| Ilias Anagnostopoulos |
PhD |
"Hybrid Analogue/Digital Modular Synthesis Systems". The focus of this research is the technology behind synthesis in all possible forms. This includes the field of audio synthesizers but also extends to the field of video synthesis. The investigation into current and obsolete technology will lead to a better understanding of the artist's needs, bringing back some of the inspiring elements of the massive machines that dominated previous decades and combining these with the cutting edge of modern technology, in the design and implementation of new electronic musical instruments, for live performance and studio use. Another scope of this research is to attempt to break the barriers between different artistic media, with the potential outcome being a new approach to cross-media art. |
| Chris Brammeld |
MMus |
Composition: I have composed a set of four songs usings texts from ‘The Tempest’. The pieces are settings in quite a literal sense; I have attempted to set (or place) the words and the story into a musical situation or narrative context. Sometimes the instruments paint a picture over which the words are laid; sometimes they drive the story in partnership with the voice. Using an uncommon combination of instruments (clarinet, horn, cello, piano), I have placed emphasis on phrase structure and narrative, allowing the text to dictate the rhythm of the vocal line. I’m currently writing a three-movement String Quartet which will complete my portfolio. Folio: Applied work in music education. I have written two workbooks for Grade 1 clarinet and flute pupils, which are designed as a resource for busy instrumental teachers. The books contain warm-ups, extra sight-reading pieces, and melodic and rhythmic studies and exercises which help the pupil understand their pieces, and makes links to scales, aural and sight-reading, a concept known as Simultaneous Learning. I will seek feedback from teachers and pupils who use the books during my project, and use their observations to develop the workbooks prior to commercial publication. |
| Carola Darwin |
PhD (with Performance) |
'The representation of women in Opera in Vienna 1900-1918'. In the early twentieth century Vienna experienced a growing debate over gender and the role of women in society, coinciding with an extraordinary burgeoning of new ideas in all the arts, including music. My thesis considers the way that women are represented in selected operas by Richard Strauss, Schoenberg and Zemlinsky, in the context of the wider discourse on gender. This includes analysis of the scores, a consideration of the way that music does (or does not) reflect the wider world, and an investigation of the lives of the singers who sang in the operas when they were new. I am also developing a multi-media one-woman show as a way to present my ideas in a performance. |
| Melissa Dobson |
PhD
(Completed) |
‘Musical Spaces: exploring the interaction between concert venues and audience experience.’ This research investigates audience experience of classical music concerts from a broad perspective, but particularly focuses on the ways in which concert venues affect audience members’ experiences and enjoyment of an event. It also addresses audience members’ motivations for attending classical concerts, and explores relationships between live and recorded listening. |
| Marc Ernesti |
MPhil/PhD |
My research area is the History of Music Theory, and the Thesis will examine case studies in the construction and structure of Music Analysis as a concept in musical discourse, around 1800. In particular, I want to find out how Analysis in the emphatic sense – i.e., a self-contained study of musical works in its own right – reflects in music publications and especially German music media of the late 18th century; what the agendas, and what the in-bound and out-bound routes of the discourse are – some of them obviously lasting until today, such as the canon of ‘masterworks’ worthy of analytical enquiry. |
| David Evans |
Completed |
'Preview in piano sight-reading performance'. I am investigating how far skilled and less-skilled sight-readers need to look ahead in music notation to maintain optimum performance levels, using scores of a range of complexity and musical structure. Other related work concerns the extent to which observed skill differences result from perceptual or movement planning/performance factors. |
| Kate Gee |
PhD
(Completed) |
Musical identities and brass music-making.
As musicians how do we gain a sense of who we are through music-making? How are our identities shaped by the groups that we choose to belong to? And how do these identities change throughout our careers and lifespan?
