She plays angel music (where people might die)
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33Z_OP_J0079
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/918449/1082580
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- _She Plays Angel Music (where people might die)_ is a 60-minute concert-installation by Michael Wolters and Paul Norman for 5-25 female harpists. It is presented as a Research Catalogue exposition with video of the first performance (2019) and articulation of the research process.
The project was triggered by highly questionable and incomplete information on the history of harp composition found on Wikipedia. While it is generally accepted that Wikipedia is not a reliable source in academia, it still a powerful source of knowledge amongst the general public. Thus, the incomplete display on the site promotes:
a) the historic and continuing discrimination of women from music composition in the classical music world and
b) the continuing rejection of contemporary music in favour of music by dead composers in the classical music world.
Key aims underpinning the creation of the project were: to contribute to the discourse of Post-internet music with a work that is critical of the information delivered by a website that people turn to for historical facts; to create a performance concept that dissolves traditional norms of concert performance (no physical separation of space, necessary audience participation); to improve the rigour of research through interdisciplinary composition practice by sharing reflection between two researchers; to use electronic visuals and audio as necessary elements to communicate the concept of the piece to the audience.
_She Plays Angel Music_ is a composed work that functions like an installation, with actions involving the audience in a space shared by performers and audience alike. Moreover, it brings the collaborative approach that is the norm in interdisciplinary arts projects to the world of composition, where authorship is still strongly rooted in a single individual. Wolters and Norman seek to demonstrate that compositional collaboration can lead to more reflective research.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -