Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

• 1. Doctoral Research Doctoral research undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University.

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  Johannes Brahms: Historically-Informed Recording of the Piano Quartets (2020) author(s): Anthony JOHN THWAITES published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This Exposition presents a Double CD of Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartets, recorded on period instruments in Vienna by The Primrose Piano Quartet for the Meridian label (CDE84650/1-2, 2019). The recording is presented in fully streamable MP3 format alongside a PDF of the CD booklet proof. Accompanying the recording is an essay which documents the research questions, methodology and processes underpinning the work. Preparation, rehearsal, recording and editing are discussed as a process of interpretative investigation. Historically-Informed Performance Practice with respect to Brahms is a thriving academic discipline within which we have endeavoured to offer the most radically innovative post-war commercial recording of the piano quartets.
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  (no)boundaries: A Study in Free Improvisation (2020) author(s): Andrew Bain published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This practice-led research project investigates the importance of an empathically creative connection between freely improvising musicians in a live context with no pre-conceived ideas and details the development of instantaneous group composition. As such, (no)boundaries had no pre-composed music, there was no rehearsal period for the musicians (myself playing drums), and we had never played together before the first note of performance. In my research to date, the dynamic between pre-learned knowledge (embodied) alongside intelligent transactions during live improvisation (enacted knowledge), has been useful in helping to better understand the process of jazz improvisation. Even if there are pre-conceived elements, how the music is realised each time is unique. Conversely, even if we set out to have no pre-conceived ideas, in reality, we are still intuitively informed by our experiential and musical knowledge in performance. The two seem inextricably linked. (no)boundaries showed that group attunement in performance is possible with no pre-learnt repertoire or rehearsals, in an appropriate setting with the right co-performers. Even though no pre-conceived ideas were intended, (no)boundaries evidenced improvisations guided by similar principles of standard jazz performance, pointing to the existence of a common performance mode.
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  Choreographic Process and Skinner Releasing Technique (2020) author(s): Polly Hudson published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  An exploration of Skinner Releasing Technique and its application to choreographic practice. The research offers a paradigm shift in understanding of Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) from that of a dance technique to one of choreographic methodology. The primary research question was: Can SRT be not only a dance technique, but also a methodology for creating dance? Thematically the work examines notions of self portraits and questions the culture of 'selfies'.
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  The ‘elsewhereness’ of post-genre: utilising playfulness of cross-genre references as a compositional device (2020) author(s): Joe Cutler published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This set of three works individually and collectively examine the ‘elsewhereness’ of post-genre composition. Through this research, I seek to develop a hybrid compositional aesthetic through the absorption, integration and referencing of a highly personal set of ‘influences’, many from outside the sphere of classical music. A fundamental concern is the examination of the role of ‘compositional play’ or ‘playfulness’ in unifying a multi-faceted compositional language. This is often manifested through intertextuality and the juxtaposition of diverse elements that are made to function at a structural or conceptual level. Through practice-based research, I obfuscate notions of genre, performance practice and content. Using the referencing of other musics as a compositional tool, I identify playfulness as a filter through which models of influence are transformed into something personal in an attempt to define what post-genre means to a 21st century composer. On a meta-structural level, reference becomes a parameter in its own right.
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  She plays angel music (where people might die) (2020) author(s): Michael Wolters, Paul Norman published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  She plays angel music (where people might die) Post-Internet Music as a comment on the absorption of knowledge This exposition articulates the research within the artistic work She Plays Angel Music (where people might die), a 60-minute concert-installation for 5-25 female harpists. The research was triggered by highly questionable and incomplete information on the history of harp composition found on Wikipedia. While it is generally accepted that Wikipedia is not a reliable source in academia, it still a powerful source of knowledge amongst the general public. Thus, the incomplete display on the site promotes a) the historic and continuing discrimination of women from music composition in the classical music world and b) the continuing rejection of contemporary music in favour of music by dead composers in the classical music world. This exposition takes the reader through the compositional steps that were performed in order to create a post-internet work that attempts to highlight political situations by gathering publicly available information into a controversial context.
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  Reconstructing Verses by Henry Loosemore and John Coprario (2020) author(s): Helen Roberts published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
  This exposition comprises a package of outputs from practice-led research around two unique pieces of instrumental music with winds from early seventeenth-century England. Along with the first critical performance edition and a world premiere recording of these two pieces, I present a detailed discussion of the investigation which informed the editorial process, focussing on three historical artefacts: MS Drexel 5469, the fragmentary source of the music in question; the Christ Church cornetts, two original instruments that may historically have been associated with performance of this type of repertoire; and the St Teilo organ, an instrument reconstructed after Tudor archaeological evidence and representative of the style of instrument in use when MS Drexel 5469 was compiled. I examine each artefact in turn, establishing the wider historical context of each and assessing the connections between all three. This process has not only shed new light on two pieces overlooked by historical performers until now, but raised important questions surrounding the performance of early-seventeenth century liturgical music in general.
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