Hybrid Music in Theory and Practice

Abstract

One of the most significant trends in recent concert music has been the development of hybrid genres that combine elements of classical and non-classical genres in deep and often subtle ways. Though composers have long referenced other genres in their music, the sort of hybridization happening now appears qualitatively different in both compositional intention and effect. Though much has been written about these hybrid genres recently, this scholarship has tended more toward the descriptive and sociocultural rather than the analytical. This dissertation aims to contribute to the conversation by diving deeply into specific works of hybrid genre music (focusing on combinations of classical, rock, and jazz) and attempting to answer technical and philosophical questions about the different ways hybrid genres can function. What makes certain approaches to combining genres successful and others unsuccessful? What makes some kinds of genre combinations seem authentic while others appear appropriative or disingenuous? Lastly, are there scenarios in which the musical or extra-musical value systems of genres are in such opposition that a hybrid cannot be made without sacrificing something essential of the home genres? I endeavor to answer these questions both through analysis and through my own personal lens as a composer.

The first chapter lays the groundwork for the dissertation’s approach by identifying how archetypal works of different genres treat musical parameters (melody, harmony, timbre, form, texture, etc.) and extra-musical parameters. The second chapter devotes itself to a series of in-depth analyses of selected hybrid works with the goal of distilling the compositional approaches of successful and unsuccessful examples. The third chapter considers the extra-musical parameters that affect how we think about genre and how these are particularly important to consider when discussing hybrid genres of music.