This PhD thesis explores dialogue-based, “intimate” collaboration through the creation of new works for clarinet. It borrows from Grounded Theory in order to facilitate an analysis through which emergent themes within a dialogue-based collaboration are discovered. The aim has not been to insist on one model of collaboration, but to discover methods for improving one’s collaborative skills and to identify ways in which one benefits from a focus on dialogue in collaboration. Furthermore, it aims to suggest that through collaboration one can make discoveries about the instrument: original contributions to clarinet technique are made within this thesis. The literature from which the research draws inspiration to further collaborative “technique” is cross-disciplinary and wide-ranging: it draws from social theory, collaborative creative writing, dance, the visual arts and of course, music. Added to this is a select discussion of collaboration throughout the repertoire of the clarinet. Finally, this consists of practice-based research. Seven new pieces for clarinet accompany the text.

This thesis investigates how the specific manipulation of a range of extended techniques for the saxophone can help the performer to highlight key aspects of the music. These techniques can be performed with varying levels of nuance through which the implicit thematic relationships within a composition can be emphasised. The performer's interpretation is therefore aided by the controlled manipulation of extended techniques, with the intention of using these techniques to serve the overall analysis of the composition. A brief summary of the acoustical phenomena which produces the saxophone's range of extended techniques is included, leading to discussion of the necessary physical manipulations of the oral cavity, alterations of fingerings systems, and other such physiological issues. The differences from performer to performer of the resulting sounds of the saxophone's extended techniques are considered through reference to recorded material. A discussion is presented regarding individual performers' attitudes to these techniques including the preparation of extended techniques, the importance of equipment, and the performer's opinion of the composer's utilisation of extended techniques within a composition. The final section outlines the preparation of seven compositions which use extended techniques: four of which are taken from the saxophone's standard repertoire and three of which were written in collaboration with the author. It is not the author's intention to present a global methodology by which extended techniques can be sounded in performance; rather it is the author's intention to highlight how the manipulation of these techniques, through an understanding of the acoustical and physiological nature of their production, can be performed with a nuanced production technique that can enhance the interpretation of the work as a whole.

Many aspects of Ignaz Jan Paderewski’s life and career have been the subject of previous research, but some important areas remain uninvestigated. Moreover, many biographies, especially those written in English, have hitherto rarely adopted a critical stance. My aim here is to examine those elements of Paderewski’s performance style that have not hitherto been fully studied. Unique Polish sources include unpublished letters written to his father and Helena Górska, his secretaries’ letters written in 1935 and between 1938-39, and of course his correspondence with his pupils, which sheds considerable new light on his views on, and success in, piano teaching. This dissertation discusses in detail his stylistic approach, attitude towards piano playing, preparation for performance and methods of interpretation. Unpublished letters between Paderewski and his pupils deal with such issues as: choosing concert programmes, techniques of pedalling and advanced interpretational issues. To further evaluate changes in Paderewski’s playing style over his career I have analysed a representative selection of his recordings made over the course of his career. Although Paderewski’s style did not change radically, some of the recorded pieces do demonstrate significant differences in interpretation, and his experiments in phrasing, dynamics, tempo and pedaling. I additionally compare some of the recordings of the same pieces by Paderewski and his contemporaries. For instance, Arthur Friedheim’s recording of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C sharp minor. An approach such as this will illuminate, for example, some differences in style between representatives of the ‘Liszt School’ (of which Friedheim was one of the most celebrated exponents) and that of Leschetizky (as represented by Paderewski). This documentation and evaluation of Paderewski’s performance style has naturally influenced my own performances of his works. The accompanying recital therefore includes one of Paderewski’s most substantial piano pieces, the Sonata in E flat minor, contrasted by a Sonata by Paderewski’s contemporary, Sergei Rachmaninov, and completed by works of Chopin in Paderewski’s repertoire, and a piece by his pupil, Ernest Schelling, also recorded by Paderewski. The recital therefore constitutes a practical application of Paderewski’s performance and programming styles as discussed in the dissertation.

