Voci Pari: Radical Action, Redaction and Resonance in Composing Equal Voices

Abstract

This thesis discusses a body of compositional works, performative practices, and radical real-world actions created as a means of resonating the concept of ‘voci pari’, Latin for ‘equal voices’. This term describes a branch of early polyphonic vocal music, as found in the work of composer and nun Suor Leonora d’Este (1515–1575). Musical borrowings from d’Este and Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) sit amongst my own original music and are recontextualised through queer and feminist frameworks derived from the theoretical work of Sara Ahmed (re-tooling), Hannah Reardon-Smith (Uncanon, radical forgetting), D.I.Y. punk and art-activism movements (Riot Grrl, Las Tesis, and other art- activism practitioners), and histories of women’s political enfranchisement. While a significant body of research from a feminist musicological lens has emerged in the past few decades, there remains limited discourse relating to feminist practices in the composition of music, in particular from a creator’s lens. The significance of my research contribution lies in the unique articulation of the active processes of Radical Action, Redaction, Resonance and Sonic Protests as voci pari compositional practices. These practices embed protest against systems of inequality, while also providing a means to celebrate equality and resonate previously marginalised voices, creative ancestors, and lineages. Through works ranging from The Great Busts (gift activism), A (Real and Imagined) Map of Claire Chase (bass fl.), The Invisible Bird (opera), Infinity Opposing Eternity (large ens./orch.), and a collection of Action Scores, I employ strategies which question, disrupt, and reflect upon systems of inequality in musical and non-musical forms.

I offer a set of creative pathways which respond to feminist theory and art and activism practices to re-evaluate past notions of ‘greatness’ and to resonate and elevate the work of creative people who have too often been left in the gaps of the Western canon.