Glücklich Glücklich Freude Freude
- Submitting institution
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University of Southampton
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 46204942
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- October
- Year
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- 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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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This work researches ways in which happiness is expressed in and induced by music, and what affective responses might result from the extended accumulation and saturation of ‘happy music’. The title is taken from the Ren and Stimpy (animated TV series) song Happy Happy Joy Joy, translated to expand associations towards classical music history and in particular Beethoven’s setting of Schiller’s An die Freude in his ninth symphony. Rather than acting as a combatant, the soloist takes the role of group leader. Within the context of ‘extended tonality’, the work alludes to an array of joyful music and styles - from Messiaen’s Turangalila to Happy Hardcore (1990s electronic music) - as well as ascending lines, spectral melodies, and what are conventionally considered affirmative harmonic progressions. The work registers a range of positive emotional states: manic delirium in the long digression from m191; upbeat computer game action music from m495; euphoric dance-party from m555; and the layering of field recordings in the middle part construct a ‘seaside’ scene, which in combination with the unremitting use of major-seventh chords suggests idealised forms of naïve and contented happiness. The research attempts to understand joy without seeking to denigrate or deconstruct the devices with which music might express and induce happiness in listeners. There is no critical moment that distances, ironicises or subverts. That said, the research seeks to provoke the listener to doubt the sincerity or objective of the author. Furthermore, in the context of challenging global affairs, the research also provokes questions about the role of art and whether such a project is appropriate. With faith in the value of constructive ambiguity within artistic contexts, the research seeks to provoke such questions boldly without offering easy answers.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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