This thesis examines the present practice of Odissi, the classical dance form of Orissa in Eastern India, with the view to identifying its strengths as a performing art and building on them. The objectives were to share this dance tradition both on stage and in the studio, not just as a stylised Indian movement form of limited interest, but as an integrating dance experience of relevance to today's multicultural world. The primary concern has been determining parallels with yoga and ritual and addressing the question of transcendence through dance, as understood in the Indian tradition. A choreological perspective has been adopted for this study and Odissi viewed from the position of the student, performer, choreographer, teacher and audience member, all roles which this researcher has performed personally. The basic parameters of Odissi's movement and dance techniques have been analysed informed by this discipline. Odissi has been reviewed historically, both when it was a medieval temple ritual and more recently when it was reconstructed as a classical Indian art after the country's Independence. The hypothesis that the practice of this dance was unconsciously governed by a bedrock of tantric thought forming its covert structures has been explored. Choreographic works have been created in collaboration with traditional musicians using established forms of composition to explain working methods within the tradition and experience its limitations. An alternate way of embodying Odissi based on tantric practices has been outlined. Works that explore this and that stretch the traditional sound-movement nexus of this dance form in the process, have also been created. The results of this research project hence fall broadly into the following inter-related areas: an understanding of Odissi dance and movement in relation to its culture and society; a hypothesis about the phenomenological nature of the medieval Orissan temple dance ritual; an outline of an alternate way of practicing Odissi based on tantric principles; and a choreological documentation of compositions created that make the practice of dance a form of yoga as defined by the Indian tradition.

The aim of this project was to explore whether voice care and development, prior to qualification, could mitigate potential vocal attrition in newly qualified teachers/lecturers within their first year of teaching. A specific focus of the research was to see if any causative relationship could be seen to exist between vocal change, specifically change in vocal quality, and the exigencies of the teaching role. Vocal quality in this instance is defined as the way in which individual voices demonstrate discrete features of pitch, resonance, degree of breathiness and clarity of the note. The sum of these features is perceived as voice/vocal quality. The study sought to gain a deeper knowledge of the vocal demands of the teaching role with a particular focus on the experiences of newly qualified teachers and lecturers. It was hoped, that information gained as a result of the study, would add to the current canon of knowledge regarding the vocal demands on teachers as a feature of their professional role. As a result of the study a number of important elements were identified, some of which go beyond the original focus of the research but arise from data gathered doing it. A number of recommendations are made which, it is hoped, will inform future working practice and increase vocal health within the teaching profession.

Secondary school music curricula often alienate young people because of the disjuncture between their experiences of music outside and inside school (Spruce and Matthews, 2012). Music also continues having to justify its place in many secondary schools (Philpott, 2012). Offering ideas to expand music educational thinking and increase its social relevance, this research explores two secondary mainstream-special school integrative musical projects using the theoretical framework of ‘musicking’ (Small, 1998), which asserts the centrality of relationships in any form of musical performance. Using two case studies, the relationships between teacher and pupil participants are explored. Small makes no mention of musicking in the context of children with special educational needs, and this study extends his ideas by developing the notion of an inclusive form of musicking in secondary music education, achieved through the musical integration of mainstream pupils with their special school peers whose verbal communication is severely limited. The self-efficacy of participating teachers is considered an important contributing factor to the projects’ perceived success, enhancing or limiting the likelihood of their application in other secondary educational contexts. Possible ways of augmenting the self-efficacy of teachers from both settings are offered, together with suggestions for future research in this field.

Edward Paston (1550-1630) was very skilled in liberal arts, especially music and poetry. His love of music is reflected in his having gathered one of the largest collections of music manuscripts from Elizabethan and early Jacobean times. The collection is very important as it holds unique copies of many compositions by some of the best-known composers from the Renaissance including Byrd. This thesis investigates the idea of the Paston collection as a performing collection within the historical, cultural, and musical context of 16th century England. The study presents Edward Paston as a personification of some of the ideals in Castiglione’s The Courtier, and it also discusses Paston’s role within his social milieu mostly formed by the recusants’circle. This is followed by a presentation of the musical traditions that Paston presumably knew as well as a study of the collection within this context. By presenting this socio-cultural and musical framework, the intent is to arrive at a better understanding of the collection in relation to house music making in Edward Paston’s household and within his circle. The final section of the thesis investigates how the collection was used and how it can be applied to current performance practice.

