Weltmusik and the globalization of new music

The chapter investigates the impact of globalisation on new music on the basis of the concept of _Weltmusik_, introduced in Germany in the 1970s. Particular attention is paid to the nfluence of Marshall McLuhan on Karlheinz Stockhausen. The essay is framed by a discussion of some of Deleuze and Guattari’s ideas, such as ‘rhizome’ and 'territorialization’, which might help to conceptualize the globalized nature of new music and bridge the gap between historical and geographical approaches in musicological and ethnomusicological

Recent approaches to experimental music theatre and contemporary opera [review article]

No abstract available

Towards a theory of experimental music theatre: 'showing doing', 'non-matrixed performance' and 'metaxis'

Although recent years have seen the emergence of sustained research on experimental music theater, most of this is of a largely descriptive nature. To address the shortcomings of such approaches, this essay outlines a theory of experimental music theater based on a clear definition and a number of constitutive features. A number of theoretical terms from the fields of performance theory and theater practice are introduced, namely “showing doing” (Richard Schechner), “non-matrixed performance” and “non-matrixed representation” (Michael Kirby), and “metaxis” (Augusto Boal). The analytical effectiveness of this theoretical framework is demonstrated by discussion of case studies drawn both from the “classics” of experimental music theater (John Cage, Mauricio Kagel) and from recent work (Christopher Fox, David Bithell, Trond Reinholdtsen)

Who wrote Duke Ellington’s music? Authorship and collective creativity in ‘Mood Indigo’

The copyright system privileges composition over performance, particularly improvisation, and melody over harmony. Both of these evaluations are problematic in the field of popular music, which is often the result of collaborative processes involving improvisation, and where harmonic structures may be of greater importance than recognisable tunes. In this chapter, I will illuminate the creative process of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Often regarded as, variously, America’s or the Twentieth Century’s ‘greatest composer’, Ellington arguably comes closest to a traditional authorial figure in jazz. Nevertheless, the majority of his most famous creations are the result of often complex collaborative processes. Using ‘Mood Indigo’ as a case study, I will reconstruct the creative contributions of various individuals in detail, evaluating their originality and significance for the final result. As I will show, although he was by no means the sole creator of the song, Ellington did take most of the fundamental creative decisions and, as bandleader, lent the tune a ‘brand identity’

Miles ahead: a film that remains (mostly) true to jazz legend Miles Davis

No abstract available

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

No abstract available

Prospero's death: modernism, anti-humanism and Un re in ascolto

In his own comments, Luciano Berio has consistently rejected the term ‘opera’ for his Un re in ascolto (‘A King, listening’, 1979-84), instead insisting on calling it a ‘musical action’ (azione musicale). This dismissal of opera as a genre contrasts with most other commentators’ views, according to which the work represents the closest engagement with the conventions and traditions of opera in Berio’s oeuvre. In this chapter, I discuss the reasons behind and sources for Berio’s negative appraisal of opera and proceed to analyse the work’s musical dramaturgy on that basis, focussing particularly on the palimpsest of texts, by Shakespeare, W. H. Auden and Italo Calvino among others, that the composer employed. My conclusion is that, despite Berio’s criticism of the genre, Un re derives its fascination and attraction from the pleasures of formalised spectacle that opera uniquely provides. While the work and Berio’s stance are thus somewhat contradictory, this may in itself be characteristic of the aporias of a genre that has become inherently problematic. If the work represents one of the most substantial and successful attempts at reinvigorating opera, this is therefore arguably because of, not despite of, its critical interrogation of the genre