Musicology

Book Review: Simon Reynolds, Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past

by Christopher Doll

Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 68/4, 2012, pp.763-765

Stylistic Cohabitation in the First Movement of Bartók’s Fourth String Quartet

by Sergio Cote

Instrumental Bach: questions of scoring and interpretation

by Uri Golomb

Record review, to be published in the February 2011 issue of Early Music (currently available on advance access through the journal's website)

Review of the following recordings: Flute Sonatas by the Bach Sons (Accent ACC 24216, rec 2008, 76’), played by... more Review of the following recordings: Flute Sonatas by the Bach Sons (Accent ACC 24216, rec 2008, 76’), played by Barthold Kuijken (flute) and Ewald Demeyere (harpsichord); Bach arranging and arranged (Hyphen Press Music 001, rec 2008, 57’), with the Bach Players; Johann Sebastian Bach: Triosonatas for organ (Antoine Marchand/Challenge Classics CC72314, rec 2008, 67’) with Reine-Marie Verhagen (recorder) and Tini Mathot (organ and harpsichord); Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Flute and Harpsichord (Arts SACD 47612-8, rec 2003, 64’), with Mario Folena (flute) and Roberto Loreggian (harpsichord) ; Johann Sebastian Bach: Musikalisches Opfer (Antoine Marchand/Challenge Classics CC72309, rec 2008, 57’), with Ton Koopman and members of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra; Bach: The Cello Suites (Red Priest Recording RP006, rec 2001, 2004, 148’) with Angela East; Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard (ABC Classics ABC 476 5942, rec 2005-2007, 95’), with Richard Tognetti (violin), Neal Peres Da Costa (organ and harpsichord), and Daniel Yeadon (cello and viola da gamba); and Bach: Chamber Music (Passacaille 942, rec 2007, 68’) with La Divina Armonia.

The Good Composers of the Neo-Tonal Movement

by Herman H. Leptz IV

The Architecture of Arcadia: Quinault, Lully, and the Complicit Spectator of the Tragedie en Musique

by Alison CALHOUN

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES; DEC, 2011, 33 2, p114-p126, 13p.

Most analyses of the Arcadia of the Ancien regime interpret pastoral politically as a place built in contrast to... more Most analyses of the Arcadia of the Ancien regime interpret pastoral politically as a place built in contrast to court life, a contrast that manifested itself iconographically as pastoral scenes built in the foreground of palatial backdrops, or Arcadian, garden-like courtyards. But, in the context of theatre, the scenography of pastoral was also constructed as a peaceful, verdant setting that opposed the dangers and marvels of mythological places and characters put into motion by machines. Even though Arcadia was a rather artificial version of a simple garden or forest, it was nevertheless part of a visual tradition that was understood as a possible world. For Philippe Quinault and Jean-Baptiste Lully, the pastoral space was key to harmonizing not only the singing, but also the ever-increasing use of machines and spectacular scene changes of early musical tragedy. Thanks to its familiar topoi, the pastoral setting (evident in didascalies, iconography, and within the verses of Quinault's libretti) created visual cues that helped forge a complicit spectator for this new form of tragedy, promoting credibility, and inciting specific emotions. Most importantly to the history of theatrical reception, the balance between the familiarity of pastoral and the strangeness of mythology encouraged the spectator to redefine the limits of aesthetic distance to include greater degrees of artificiality and fiction.

Researching the Orchestra: A Level Playing Field?

by Emily Granozio

Draft Only

Applying ethnomusicological methods to the research of Western art music. Applying ethnomusicological methods to the research of Western art music.

I Hear Singing: Rhythmic and affective characteristics in three choral settings of E. E. Cummings’ “i thank You God for most this amazing” compared with a recording of the poet reading his own work.

by Philip Rice

Written for "Seminar in Analysis of American Vocal Music", graduate course at Westminster Choir College, Spring, 2012. Instructor: Dr. Christian Carey.

Comparison of three choral settings of E. E. Cummings' "i thank You God for most this amazing" using a 1953... more Comparison of three choral settings of E. E. Cummings' "i thank You God for most this amazing" using a 1953 recording of the poet reading the poem as a control group for analysis of rhythmic features and affects within each work. Settings explored are by Jacob Avshalomov (1971), Gwyneth Walker (1998), and Eric Whitacre (2000).

Musica e suono come apertura al mondo

by Edoardo Acotto

Published in “Gli asini” 3, november-december 2010

Che valore può avere la musica contemporanea per la formazione di uno spirito libero? Spesso i compositori... more Che valore può avere la musica contemporanea per la formazione di uno spirito libero? Spesso i compositori novecenteschi hanno radicalmente ignorato il pubblico, abbondantemente ricambiati. Ma gli atteggiamenti filosofici ed estetici sono forse sopravanzati dall’oggettivo interesse della cosa stessa: i suoni musicali nel mondo, non cose del mondo.

Examining two different takes on Missa Fortuna desperata and their role in the development of the cantus firmus mass

by Aaron Hynds

Written to fulfill the class requirements of "Survey of the Renaissance Era"

Folkhögskolan som musikaliskt förmak

by Erik Nylander

Published in "Två sidor av samma mynt Folkbildning och yrkesutbildning vid de nordiska folkhögskolorna Lundh Nilsson & Nilsson red. 2011 Nordic Academic Press

[Review of the book Musique & Evolution, by I. Deliege, O. Vitouch, & O. Ladinig (Eds.)]

by Alexandre Heeren

Heeren, A. (2011). [Review of the book Musique & Evolution, by I. Deliege, O. Vitouch, & O. Ladinig (Eds.)]. Psychologos, 1, 20-21.

