Steven Baxter Recital Studio

Building out from their work on Bach's Goldberg Variations in Mathemusical Conversations 2015, duo researching artists Stephen Emmerson and Bernard Lanskey continue to explore the simplest prime numbers as a tool for encouraging active audience listening. In this forum, they explore how the juxtaposition of the numbers 3 and 2 applies to multiple parameters of musical organisation. In doing so, they draw listeners away from focusing on 'repertoire' and towards a multi-dimensional appreciation of 'compositional material'. Using three keyboards and visual projections, this audio-visual collage provides performative insights into the music of nine iconic composers from Bach to Bartok.

The appreciation of music from both the performer’s and the listener’s standpoint is dependent upon understanding its societal and historical context. Where is such knowledge to be found today? Do online resources help or hinder our quest for knowledge and understanding? Does the vast profusion of materials and information available online equate to increased knowledge and understanding? Does it offer an easy pathway to clarity of understanding, or does it merely cloud issues with fake news? Is it wise, or indeed safe, to rely upon the open forum of online resources in our academic quest for knowledge and understanding, or do the traditional print media still hold the essential keys?

For many of us, music is an integral part of everyday life. From representing self-identity to cheering us up on bad days, the music we listen to must carry a purpose if we keep returning to it in different situations.