This research is cross-departmental (music and psychology) and aims to answer some of these questions by using social psychology approaches and methodology. It has drawn together interviews from both professional and amateur brass musicians throughout the lifespan, building a picture of identity and career development. |
| Anneli Beronius Haake |
PhD
(Submitted) |
Music at Work |
| Ruth Herbert |
Completed |
'Range of consciousness within the music listening experience'. Several studies, particularly, but not exclusively, within ethnomusicology, have explored the relationship between music and trance, but definitions of trance are vague and sometimes conflict, in addition to assuming trance to be a definite ‘state’. This thesis explores the possibility of trance as a process (i.e. an activity rather than a ‘thing’) which may exist along a broader, fluid continuum of varieties of consciousness. Empirical research into everyday listening experiences aims to gather evidence about these varieties of consciousness – in particular the notion of ‘light trance’ associated with selective attention, absorption and daydreaming. |
| Fay Hield |
PhD |
‘Singing Communities’. Despite many obstacles, folk singing remains a popular activity. This research investigates the impact of different organisational structures on singers’ experience and considers the reasons behind people’s engagement and interaction with different singing contexts. I am currently collecting data from members of various folk singing communities in the form of survey, diary, interviews and participant observation. |
| Jon Lawrence |
MMus |
I am centring my studies on the links between sacred and secular music in Tibet. For the for the practical side of the project I am producing a world fusion album lyrically based on the ideas in Paul Theroux's novel ‘The Mosquito Coast.’ |
| Jac McKeigue |
PhD |
Composition: focusing on movement as both stimulus and material. In addition to writing fully-composed, notated pieces, I am also interested in the immediacy of shared creativity and direct access to musical expression that occurs during improvisation. I expect both my continuing work with the improvisation ensemble Collective Impulses and my performance interests to form a key part of my research. The works in my portfolio explore both naturally-occurring performance movements and the possibilities of additional choreography. My latest work Concerto combines music theatre and dance to explore ideas of balance and control. Currently, I am excited to be working on a piece for the University’s Symphony Orchestra due to be premiered in June 2011. |
| Spyros Marinis |
Completed |
'The Clarinet in Greece: The performing evolution of the instrument through orchestral pieces influenced by regional traditional music, and related issues based on selected works.' The clarinet in Greece developed differently from the traditional clarinet (klarino). However, many composers such as Skalkottas and Kalomiris have composed orchestral pieces based on folk melodies. This thesis partly questions whether contemporary composers such as Sfetsas follow the same principals. The main aim is to examine the performing evolution of the clarinet through a selection of solo pieces, duets and trios written by Greek composers: Antoniou, Konstantinides, Dragatakis and Amarantidis. |
| Nick Morgan |
PhD |
My research forms part of Sheffield’s study of the UK classical record industry between 1925 and 1932: the National Gramophonic Society was founded in 1924, to ‘aim at achieving for gramophone music what such societies as the Medici have done for the reproduction of paintings and for the printed book’, by issuing complete recordings, mainly of chamber music, then unlikely to be issued commercially. Financed by subscription, the N.G.S. made premiere recordings of many cornerstones of today’s repertoire, from quartets by Haydn and Beethoven, Debussy and Ravel to then new music by Schoenberg, Malipiero and Warlock. The Society’s hopeful launch and eventual failure in 1931 tell us much about this crucial period in the evolution of the record business. |
| Lijuan Qian |
PhD |
"The Chinese Pop Music during the late 1980s: a cultural perspective". Against the background of Chinese Opening Policy, the 1980s is the period which is seen as the second cultural revival among the 20 century in China. In the early 1980s, the cultural waves and thoughts, widespread via literature, fine art, film. At the end, they inspired the involvement of pop music during the second half of 1980s. Consequently, this period appears very special compared with other period. This special is partly attributed to the special cultural meaning the pop music encodes and loads, which mixes the traditional culture, new-democratic culture, imported culture and formative culture in Chinese history. It also could be ascribed the pop musicians’ cultural aspiration in localization, ethicizing and democratizing. These aspirations correspondingly drive the emergence of three new music genres: Xibeifeng, Public welfare songs and The Chinese Rock. |
| Tim Robinson |
PhD |
'How popular musicians teach: informal learning practices in instrumental lessons'. Typically, 'popular' musicians teach themselves to play, and the 'informal learning practices' they use have been much studied. This research questions whether such musicians employ these practices when they become instrumental teachers. |
| Michael Sargeant |
MPhil |
The Educational Value of Medieval Music |
| Christos Stavrinides |
PhD |
The adaptation of the Cretan music repertoire to the modern flute; a theoretical and performance practice interpretation’. This project unites the performance element, namely ‘the interpretation of Cretan music on the orchestral flute’, with contextual and theoretical research on the Cretan music culture. The project combines western performance-practice techniques and methods with non-western local styles of interpretation. |
| Robert Tucker |
PhD |
'Approaches to collaboration in community theatre projects: an assessment of their educational, social and musical impact, with reference to the history of the evolution of an original work' |
If you are a current student and would like to add your details to this page, please contact the Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music Department).
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