Roberto Gerhard’s Sound Compositions: A Historical-Philological Perspective. Archive, Process, Intent and reenactment

This research advances the current state of knowledge in the field of early tape music both empirically and methodologically. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact that the electronic medium exerted in the musical thinking of Roberto Gerhard, one of the most outspoken, prolific and influential composers in the Spanish diaspora whose musical legacy, for the most part unknown, is a major landmark in the early history of electroacoustic music. Gerhard’s personal tape collection, one of the largest historical archives of its kind reported in the literature, is exceptional for both its antiquity (50+-year-old tapes) and its abundance of production materials. Through the digitisation and analysis of the composer’s tape collection this research argues that the empirical study of audio documents sets out a basis for a broader understanding of textual processes. More specifically, the research demonstrates that the reconstruction of works based on magnetic tape sketches is a powerful method to advance the understanding of early tape music. This research also examines Gerhard’s sound compositions in relation to the post-war context in which they were composed. Finally, this research presents performance documentation that proposes an approach to the electroacoustic music repertoire in which creativity is not at odds with rigor and critical discernment demonstrating that archival study can be closely aligned to the concept of re-enactment

Perspectives on Gerhard: Selected Proceedings of the 2nd and 3rd International Roberto Gerhard Conferences

Perspectives on Gerhard expands several papers given at the 2nd and 3rd International Roberto Gerhard Conferences in 2012 and 2013. The book focuses on two aspects of Gerhard. Firstly, the pre-1939 period in which he was a student of Schoenberg and then, on returning to Catalonia, began to establish a reputation as a composer. Secondly, and more generally on the composer's stylistic and aesthetic evolution. This latter focus includes both Gerhard's approach to serialism both harmonically and melodically as well as the pivotal role the USA was to play in his later life. The book concludes with two personal reminiscences given at the conferences by Ferran Gerhard and Mariona Agustí Badia

Roberto Gerhard: explorer and synthesist

There is a general perception that Gerhard’s late, modernist, style was due to a radical change of direction around the time of his First Symphony. This thesis argues that in fact several important elements integral to this ’new’ style are traceable in works as early as Dos apunts and Seven Haiku of 1921-22, and that during the intervening years Gerhard was exploring, expanding and accumulating the techniques which eventually enabled him to realise the potential of his sonic imagination. The first part of the thesis will discuss Gerhard’s origins in early twentieth century Catalonia, during the Catalan revival, with its modernisme and noucentisme, and the way in which these factors are reflected in his attitudes. In the second section the works selected will be placed in a biographical and musical context and analysed in order to demonstrate three aspects of his works. The first is that Gerhard approached each one as a separate exercise, using different methods in the most appropriate manner and disregarding questions of dogma. The second, that many of these techniques originate in the practices of the preceding generation, particularly Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Pedrell and Bartók, in addition to absorbing and applying significant elements from Catalan and Spanish traditional music. Comparators will be cited to demonstrate these facts. The final intent is to show that as the methods are applied they are explored and expanded to meet his own particular requirements and the resulting synthesis equipped him to realise their potential in his late style, fully exploited for the first time in the first movement of the First Symphony. This thesis deals with compositions preceding this work in order to demonstrate that despite the apparently disparate nature of Gerhard’s output between 1921 and 1953 there is a consistent attitude in his approach extending into the later stages of his life

The electronic music of Roberto Gerhard

Roberto Gerhard was a pioneer of electronic music in England creating over twenty substantial concert, theatre and radio works from as early as 1954. However, for various political, cultural and personal reasons Gerhard’s electronic music has not been published or widely disseminated. Gerhard’s electronic music is one of the richest repositories for understanding the development of the composer’s late compositional technique as well as the early development of electronic music in the UK. As a result of an AHRC study of the tapes held in the Gerhard Archive at the Cambridge University Library it is possible to understand the composer’s technique and thoughts on electronic music and how they evolved as his work with magnetic tape became more and more refined