PhD Studentship Award – “Hugh Davies: Electronic Music Innovator”

Friday, 30 January 2015, 5.00pm

Faculty of Performance, Visual Arts and Communications School of Music

PhD Studentship Award – “Hugh Davies: Electronic Music Innovator”

The University of Leeds School of Music is pleased to announce a PhD Studentship to mark the start of a new £130k Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project entitled “Hugh Davies: Electronic Music Innovator.” The studentship covers full fees and is to commence no later than 1 October 2015 (and potentially as early as 1 March 2015).

Subject Area

The successful applicant will ideally have experience of musicological study, a background in electronic/electroacoustic music, and an interest in electronic/ electroacoustic music history. Applications from candidates with backgrounds in Science and Technology Studies (STS), History of Science and Technology, and potentially other disciplines, are also welcomed provided they demonstrate relevant music expertise and experience.

Candidates are invited to submit a research proposal that addresses one or more aspects of the work of Hugh Davies and/or its influence. Informal enquiries regarding the topic area may be directed to Dr James Mooney (j.r.mooney [at] leeds.ac.uk). Proposals on one or both of the following topics are particularly encouraged.

- Davies’s performing ensembles

- Davies’s work as a composer

Proposals on the following topics are also welcomed, and/or might be combined with the above:

- Davies’s work with/for Karlheinz Stockhausen (fluency in German beneficial)

- Davies’s research, writings and teachings

- Davies’s self-built instruments

- Davies’s work as a promoter, curator and committee member

Note that all of these these topics are indicative; proposals addressing other areas relevant to Davies’s work are also welcomed.

Background

Davies’s research addressed history and organology electronic music as well as its interdisciplinary crossovers, notably in areas such as sound sculpture and sound poetry. His writings include the monumental International Electronic Music Catalog, over 300 articles in the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, and a range of other musicological studies. From 1964–6 Davies worked as personal assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen, with whom he continued to collaborate until at least the late 1990s. As well as Stockhausen’s group Davies’s key performing ensembles included Gentle Fire, Naked Software, and Music Improvisation Company; he was also active as a solo performer and in a range of duets. As an instrument-builder Davies constructed over 120 self-built instruments incorporating recycled/repurposed everyday materials such as springs, kitchen utensils, plastic bottles, rubber bands, and many other items that might normally be considered ‘junk.’ As well as performing with them, these were often exhibited in art galleries, and provided the basis for workshops with children. As a composer Davies produced works for tape and for conventional instruments, as well as writing for his own self-built instruments, which in some respects he regarded as ‘compositions’ in themselves. As a general advocate of electronic music in its formative years Davies held many positions in committees and in artistic organisations, including the Arts Laboratory in London. He established the electronic music studio at Goldsmiths College in 1967—the first UK studio to offer electronic music tuition as part of a degree course—and later worked at Middlesex University.

Further information on Davies’s work can be found at: www.james-mooney.co.uk. (Follow the Videos link for recorded seminars and presentations, and the Publications link for written publications.)

Since published material on Davies’s work is relatively limited, the proposed thesis is likely to involve a significant element of archival research. The Hugh Davies Collection at the British Library (London) is a vast repository comprising many thousands of uncatalogued documents and some 300 recordings pertaining to all aspects of Davies’s life and work, while The Science Museum (London) holds a sizeable collection of Davies’s instruments and equipment. The Stockhausen Foundation archive (Kürten, Germany) and the Daphne Oram Collection (Goldsmiths, London) also hold relevant sources. Some key documents include: Davies’s correspondence with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Daphne Oram, and many other figures relevant to electronic music from the 1960s onwards; Davies’s own writings on electronic music, published and unpublished, and their associated research notes, including extensive notes and correspondence documenting the compilation of the International Electronic Music Catalog; documentation pertaining to the electronic music studio at Goldsmiths; and typewritten minutes and handwritten notes documenting Davies’s various committee-related and cultural curatorship activities.

Supervision

The student’s principal supervisor will be Dr James Mooney (principal investigator of the Hugh Davies project), with a co-supervisor selected to suit the candidate’s interests and capabilities. Dr Mooney’s recent research has focused on Davies’s electronic music documentation in the 1960s, which culminated in the publication of his International Electronic Music Catalog (1968). He has previously published a study on ‘Technology, Process, and Musical Personality in the Music of Stockhausen, Hugh Davies and Gentle Fire’, and delivered several research seminars (videos of which are available online) that provide an overview of certain key aspects of Davies’s work up to about 1975.

Research Environment

The student will have access to materials held at in the Hugh Davies Collection (British Library), Science Museum, and Stockhausen Foundation. In addition, the student will have access to the facilities of the University of Leeds, including the excellent Brotherton Library and the University’s comprehensive on-line resources. S/he will join a thriving community of around 50 music research students and will have the usual support offered to research students in the School of Music, as well as opportunities to take training and development courses for research postgraduate students in the Arts offered by the University’s Staff and Departmental Development Unit, the Faculty of Performance, Visual Arts and Communications, and the School of Music. The student will have access to a working area in the School of Music’s Postgraduate Students’ Research Studio, and will have opportunities to contribute to and participate in research seminars, conferences and study days run by the School. In addition, the student will benefit from the experience of working on the events associated with the AHRC project, which include three public concerts, an exhibition of Hugh Davies’s self-built musical instruments, and an international conference held at the Science Museum.

Requirements

Applicants must have a good first degree in an appropriate subject, and normally a Master’s degree or other professional experience relevant to the scope of the project. (Fluency in German and/or French will be beneficial for some materials, but is not essential.)

Applications should be made via the University’s online application system at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/rsa/prospective_students/apply/I_want_to_apply.html. When asked for information about the area of research, applicants should state clearly that they are applying for the Performing the Hugh Davies PhD Studentship in Music. A research proposal must be submitted, that clearly identifies the proposed topic area outlines the aims, scope, and research questions of the proposed study. In addition, applicants must complete the relevant Studentship Application Form, which should be submitted by email to the Postgraduate Research Student Administrator, Linda Watson, (musicphd [at] leeds.ac.uk) by midnight on the closing date for applications.

Informal enquiries are encouraged; please contact Dr James Mooney, email: j.r.mooney [at] leeds.ac.uk.

Questions regarding the application process should be addressed to the Postgraduate Research Student Administrator, Linda Watson, email: musicphd [at] leeds.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications: Friday 30 January 2015. Interviews will be held: Monday 16 February 2015, in Leeds 

http://music.leeds.ac.uk/files/2014/12/PhD-studentship-HD-EM-Innovator-FULL-ADVERT.pdf

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Published by Toner Quinn 1 on 18 December 2014

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