Gestural Tendencies in Composing Pieces for Solo Clarinet in Sequenza IX for Clarinet, Garisan, and Klibat

Marzelan Salleh; Camellia Siti Maya Mohamed Razali

doi:10.5216/mh.v23.73057

Authors

Marzelan Salleh University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marzelan@um.edu.my https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6655-1305
Camellia Siti Maya Mohamed Razali Department of Music, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, camellia@upm.edu.my https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4793-7143

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5216/mh.v23.73057

Keywords:

music composition, musical gesture, solo pieces for clarinet, contemporary music

Abstract

Abstract: Gesture in a broader sense is more than a physical movement but, can also be modes of expression representing specific meanings. Movements with meaning embodies gesture and gesture exists in various artforms like music because of its capacity to express. Its capability to transform through time and space makes it akin to energy and it is parallel with the art of composing music. Musical gesture however, are being studied at different levels so as to classify and to relate different functions of gestures. This article intends to demonstrate the use of musical gestures into composing music for a solo wind instrument. Three solo pieces for clarinet were written by three different composers approaching musical composition through gestural writing. To realize the imagined sound and movements of the clarinet, the composers’ composing process concentrated more on the gestural movements and tone colours of the selected wind instrument. The musical gesture in these three solo pieces is actually capturing the movement and sense of movement through music, and its essence lies in the subconscious lines connected to create direction and motion in both pieces. This compositional approach also gives the composers more compositional freedom and enriches their compositional process.

Keywords: music composition, musical gesture, solo pieces for clarinet, contemporary music.

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Author Biographies

Marzelan Salleh, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marzelan@um.edu.my

Marzelan Salleh has lived in Malaysia and UK. His music such as Bani Jawi, Bangkit, Puteri Gunung Ledang, Rukun, Hijrah, and Tarian Cinta has been inspired by contemporary music methods deriving from diverse nuances of Asian music. His music has been performed in the United Kingdom and Malaysia alongside composers such as John Pickard, Michael Ellison, and Dieter Mack. Performances of his compositions at major international music festivals and concerts include New Music in the South West, Bristol New Music Festival, Contemporary Music Venture Concert Series, and University of Bristol’s New Music Ensemble Concerts. Marzelan Salleh has worked and collaborated with prestigious music ensembles and musicians namely, Quatuor Bozzini, the Brodowski Quartet, New Music Ensemble Bristol, and Manos Charalabopoulos, to name a few. Marzelan Salleh has attended composition workshops and masterclasses by renowned composers and musicians such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Pickard, Trevor Wishart, Philip Glass, and Nigel Clarke.

Marzelan Salleh received his PhD in Composition from the University of Bristol under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michael Ellison and previously did his Masters in Composition at the University of Salford with Prof. Alan Williams. Marzelan Salleh’s first involvement in music began as a saxophonist in St. John Institution Kuala Lumpur’s marching band. After this, he enrolled in Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, where he studied clarinet and obtained a first-class degree. Composing music has always been his main interest, which led him to obtain a scholarship to pursue contemporary music composition in the UK. Currently, Marzelan Salleh is a senior lecturer at the Cultural Centre, University of Malaya.

Camellia Siti Maya Mohamed Razali, Department of Music, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, camellia@upm.edu.my

Camellia Siti Maya Mohamed Razali is currently a lecturer at the Department of Music, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Camellia received her PhD from the University of Bristol, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michael Ellison. Camellia’s music is inspired by Asian nuance and Western European music combined through transcultural contemporary ideas. Her interest in music composition lies in composing contemporary acoustic orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. Her music has been performed in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Performances of her compositions at major international music festivals and concerts include the Bristol New Music Festival, the Contemporary Music Venture Concert Series, and the University of Bristol’s New Music Ensemble Concerts. Camellia Mohamed Razali has worked and collaborated with prestigious music ensembles and musicians namely, Ensemble Variances, Quatuor Bozzini, New Music Ensemble, Narden Sonel, and Luis Ingels, to name a few. She has attended composition workshops and masterclasses by renowned composers such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Pickard, Trevor Wishart, Phillip Glass and Nigel Clarke. While studying in Bristol, her composition, Sayup, for 11 instruments won the New Music Ensemble Call for Scores in 2015.

Since 2016, she has presented papers and written book chapters concerned with addressing through music, the possibilities and questions raised by music and text, colliding and interacting with cultures in today’s world. At the moment her research, both in composition and writing has brought upon new music compositions such as Wahyu and Prosa Air Mata, both compositions combining music and Malay poetry, and both being performed in the United Kingdom in 2016. Her book chapter entitled, “Space and Spacing’s in Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch and Marzelan Salleh’s Melayang” recently won Best Creative Writing in STEdex 2017.