Books by Nick Braae
Journal Articles by Nick Braae
This article is a study of British rock band Queen’s output between 1973 and 1980. It traces the ... more This article is a study of British rock band Queen’s output between 1973 and 1980. It traces the changes in the band’s music through this era with respect to the notion of musical development. I consider Queen’s songs from three perspectives—style, the group’s cumulative idiolect, and the role of idiolect traits within songs—to suggest that each vantage point produces a different reading of Queen’s career trajectory. I further argue that the most appropriate reading of Queen’s development is in terms of an ‘expedition’ narrative, whereby the group explored new stylistic ground but marked these expeditions with the traits of its idiolect. Queen’s development is thus not a singular path from one point to another, but rather a wide-ranging musical journey with the group’s sonic imprint impressed on each stylistic turn.
Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975) has been the subject of many academic analyses; the song has n... more Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975) has been the subject of many academic analyses; the song has not been considered, however, in the context of Queen’s wider output. This article examines ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in relation to Queen’s idiolect as identified from the group’s songs written between 1973 and 1975. ‘Idiolect’ refers to the common musical details of an artist’s output or segment of their output. I subdivide the category of an idiolect to include sonic patterns and compositional strategies. The former accounts for patterns that are consistent in their presentation across songs, the latter accounts for patterns that differ in their presentation across songs. The formal and harmonic structures of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ reflect the group’s common compositional strategies; the song’s textural arrangements highlight Queen’s sonic patterns. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ occupies a unique place in Queen’s output, as the first song to present all the major elements of the group’s idiolect.
One of the defining features of Queen’s output in the 1970s was the group’s signature ‘sound’. Th... more One of the defining features of Queen’s output in the 1970s was the group’s signature ‘sound’. This paper documents four studio-related techniques that contributed to the ‘Queen sound’, with a particular focus on how these traits conveyed a sense of ‘epic’ size in the group’s songs. The second section of this paper examines the ‘Queen sound’ from a diachronic perspective, demonstrating how the group’s changing studio practices between 1974 and 1975 resulted in the complete realisation of the ‘Queen sound’.
Book Chapters by Nick Braae
Progressive Rock in Europe: overview of a persistent musical style, dir. Philippe Gonin, 2016
This paper explores the range of references to classical music in the output of Queen between 197... more This paper explores the range of references to classical music in the output of Queen between 1973-76. This analysis is directed towards the broader aim of understanding Queen's relationship to the progressive rock movement of the 1970s. I argue that this relationship can be understood as a divergence between progressive rock as a style and progressive rock as a genre.
The Cambridge Companion to the Singer-Songwriter, eds. Justin Williams and Katherine Williams, 2016
This essay considers the notion of local authenticity with respect to Don McGlashan, a New Zealan... more This essay considers the notion of local authenticity with respect to Don McGlashan, a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Mitchell (2009) suggests McGlashan “expresses one of the most profound relations to place” in New Zealand popular music. This essay asks how the musical content of McGlashan’s songs may be brought into this discussion. I offer Moore’s (2005) persona-environment model as a method for examining, holistically, McGlashan’s 'Andy' songs with regards to notions of local authenticity.
I argue that the persona of the song, through his words and singing, presents an ‘authentic’ New Zealand male voice; further to this, aspects of the song’s environment—stylistic setting, textural design, and harmonic language—reinforce the persona’s words.
All By Myself: Essays on the Single-Artist Rock Album, 2016
Roger Taylor's Fun in Space was the first solo album released by any of the individual band membe... more Roger Taylor's Fun in Space was the first solo album released by any of the individual band members of British rock band Queen. Recorded in 1981, Fun in Space fell chronologically between Queen's The Game and their soundtrack album for Flash Gordon. At this point in their career, Queen were kings of the rock world, having just conquered America with the rock-disco fusion, "Another One Bites the Dust." However, this new stylistic direction was causing some minor discomfort within the band. It is perhaps not surprising that a number band members chose to explore solo projects through these years as, possibly, a means of indulging their own, rather than their bandmates', stylistic tastes.
On the surface, Fun in Space appears completely removed from Queen insofar as Roger Taylor played the vast majority of the instruments on the album (bar "50% of the keyboards"); and yet, these circumstances are not as exceptional as they may seem. For Taylor had written a number of prior Queen songs on which he contributed most of the musical material, with Brian May or Freddie Mercury overdubbing only the occasional guitar or vocal part. This observation raises interesting questions, however, as to how we might understand Fun in Space—did the album simply present ideas Taylor would have used with Queen anyway? Did he showcase further songwriting abilities? Did he miss the musical presence of his band mates? The tracks from Fun in Space provide multiple answers to each question. In particular, while certain songs would not have sounded out of place on a Queen album, others shone a light on a wider range of Taylor's songwriting techniques.
