Boston University Tuba Quartet, April 10, 1986

This is the concert program of the Boston University Tuba Quartet performance on Thursday, April 10, 1986 at 6:00 p.m., at Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Avenue. Works performed were Ronde and Salterelle by Tielman Susato, Fugue in G minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, The Colors Churn Within the Thunderstorm by Franz Schubert, The Two Ways of Virtue by F. Schubert, In Majesty Upon the Sublime Throne by F. Schubert, Kierkegaard by Meyer Kupferman, Brass Tacks by Lennie Niehaus, Wonderland Duets by Raymond Luedeke, Music 4 Tubas by John Stevens, and El Capitan by John Philip Sousa. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund

Synaesthesia and the creative process: a study of its inspiration in Scriabin’s "Prometheus"

The role of synaesthesia in composition is difficult to assess, but for those who possess it synaesthesia is an inherent source of inspiration. It is not a compositional tool as such, yet synaesthesia is fundamental to the creative and compositional processes of certain artists. The term synaesthesia describes various multi-sensory experiences of artistic expression. Though many are riveted by synaesthesia, there is a lot of literature dismissing it as a gimmick used by artists and composers to increase their popularity among audiences. Synaesthesia, however, has been integral to the compositional processes of composers such as Olivier Messiean, Michael Torke and specifically Alexandre Scriabin. The pieces written by Scriabin were expressions of what he saw, tasted and felt when hearing music. There would not be a Prometheus: The Poem of Fire if Scriabin had not harnessed his synaesthesia to inform his compositional process. This paper will cover several topics in relation to synaesthesia. Firstly synaesthesia will be defined and its historical background will briefly be discussed. Information on academic interest and inventors will follow, shedding light on the research that has already been conducted in this field. This paper will then explore the impact that synaesthesia has on the artistic community and on the lives of particular composers; namely Michael Torke and Alexandre Scriabin. The second section will specifically cover Scriabin’s composition Prometheus. It will be analysed from a synaesthetic point of view, both from the author’s perspective and that of Scriabin, which will take the paper to its conclusion. This paper contributes to a developing academic sector that deals with synaesthesia and how it has been treated over time; with a view to explains its role and impact on musical composition

'Real' Nature, 'Aesthetic' Nature and the Making of Artworks: Some Challenges of Cross-Cultural Collaboration

The social and educational benefits of cultural exchange within the realm of art are often asserted. However, what of the meaning and value of the actual artworks arising from those exchanges? This paper analyses the barriers to shared understanding that arose in relation to an extended exchange between Japanese and British artists and philosophers on the connection between Nature and Art, 2011-13. First, cultural interfacing is explored in relation to four types– combinatorial, hierarchic, hermeneutic, and thematic – and the case is made that communalities of practice alone cannot guarantee true cultural integration or understanding. Next, six Japanese and Western concepts of ‘Nature’ – as an ontological entity, a class of objects, a domain, a force, a system and an Ideal - are distinguished in relation to the history and beliefs of those cultures. The argument then moves to the interface between Art and Nature: Nature can be the subject of Art, but can it literally be its content? Finally, the relationship between culture and theory is itself explored in relation to two artworks, and their supposed meanings and links. The Appendices include a detailed summary of the distinctions between Japanese and Western aesthetic systems

New eyes on old questions

No abstract available