Lear Settings

 

Borthwick, Alastair (2004-5). The Jumblies and The Dong with a Luminous Nose for soprano and chamber orchestra. Duration: 25 minutes. Premiered by Hull Sinfonietta, Alison Bell (The Jumblies, November 2004) and Sarah Leonard (The Jumblies and The Dong, June 2005). Peer-reviewed as part of RAE 2008.

 

Tsang, Lee (2009). The Lear Settings Music-Film Project portfolio, including: Lear Settings, an animated music-film in three parts (40’); evaluative report on the animated A Jumbly Girl for Creative Partnerships (July 2009) 5pp. Reference: 7022094. [Film on this site and available on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm1bHCLsIT8]

 

Tsang, Lee (2009): 'Practice and Outreach in Music Research: the Lear Settings Animation Project' (Sheffield University, February 2009; Hull University, March 2009)

 

Tsang, Lee (2010): ‘Finding a Voice: Authorship and Subjectivity in the Lear Settings Animation Project’. Paper presented at Song, Stage and Screen 5 - Interdisciplinary Approaches to 'Voice' in Music, Theatre and Film, University of Winchester, 3-5 Sept 2010.

 

Tsang, Lee (2012): 'Beyond Lear Settings: Implications for Communities'. Paper presented at Albemarle Music Centre, Hull, 4 July 2012

 

Tsang, Lee (2013): ‘New Approaches to Creativity: British Government Policy on Educating Communities and the Shaping of “High Art”  - a Musical Case Study (Lear Settings)’, Paper presented at the Research Colloquium, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 12 March 2013 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX 1  - RIF REPORT ON JULY EVENTS

 

The Lear Settings Project (Hull Sinfonietta) – Midsummer Music 2012

 

In keeping with the University of Hull’s Strategic Plan (p. 5), the following report demonstrates that the project has engaged the local community in terms of research and impact. The RIF –funded events were the main focus of a new University Midsummer Music Series that seeks to bring practice as research to communities off-campus. In addition to having direct benefits for the REF, these events helped the University to forge stronger links with key partners in Hull City Centre (particularly Hull Music Hub) and in the East Riding (particularly Beverley Minster, local council and associated audiences).

 

WHAT HAPPENED

 

As a result of RIF funding, the film was screened twice with live orchestra in two different locations. These screenings took place at 8pm, Hull Albemarle Centre, 4 July 2012 and 1.15pm, Beverley Minster, 5 July 2012. All RIF funds were used to pay the professional musicians who were associated with Hull Sinfonietta and drawn from the north of England.

 

A questionnaire was issued both for data gathering and as a prompt to see how audiences may participate in moving some of the ideas forward within their own social and (where appropriate) work settings. The questionnaire raised issues relating to the original proposed experiment, including reading of narrative, fragmentation and memory, the effect of compiled images, and the use of live soundtracks.

 

The following were in attendance and provided responses to the questionnaires:
Members of U3A (Howden), local primary school teachers, local councillors, tourists / members of amateur arts organisations (from as far afield as New Zealand), and general audience. 87% declared that the project had an impact on them, though detailed analysis of other data suggests a higher percentage.

 

These response data are published along with a related research article that draws upon all of the papers hitherto written about the project. This article demonstrates how Lear Settings, as a product of its socio-political and funding context, is conceptually indicative of the broader directions in artistic approaches that have taken place in the UK since 1997. The article contextualises content from the illustrated pre-event research paper – 'Beyond Lear Settings:  Implications for Communities' – which was presented at 6pm, Hull Albemarle Centre, 4 July 2012 and to which the audience members of the screenings responded. The 'Beyond Lear Settings’ paper addressed how Lear Settings:

 

• offers models for democratic authorship and ownership of 'high art' and why these models are important

• addresses the concept of difference and challenges assumptions about sound and identity, race and 'other'

• explores the idea of fragmentation and aspects of memory and the relevance of these to audiences and communities

• has an underlying analytical approach that has relevance for the engagement of audiences and communities

• can be used to support work in education or group-learning contexts

 

 

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

Participants for this stage of the project

Dr Lee Tsang (Lead Researcher, Music, Faculty of Arts, University of Hull)
Dr Freya Bailes advised on presentation of questionnaire data
Professor Alastair Borthwick (Music, Faculty of Arts, University of Hull)

