New Music for (Very) Old Instruments
New Music for (Very) Old Instruments
College of Arts School of Culture & Creative Arts
Date: Wednesday 29 January 2020
Time: 17:15 - 18:30
Venue: 14 University Gardens, University of Glasgow G12 8QL
Category: Concerts and music, Academic events
Speaker: Fabrice Fitch, Royal Music Association
Royal Musical Association Research Colloquia at the University of Glasgow
All sessions are open to the public and free to attend. Event followed by a wine reception.
Composing for the instruments in use before the era of common practice tonality poses special challenges, many of which may be summed up in the single question: to what extent should the new work take account of the ethos of the repertories originally intended for these instruments? These questions bring into play aspects of notation (including the format in which the work is conveyed to performers), the notion and functioning of an ensemble, musical style, and of course the sonic potential of the instruments themselves. I shall offer some provisional answers to these questions with reference to two composition cycles on which I have been working for the best part of twenty years: Per Serafino Calbarsi (based on the writings of François Rabelais (c.1494-1553)) and agricologies, inspired by the music of Alexander Agricola (c.1456-1506).