Module description
This module explores major aesthetic, socio-political and theoretical issues in the history of performance and/or contemporary performance culture, examining the performer's relationship with composers, scores, instruments, audiences, critics and others, as appropriate to the topic.
In 2023-24, Music and Performance will explore the various ways in which music can be understood as an act of performance, by exploring not only the sounds themselves, but also the people who make them, those who listen to them, the cultural contexts and social habits surrounding them, and the changing meanings that we attribute to them. While offering a grounding in the fields of performance studies and recordings research, as well as suggesting ways in which we can contextually view these sources, the module will further provide training in the research skills necessary in this field (approaches to comparing performances, discography, and ethnographic methods such as field observation, interview techniques, and experiential writing). You will be encouraged to engage critically with the examination of the recorded history of music as a valuable and often-overlooked source of historical knowledge and interpretative inspiration, and there will also be opportunity to explore these issues through your own performance.
Assessment details
Presentation (15%) and 3000 Word Essay or equivalent (85%)