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>Gender, identity and the voice in the music of the composer/performer with compositions: 'Cythere (a trauma ballet in two parts)' and 'Cross-sections: Four pieces for electric guitar quartet'.
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Gender, identity and the voice in the music of the composer/performer with compositions: 'Cythere (a trauma ballet in two parts)' and 'Cross-sections: Four pieces for electric guitar quartet'.
The human voice is a singular instrument; it issues from the depths of the body and carries with it a myriad of indicators about that commencement space. Imbedded within the voice are aural markers reflecting the identity, mood, and history of the vocalist. Perhaps the most salient aspect of identity that can be inferred from the register, timbre, and melodic contour of the spoken or sung phrase is that of the vocalist's gender. This dissertation explores the implications of gendered vocal performance on reception through the work of three composer/performers: Laurie Anderson, Antony of Antony and the Johnsons, and Diamanda Galas. This project synthesizes analytic approaches from musicology, gender studies, and queer theory to situate readings of musical performances in a cultural framework. It is predicated on an understanding of music as an evolving social discourse and informed by the hypothesis that gender is a performative aspect of culture that is regularly manifest within that discourse. Each chapter contains readings of works by one of the aforementioned composer/performers, as well a socio-historic contextualization of a specific aspect those works. In the first chapter, a short history of gendered associations with vocal performance precedes a discussion of how Laurie Anderson's assumed personas situate her narratives and shape reception. The second chapter explores how temporal performing arts create a space where otherwise socially invisible identities---such as those of transgender individuals---can be expressed; this research focuses on fluid performances of gender in work by Antony and the Johnsons. The final chapter contains a discussion of the history of artistic signifiers of emotion and a study of the Angry Woman persona in music by Diamanda Galas. Each composer/performer provides a different point of entry into the languages of music and gender performance.
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