Changing the Instruments: Changing the Story
Stephen Emmerson
Prof. Stephen Emmerson (Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University) discusses his own work as a pianist and researcher, with reference to his own adaptations of Janacek’s two string quartets in versions for clarinet, cello and piano. As the introduction to his presentation, Emmerson outlines the development of performance studies as an attitude of criticality in the Western art music landscape, both in terms of performance and academia. He asserts that the central question we should be asking ourselves as artists and researchers is, “how can we make this musical tradition meaningful and vibrant?”
In this video excerpt, Emmerson helpfully provides a taxonomy for classifying various types of music performances altering an original work: transformation, recomposition, interpretation, etc. He then re-evaluates the spectrum of creative approaches without valorisng either end, proposing that we need a healthy range of representation across the entire spectrum. This could prove as a useful starting point for other performer-researchers looking to embark on their own adaptive projects.
Keywords: Performance studies, Janacek, adaptations, reinterpretations