The School of Music Research Scholarship Competition
- The School of Music Research Scholarship Competition is open to Home/EU students who have been offered a place as a full- or part-time student on a doctoral programme in the School of Music. A maximum of 2 scholarships are available for Session 2010-2011 for study in any of the designated research topics advertised below.
- Candidates must apply for PhD studies in the School of Music by 15 April 2010. The deadline for receipt of the scholarship application is 1 June 2010.
- These scholarships are available only to applicants who choose one of the topics below. Please note that applicants will be expected to expand upon and develop their chosen topic into a formal research proposal for their PhD study application.
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) as performer and pedagogue
Lead supervisor: Professor Clive Brown
Lead supervisor: Professor Clive Brown
Although some work has been done on Reinecke as a composer, his activities as a pianist and pedagogue have received little attention. Reinecke’s role as an interpreter of late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century keyboard music, especially the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, merits closer attention. He was widely seen as a champion of true traditions of performance, about which he published several books. Only a few of his 1905 piano roll recordings for Welte and none of those for Hupfeld are currently available. Those that are, show his style to have been strikingly different from that of most younger pianists who made early recordings and suggest a radical reappraisal of important nineteenth- and perhaps late eighteenth-century keyboard performing practice. The PhD will focus on a study of Reinecke’s performing career and writings and will involve collecting, and analysing his piano rolls.
Improvising Identity
Supervisors: Dr Karen Burland and Dr Luke Windsor
Supervisors: Dr Karen Burland and Dr Luke Windsor
The ways in which musicians construct identities is an increasing area of research interest, although work in this area has tended to focus on western classical music traditions. This empirical study will explore the ways in which improvising musicians interact with their environments, performance contexts and audiences, instruments, musical material and traditions, and other musicians in order to understand what it means to be a improviser and how the necessary and relevant skills are acquired and refined over time.
Visual and auditory specification of character in music performance
Supervisors: Dr Karen Burland and Dr Luke Windsor
Supervisors: Dr Karen Burland and Dr Luke Windsor
This research project will investigate the extent to which personality traits are conveyed through musical performance, and the visual and auditory parameters which inform such judgments. The doctoral student will employ standard quantitative instruments for analyzing personality, supplemented with interviews, along with sophisticated techniques for measuring body movement (e.g. Polhemus; VICON) and expressive timing and dynamics. It is hoped that this research would have applications in performance pedagogy and the psychology of personality.
Reassessing Frederick Corder (1852-1932)
Lead supervisor: Dr Michael Allis
Lead supervisor: Dr Michael Allis
In the context of the current reappraisal of British composers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Frederick Corder still remains a marginal figure. This project represents an opportunity to explore Corder’s status as a composer, teacher (his pupils included Arnold Bax, Benjamin Dale and York Bowen) and author, along with his place within British Wagnerism. In addition to an overview of Corder’s published compositions and writings, a study of manuscript material will represent an important component of this project.
Charles Dibdin: a Bibliographical and Musical Study
Lead supervisor: Professor Peter Holman
Lead supervisor: Professor Peter Holman
Charles Dibdin (1745-1814) was one of the most popular and innovative comic opera composers in late eighteenth-century England. Research into his life and music has been hampered by the lack of basic scholarly work on the primary sources. The Brotherton Library in Leeds has one of the most important collections of Dibdin material, including a number of autographs. The project will involve achieving bibliographic control of some or all of Dibdin's output, using it to explore relevant musical and dramaturgical questions.
Amateur Music-making in England 1660-1714
Lead supervisor: Dr Bryan White
Lead supervisor: Dr Bryan White
The place of the musical amateur in English music following the Restoration has until recently been a neglected area of research. This study will explore some aspect of amateur music-making at different levels of English society, extending from the nobility and gentry through to the artisan classes. Archival research into letters and personal documents in regional archives and country houses will be an integral part of the project.
Aesthetic approaches to sound and space
Lead supervisor: Dr Ewan Stefani
Lead supervisor: Dr Ewan Stefani
Spatialisation and sound diffusion has become an integral part of electroacoustic music and sonic art. The placement of sound within a performance space is an exciting area of investigation which has not been given the attention that it deserves, particularly in terms of the aesthetic approach that is taken by the composer or sound artist. This area of study typically encompasses the following approaches:
1). live electronics, where sound is positioned within the performance space in real-time, perhaps as part of an improvisation with acoustic instruments
2). acousmatic composition, where spatialisation is integrated with compositional structures, sound design and signal processing techniques
3). installation, where the acoustic properties and layout of the space may be used to create immersive sound environments or imaginary soundscapes to be experienced by moving around the space
It would be particularly interesting to investigate how elements from each of the above approaches could be combined in a folio of compositions or performances.
1). live electronics, where sound is positioned within the performance space in real-time, perhaps as part of an improvisation with acoustic instruments
2). acousmatic composition, where spatialisation is integrated with compositional structures, sound design and signal processing techniques
3). installation, where the acoustic properties and layout of the space may be used to create immersive sound environments or imaginary soundscapes to be experienced by moving around the space
It would be particularly interesting to investigate how elements from each of the above approaches could be combined in a folio of compositions or performances.
Those wishing to apply for this scholarship should download the application form and send a completed version to Postgraduate Admissions, School of Music, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT or to pgmusic@leeds.ac.uk. The deadline for receipt of applications is 1 June 2010.
If you've got any questions regarding Postgraduate application, the taught or research based programmes offered at Leeds, you need information about fees or any potential scholarship you can speak to one of the School's support team right now using our online chat service (icon, left). As long as it's in normal working hours (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm GMT) someone will be available to answer your questions.
