Phonosests: A Hyperphonographic Subgenre

Abstract

This exegesis explores the practice of hyperphonography. Hyperphonography can be described as the transforming of a phonogram— a recorded piece of popular music—into a new aesthetic work. Various transformations will be described, and their application in works by various composers will be examined. A taxonomy of hyperphonographic subgenres will be presented, with each subgenre based upon a type of transformation, thus reflecting how unique transformations can be used for greater creative purposes.

In tracing the history of hyperphonography, I begin by exploring the idea of the symbol representing various art forms and how these art forms manifest in identity. I then discuss how the symbol was implemented in twentieth-century literary theory and how that implementation relied on external factors such as the palimpsest trope. Hypertextuality, a direct consequence of symbolism and the palimpsest trope, becomes a focal point of the exegesis as the progenitor to hyperphonography. I investigate the adaptation of hypertextuality to phonograms as ‘hyperphonography’ and reveal its limitations.

The exegesis primarily functions as a contextualisation of my hyperphonographic subgenre—phonosests. My subgenre is unique in that it describes the playful transformation of a master hypophonogram. I discuss various transformations as part of two paradigms: extension-expansion and expansion-extension. My compositional output demonstrates each paradigm.