Freak Show.

Abstract

FREAK SHOW is a thirty-minute integrated dramatic sound recording (an Audio Compact Disc) based on the rock/pop song form---in essence, a concept album. The lyrics and underlying plot are loosely based on the life of John Merrick as presented in Bernard Pomerance's play <italic>The Elephant Man</italic>. The work is centered on five songs that use a wide variety of instruments, recording techniques, performance styles and sound processing to create a dramatic musical structure exploring alienation, salvation and transcendent love through the eyes of the main character, The Freak. After an introductory musical hallucination, (an electroacoustic prelude providing view of The Freak's psyche), the vibrantly angry song <italic>Freak Show</italic> (track 2) begins. Featuring aggressive synthesizers, strings and electric guitars, alternating with an off-balance pseudo-waltz, the song explores the combination of contempt and dependency The Freak feels toward his audience. The twisted, chromatic swing of <italic>Saviour</italic> (track 3) acts as a counterpoint to the detached skepticism of the vocal performance, evoking a dark, subverted exuberance with saxophones, organ and electric guitar. <italic> Room With A View</italic> (track 4) uses harmonic and timbral stasis to depict The Freak's isolation and boredom. This sense is intensified in the <italic> Interlude</italic> (track 5), which uses 60-cycle hum, hyper-compressed rattles and spasmodic vocal sounds to create an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere. The last two tracks, <italic>Fantasy</italic> and <italic>Here With You</italic>, explore spiritualized lust and transcendent love respectively; the former by coupling an oddly sexy groove with a floating vocal line, and the latter through the use of a lush 6/8 folk-drone suggesting timelessness. FREAK SHOW integrates three different compositional sensibilities: contemporary concert music, electroacoustic music, and rock music. The use of current audio production technology made possible extremely detailed manipulations of individual sonic parameters, including: performance inflection, timbre, ambience, panning, perceived location, density, and volume. The ability to work directly with these elements made it possible to integrate them into the compositional process and use them on a level equal to pitch and rhythm. Although FREAK SHOW shows a strong connection to contemporary concert and electro-acoustic musics, it is in essence a rock album.* *This dissertation includes a CD that is compound (contains both a paper copy and CD as part of the dissertation).