摘要
This study explores Peter MaxwellDavies' creative imagination that is reflected in Mavis in Las Vegas (1997), a piece that demonstrates his personal expression of humor and his way of looking at the place with refreshing originality. The composition has extra-musical associations with Davies' personal experience in Las Vegas. In it, not only does Davies experiment with many possibilities in music vocabulary, but also freely stretches his music beyond the standard conventions of Western art music. Throughout the composition, conventional structural boundaries of the form are blurred; not only does Davies provide an overall structure to the composition in his own way, but one also witnesses his renewal of traditional form within sections. Like much of his music, he plays around with tonal center in some music passages and sections. On the other hand, Davies also embraces different music cultures that he encountered. Pop music idioms such as blue notes and off-beat stresses being incorporated into the composition, creating jazzy moods. Although stylistically incoherent, the composition is unified by a ＂message＂ Davies intended to share with and communicate to his listeners. Different characteristics in sections evoke Davies' description of his memorable trip. Mavis in Las Vegascertainly reveals the productivity and creativity in musical language of the composer.