2025 Theses Doctoral

Listening to the Source: Nature and Difference in Kits Beach Soundwalk and Bismillah meets the Creator in Springtime and Composition Portfolio: Moss, Varð henni ljóð á munni, So you want to plant a subarctic rose garden

Evans, Unnur F.

“Listening to the Source” examines the compositional use of pre-existing material through modes of listening framed by a discussion of two pieces: Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) by Hildegard Westerkamp, and Bismillah meets the Creator in Springtime (2022), co-composed by Cassandra Miller and Silvia Tarozzi. In Kits Beach Soundwalk Westerkamp uses field recordings of Kits Beach in Vancouver, BC, Canada to create an electronic “soundwalk” narrated by the composer. In Bismillah meets the Creator in Springtime Miller and Tarozzi weave together source music from Bismillah Khan, J.S. Bach, and Pharoah Sanders into a work for two soloists and spatialized chamber ensemble. In the dissertation I address the inherent risks for compositions using outside references such as extraction and the reinforcing of harmful colonial hierarchies. To explore this topic, I reference scholars including Dylan Robinson, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Rolando Vázquez, Marie Thompson, and Nina Sun Eidsheim.

Chapter 1 covers Robinson’s critique of settler-colonial “Hungry Listening.” The concepts of “nature” and “noise,” and their role in the soundscape, are discussed and debated through the writings of R. Murray Schafer. Modes of listening, including listening to the presence of the recordist, are covered. I analyze Kits Beach Soundwalk by attempting to listen through the many layers of the “palimpsest” as outlined by Robinson. Chapter 2 begins by tracing the presence of the three source musics in Bismillah meets the Creator in Springtime. A discussion of mimesis follows, with a focus on mishearing and misprision and their possible roles in subverting colonial approaches. I trace how Miller and Tarozzi sound the traditions of the three sources in the piece which leads to an exploration of the possibility of listening from the perspective of another. I conclude with a brief discussion of Walter Benjamin’s notion of the “aura” of an artwork, outlining how the aura is transformed and mutated in the two pieces.

The dissertation includes a portfolio of original works composed during my time at Columbia University: Moss (2023) for string quintet, Varð henni ljóð á munni (2023) for six sopranos and chamber trio, and So you want to plant a subarctic rose garden (2022) for four viola da gambas.