Definitions:

New?
modern

not necessarily original – but could be?

unresearched? ungrounded? immature?

babies – unpredictable/random, inevitability of ageing…

Old?

traditional – stable, secure, rooted or rut, straitjacket, hidebound

vintage/retro vs. old hat – nostalgia

Reactions to pieces
1 (Julia Wolfe Lick)
Movie-trailer sound-effects – unpredictable; ‘mickey-mousing’; silences created
anticipation; jazzy Schoenberg? Breaking traditional norms; but a little clichéd?

2 (Trevor Wishart American Triptych)

Fire alarm: loud noise; free time, unpredictability, stretched sound; resonance created
from manipulating timbre

3 (Hans Abrahamsen Schnee)

Horror trope? high register, spacious rhythm (suspense)

snowy/Christmassy: bell-like, high register, but becomes a little sinister?

sense of freshness, unspoiled; but quite traditional in other ways

4 (John Oswald mother)

punky - power chords, loud, simple harmonies, distorted, fast tempo, relentless rhythm,
felt live, clear electronic element/processing/glitch?

minimal material, but quite generic 80s/90s rock in sound; sounds like a remix gone
wrong?

5 (Karlheinz Stockhausen Helikopter-Streichquartett)

string quartet imitating helicopter rotors？

players in separate helicopters

great art or narcissism?

Failing – viewing from different pathway lenses

Performance: multitasking, balancing expression with accuracy, stretching the boundaries
of a performer’s skills (acting as well as performing), limits of processing power.
Acceptance of failure

Compositional: playing with boundaries of piece (where does it begin? where does it
end?), parallels between text and music – self-referentiality, music may not be overtly
‘experimental’ but relationship with text is,

Educational: reimagining failure as a creative space, succeeding to fail/failing to succeed,

enjoyment of risk-taking, accessible for audiences (explaining what is happening)

Stuart Hall: dominant, resistant, negotiated readings – examples

Phantom Menace:
preferred reading = accessible prequel, Jar Jar Binks lightens serious tone

resistant reading = Jar Jar Binks ruins tone, too ‘goofy’

shifting horizons of expectation, shifting artistic intent: future films often wary of
accidentally creating another Jar Jar Binks-esque character

Comedians swearing:
preferred reading – humour, exaggerating situation, down-to-earth/relatable;

resistant reading – ‘no need for that kind of language’: inappropriate, attention-seeking,
uncreative, raw shock-value

Gillette advert:

preferred reading – don’t be a toxic man; anti-violence, etc.;

resistant reading – patronising, condescending, some viewers feeling targeted, anger at

moral hypocrisy from mega-corporations;

negotiated reading – themes ok but heavy-handed, or unnecessary

Others:

Classical music: serious vs funny, rejecting as elitist?

Bring Me the Horizon: new album, style change, direct address to older fans