Out of Order

Abstract

'Out of Order' proposes that the perception of a work’s expression is the sense of its disorder. The dissertation proceeds from theory to history, and analysis, before bringing the argument to bear with regards to contemporary practice. The theory draws heavily on the work of Harold Bloom (ch. 2). The heart of the dissertation is chapter 3, which can be considered a microcosm of the dissertation as a whole. The chapter deals with an expressive structure in the work of Rameau, a kind of distance from the present which represents a particular way of listening in time. I propose Rameau codified this structure as “tenderness”, locating the expression in his music and writings. I suggest tenderness relies on the trope of loss, providing a basic historical context to the trope. The meaning of tenderness, it seems, is what it laments. Furthermore, analysing the structures according to which tenderness “disorders” the trope of loss, I suggest tenderness can be conceived as a trope of a trope. Time acts as a constant throughout the dissertation, from listening in time (3) and thinking in time (4) to analyses of works by Messiaen and Beethoven, which examine how music can challenge its own time (5-6). A non-musical opening chapter (1) deals with looking in time, as well as serves to introduce various theoretical frameworks. The dissertation can be considered a kind of ontology of disorder, and the dissertation itself attempts to represent a network of disorder. Ultimately, 'Out of Order' is a call to expand the limited conception of disorder that dominates contemporary practice; it is a move against elitist tendencies, and a call to let disorder move beyond itself. In the final chapter (7), I claim Berio’s poetics represent the most expansive consideration of musical meaning in the twentieth century, and offer a great deal to today’s composers. I argue Berio’s early writing anticipates a conception of meaning that is close to Bloom’s, and demonstrate the application of Berio’s poetics within his music.