The role of music analysis is to enlighten our understanding of a piece of music. The role of musical performance analysis is to help us understand how a performer interprets a piece of music. The current work provides a tool which combines music analysis with performance analysis. By combining music and performance analysis in one system new questions can be asked of a piece of music: how is the structure of a piece reflected in the performance and how can the performance enlighten our understanding of the piece's structure? The current work describes a unified database which can store and present musical score alongside associated performance data and musical analysis. Using a general purpose representation language, Performance Mark-up Language (PML), aspects of performance are recorded and analysed. Data thus acquired from one project is made available to others. Presentation involves high-quality scores suitably annotated with the requested information. Such output is easily and directly accessible to musicians, performance scientists and analysts. We define a set of data structures and operators which can operate on musical pitch and musical time, and use them to form the basis of a query language for a musical database. The database can store musical information (score, gestural data, etc.). Querying the database results in annotations of the musical score. The database is capable of storing musical score information and performance data and cross-referencing them. It is equipped with the necessary primitives to execute music-analytical queries, and highlight notes identified from the score and display performance data alongside the score.

This study investigates the significance of Aristotelian virtue in teaching and learning in music performance. In response to a number of critical issues in professional practice, it is argued that virtue, framed within eudaimonistic happiness, should form an integral part of teaching and learning. Through an examination of Aristotle’s analysis of virtue, and primarily through his Nicomachean Ethics, virtue is presented as having the hallmarks of dynamic and responsive action and therefore as being of potential interest to teachers of music. Having acknowledged that music performance can be a particularly challenging arena, this study also considers why Aristotle, via his analysis in Politics of the reasons for educating students in music, provides further underlying reasons for its inclusion. By considering the work of one of his students, Aristoxenus, the investigation also establishes that here in Aristotle is a philosopher-teacher who is, we can be reassured, very much an informed music ‘amateur’. Noting the twofold importance that Aristotle gives to music in education, that is, how music contributes to our development and the worthwhile nature of understanding music for itself, the discussion explores and clarifies the notion of music performance. A range of frameworks are analysed and, after Godlovitch, personalism is defended as a framework. This is significant because personalism recognises the individual as both musician and human being. Thus, the demands, on both character and intellect, emerge strongly here as they do in Nicomachean Ethics. Having established that music performance is demanding, of both character and intellect, the virtue of courage is argued as crucial. The Aristotelian notion of courage is tested and its reaches extended, partly through the analysis of case studies. Ultimately, it is posited that courageous action forms part of eudaimonistic happiness. This study also considers Egan’s theory that intellectual disturbance occurs during stages of learning, thus providing further demands. It is argued that, in responding to such disturbance, teachers’ practice should embody characteristics of Aristotelian practical wisdom. In this way, it is posited that teachers act as valuable role models, both to their students and to their colleagues, including those colleagues new to the profession. With these challenges now identified and analysed, music performance is conceptualised as gift making. Importantly, this contributes to foregrounding the significant aspect of pleasure that is integral to Aristotelian virtuous action. The discussion closes by providing a defence of the position that Aristotelian virtue is of significance to teachers and students as they navigate their daily existence within the world of music performance.

This thesis presents the author's musical compositions through the elucidation of their source impulse. In order to facilitate the unveiling of the works presented in this thesis I have subdivided it into sections thus: Section 1 - Here I introduce the reader to the motivation behind my music composition work and discuss the elements which inform my cosmology through the elucidation of the concepts and methods used in the realisation of the compositions. Section 2 - An introduction, discussion and conclusion to the series heading of Raza. The compositions and chapters are as follows: Chapter 3, Lucero for charango and tape; Chapter 4, Gato's Raid for marimba and tape; Chapter 6, De Luna a Luna ... for two percussionists and tape. In this section I address that particular musical imagery which is directly related to my cultural roots. Section 3 - An introduction, discussion and conclusion to the series heading of Urbis. The compositions and chapters are as follows: Chapter 9, Urbis #2 'passing moments/riffs & raffs' for bass clarinet and tape; Chapter 10, Urbis #3 'Alter ego' for electric guitar, live electronics and tape; Chapter 11, Urbis #4 for tape. In this section I address the use of modern urban culture symbols in order to create a contemporary mythological canon. Section 4 - A conclusion to this thesis.