Theses by C.M. Griffiths
Shakespeare and music studies has been an energetic but marginal scholarly field within the broad... more Shakespeare and music studies has been an energetic but marginal scholarly field within the broader discipline of Shakespeare studies. The field has been limited by a general assumption that the use of music in Shakespeare primarily supports dramatic effects in performance. As a result, the field tends to address issues of historical practices, and seldom interacts with the deeper critical priorities addressed in Shakespeare studies, such as the “radical” post-Marxist readings of Shakespearean drama that emerged in the 1980s under the name “cultural materialism”. In this thesis, I argue that the critical priorities of cultural materialism are closely related to the use of music in Shakespeare through their mutual connection to the writings of Boethius, a Latin philosopher of late-antiquity who proposes that the cosmic and civil order are worldly manifestations of abstract “harmony”. I argue that Boethius’ typology is an important philosophical framework for the radical “dialectics” that materialist criticism recognises in Shakespearean drama, and a reading of these dialectics may be supported through the analysis of musical practices depicted in the plays. I additionally argue that Shakespeare and music studies has avoided addressing critical questions raised by modernist music theory, particularly the revisions of harmony that took place in the early-twentieth century, in which the subordinate relationship of music to text is critiqued. I propose that a modernist contribution to the study of music in Shakespeare may be sought through the radical “compositions” of English composer Cornelius Cardew, whose Marxist critiques of both the social and harmonic structures of Western music reflect a modern rethinking of Boethius, and consequently provide a valuable analytical template for interpreting performances of Shakespeare through a musical framework. On the strength of these claims, I advocate for the rehabilitation of Boethius’ typology as a living philosophical framework, arguing that its viability rests in the mutual evolution of social and harmonic theory. I demonstrate the viability of these claims through an analysis of The Tempest, in which I argue that the play’s musical episodes illustrate tensions in the social sphere of the drama. I explore these tensions further in the analysis of two modern productions of The Tempest, in which I illustrate that the philosophical framework of Boethius equally informs the management of music in theatrical performance. I utilise modernist performance methodologies to propose radical approaches to staging Shakespearean through an understanding of its music.
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Submitted for mid-candidature review (5/5/15)
Australian Literary Studies 29. 1 - 2 (2104)
In this thesis I argue that Richard Strauss’s 1918 song-set Drei Lieder Der Ophelia is best inter... more In this thesis I argue that Richard Strauss’s 1918 song-set Drei Lieder Der Ophelia is best interpreted as a work of German expressionism. I argue that such a reading must take place outside the standard definition of “expressionism” upheld in musicology, since that definition only describes a narrow range of stylistic techniques. To establish a model of expressionism that can be satisfied by the Ophelia Lieder, I outline four basic criteria of Expressionist art that I have developed through an interdisciplinary survey of the movement. When this model for expressionism is established, I use it to compare the Ophelia Lieder to two Expressionist poems that also use Ophelia imagery: “Schone Jugend” by Gottfried Benn and “Ophelia” by Georg Heym. This comparison provides the basis for a close musical analysis of the song-set as an Expressionist work.
Reviews by C.M. Griffiths
There is a passage in the Old English poem Beowulf: Aeschere, a friend and valued retainer to Hro... more There is a passage in the Old English poem Beowulf: Aeschere, a friend and valued retainer to Hrothgar, King of the Danes, has just been murdered in his sleep -he is the latest casualty in an escalating blood-feud. Such feuds are a fact
A review of Caliban, produced by Western Edge Youth Arts, and performed at the Malthouse Theatre.... more A review of Caliban, produced by Western Edge Youth Arts, and performed at the Malthouse Theatre. 2016.
A critical review of Shakespeare's Globe's 2016 production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed b... more A critical review of Shakespeare's Globe's 2016 production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Caroline Byrne
http://www.margheritapeluso.com/
When I entered the exhibition space, the first thing I saw was two moving images of Yoko Ono proj... more When I entered the exhibition space, the first thing I saw was two moving images of Yoko Ono projected onto adjacent walls. I consulted the program and learned that each image depicted a performance of Ono's seminal 1964 composition "Cut Piece". The first performance was filmed in 1966, while Ono was touring Europe as a fresh-faced representative of the New York avant-garde, the second was in 2003 when Ono performed the piece it as gesture of pacifist protest on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. The directions of "Cut Piece" require a performer to sit passively at the centre of a bare stage while volunteers from the audience cut away the performer's clothing with scissors. These two performances of the same work are separated by almost four decades of personal history and, like any good piece of theatre writing, its meaning is profoundly altered by new contexts. The 1966 performance offers us a rare glimpse of Ono in the years before she was tainted by fame: looking impossibly young and beautiful, there is a real sense of danger in the performance, as the brilliant artist submits her body to the uncertain intentions of a group of strangers. In contrast, the 2003 clip shows the full weight of her public history: at the age of seventy, Ono is a cultural monarch and a fourth-part executor of one of the world's most powerful artistic franchises. The volunteers from the audience now resemble supplicants approaching a grave and terrible queen, their heads lowered as they approach her anointed body, cutting away meagre snatches of material, which will perhaps be treasured as mementoes of an encounter with greatness.
Published Articles by C.M. Griffiths
Australian Literary Studies 29.1 - 2 (2014)
The song that is popularly known as Jerusalem was written in 1916 by British composer Sir Hubert ... more The song that is popularly known as Jerusalem was written in 1916 by British composer Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918, from a lyric by William Blake that first appeared in 1804.
One of the key challenges facing the study of music at the tertiary level is the question of how ... more One of the key challenges facing the study of music at the tertiary level is the question of how the central discipline may be effectively integrated with learning in adjacent disciplines. The problem is particularly marked in the case of institutions that follow the 'conservatorium' approach, where the emphasis on the student's technical performance skills is so high that virtually all cross-disciplinary priorities are regarded as secondary, if not altogether irrelevant (Hannan). Singing students in particular will be faced with the need to develop a cross-disciplinary consciousness of literature, since the majority of singing material they will encounter will be adapted from a range of literary sources. In order to demonstrate their fluency in a performance work, a singing student should be required to convey an advanced understanding of the lyric text, as well as demonstrate proficiency in the purely musical demands of the work. If this aspect of the student's development is to be properly supported, it is imperative that an understanding of literature be engendered to a high level.
Musicology musings - 2009 to present by C.M. Griffiths
A short study that examines the creation and reception of Mendelssohn's popular oratorio Elijah, ... more A short study that examines the creation and reception of Mendelssohn's popular oratorio Elijah, which was premiered in Great Britain in 1846
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Theses by C.M. Griffiths
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Reviews by C.M. Griffiths
To read, follow the link: https://theconversation.com/lies-monsters-and-kate-mulvanys-intensely-human-portrayal-of-richard-3-76571
Published Articles by C.M. Griffiths
Musicology musings - 2009 to present by C.M. Griffiths
*****
To read, follow the link: https://theconversation.com/lies-monsters-and-kate-mulvanys-intensely-human-portrayal-of-richard-3-76571
This symposium calls upon these diverse areas of expertise that make up the modern field to assist in identifying and developing strategies for the integration of music into productions of Shakespeare. We invite submissions from theatre and music practitioners, academics in literature, theatre, history and music studies, as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students, to contribute to this conversation. We impose no particular restrictions on paper topics, provided they are generally relevant to the field of Shakespeare and music studies.
In this document, I analyse two scenes: the first depicts a confrontation between Ariel and Prospero that occurs in the play at 1.2.221–299; the second is a presentation of Ariel's song 'Where the bee sucks', which appears at 5.1.92–111