Thesis by Nick Braae
Performance Portfolio by Nick Braae
This YouTube playlist features videos that comprise the performance portfolio of Nick Braae in a ... more This YouTube playlist features videos that comprise the performance portfolio of Nick Braae in a variety of popular music contexts.
Conference Presentations by Nick Braae
IASPM-ANZ Conference, Wintec, Hamilton, 2018
One of the conventions of contemporary musical theatre is its recourse pastiche: composers and ar... more One of the conventions of contemporary musical theatre is its recourse pastiche: composers and arrangers frequently play with the techniques and associations of specific styles, artists, and songs, in order to support or embellish the lyrical and thematic content of the show. While such an approach can serve a range of purposes—for instance, establishing emotional tone, time and/or place—this paper examines the relationship between pastiche and humour in musical theatre. Drawing on theories of musical humour from Covach (1991, 1995) and recent work by Brøvig-Hannsen (forthcoming), I present three types of humour arising from pastiche.
The first involves an incongruity between the lyrics and the musical style, and its associations. Thus, in “Give Up Your Dreams” (from School of Rock), the negative tone of the words is juxtaposed by the celebratory musical style of Queen (specifically “We are the Champions”). The second type involves the pairing of anachronistic styles and authority figures, such as the ragtime of “King Herod’s Song” (Jesus Christ Superstar). This underscores the idea that the characters are humorously “out of touch” with contemporary times. The third type draws on camp aesthetics, whereby an older style is reinterpreted in a “spirit of extravagance” (Sontag 1964). Here, the humour rests in the overblown nature of the musical style relative to the the lyrical tone. “Turn It Off” (The Book of Mormon) is an exemplary recent example. These archetypes can provide a model for musical theatre composers in their stylistic choices. From an analytical perspective, it provides us with greater understanding of how musical styles are interpreted and the associations they bear.
Crosstown Traffic Conference, University of Huddersfield, 2018
Stylistic pastiche is a standard technique in popular musical theatre. With origins in the early ... more Stylistic pastiche is a standard technique in popular musical theatre. With origins in the early works of Andrew Lloyd Webber (e.g. Jesus Christ Superstar) and other rock musicals of the 1960s, (Hair!), recent shows (The Last Five Years, The Book of Mormon) rely on expansive networks of style references. This paper explores how an analytical understanding of different types of stylistic pastiche may inform composing and arranging practices.
I propose a three-part distinction between different forms of pastiche, with several further sub-distinctions. Firstly, styles can evoke a particular time and place, such as the 1920s jazz era of Lippa’s The Wild Party or late-1970s Philadelphia in Sister Act. Secondly, different styles can underscore or reveal the emotional tone of a song: the Latin inflections of ‘Shiksa Goddess’ (TLFY), for instance, reflect the perceived ‘exotic’ (i.e. non-Jewish) character of Jamie’s new girlfriend. Finally, pastiche often serves a humorous purpose, in three main ways: anachronistic styles are connected with authority figures (‘You’ll Be Back’ from Hamilton); camp connotations (‘Turn It Off’ from TBOM); and, juxtaposition between lyrical content/characters and stylistic associations (‘The All-American Prophet’ from TBOM).
I conclude by relating the analytical findings to my own collaborative practices as an arranger and composer for several original musicals. With examples from The Quest (2017) and Artful Dodgers (2018), I show how the different types of pastiche at the level of both composition (e.g. harmonic/melodic language) and sound-world (instrumentation/arrangement) may add greater depth and nuance to the characters and narratives of the musicals.
This paper seeks to uncover the formal processes at play in the large-scale songs of Queen, writt... more This paper seeks to uncover the formal processes at play in the large-scale songs of Queen, written primarily in the mid-1970s. Using 'Bohemian Rhapsody' as a primary case study, I argue that Queen's approach rests heavily on linear principles of temporal organisation, but with varying degrees of musical directionality at the surface, sectional, and structural levels of the songs.
Victoria University of Wellington, Nov 2011
This was another paper that came from my Masters thesis, although it had more of a methodological... more This was another paper that came from my Masters thesis, although it had more of a methodological bent. In this paper, I looked at what traditional methods from musicology could offer popular music analysts, while acknowledging the difficulty in reconciling these methods with the ‘un-trained’ nature of most popular musicians. For my thesis, I had interviewed a range of New Zealand songwriters; the last part of the paper presented some excerpts from the interviews about how their compositions related to the ‘rules’ of music theory. The anecdotes from Fane Flaws were a real highlight of that research.
