborah

Degree Name

Master of Music

Document Type

Thesis

Date Created

8-2019

Department

College of Performing and Visual Arts, Music, Music Student Work

Embargo Date

8-1-2021

Abstract

The cultural preservation of traditional music has become a serious issue in the mainland of Southeast Asia. The impact of political revolution, economic problems, westernization, and modernization have all but eliminated traditional music from its homeland. Western music, on the other hand, is flourishing in the region and has had a strong influence on the transformation of traditional musical genres in order to attract the attention of today’s society. As a result, one way to help traditional music survive in this modern context is to incorporate it with western genres. This research, therefore, aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating traditional music elements of the mainland Southeast Asia with western styles of contemporary composition. Because the countries of mainland Southeast Asia have been confronting different challenges, a variety of new ensembles and repertoires have been created in distinctive directions, each reflecting the status of the individual countries. From the evaluation of the information gained from interviews of five native mainland Southeast Asian composers and score analysis of selected compositions by those composers, three different categories can be identified for the methods the composers have developed to convey the sounds of traditional instruments and ensembles: substituting the sound of traditional instruments with western instruments or ensembles, developing western performance techniques to evoke traditional styles and sounds, and the combination of both categories. Unfortunately, these methods have raised questions about their effectiveness in cultural preservation, since they fail to present the authenticity of traditional music. Nonetheless, these methods still provide opportunities for conservation. At the very least, contemporary composition is one way to keep traditional music alive in modernized societies that are interested in the cultural conservation of their traditional musical heritages

Extent

110 pages

Local Identifiers

PatarateeranonThesis2019

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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