Portfolio of Compositions 
       Conceived in Relation to an Exploration of Silence in Music 
                    
                LO Ting-cheung 
                    
               Doctor of Philosophy 
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                University of York 
                  Music 
                September 2016 
       	                                    2	
                       Abstract 
       The compositions presented in this portfolio are unified by a common underlying theme: the 
       idea of silence in music. The works were written between October 2012 and August 2015 
       during the course of my research. They were conceived as part of my exploration of three 
       silence-related areas: the uses of silence in music; the ways of effecting a perception of silence 
       musically; and an indeterminate approach to placing silence in a musical work. Some pieces 
       seek to explore one major idea while the purposes of others may be manifold. But in all these 
       compositions, silence emerges as an integral part of the overall musical structure. 
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
       	
       	                                    3	
                       Contents 
       Abstract                                                                                                                                                                                   2 
       List of compositions                                                                                                                                                          4 
       Contents of the accompanying CD                                                                                                                             5 
       Acknowledgements                                                                                                                                                           7 
       Declaration                                                                                                                                       8 
       Commentary on the compositions 
       Chapter 1 The Less Beaten Track                                                                                                                              9 
       Chapter 2 Silence in Music: Notions and Functions                                                                                        13 
       Chapter 3 Silence in Music: Silence Perceived as Sound and Sound Perceived as Silence         25 
       Chapter 4 Silence in Music: The Question of Whens and Wheres                                                            39 
       Conclusion                                                                                                                                                                          48 
       Bibliography                                                                                                                                                                      50 
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
       	
                	                                                                                             4	
                                                   List of compositions 
                                                                
                 Title                       Instrumentation         Period of composition      Duration 
                 String Quartet              String quartet          Oct – Dec 2012             7’40” 
                 On the Wings of the         Solo flute              Jan – Jun 2013             7’ 
                 Spring Breeze 
                 Rude Awakening              Orchestra               Mar – Jul 2013             15’ 
                 In the Quietness of a       Solo violin             Jan – May 2014             9’-15’ 
                 Bamboo Grove 
                 Home City Dream City        Orchestra and field     Feb – Oct 2014             15’ 
                                             recordings 
                 Music for a Starry Night    Strings, 2 percussion   Jan – Jun 2015             15’ 
                                             and piano 
                 Nocturne*                   Solo piano              Jun – Aug 2015             9’ 
                 
                *This work is not specifically discussed in the commentary.