Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Explore text and music through examples of plainsong, polyphony, ballades, madrigals, chansons, lieder, and modern works

Song is perhaps the oldest form of musical communication, with the earliest surviving manuscript dating from 3400 years ago. Song has accompanied rituals associated with spirituality, labour, education, entertainment and, of course, expressions of emotion such as love and grief.

In this presentation, some of these functions will be explored through examples of plainsong, polyphony, ballades, madrigals, chansons, lieder, and modern works. We shall see how, at various times, the entwining of text and music has favoured one element over the other, and how each language’s rhythm and inflection influences the melodies created.

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative at The University of Melbourne

Speakers

Katy Abbott Kvasnica

Katy Abbott Kvasnica is an Australian composer working at The University of Melbourne. In her music she aims to: ‘capture the little things that make us human or happen to us because we are human… humour, foibles, quirky things we do and say, beauty, grief and friendship’. She is particularly interested in using modern and ‘found’ text in song settings.
www.katyabbott.com

Jane Davidson

Jane Davidson is Professor of Creative and Performing Arts with a background in classical voice and psychological approaches to performance. She is also Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, based at the University of Melbourne.

Stephen Grant

Stephen Grant is Head of Vocal Studies and Early Music at The University of Melbourne. He is currently researching the sacred vocal music of Heinrich Schütz. He has a distinguished international career as a bass-baritone, having sung in many of the finest European early music ensembles. He directs the Melbourne-based vocal ensemble e21 who will contribute live performances of songs in the presentation.

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on (03) 9699 3333