During the 1950s the experience of recording was transformed by a series of technical innovations including tape recording, editing, the LP record, and stereo sound. Within a decade recording had evolved into an art form in which multiple takes and editing were essential components in the creation of an illusory ideal performance. The British recording industry was at the forefront of development, and the rapid growth in recording activity throughout the 1950s as companies built catalogues of LP records, at first in mono but later in stereo, had a profound impact on the music profession in Britain. Despite this, there are few documented accounts of working practices, or of the experiences of those involved in recording at this time, and the subject has received sparse coverage in academic publications. This thesis studies the development of the recording of classical music in Britain in the long 1950s, the core period under discussion being 1948 to 1964. It begins by considering the current literature on recording, the cultural history of the period in relation to classical music, and the development of recording in the 1950s. Oral history informs the central part of the thesis, based on the analysis of 89 interviews with musicians, producers, engineers and others involved in recording during the 1950s and 1960s. The thesis concludes with five case studies, four of significant recordings - Tristan und Isolde (1952), Peter Grimes (1958), Elektra (1966-67), and Scheherazade (1964) - and one of a television programme, The Anatomy of a Record (1975), examining aspects of the recording process. The thesis reveals the ways in which musicians, producers, and engineers responded to the challenges and opportunities created by advances in technology, changing attitudes towards the aesthetics of performance on record, and the evolving nature of practices and relationships in the studio. It also highlights the wider impact of recording on musical practice and its central role in helping to raise standards of musical performance, develop audiences for classical music, and expand the repertoire in concert and on record.

By considering sixteenth-century English chorister training, modern singers of Renaissance vocal music are informed of the practical and academic demands unique to Elizabethan musicians and audiences. Clauses in relevant choirmaster contracts provide an insight into pedagogical expectations of teachers and their choristers. Studies included plainchant, grammar, Latin, rhetoric, improvisation, poetry, morality, instrumental instruction on organ and viols, and composition. For those not associated with cathedrals and collegiate chapels, Thomas Morley outlined the educational sequence of his teacher's generation in his 1597 publication, "A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke." Morley presented education as discourse between students and teacher, and covered the fundamentals of singing, improvisation, and composition. With the digitization of and online access to Renaissance performing sources, present-day performers can readily examine the design of sixteenth-century manuscript and printed partbooks. Performance practice recommendations can be gleaned from the physical nature of the music that once equipped the Renaissance chorister with the visual means necessary for expression. Combined with principles of chorister training, this project suggests learned choices in pronunciation, tone, intonation, phrasing, pitch, text underlay, musica ficta, rhetoric, and expression for the prima pars of William Byrd's middle period motet, "Tristitia et anxietas." With the digitization of and online access to Renaissance performing sources, present-day performers can readily examine the design of sixteenth-century manuscript and printed partbooks. Performance practice recommendations can be gleaned from the physical nature of the music that once equipped the Renaissance chorister with the visual means necessary for expression. Combined with principles of chorister training, this project suggests learned choices in pronunciation, tone, intonation, phrasing, pitch, text underlay, musica ficta, rhetoric, and expression for the prima pars of William Byrd's middle period motet, "Tristitia et anxietas."

