Philosophical and personal narrative through an Eastern lens: a comparison of two sinfonietta works: Karma and Donnaeko

This dissertation examines how philosophical and personal narrative orientations can be expressed through an Eastern conceptual lens within Western compositional practice. Focusing on two sinfonietta-scale works, Karma and Donnaeko, the study demonstrates how contrasting narrative perspectives—philosophical and personal—necessitate distinct compositional strategies.

Karma reflects a philosophical narrative grounded in the concept of cyclical causality, emphasizing non-linear temporality, process-based form, and continual transformation. Musical meaning emerges through evolving relationships among texture, timbre, and intervallic organization. In contrast, Donnaeko embodies a personal and experiential narrative rooted in memory, place, and perception. In accordance with this narrative orientation, the work adopts compositional strategies that emphasize perceptual clarity, continuity, and recognizability. A more referential musical language is employed, based on transformations of borrowed Korean folk songs, including Arirang and Dukkeob-a Dukkeob-a, which serve as primary source materials throughout the work.

Together, these two works demonstrate how contrasting narrative orientations give rise to distinct compositional strategies and sonic realizations, even when derived from a shared set of Korean musical aesthetics.