Passionate about Performance

Summary

This video explores the profound role of music in human life, delving into its ability to communicate and express emotions beyond words. It highlights various research projects conducted by the University of Cambridge's Research Center for Musical Performance as Creative Practice, focusing on live music-making, performer-composer collaborations, and the creative process behind musical performance. These projects investigate how musicians interpret, visualize, and prepare music, using filmed lessons and interviews. The center also addresses creativity in music, emphasizing that performance is more than reproducing notes but an act of creative expression.

Takeaways

• 🎵 Music is a fundamental part of human life, deeply intertwined with language and human expression.
• 🎶 The Research Center for Musical Performance as Creative Practice studies live music in various contexts and traditions.
• 🎓 The center is based at the University of Cambridge, with partnerships at Oxford, King's College London, and other major institutions.
• 🎤 One project, 'Shaping Music in Performance,' explores how performers visualize or imagine music in terms of shape.
• 💃 The study of the body in musical performance is a newer field, focusing on the physical and gestural aspects of music.
• 👥 Another project examines how large ensembles develop interpretations of music through both verbal and non-verbal communication.
• 🎻 Performer-composer collaborations are investigated, particularly in the creation of new music through real-time collaboration.
• 📚 The center studies creativity in musical learning, using filmed lessons to analyze how students and teachers understand and reflect on their music education.
• 🎧 Video diaries from students show diverse ways of practicing, revealing that creativity in practice is often underestimated.
• 📖 A book titled 'Music as Creative Practice' will encapsulate the center's research, exploring the creative nature of performance beyond mere reproduction.

Q & A

What is the importance of music in human life according to the speaker?

Music is considered an essential part of everyday life for every human, deeply intertwined with language and fundamental to human expression. It allows us to communicate and express ourselves more powerfully than words alone.

What is the focus of the Research Center for Musical Performance as Creative Practice?

The center focuses on studying live music-making across various conditions, contexts, cultures, and traditions. It examines how music is performed in teaching studios, rehearsal spaces, and on stage, as well as exploring the thought processes of performers.

What is the ‘Shaping Music in Performance’ project about?

This project investigates how performers visualize or imagine music in terms of shape. It explores the topographical sense of music, where performers and listeners might feel as if they can 'run their hands over the surface' of the music.

What new area of study is mentioned concerning performance?

The study of the body in performance is a relatively new area. Researchers are now looking at how physical gestures and bodily movements contribute to the projection of music and how listeners perceive it.

How do large ensembles communicate during rehearsals according to one of the projects?

The project explores how communication in large ensembles can be tacit, gestural, or non-verbal. Decisions about performance are often reached without explicit verbal instructions, highlighting the importance of gestures and non-verbal cues.

What is the role of performer-composer collaborations in creating new music?

One project focuses on the collaboration between composers and performers in creating new music. It examines how real-time dialogue between the two shapes the music and defines the performance, emphasizing the creative process during the music’s inception.

What project involved His Majesty’s Sackbutts and Cornetts ensemble?

The project involved commissioning a new piece for His Majesty's Sackbutts and Cornetts, an ensemble specializing in 16th and 17th-century music. For the first time, they collaborated with a living composer to create unconventional music for their historical ensemble.

What does the 'Creative Learning and Original Musical Performance' project investigate?

This project studies the creative aspects of learning music and how musicians learn to be creative. It examines both the process of learning and the goal of creative expression, using video footage of lessons to allow teachers and students to reflect on their learning.

How does the use of video in lessons help students and teachers reflect on their creative process?

By filming lessons, students and teachers can observe and comment on specific moments they found creative. This reflective practice helps both parties better understand how they engage with music, allowing for deeper insight into their performance and learning.

What does the speaker highlight as an often overlooked aspect of music performance studies?

The speaker emphasizes that creativity in music performance has been overlooked in scholarly work, despite being fundamental. It is often seen as simply reproducing someone else's ideas, whereas in reality, performance is inherently creative.