Graziana Pressice (assistant)
Tony Courts, Aled Edwards (technical)
Sarah Leonard & Hull Sinfonietta

 

We used material from earlier stages of the project (completed March 2009). The key partners during those stages were:

Dr Lee Tsang, Lecturer in Music, UoH (Principal Investigator, Faculty of Arts,)

Rozi Fuller, Freelance Animator, p/t tutor Northern Film School

Dr Alastair Borthwick, Senior Lecturer in Music, UoH (Faculty of Arts)

Michael Fletcher, PhD student in Music and Technician, UoH (Faculty of Arts)

Will Docherty, Freelance Animation/Film Editor, Studio Mejo

Creative Partnerships

Andrew Marvell Business and Enterprise College

Sarah Leonard & Hull Sinfonietta

 

LT, 7 Sept 2012 (revised and abridged for web publication August 2013)

 

APPENDIX 2  - SUMMARY OF SURVEY (JULY 2012)

 

 

Members of the audience were encouraged to complete questionnaires for the performances in July 2012 following a public pre-performance paper entitled ‘ 'Beyond Lear Settings: The Implications for Communities’. 33% of attendees completed a questionnaire. The audiences identified the project as having changed their perception in the following specified areas. Percentages refer to the proportion of the audience whose perception was changed and are rounded to the nearest percentage point.

 

 

QUESTIONNAIRE FIGURES

 

The following tables indicate perceived impacts in broad areas (Table 1) and in areas relating to the research strands of the Lear Settings project (Table 2). Overall, 87% of participants stated that the project had an impact on them and the remaining 13% did not state whether or not the project had an impact on them.

 

Table 1 (%)

20 Art

20 Education

47 Film

13 Freelance work

54 Inter-disciplinary work

27 Literature

33 Music

27 Technology

 

 

 

Table 2 (%)

7 Analysis

13 Arthouse cinema

20 Audience engagement

40 Contemporary Music

13 Democratic approaches

60 Creative process

27 Diversity (geographical or social, e.g. racial) or other cultures

20 ‘Classical’ Music /Orchestral Music / Opera

20 Expressing and understanding difference

20 Metaphor

20 Multi-authored work

13 Ownership of art or music

7 Relationships (and their dynamics)

33 Self-expression

54 Sound and its potential meanings

27 Structure 

27 Voice

 

MAIN IMPACTS

 

The main impacts that came through included changes to audience perceptions that were identified as a result of:

 

themes or ideas that held a particular interest or resonance for individual perceivers (67%); images or the manner in which images were presented affecting experience of the music (67%); creative process (60%); sound and its potential meanings (54%); interdisciplinary work (54%)

 

If we consider the impacts that did not come through as expected and group some of the findings we can discover some other highly significant impacts.

 

Contemporary Music (40%) and Music (33%) in isolation may seem lower than expected for a music-based research project, though in total 60% identified changes to perception in one of these areas. Music was also used as a vehicle for changing perception in many other areas that were identified, which suggests the impact of the research areas relating to music is likely to be yet higher.

 

For instance, if we take into account those who identified a music-related impact in comments relating to:

 

• music or the manner in which it was presented;

• images or the manner in which they were presented;

• whether the project as a whole provided a model for others to use

we find 87% of all those questioned (i.e. 100% of those who answered the question about there being an impact) identified a music-related impact.

 

One of the areas that was identified as having the least impact was ‘analysis’ (7%), though it is misleading to see this aspect of the research as having had minimal impact. Respondents positively identified changes in perception as a result of structure (27%), intertextuality (20%) and metaphor (20%) suggesting analysis-related aspects of the work were indeed significant. In total, 46% identified changes of perception in one or more of these areas. The data suggest that audiences may not be fully aware of what the term ‘analysis’ covers from a research perspective or that the process of, and time spent on, form-filling provides only a partial picture of their understanding of the term

 

COMMENTS

 

Respondents had the opportunity to comment, and the impacts that they identified may be grouped thematically as follows:

 

1. Aspects of the project perceived as innovative or new

Points made by respondents indicated revelatory experiences (‘I have never experienced anything like that before’) and the pushing of boundaries (‘it was … challenging conventional assumptions’ and offers a ‘new way’ of ‘thinking about contemporary music’). Other comments that were made specifically related to the variety of musical timbre, image, animation and musical content and how these elements interact. Some identified the treatment of the children’s images and animation as being ‘ingenious’ or ‘innovative’ because of how these aspects affect the musical experience. For instance, changes in their perception of musical dissonance were identified, as were aspects of the music’s relationship to narrative. One respondent found innovation in how ‘this performance deliberately explored a flexible hierarchy amongst the music/text/image’ and another in the general interconnection between disciplines. Respondents from New Zealand commented most positively on how this sort of musical experience and interpretation is radically different from their usual experiences back home.

