Nicholas Haralambous nth27@cam.ac.uk
South Africa
Music, Robinson College
PhD thesis: Performing Structure in the Piano Music of Arnold Schoenberg
Research interests:
1. Music Theory and Analysis
2. Performance Studies
3. The Second Viennese School
4. South African Art Music
My PhD focuses on the intersection of performative and structuralist paradigms of musical structure. I am investigating how selected piano works by Arnold Schoenberg, which have historically been analysed almost exclusively in terms of structuralist paradigms, may be understood as an interweaving of both performative and traditional analytical elements. I aim to develop this research through two distinct (albeit related) lines of enquiry: firstly, I will investigate how performers use their own agency to express (or suppress) structuralist ideas of pitch organization. Secondly, I hope to articulate the multivalency of musical structure by developing a model which synthesizes performative and structuralist concerns.
Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?
I was inspired to pursue my research interests by the wonderful teachers who have shaped my development as a pianist and a music analyst. Further, my research emerged from frustrations with current musical discourse and performance practice which often fall short of adequately articulating the position of the performer-analyst. I hope to contribute in some small way to bridging the binary so often drawn between music practitioners and scholars.