Semester of Graduation

Fall 2021

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Music

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

“Looking Down from the Top of a Redwood Tree” was a collaboration with my brother, Fabein Miguel Disedare. From the onset of this project, I reached out to him about the possibility of him creating the poetry, functioning as the lyrics of this piece. When working with Fabein, he suggested the topic of global warming, and we agreed to incorporate this theme through the telling of a story from the perspective of Redwood Tree located on the California coast. This song cycle follows the story of a family of trees inhabiting the coastline, their struggles with deforestation, their lack of protection, and takes us from 1915 to present day. With the text, I was able to create a visual map that aided me in incorporating timbre, extended techniques, and dynamics. Each of these musical elements guided me in shaping the four most important elements of this piece, sound, color, image and words. Throughout this piece we experience loss so great, that it is heard, seen and spoken. My musical goal was to achieve a sonic fusion between text, images and sound.

Committee Chair

Gibson, Mara

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.5455

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