23 February 2024, PhD Defense, Bas Cornelissen

On 23 February 2024 at 11.00, Bas Cornelissen will publicly defend his doctoral dissertation in the Aula. His dissertation develops computational methods to measure properties of musical traditions, with the aim of comparing them. It consists of a series of studies covering, amongst others, modality in Western plainchant, melodic contour, and rhythmic motifs in music and animal vocalizations. The dissertation proposes a method to classify the mode of chants by segmenting melodies in 'natural units' corresponding to textual units. This even works relatively well when only the contour of the melody is used. We then find that the principal components of melodies approximate cosine functions, which leads to the new 'cosine contour' representation. However, those melodic contours do not seem to cluster in discrete types, which argues for adopting a continuous view of contour typology. The dissertation ends with an algorithmic reconstruction of a piece by the composer Arvo Pärt, highlighting the formal character of his compositions.

The ceremony will take place in the Aula of the University of Amsterdam (Oude Lutherse Kerk, Singel 411, Amsterdam) and is open for public. You can also follow the ceremony remotely via this live stream.