Bryn D Harrison | University of Huddersfield (original) (raw)
Articles by Bryn D Harrison
• ABSTRACT The majority of studies of performance focus on the tonal and metric music of the comm... more • ABSTRACT The majority of studies of performance focus on the tonal and metric music of the common-practice period, studied at the moment of performance rather than over a period of rehearsal, and usually divorced from the context of real rehearsal and performance (schedules, audiences, auditoria). This paper reports part of a larger project in which three newly commissioned works for solo piano have been studied from the moment that the performer received them, through a period of preparation and rehearsal, to their first public performance. The data consist of interview and diary data, audio recordings, and MIDI data taken from the piano at rehearsals and the public premiere. The paper is a collaboration between one of the composers (Bryn Harrison), the performer (Philip Thomas), and two analysts (Nicholas Cook and Eric Clarke). The paper demonstrates the stability of the performer's approach to this complex music from a very early stage in the rehearsal process; some interesting attributes of his approach to rhythm and tempo; the function of notation as a " prompt for action " rather than as a recipe for, or representation of, sound; and the concealed social character of solo performance and apparently solitary composition. The paper concludes with a discussion and critique of the " communication " model of performance that prevails in psychological studies of performance. INTRODUCTION One of the criticisms of research in music performance is that most of it has been done in rather artificial " laboratory " conditions, reflecting few if any of the factors that real concert life inevitably involves: the influence of an audience, the pressure of practical considerations, the nature of the venue, and the whole sense of occasion. The increasingly extensive research that makes use of existing commercial recordings (e.g. Repp, 1990; Ashley, 2002) deals, of course, with a thoroughly " real " phenomenon — but one which represents only the carefully controlled final state of
Papers by Bryn D Harrison
Divergence Press, 2013
This paper considers the role of musical temporality and memory in the recent works of composer B... more This paper considers the role of musical temporality and memory in the recent works of composer Bryn Harrison. In contrast to earlier pieces, the essay outlines the ways in which these pieces adopt a singular approach to musical structure which utilises high levels of repetition. It is argued that, through this approach, the listener is able to build up a composite understanding of the surface of the music over time. Comparisons are made to the scanning of a picture plane, and the work of Bridget Riley, James Hugonin and François Morellet are given as examples. The paper ends with a description of a new collaborative project with digital artist Tim Head which seeks to develop on this same phenomenological approach.
Contemporary Music Review, 2011
• ABSTRACT The majority of studies of performance focus on the tonal and metric music of the comm... more • ABSTRACT The majority of studies of performance focus on the tonal and metric music of the common-practice period, studied at the moment of performance rather than over a period of rehearsal, and usually divorced from the context of real rehearsal and performance (schedules, audiences, auditoria). This paper reports part of a larger project in which three newly commissioned works for solo piano have been studied from the moment that the performer received them, through a period of preparation and rehearsal, to their first public performance. The data consist of interview and diary data, audio recordings, and MIDI data taken from the piano at rehearsals and the public premiere. The paper is a collaboration between one of the composers (Bryn Harrison), the performer (Philip Thomas), and two analysts (Nicholas Cook and Eric Clarke). The paper demonstrates the stability of the performer's approach to this complex music from a very early stage in the rehearsal process; some interesting attributes of his approach to rhythm and tempo; the function of notation as a " prompt for action " rather than as a recipe for, or representation of, sound; and the concealed social character of solo performance and apparently solitary composition. The paper concludes with a discussion and critique of the " communication " model of performance that prevails in psychological studies of performance. INTRODUCTION One of the criticisms of research in music performance is that most of it has been done in rather artificial " laboratory " conditions, reflecting few if any of the factors that real concert life inevitably involves: the influence of an audience, the pressure of practical considerations, the nature of the venue, and the whole sense of occasion. The increasingly extensive research that makes use of existing commercial recordings (e.g. Repp, 1990; Ashley, 2002) deals, of course, with a thoroughly " real " phenomenon — but one which represents only the carefully controlled final state of
Divergence Press, 2013
This paper considers the role of musical temporality and memory in the recent works of composer B... more This paper considers the role of musical temporality and memory in the recent works of composer Bryn Harrison. In contrast to earlier pieces, the essay outlines the ways in which these pieces adopt a singular approach to musical structure which utilises high levels of repetition. It is argued that, through this approach, the listener is able to build up a composite understanding of the surface of the music over time. Comparisons are made to the scanning of a picture plane, and the work of Bridget Riley, James Hugonin and François Morellet are given as examples. The paper ends with a description of a new collaborative project with digital artist Tim Head which seeks to develop on this same phenomenological approach.
Contemporary Music Review, 2011