Victoria University of Wellington, Nov 2011
This paper came out of my Masters thesis on Nature’s Best. First, I examined the analytical resul... more This paper came out of my Masters thesis on Nature’s Best. First, I examined the analytical results in relation to wider popular music analysis findings; second, I proposed the notion of an anti-virtuosic streak running through these New Zealand songs, in relation to the instrumental and vocal techniques of these New Zealand artists. This was one of the most enjoyable papers I have presented, primarily because the general themes meant a great deal to people in the audience, and thus, it sparked a lot of interesting debate afterwards.
University of Liverpool, Jul 2013
This paper examined the notion of a musical combination — how do musicians interact and relate to... more This paper examined the notion of a musical combination — how do musicians interact and relate to one another in musical terms? I argued that a key part of Queen’s ‘sound’ was gestural unity; that is, the gestures or traits of one part were often doubled or imitated by another part. This feature is evident in a range of songs using a range of techniques, from instrumental doubling to rhythmic ‘hits’ to imitative articulation gestures.
University of Oslo, Dec 2014
This paper examines the musical styles that run through Nature's Best, a compilation billed as Ne... more This paper examines the musical styles that run through Nature's Best, a compilation billed as New Zealand's 'Top 100 Songs of All-Time'.
University of Dijon, Dec 2014
This paper explores Queen's relationship with the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, viewed ... more This paper explores Queen's relationship with the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, viewed through the lens of their classical music references, and within a framework of style-genre-idiolect analysis.
Papers by Nick Braae
Rock and Rhapsodies
Queen’s albums in the 1980s were received with mixed reactions by critics, and such reactions pre... more Queen’s albums in the 1980s were received with mixed reactions by critics, and such reactions present a clear historiographical narrative: a downturn with Hot Space, followed by a return to mediocre hard rock from The Works onwards. This chapter considers how the themes of these receptions relate to musical details. It is argued that the disparaging of Hot Space rests on Queen altering the instrumental structures of their songs compared with their idiolect of the previous decade. By comparison, the later albums return to this sound-world, but with repetitive harmonic and rhythmic formulae, such that there is a lack of variety in the newer hard rock songs. The chapter closes with a reading of the 1989 track ‘Was It All Worth It?’ which aims to emulate a ‘classic’ Queen song from the 1970s, but appears jumbled and structurally incoherent, an apt metaphor for the band in the 1980s.
Rock and Rhapsodies
Queen’s final album before Mercury’s death was widely viewed as a return to Queen’s distinct styl... more Queen’s final album before Mercury’s death was widely viewed as a return to Queen’s distinct style, and also includes a number of reflective lyrics that were likely written with knowledge of the singer’s ill health. It is demonstrated how the title track embodies the idiolect principles of Queen’s 1970s output in terms of exploring new stylistic ground, while staying rooted in the familiar textural and arrangement patterns. Drawing on Said and Straus, Innuendo can be viewed as reflecting a ‘late style’ for Queen, but one that is defined by a retreat to a past musical style of their own, in contrast to other conceptions of this aesthetic defined in relation to classical composers.
Uploads
Books by Nick Braae
Journal Articles by Nick Braae
Book Chapters by Nick Braae
I argue that the persona of the song, through his words and singing, presents an ‘authentic’ New Zealand male voice; further to this, aspects of the song’s environment—stylistic setting, textural design, and harmonic language—reinforce the persona’s words.
On the surface, Fun in Space appears completely removed from Queen insofar as Roger Taylor played the vast majority of the instruments on the album (bar "50% of the keyboards"); and yet, these circumstances are not as exceptional as they may seem. For Taylor had written a number of prior Queen songs on which he contributed most of the musical material, with Brian May or Freddie Mercury overdubbing only the occasional guitar or vocal part. This observation raises interesting questions, however, as to how we might understand Fun in Space—did the album simply present ideas Taylor would have used with Queen anyway? Did he showcase further songwriting abilities? Did he miss the musical presence of his band mates? The tracks from Fun in Space provide multiple answers to each question. In particular, while certain songs would not have sounded out of place on a Queen album, others shone a light on a wider range of Taylor's songwriting techniques.
Thesis by Nick Braae
Performance Portfolio by Nick Braae
Conference Presentations by Nick Braae
The first involves an incongruity between the lyrics and the musical style, and its associations. Thus, in “Give Up Your Dreams” (from School of Rock), the negative tone of the words is juxtaposed by the celebratory musical style of Queen (specifically “We are the Champions”). The second type involves the pairing of anachronistic styles and authority figures, such as the ragtime of “King Herod’s Song” (Jesus Christ Superstar). This underscores the idea that the characters are humorously “out of touch” with contemporary times. The third type draws on camp aesthetics, whereby an older style is reinterpreted in a “spirit of extravagance” (Sontag 1964). Here, the humour rests in the overblown nature of the musical style relative to the the lyrical tone. “Turn It Off” (The Book of Mormon) is an exemplary recent example. These archetypes can provide a model for musical theatre composers in their stylistic choices. From an analytical perspective, it provides us with greater understanding of how musical styles are interpreted and the associations they bear.