'Tristan chords and random scores': exploring undergraduate student experiences of music in higher education through the lens of Bourdieu

by Gwen Moore

Within a theoretical framework drawn from Bourdieu, this article explores the relationship between undergraduate... more Within a theoretical framework drawn from Bourdieu, this article explores the relationship between undergraduate students' experiences of music in higher education and their musical backgrounds and prior music education experiences. More critically, this study aims to discover whether ideologies surrounding musical value impact on the student experience in higher education. A survey of undergraduate students of music (N=60) at a higher education music department in the Republic of Ireland was conducted. Preliminary data suggest that students' musical habitus and cultural capital impact on their experience of music within the field of higher education. Implications of findings from this study suggest a reappraisal of curricula and assessment at secondary level and of musical value and curriculum content in Irish higher education.

The Cruelty of Coldness: An interpretive analysis of Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern by Helmut Lachenmann

by Steph Jones

MMus Dissertation 2010-2012

The relation between metaphorical and literal meaning seems strained by Western literature, leading to terms such as... more The relation between metaphorical and literal meaning seems strained by Western literature, leading to terms such as ‘coldness’ being limited to predominately signifying a reduction in temperature with little acknowledgement of the types of coldness that can occur from within a corporeal space. However, recent research conducted by Chen-Bo Zhong and Geoffrey J. Leonardelli has revealed that even though terms such as ‘icy stare’ are metaphorical, a correlation is evident between physiological symptoms relating to an awareness of a reduction in temperature and loneliness. The results of such research highlight how coldness can manifest itself within a corporeal space as well as in the external environment. Beauty and coldness are inextricably linked and despite this relation being acknowledged for millennia the terms are seemingly opposed by Western literature. The reworking of the term ‘beauty’ and the relation it has to coldness is fundamental to Helmut Lachenmann’s compositional ideology and technique yet little research has explored how Lachenmann represents this relation through sound. In order to explore and define the different types of coldness that can impinge on a corporeal space and the physiological symptoms each type of coldness can cause, a literary analysis of The Little Match Seller by Hans Christian Andersen will be conducted with specific reference being made to Madness in Civilization by Michel Foucault. Establishing how Lachenmann represents his notion of beauty and the relation it has to coldness through sound will be explored by drawing on the literary analysis conducted on The Little Match-Seller and applying it to an interpretive analysis of Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern: Musik mit Bildern (1988 -1996). This study aims to provide the foundations for enhancing knowledge of the fundamental themes at work in The Little Match-Seller, help liberate the term ‘coldness’ from predominately signifying a reduction in temperature or metaphor, understand how Lachenmann represents his notion of beauty and the relation it has to coldness through sound, and ultimately provide the foundations to help bridge and enhance current Anglo-American literature on the composer.

The Lady Vanishes: Aurality and Agency in Cinematic Ophelias

by Kendra Leonard

Published in The Afterlife of Ophelia, ed. Deanne Williams and Kaara L. Peterson, Routledge, 2012.

This is a pre-print.

With the exception of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, billed—disingenuously—as the first-ever “full-length” version of the... more With the exception of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, billed—disingenuously—as the first-ever “full-length” version of the play on film, major English-language productions of Hamlet intended for the cinema have, over time, reduced the presence, spoken text, and sung materials of Ophelia by nearly half since Laurence Olivier made the first Hamlet with sound in 1948. Increasingly, Ophelia is treated by directors as an object that is only marginally necessary for the plot; in Almereyda’s Hamlet of 2000, her inclusion is both minimal in relation to the full text available to the actor; and minimal in the impact her actions have on the rest of the characters. This escalating eradication of Ophelia’s vocality and the subsequent dismissal of her agency is a radical alteration of the text that provides a window into the dynamics of gender, vocality and agency in cinematic adaptations of the play. Ophelia’s vocality empowers her, particularly in her madness, allowing her to express herself through emotionally powerful references, and the inclusion of Ophelia’s musical materials is equally as important as her spoken words in imbuing her with Foucaultian power of the fool or mad(wo)man as truth-teller. This article examines the phenomenon of the use of music and sound in bringing about Ophelia’s disappearing vocality and agency from filmed Hamlets, mapping the way sound and music in film are used to indicate gender roles and issues of agency over time.

Faget Musikvidenskab og dets særlige problematik (The Discipline Musicology and Its Specific Set of Problems)

by Linda Maria Koldau

An concise analysis of the development of the academic discipline Musicology in the past decades, focusing on the... more An concise analysis of the development of the academic discipline Musicology in the past decades, focusing on the special problems of the discipline at Aarhus University, which is symptomatic for the development of the humanities in Denmark.
In Danish language.

La poetica dello scarto

by Luca Rossetto Casel

Relazione

Elusione delle forme di danza nella Partita per flauto solo
in la minore BWV 1013 di Johann Sebastian Bach
Elusione delle forme di danza nella Partita per flauto solo
in la minore BWV 1013 di Johann Sebastian Bach

Conversation with Sergio Roberto de Oliveira

by Tom Moore

Il flauto nuovo di Claude Debussy - 4

by Luca Rossetto Casel

Syrinx

Le danze rituali della Sonata per flauto, viola e arpa Le danze rituali della Sonata per flauto, viola e arpa

Il flauto nuovo di Claude Debussy - 3

by Luca Rossetto Casel

Syrinx

Il canto di Syrinx Il canto di Syrinx

Il flauto nuovo di Claude Debussy - 2

by Luca Rossetto Casel

Syrinx

Il mistero pastorale delle Chansons de Bilitis Il mistero pastorale delle Chansons de Bilitis