Helmut Lachenmann's Salut Für Caudwell: an analysis
This analysis of Helmut Lachenmann's Salut für Caudwell (1977) for guitar duet is intended to add to the small amount of English literature that directly examines Lachenmann's music. A description of Salut's construction is offered, decrypting the extended techniques employed and outlining the work's formal design. The concept of ‘musical ruins’, namely degenerative yet familiar material, is deployed as a means to discuss specific moments of the music, and it will be demonstrated that moments of ‘musical ruin’ are inherently linked to aspects of instrumental technique as well as the musical form, making them critical to the reception of Salut. Other analyses of Lachenmann's work are used as methodological models and comparisons, providing a framework within which to examine unfamiliar musical territory, and placing Salut within the repertory of Lachenmann's more thoroughly documented music.
Ruin Renewal: Manchester's Upper Brook Chapel
This essay offers a reflection on the development of the Upper Brook Chapel, Manchester. Taking Robert Smithson's concept of 'ruins in reverse' as a starting point, the essay attempts to articulate how the processes of ruin restoration can lead to an aesthetic that is more ruinous. The essay draws upon existing architecture and natural formations for comparison, before reflecting upon the social implications that arise from such redevelopment projects.
Ruin Renewal: Manchester's Upper Brook Chapel
This essay offers a reflection on the development of the Upper Brook Chapel, Manchester. Taking Robert Smithson's concept of 'ruins in reverse' as a starting point, the essay attempts to articulate how the processes of ruin restoration can lead to an aesthetic that is more ruinous. The essay draws upon existing architecture and natural formations for comparison, before reflecting upon the social implications that arise from such redevelopment projects.
Ruin Renewal: Manchester's Upper Brook Chapel
This essay offers a reflection on the development of the Upper Brook Chapel, Manchester. Taking Robert Smithson's concept of 'ruins in reverse' as a starting point, the essay attempts to articulate how the processes of ruin restoration can lead to an aesthetic that is more ruinous. The essay draws upon existing architecture and natural formations for comparison, before reflecting upon the social implications that arise from such redevelopment projects.
Mark Dyer // Composer
Radcliffe Tower: redirected reflections
For ensemble and pre-recorded audio. Written for RNCM New Ensemble. In this piece, I explore ways of equating ruin experience to the compositional process itself. By recording my own reflections from a visit to the ruinous Radcliffe Tower and redirecting these toward my musical borrowing of a Philippe de Vitry motet, I hope to render the latter as a malleable heritage object and explore the vibrancy of these ‘things’. How does the motet, via the materiality of the architecture, act upon me and how do I relate this to a listener?
I discuss my creative process further in Music and Heritage: New Perspectives on Place-making and Sonic Identity
Premiered by RNCM New Ensemble, ‘In Focus: Kaija Saariaho’ festival, RNCM, Oct 2018.