Music, performance, theatre: Christopher Fox's stage works

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New sounds and extended composition techniques

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This commentary supports my PhD composition portfolio. The composition processes of each piece are related to my central research questions, which concern the creation of new sounds using overtone-based scales and extended instrumental techniques. I have developed four main conceptual composition themes and these are represented in the thirteen compositions in the portfolio. In this commentary I consider how each composition was developed around these conceptual themes.Nomura Foundation, Japan for a research grant, Brunel Graduate School for the Vice Chancellor’s Travel Prizes (2010 and 2012), and for the PRSF and Bliss Trust Composer Bursarie

Conventions, Genres, Practices in the Performance of Liszt’s Piano Music

The article and its companion piece 'Performing Liszt in the 'Style Hongroise'', Liszt Society Journal, Volume 32 (2007), 24935 words in total, constitute the most extensive work to date in English on Liszt performance practice. Together they draw upon a wealth of research into Liszt’s masterclasses, writings, letters, and many memoirs (in various languages) from those who knew him or studied with him, brought into a dialogue with other considerations derived from structural, analytical, programmatic and biographical aspects of the work. The first article concentrates on the 'Sonata in B Minor' and various of Liszt’s transcriptions, whilst the focus of the second is on the 'Rhapsodies Hongroises' in the context of the history of Hungarian nationalism, the situation of the Roma in the Hungary of Liszt’s time, and his own changing allegiances in this respect in the period between the first and second versions of the pieces. As regards Liszt's transcriptions, changing approaches to performance of the works transcribed (especially Beethoven's symphonies), between the works' composition and Liszt’s lifetime, are examined for clues to the types of interpretive approaches that Liszt desired. Different constructions of Liszt and the virtuoso tradition, as examined by scholars associated with the ‘New Musicology’, are also considered in this context. This work constitutes part of Pace's research into 19th-century performance practice, including a whole book on Brahms published by Ashgate, and a chapter on performance of 19th-century instrumental music in 'The Cambridge History of Musical Performance', edited by Colin Lawson and Robin Stowell. It builds in part upon lectures Pace gave in several countries, entitled ‘Rethinking Romanticism’

Abstraction and registration: conceptual innovations and supply effects in Prussian and British Copyright (1820-50)

It is one of the orthodoxies of modern copyright law that the enjoyment and the exercise of the rights granted “shall not be subject to any formality” (Berne Convention 1886, Berlin revision 1908, Art.4), such as a registration requirement. In this article, we trace the origins of this provision to a conceptual shift that took place during the early 1800s. Specific regulations of the book trade were superseded by the protection of all instantiations (such as performances, translations and adaptations) of abstract authored work. For two seminal copyright acts of the period, the Prussian Act of 1837 and the UK Act of 1842, we show there was considerable concern about the economic implications of this new justificatory paradigm, reflected in a period of experimentation with sophisticated registration requirements. We indicate market responses to these requirements and plea for a reconsideration of “formalities” as redressing justificatory problems of copyright in the digital environment

Using Clare Fischer\u27s solo piano approach in Yesterdays to reinterpret Jazz standard repertoire

Clare Fischer’s solo piano version of the Jerome Kern composition Yesterdays from his 1975 recorded album ‘Alone Together’, is not extensively known. It proves, however, to be an inherently paramount source for the study of harmony, rhythm, texture and solo jazz piano style. This paper defines the techniques used in this performance. Through a comprehensive transcription analysis, key aspects of Fischer’s solo piano style are discovered. This research extracts the defining aspects of this specific performance‐ then directly applies the musical techniques to show how they may be used to reinterpret and jazz standard. The current Fischer literature focuses primarily on detailing harmonic aspects of his music. This study of Yesterdays also analyses these harmonic aspects at work including chord voicing tendencies, voice leading and reharmonisation. Further, broader concepts relating to a successful jazz solo piano performance are discussed – including the use of varied meter, mood, texture and arrangement. Through using wider parameters in the analysis the study aims to provide a more inclusive overview of Fischer’s improvised solo piano style. Using the findings from the transcription analysis, a solo piano arrangement of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady is then generated. The primary purpose of the re-interpretation of ‘jazz standard’ repertoire is to show that Fischer’s devices can be absorbed yet also directly applied in a measured way

Thinking Inside the Box: A New Integrated Approach to Mixed Music Composition and Performance

The Thinking Inside the Box project (TItB) seeks to address pragmatic concerns inherent to mixed music performance, and proposes ways to better consider the sound of the acoustic reality of the concert space at studio composition time. This is achieved through empirical investigation into subversive use of recent developments in hardware and software technologies. The primary concerns are (1) optimising the integration of live instruments and electroacoustic sound in the concert hall environment for both the performers and the public, by carefully choosing loudspeaker types and placement at commission time, and by avoiding sound reinforcement; (2) minimizing for studio composers the insitu trauma of the first live rendition of the piece, by bringing the concert hall acoustic environment into the studio composition process, using convolution reverb to reproduce in the studio the given loudspeaker setup through its impulse responses. This paper presents the conclusions of the project's early experiments in the form of three case study sets, and describes how this approach will be of use for any composer of mixed music

Towards a personal interpretation of Beethoven’s piano sonata in E major OP.109.

Doctor of Philosophy in Music. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2018.This study analyses some of the intersections between the activities of an instinctive performing artist with those of a traditional musicologist. This is in line with a growing worldwide trend which views the examination of the process of preparation leading towards a performance as a form of research. The first chapter of this study reviews some of the literature on the approach I have adopted in preparing a performance of one of the great piano sonatas from Beethoven’s late period of composition, the Sonata in E major, Op.109. This work forms the centrepiece of the final examination recital presented as part of the requirements for the PhD degree in performance. The performance itself will thus be the culmination of the investigations presented in this study. Each of the central chapters of this study contains an analysis of various aspects of form and style in the Sonata, but the main focus is an analysis of the recorded performances of the work by eight eminent pianists. The interpretive issues raised by the various analyses are discussed, and the conclusions distilled into a preferred personal interpretation