Date of Award

4-1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Music Criticism

Supervisor

S. Fast

Co-Supervisor

H.J. Ferns

Language

English

Abstract

The introduction to this project surveys a number of recent approaches to the study of music, which are utilized in the subsequent analysis of the concept albums of Roger Waters and Pink Floyd. The concept album is a genre in which the texts and music of an entire record album are thematically and conceptually linked. The thesis employs techniques of literary criticism in its analysis of song lyrics, and provides an hermeneutic analysis of the music in order to investigate how the sounds influence, and contribute to, the overall meanings of the works.

Chapter 1 focuses on The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), while Chapters 2 and 3 focus respectively on Wish You Were Here (1975) and Animals (1977). The project illustrates how Roger Waters combines all of the pieces appearing on an individual album in order to communicate the recording's overriding concerns. The project also displays how all three of the works studied are intimately related in their meanings, emphasizing the complexity of the ideas which they present.

McMaster University Library


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