 

1. Images or the manner in which the images were presented affecting experience of the music

Images or the manner in which images were presented helped, and in some cases were necessary for, understanding of the narrative expressed by the music. Structural parallels between images and musical treatment of text had the effect of engaging respondents in the moment (they ‘carried me along’), and parallels (described as ‘reflections’) between musical audio images and their movements ‘deepened the emotional experience’. Other respondents spoke of the effect of the flexible hierarchy on the attentional focus.

 

1. Themes/ideas that particularly interested or resonated with respondents

47% felt the music or the manner in which the music was presented affected the experience of bringing across a theme or idea that held a particular resonance for them as individuals. The themes or ideas included:

 

a. the emotions of the individual relating to ‘loss’, as well as ‘love’, ‘sadness’, ‘joy’, ‘isolation/rejection’ and ‘searching’;

b. aspects of otherness, including ‘differing perceptions/memories’, ‘cultural tolerance’, potential ‘difficulties’ in ‘multi-cultural relationships’, the realisation (or not) of ‘expectations when travelling to new countries’;

c. the technical and pedagogical e.g. ‘sense and nonsense … verbal and non-verbal expression’, use of ‘orchestral instruments’ and ‘linking music to school learning in a different way’.

 

The manner in which the music was presented affected the audience experience of a message or idea being conveyed. Some respondents expressed their view on this in strong terms (it was very – extremely – expressive and meaningful, ‘definitely yes’) and used verbs such as ‘enhanced’, whilst others pointed specifically to the role of music-text relations including the mood relations in each respective art form, and synchronisation between music and image.

 

1. The extent to which the project was perceived as providing a useful model for others

Responses indicated approval of using the project as a model for others, with the suggestion that it ‘should be of use in many educational establishments’. Schools were identified as some of the principal beneficiaries, though it was pointed out that the project more generally shows ‘how different aspects of a process can be interdependent’. As a model the project was praised because it offers a ‘way to get others involved, children, musicians, etc.’ and for being an ‘extremely positive example of creative interdisciplinary/cross-media work’. Requests for ‘more’ suggested a demand.

 

1. Changes in behaviours as a direct consequence of experiencing the project

Respondents stated that they would:

 

a. actively seek out new artistic experiences and revisit related works, e.g. ‘[look] for more information about animated music-film projects’, ‘re-read the works of Edward Lear!’;

b. attend more concerts and change listening practices in terms of receptivity (attentional focus), repertoire, and knowledge base; they referred to an increase in receptivity to contemporary music, approaching listening to contemporary music with ‘better understanding’, and broadening ‘listening experience to modern repertoires’;

c. communicate directly with the musicians;

d. actively promote activities, in particular, recognising the University’s role in engaging the community and facilitating promotion of the University’s engagement projects (in the case of the Mayor of Beverley, using own ‘position on the Town Council and as Mayor to promote this and similar events’);

e. changing artistic practice, such as using the experience to inform approaches to ‘theatre (amateur) in New Zealand’.

 

1. General impression of the multi-stranded approach

Respondents found the multi-stranded approach of particular interest, noting interactions

 

a. within the work itself (‘very interesting combination/mixture of literature, technology and contemporary music, full of metaphor’; ‘... interesting combination of arts, in a “high art” setting.’; ‘enjoyed the freedom with which the poems were interpreted’); and

b. on a community level (‘It is impressive that this project has involved different educational institutions, bringing together people from different backgrounds to give their experience in the creative process’).

 

1. The intensity level of engagement

Measuring intensity levels of engagement by using scientific equipment was impractical and inappropriate for these performance contexts. However, one may deduce from some of the more general positive comments that the intensity level was high for certain individuals. For instance: ‘I loved this experience’, ‘was captivated’, ‘expressive rendition’, ‘took my breath away’, ‘amazed by the high quality of musicianship’, ‘Spellbound!’, ‘a very moving experience’, and ‘it will definitely stay in my mind for [a] long [time]’.