I propose a three-part distinction between different forms of pastiche, with several further sub-distinctions. Firstly, styles can evoke a particular time and place, such as the 1920s jazz era of Lippa’s The Wild Party or late-1970s Philadelphia in Sister Act. Secondly, different styles can underscore or reveal the emotional tone of a song: the Latin inflections of ‘Shiksa Goddess’ (TLFY), for instance, reflect the perceived ‘exotic’ (i.e. non-Jewish) character of Jamie’s new girlfriend. Finally, pastiche often serves a humorous purpose, in three main ways: anachronistic styles are connected with authority figures (‘You’ll Be Back’ from Hamilton); camp connotations (‘Turn It Off’ from TBOM); and, juxtaposition between lyrical content/characters and stylistic associations (‘The All-American Prophet’ from TBOM).
I conclude by relating the analytical findings to my own collaborative practices as an arranger and composer for several original musicals. With examples from The Quest (2017) and Artful Dodgers (2018), I show how the different types of pastiche at the level of both composition (e.g. harmonic/melodic language) and sound-world (instrumentation/arrangement) may add greater depth and nuance to the characters and narratives of the musicals.
Papers by Nick Braae
I argue that the persona of the song, through his words and singing, presents an ‘authentic’ New Zealand male voice; further to this, aspects of the song’s environment—stylistic setting, textural design, and harmonic language—reinforce the persona’s words.
On the surface, Fun in Space appears completely removed from Queen insofar as Roger Taylor played the vast majority of the instruments on the album (bar "50% of the keyboards"); and yet, these circumstances are not as exceptional as they may seem. For Taylor had written a number of prior Queen songs on which he contributed most of the musical material, with Brian May or Freddie Mercury overdubbing only the occasional guitar or vocal part. This observation raises interesting questions, however, as to how we might understand Fun in Space—did the album simply present ideas Taylor would have used with Queen anyway? Did he showcase further songwriting abilities? Did he miss the musical presence of his band mates? The tracks from Fun in Space provide multiple answers to each question. In particular, while certain songs would not have sounded out of place on a Queen album, others shone a light on a wider range of Taylor's songwriting techniques.
The first involves an incongruity between the lyrics and the musical style, and its associations. Thus, in “Give Up Your Dreams” (from School of Rock), the negative tone of the words is juxtaposed by the celebratory musical style of Queen (specifically “We are the Champions”). The second type involves the pairing of anachronistic styles and authority figures, such as the ragtime of “King Herod’s Song” (Jesus Christ Superstar). This underscores the idea that the characters are humorously “out of touch” with contemporary times. The third type draws on camp aesthetics, whereby an older style is reinterpreted in a “spirit of extravagance” (Sontag 1964). Here, the humour rests in the overblown nature of the musical style relative to the the lyrical tone. “Turn It Off” (The Book of Mormon) is an exemplary recent example. These archetypes can provide a model for musical theatre composers in their stylistic choices. From an analytical perspective, it provides us with greater understanding of how musical styles are interpreted and the associations they bear.
I propose a three-part distinction between different forms of pastiche, with several further sub-distinctions. Firstly, styles can evoke a particular time and place, such as the 1920s jazz era of Lippa’s The Wild Party or late-1970s Philadelphia in Sister Act. Secondly, different styles can underscore or reveal the emotional tone of a song: the Latin inflections of ‘Shiksa Goddess’ (TLFY), for instance, reflect the perceived ‘exotic’ (i.e. non-Jewish) character of Jamie’s new girlfriend. Finally, pastiche often serves a humorous purpose, in three main ways: anachronistic styles are connected with authority figures (‘You’ll Be Back’ from Hamilton); camp connotations (‘Turn It Off’ from TBOM); and, juxtaposition between lyrical content/characters and stylistic associations (‘The All-American Prophet’ from TBOM).
I conclude by relating the analytical findings to my own collaborative practices as an arranger and composer for several original musicals. With examples from The Quest (2017) and Artful Dodgers (2018), I show how the different types of pastiche at the level of both composition (e.g. harmonic/melodic language) and sound-world (instrumentation/arrangement) may add greater depth and nuance to the characters and narratives of the musicals.