Greg Felton, Portfolio of original compositions for various performing groups with detailed analyses (MA, Waterford Institute of Technology, 2011)

My main reasons for undertaking this research were to benefit from the wealth of possibilities inherent in contemporary classical music along with creating a substantial body of original work. As a jazz musician and composer with a good understanding of Indian classical music, folk, free improvisation and pop music I felt that learning from and utilising contemporary classical music would greatly enrich my compositional abilities. This research has yielded works with a variety of musical styles and instrumentation; a solo piano sonata that marries serialism with the rhythmic language of Indian classical music, a modern string quartet with a traditional foundation, a contemporary SATB choral piece with piano accompaniment using the text from a Czech poet, a piece for the modern jazz trio ‘White Rocket’ that uses random compositional techniques mixed with Indian rhythms, an orchestral piece influenced by jazz and Indian music and a piece for a mixed sextet influenced by minimalism and African polyrhythm. My main aim was to explore methods and techniques that were unknown to me and to develop my compositional strengths in such a way as to forge a unique and personal language.