Part One: This research will focus on a description of the musical phenomenon the author calls textural saturation, which, in short, describes a musical texture containing a large number of musical elements in either the spectral, temporal, and/or spatial domains of sound. This musical situation puts the listener into a unique position in which the traditional hierarchies of foreground, background, and other groupings or parts of the whole are no longer obvious, and the listener is given the opportunity to make his or her own creative decisions about how and what to pay attention to. The author will look at previous research in perception in the area of auditory scene analysis as well as research on the subjects of the phenomenology of compositional structure. The author then connects these two areas of research by discussing the phenomenological connection between the composer and the listener in what the author calls textural communication.

When textural communication contains significant barriers in the perception of texture within the work, intentionally created by the composer or not, textural saturation is present. It is the author's goal to explore the unique properties that this kind of listening situation creates.

Part Two: A Portfolio of Compositions Scores of Kitchen Sink Circus for multiple ensembles, player piano, and fixed media Balance of Power for open instrumentation The Professor: In Memoriam Milton Babbitt for player piano Untitled 2013 for open instrumentation Projected Space 3.x for Contrabass(es) and fixed media Exploiting Divisions for player piano CD (in one continuous track) of Kitchen Sink Circus for multiple ensembles, player piano,

and fixed media Soft Lark Goblets for fixed media Balance of Power for open instrumentation The Professor: In Memoriam Milton Babbitt for player piano Gelatin Ape Nap for fixed media Sawblade Milkshake for fixed media Breathless for circuit bent AM/FM radio Untitled 2013 for open instrumentation Projected Space 3.x for Contrabass(es) and fixed media Prime Harmony for custom-built percussion robots Reduction for custom-built percussion robots Pinata Leg Pane for fixed media Exploiting Divisions for player piano Critical Mass for fixed media.