Series as multipart pieces with regulated changes

The research aims to establish a set of principles which govern the structure and application of multipart series in music and visual art. The idea of a series in this context is best defined by Sol LeWitt, who states 'Serial compositions are multipart pieces with regulated changes. The differences between the parts are the subject of the composition. If some parts remain constant it is to punctuate the changes ...The autonomous parts are units, rows, sets, or any logical division that would be read as a complete thought. The series would be read by the viewer in a linear or narrative manner even though in its final form many of these sets would be operating simultaneously, making comprehension difficult.' This approach has become central to various bodies of visual art since the 1960s, particularly monochrome and colour-field painting, some conceptual art, and minimalism in its various forms. Within music, it is most evident in the work of the central European and American Wandelweiser group of composers.Founded by Antoine Beuger and Burkhard Schlothauer in 1992, Wandelweiser have defined a clear aesthetic whose resonance has been critical to a continued exploration of new compositional ground internationally over the past decade. Their work is distinctive and makes few compromises: it deals with extremes and archetypes. Schlothauer summarises the characteristics of the Wandelweiser composers' work succinctly in his essay Etwas über Wandelweiser , saying that their music is generally very quiet and that silence has a large share of the often extended performance durations. Generally there is little conventional drama and the presentation of sound material is very clear: harmony, rhythm and melody play either a subordinate role or none at all. These composers also make frequent reference to the work of visual artists. In Beuger's work for example, the series [first - fourth] music for marcia hafif (1994-2002) draws on the serial structure of Hafif's monochromes. Most of Hafif's work is in series, some complete and some ongoing. For example, her Extended Gray Scale (1972-3) comprised 105 ordered grey paintings and was complete when she felt she was unable to distinguish a new shade of grey. Other artists whose work underpins this study include Sol LeWitt, whose series of wall drawings have informed my own compositional approach to interlinked pieces, and Carl Andre, whose floor sculptures represent, alongside Dan Flavin's neon light work, perhaps the most consistent extended application of modularity.
Through examining the work of these composers and artists, the aim of the project is to establish a set of principles that are common to their serial work. These will be articulated through a journal article and edited volume of Contemporary Music Review, focusing on the Wandelweiser composers (the first major study in English), and a series of composition projects resulting in pieces for Basel Sinfonietta, [rout], and Apartment House. These compositions will focus on the further expansion of my existing series, and the development of new ones, both of which will be informed by the parallel musicological research. Specifically, the criteria determined by the analysis of other work will shape some of my decision-making when planning new multipart work: it is the nature of this mode of working that decisions made at the macro-level have major ramifications for later development of sub-pieces. The two ensemble pieces will be related as part of a new series that emerges from the principles determined through the contextual research, and which is informed by my current series and earlier modular piece #[unassigned]. The research will therefore benefit practitioners, musicologists and art theorists with an interest in serial and modular structures, and audiences seeking to engage with these concepts and work. The two parts of the project are intrinsically linked, with my practice-led and musicological research being interdependent.

In addition to the academic beneficiaries, there are three target groups who will benefit from the research and its outputs: composers/artists, performers/programmers/curators, and audiences.

Composers and artists working experimentally, or with multipart series, will find the principles formulated by the research a useful point of reference for their own creative practice. This will be communicated through the journal article, compositions and associated writing, and informal networking. Through the work they produce, the research will be disseminated to a wider public audience, embodied in the creative work itself and through discussion in accessible texts, such as programme or exhibition notes, and more extended technical writing. Traces of this work, such as recordings and texts, or exhibition catalogues citing the research, will ensure its continuing relevance as a resource. It will also be of benefit to performers, concert programmers and curators seeking to present work structured as multipart series in an appropriate context. The question of the status of sub-pieces within a series and the necessity of presenting more than one piece during a performance, or not breaking a series of artworks, is a recurring problem in particular, and the ideas developed during the research will help provide a framework for its consideration.

The journal article already has a publication schedule, and my track record as a composer is evidenced by the list of publications and plans for performances, including those outside the UK, so there are established channels for the dissemination of the research. In writing about my work in concert programme notes and via my website, the theoretical and conceptual basis of my compositional practice will be made available to a wider audience than that of the academic journal. The stated performances will involve in some cases also giving a pre-concert talk, radio interview, or undertaking work in an educational context (seminar, workshop). This provides a more informal way to discuss aspects of the research in relation to my music. It should be noted that this will encompass work well beyond the duration of the fellowship. Working in series and modularity has been central to my practice for over ten years, and the ideas developed during the research will provide many new directions for future investigation.