This thesis sets out to investigate new notation symbols, systems, and string techniques in some one hundred 20th century string quartets, selected from a variety of composers. The analysis includes compositions that have, through contemporary aesthetic ideals, extended musical and technical resources and stimulated the development of compositional methods in such a way as to influence later works in the genre. k The thesis divided into two parts : Histoiy and Research Part One is a brief history of 20th century music, and includes the development o f the string quartet from earliest times up to the mid-century. Part Two researches string techniques and notation from the turn of the century up to 1990. The historical perspective demonstrates that after World War n, with the emergence o f the electronic age and a changing social and intellectual climate, traditional concepts were being challenged. Composers facing the dilemma affecting music in general, and the string quartet in particular, had to adapt to radically developing techniques and styles. Sounds and syntax o f a different type were initially, but unsuccessfully, sought to unify the divergent thinking o f the time. Ultimately, the developmental paths took shape from the problem itself and different approaches emerged to master the multi-faceted dimensions available to composers. Part Two investigates music syntax from the viewpoint of recording new symbols, notation systems and string techniques. Quartets of the first half of the century show that both the dissolution and the extension o f traditional processes were contained, importantly, within the continued use of conventional notation. The impact and significance of these quartets within the context of 20th century development cannot be ignored. However, the quartets researched post-1960 demonstrate that composers have enlarged all parameters of the genre through the extension of traditional resources and by radical innovation. This research demonstrates that the emergence of new symbols and string techniques in the second half of the century has been largely on an arbitrary basis. Nevertheless^ broad classification of these elements is undertaken. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / D.Mus. (Musicology)

This thesis sets out to investigate new notation symbols, systems, and string techniques in some one hundred 20th century string quartets, selected from a variety of composers. The analysis includes compositions that have, through contemporary aesthetic ideals, extended musical and technical resources and stimulated the development of compositional methods in such a way as to influence later works in the genre. k The thesis divided into two parts : Histoiy and Research Part One is a brief history of 20th century music, and includes the development o f the string quartet from earliest times up to the mid-century. Part Two researches string techniques and notation from the turn of the century up to 1990. The historical perspective demonstrates that after World War n, with the emergence o f the electronic age and a changing social and intellectual climate, traditional concepts were being challenged. Composers facing the dilemma affecting music in general, and the string quartet in particular, had to adapt to radically developing techniques and styles. Sounds and syntax o f a different type were initially, but unsuccessfully, sought to unify the divergent thinking o f the time. Ultimately, the developmental paths took shape from the problem itself and different approaches emerged to master the multi-faceted dimensions available to composers. Part Two investigates music syntax from the viewpoint of recording new symbols, notation systems and string techniques. Quartets of the first half of the century show that both the dissolution and the extension o f traditional processes were contained, importantly, within the continued use of conventional notation. The impact and significance of these quartets within the context of 20th century development cannot be ignored. However, the quartets researched post-1960 demonstrate that composers have enlarged all parameters of the genre through the extension of traditional resources and by radical innovation. This research demonstrates that the emergence of new symbols and string techniques in the second half of the century has been largely on an arbitrary basis. Nevertheless^ broad classification of these elements is undertaken. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / D.Mus. (Musicology)

