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Blog, Page 4

Harpsichords return to Mottisfont

University of Southampton researchers Katharine Hawnt and Christopher D. Lewis are involved in an exciting project to reintroduce the harpsichord at Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire.Ā  Booking for the 15 October event is now available from the Mottisfont event page. In March 2016 this small harpsichord was installed in the Boyā€™s Room at Mottisfont Abbey. Continue reading →

Exchanging knowledge with the National Trust

Postgraduate researcher Kate Hawnt has been enjoying the advantages of an enthusiastic, non-academic audience for her work: On April 11th I ventured up to the National Trust-owned property, Mottisfont Abbey, to give a talk in their Knowledge Exchange Programme. This is a series of in-depth talks offered to National Trust volunteers and staff to widen their knowledge of the property they work in. Continue reading →

Postcard from Potsdam

I've just returned from the State University of New York in Potsdam after participating in a fascinating festival on the French composer, conductor and pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger. When founded by the redoubtable Julia Crane in 1886, the Crane Normal Institute of Music was small enough to be run in the living rooms of a house on the town's main street. Today, the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam is a flourishing institution that boasts more than 500 undergraduate music majors. Continue reading →

British music for the modern harpsichord

Modern harpsichord advocate and Southampton PGR student Christopher D. Lewis tells us about his new recording on the Naxos label, based on his PhD research: My new recording British Music for Harpsichord, released at the beginning of this month, includes 20th-century and contemporary works by Lennox Berkeley, Herbert Howells, Gavin Bryars and John Jeffreys. Continue reading →

Sound Heritage returns

Just before the spring break, the Sound Heritage network met up for its second study day on music research and interpretation in country houses. Instead of gathering in the university, we made a field trip out to Chawton, home of Chawton House Library and Jane Austen's House Museum. Continue reading →

Perfect Pianists

On Friday March 4th at 8pm on BBC 4, Professor David Owen Norris presents Perfect Pianists,Ā  a compilation of archive film of great pianists, including Benno Moiseiwitsch, Myra Hess, Artur Rubinstein, Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia - David filmed the links at the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands, so youā€™ll hear him as well, playing Chopin on Chopinā€™s own Pleyel. Continue reading →

Sounds of the North

The Music department and Turner Sims are celebrating Norwegian musical culture with an array of fantastic events featuring visiting performers across the genres.Ā  Lecturer in Composition Ben Oliver reports on one of the first of the series: On Saturday I had the great pleasure to attend a concert at Turner SimsĀ featuring the Daniel Herskedal Trio with The University Strings. Continue reading →

Residency, reception and regions

Master's student Daisy Smeddle reports on the most recent Hartley Residency, a programme that brings leading scholars to Southampton to interact with our postgraduates and staff over several days:Ā  Professor Katharine Ellis from the University of Bristol is amongst the most esteemed musicologists of her generation. We were lucky enough to spend 2nd ā€“ 3rd of February exploring and discussing her current research fields with her. Continue reading →

New recording for old flutes

The Renaissance flute consort Zephyrus Flutes, under the direction of Nancy Hadden, has just released their latest CD, Aux Plaisirs, aux Delices Bergeres. Ā  This is the second in a series of French music for Renaissance flutes, based on research that Nancy completed during her AHRC Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts at Southampton. The recording highlights the unique sound of the early modern flute. Continue reading →

The Trembling Line – closing this week

If you haven't yet had a chance to go over to the university's John Hansard Gallery to experience Aura Satz's wonderful show, The Trembling Line, now is the moment! The show closes on 23 January. The centrepiece of the show is The Trembling Line, which Aura Satz completed during her Leverhulme Trust-funded residency at Southampton.Ā  The piece features a score by Music's Dr Leo Grant, and uses an innovative spherical speaker array designed by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. Continue reading →

The Hoosiers Session

Music finalist Jamie Wall reports on a collaboration between The Edge, SUSUtv and Music, bringing bands into the Music Department studios for live sessions to be broadcast on SUSUtv. From the start of this academic year I have been working alongside people from The Edge magazine and SUSUtv on a project called ā€˜The Edge Sessionsā€™. Continue reading →