Performing John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra
- Submitting institution
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The University of Huddersfield
: A - Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies : A - Music
- Output identifier
- 46
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- Multi-component: Website and apps, Journal Article and CD including Contextual Information
- Open access status
- -
- Month
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- Year
- 2017
- URL
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- 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
- Yes
- 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 output explores the creative possibilities and practicalities involved in realising Cage’s Concert. Each component reflects different aspects of a single research process, undertaken as part of the £508,000 AHRC project ‘John Cage and the Concert for Piano and Orchestra’ (2015–2018), of which Thomas was PI, Iddon was Co-I, Melen and Payne were RAs, and Mellor was the Creative Technologist for the Concert Player app. The website (Item 1) is a tripartite resource. The ‘Performing’ section is based on video interviews with Thomas and the musicians of Apartment House, examining interpretation of Cage’s indeterminate notation. Extensive explanatory text (32,000 words) and images supplement the interviews; and performances by Thomas and the ensemble of the Solo for Piano and the Concert illustrate the potential for contrasting realisations. The Solo for Piano app enables users to generate realisations of the piece’s notations, guided by explanatory text about each notation and the decisions made in adapting them for the app. The Concert Player app allows users to generate audio performances of the Concert by choosing different instrumental combinations, playing durations and page orders. The concept, design, content and form of the apps and the website was undertaken jointly by Iddon and Thomas. The website text was written jointly by Iddon, Thomas, and Payne. The apps were developed by Melen and Mellor, under the guidance of Iddon and Thomas. The interviews were undertaken by Thomas and Payne, in consultation with Iddon. The co-authored article (Item 2) assesses the challenges of realising the Cage Concert in the context of the work’s performance history and existing recordings. The CD (Item 3) contains a different performance of the Concert from that on the website, and represents the culmination of prolonged discussion between the musicians and the research team, informed by the latter’s archival and historical findings.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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