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HUMAN STRAINS: JAMES CLARKE AND THE MUTATING MUSICAL IDEA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2020

Arnold Whittall
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Abstract

James Clarke, successfully completing a PhD in composition as he turned 60, has never been afraid of challenging convention. A recent piece for unaccompanied violin, 2017-V, takes a typically abrasive look at a long-established instrumental genre, and relishes the obvious restrictions – four strings, two hands – in a forceful exploration of a single, multivalent musical idea. That idea evolves through febrile transformations to promote a connected yet never entirely stable music discourse. Various appropriate contexts are referenced in order to define and underline the music's distinctiveness.

Type
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Information
Tempo , Volume 74 , Issue 293 , July 2020 , pp. 19 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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