Notre recherche concerne les bandas, associations composées de musiciens amateurs interprétant un répertoire musical aux sonorités principalement hispaniques et basques. <p>Les premières sont apparues dans le sud-ouest de la France dans les années soixante, suite à l’engouement de musiciens français pour les formations musicales qui accompagnaient les fêtes espagnoles, notamment celles de San Fermin à Pampelune. <p>Les musiciens du Sud-Ouest ont reproduit le modèle qu'ils avaient observé, certains l'ont fait dans les détails, d'autres ont aménagé le modèle en fonction des habitudes de leur localité.<p>Par la suite, des bandas sont apparues dans d'autres régions de France et même en Belgique.<p>Des éléments ont favorisé cette diffusion :la présence de sociétés musicales dans les communes qui ont adopté la pratique musicale des bandas, l’existence de relations de jumelage entre communes dont l’une est le siège d’une banda, la présence de liens historiques entre communes, le contexte global de perte de succès des fanfares et harmonies locales.<p>Notre recherche nous a amenée à observer plusieurs phénomènes :une certaine hispanisation du Sud-Ouest de la France à travers l’apparition des bandas, une diffusion de cette pratique musicale et festive en France et en Belgique souvent accompagnée de mouvements de (re)constructions identitaires, de revendications d’authenticité et de conflits de légitimité. <p><p>A notre connaissance, notre thèse est la première recherche analysant l’univers des bandas sur un espace géographique aussi étendu. Celle-ci est en outre la première étude concernant la propagation de cette pratique. <p>De plus, cette recherche aborde les bandas de différents points de vue, à travers leur histoire, leurs participations aux fêtes, leurs rôles dans les fêtes, dans les corridas, les courses landaises et les ferias, la volonté pour les bandas situées en dehors du Sud-Ouest de créer des fêtes qui leur correspondent dans ces régions où il n’existe pas de lieux festifs qui leur soient spécifiques. <p>D’un point de vue musical, nous abordons la problématique du répertoire des bandas, les conflits au sujet de leur modification, de leur modernisation, de leur authenticité, de leur « tradionalité ». Nous analysons également les situations d’apprentissage musical que les bandas produisent, que ce soit de manière informelle ou que ce soit organisé en écoles de musique. <p>A travers notre recherche, nous espérons ainsi construire une mémoire de ces formations musicales, un éclairage sur cette pratique, son origine, sa propagation, son appropriation et les moyens de réinvention mis en œuvre par les musiciens pour la rendre cohérente avec leur localité. Cette logique de réinvention provoque de nombreux conflits internes entre bandas conservatrices et bandas modernistes et c’est dans ces discours revendicateurs que l’on perçoit l’importance que chaque banda tient dans la vie des musiciens.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Text in English, abstracts in English and Zulu / This thesis explores the current state of marimba music performance practice in Zimbabwe. I begin by presenting a historical perspective of the marimba, and then discuss how the Zimbabwe marimba tradition came into being at Kwanongoma College of African Music in Bulawayo. The study continues to unveil how the relatively new marimba tradition has grown to popularity in its 55-year history in the country, with the phenomenal emergence of professional Zimbabwe marimba musicians. The thesis includes analyses of marimba musicians’ lived experiences, traditional and contemporary marimba music compositions, marimba music education programs and mentors, as well as the Zimbabwe marimba construction industry. Using ethnographic methods, the analysis in this qualitative study draws on an application of Christopher Small, Richard Schechner, and Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical perspectives, amongst others. Results show that marimba music performance practice in Zimbabwe has been kept alive in various permutations, albeit in a harsh economic environment. Education, passion for marimba music, cultural tourism, and festivities are the main avenues where Zimbabwe marimba music performance practice has survived on the margins of Zimbabwe’s popular musical cultural traditions. / Le thesis ihlola isimo samanje somculo wemarimba kanye nokuqhutshwa kwawo eZimbabwe. Ngiqala ngokwethula imibono yezomlando ngemarimba, ebese ngixoxa ngokuthi ngabe usiko lwenkambiso yemarimba eZimbabwe lwaqhamuka kanjani eKwanongoma College of African Music eBulawayo. Ucwaningo luqhubeka luveze ukuthi umculo wemarimba omusha usheshe kangakanani ukukhula nokuba nedumela kumlando weminyaka engu 55 ezweni, kanti futhi nokwenza ukuthi abaculi bemarimba eZimbambwe basebenze ngesiprofeshini. Le thesis ibandakanya ukuhlaziya izipiliyoni zabaculi bemarimba, usiko kanye nokuqanjwa komculo wemarimba, izinhlelo zemfundo yomculo wemarimba kanye nabaqeqeshi abafundisa abasha emculweni, kanye nokwakhiwa kwemboni yomculo wemarimba eZimbabwe. Ukusebenzisa izindlela zesayense yokuchaza abantu eyaziwa ngokuthi yi-ethnography, uhlaziyo kulolu cwaningo olubheka kanzulu, lufunde nokuchaphuna kwimibono yochwepheshe yethiyori yabantu abafana no-Christopher Small, uRichard Schechner kanye no-Pierre Bourdieu phakathi kwabanye. Imiphumela ikhombisa ukuthi ukwenziwa komculo wemarimba eZimbabwe wenziwe ukuthi uqhubeke ngokusebenzisa inqubo yokuhlela izinto ngokuhambelana noma inqubo ye-permutations, kodwa ngaphansi kwesimo esinzima kwezomnotho. Imfundo, ugqozi lomculo wemarimba, inqubo yezovakasho lokufunda ngamasiko kanye nemicimbi ngenye yezindlela lapho khona umculo wemarimba eZimbabwe oboniswa khona nokwaze ukuqhubeka ngayo, nangendlela esetshenzisiwe ukwenza ukuthi umculo uqhubeke nokuba nedumela ngisho nangaphansi kwesimo esinzima eZimbabwe. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Musicology)