Shur For Solo Guitar: A Case Study of Genre Synthesis in Composing

Abstract

The use of borrowed musical elements in composition is a well-established historical practice. Although this has often been within a particular genre or historical period, many composers such as Debussy, Bartok, Schnittke and Sculthorpe have sought exotic material from other genres or traditions as part of their compositional modus operandi. One way to gain insights into how such cross genre synthesis is achieved is to examine a composition that is the result of a specific poly-genre practice. Shur for Solo Guitar is an experiment in genre synthesis where musical content, processes and concepts from Persian dastgah music, Flamenco, Blues, Western concert music practices and classical guitar techniques are all synthesised into a coherent piece of music. This paper scrutinises the work to identify the concepts and strategies used to achieve genre synthesis, and discusses theirfunction within the composition.