Music for solo guitar
A portfolio of compositions and supporting materials, comprising scores, recordings, films, text files, and images.
- Submitting institution
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The University of Surrey
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 9002505_3
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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https://ref2021uoa33portfolios.surrey.ac.uk/
- 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
- Despite the popularity of the guitar, its myriad stylistic disciplines have largely operated in myopic isolation with minimal cultural exchange, shared knowledge and symbiotic collaboration. In contrast and in response, the research of Goss is characterised by a wide stylistic pluralism (Mourinho, 2019), and a rich diversity of creative approaches (Kyzer, 2019, and Hastings, 2018).
This portfolio represents the culmination of long-term partnerships with leading guitarists such as John Williams, Julian Bream, David Russell, Zoran Dukić, Xuefei Yang, and Miloš Karadaglić. Building on the research outlined in the REF2014 Impact Case Study ‘Acoustic Resonance in Contemporary Guitar Writing’, Goss has been focused on exploring novel left-hand fingering patterns to maintain and enhance resonance from the instrument.
Additionally, he has extended the timbral range of the instrument, through the combination of new extended techniques and a radical approach to right-hand tone, touch, and voicing (Ballam-Cross, 2019). Goss’s research focusses on body-instrument interaction, treating the guitar as a creative prosthesis at the intersection of technique and technology (De Souza, 2017). Three of the pieces in the portfolio were commissioned for major international guitar competitions in order to engage a new generation of professional guitarists with the most contemporary technical and interpretive challenges.
A central theme running through the portfolio is the evocation of time (nostalgia and historical reference) and place (landscape and architecture). Goss’s uses of quotations and stylistic references help to shape his pluralist musical language, which is characterised by abrupt stylistic gear changes (Patterson, 2016, and Mourinho, 2020). Jonathan Leathwood has proposed that Goss ‘denies traditional expectations of originality’ and that ‘the listener is drawn into a maze of referents’ (2019). Each piece addresses its own specific research questions – outlined in the contextual statement – to complement the overarching themes described in this commentary.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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