Reconstructing Verses by Henry Loosemore and John Coprario
(2020)
author(s): Helen Roberts
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
This exposition comprises a package of outputs from practice-led research around two unique pieces of instrumental music with winds from early seventeenth-century England. Along with the first critical performance edition and a world premiere recording of these two pieces, I present a detailed discussion of the investigation which informed the editorial process, focussing on three historical artefacts: MS Drexel 5469, the fragmentary source of the music in question; the Christ Church cornetts, two original instruments that may historically have been associated with performance of this type of repertoire; and the St Teilo organ, an instrument reconstructed after Tudor archaeological evidence and representative of the style of instrument in use when MS Drexel 5469 was compiled. I examine each artefact in turn, establishing the wider historical context of each and assessing the connections between all three. This process has not only shed new light on two pieces overlooked by historical performers until now, but raised important questions surrounding the performance of early-seventeenth century liturgical music in general.
Performing the compositional act with bouncy castles, soap and shh
(2020)
author(s): Andy Ingamells
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
The three creative works presented in this exposition are practical examples of ways in which notation can be reframed to become an integral part of the physical theatre of a musical performance. This act of reframing is presented as part of a process of reimagining relationships within musical performances through an interpreatation of a diagram by Fluxus composer George Brecht (1926–2008). In these three works the act of reading is integral to the theatre of musical performance.
Up Down Left Right
(2020)
author(s): Andy Ingamells
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
On Saturday 11th March 2017, forty people responded to an open invitation to conduct the Salvation Army brass band at the Ashley Road citadel in St Paul's, Bristol. No prior musical experience was necessary. Together, over the course of the day, a new piece of music was created.
The aim of this research was to explore alternative ways of being a composer by:
-collaborating with a performing ensemble that is tied to a specific locality;
-engaging with the history and traditions of the organisation associated with the ensemble;
-including the wider community of that locality as participants in the creative process.
The project culminated in the creation of the 3-minute video and 42-page printed publication through an extensive process of selection, re-presentation and re-performance.
for-Wards: Curating a Hyperlocal Compositional Methodological Framework
(2020)
author(s): Bobbie-Jane Gardner
published in: Research Catalogue
In this exposition, I present the curatorial methods I devised to create a hyperlocal compositional methodology used in the research project, for-Wards. for-Wards is a two-year citywide music programme involving a large-scale artistic partnership to co-create new music within and about forty Birmingham wards.
The curated hyperlocal methodological framework I constructed was used to support the creation of hyperlocal musical works. I use the term ‘hyperlocal’ which is borrowed from the realm of citizen journalism. It infers community-produced news that is extremely localised. Hyperlocal is concerned with events and stories within a specific geographic community (Radcliffe 2012).
Notions of Queerness as compositional building blocks in "There are more of them than us - a Queer Concerto for 9 Saxophones and Orchestra"
(2020)
author(s): Michael Wolters
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
This exposition examines how notions of queerness can be built into the construction of a 15-minute long concerto for 9 saxophones and orchestra.
I am presenting the full orchestral score, a video of the premiere performance and a commentary on the research process.
Catalogue d'Emojis
(2020)
author(s): Paul Norman, Michael Wolters
published in: Research Catalogue, Birmingham City University
Catalogue d'Emojis is a Live Performance and CD release of a new work for two performers and two pianists by Dr Paul Norman and Dr Michael Wolters (who together work under the name 'Difficult Listening').
