'Études part II' for solo piano, duration c.18 minutes.
- Submitting institution
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Royal College of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 17
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/id/eprint/1705/
- 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
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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-
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The submission is Part II of a set of twelve piano études. Limitations are applied to each to deepen the understanding of compositional techniques whilst also letting the technique and ideas of individual pianists inform the nature of material. Miniature forms allow for an intensified consideration of ideas via re-imagination and through a filter of individual parameters or concepts, working intently with microscopic detail to gain insight into the interplay of function and gesture. Études VII VIII and IX were written in response to a commission for 3 variations based on Bach’s Goldberg Variations. A strict brief forced a response to find freedom, difference and familiarity with pre-existing material. For example: altering the function and character of ornamentation in Soliloquy; using all of Bach’s notes from no. 25 in the Toccata, altering the perception of melody, harmony and rhythm, changing fundamentals, hierarchies and creating micro-rhythms through register, speed and articulation; in Ghost canon, using the outline of structure and working within via introversion and interval. Études X, XI and XII are experiments in the concepts of space and perception, perceived as simultaneous and juxtaposed temporalities, and harmonic language via partial serial rotation. The Études provide a vehicle where miniature forms and experiments can coexist and inform one another and larger works over a period of time. For example, the Toccata employs a redefined application of procedures developed in the first Étude, but with an entirely different result. Work strategies and methodology are executed at a microstructural level to produce a wide variety of individual characteristics and pathways for further research. Ultimately, however, these processes surpass purely technical considerations, to produce lyrically expressive works. Three Études were performed in Jam on the Marsh festival, 2020 and at the Hythe Festival. These performances are available on festival websites and YouTube.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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