This project is inspired by two developments of our modern age
The first is a tale as old as music itself, the ‘decline’ of classical music and its diminishing popularity in the present time.
Researcher: Philip Turner
Almost every era has had a crisis such as this, often linked to developing technology, the evolution of music itself, or a change in audiences. Today, this is manifest in the perception that contemporary music is ‘inaccessible’ and the replacement of the concert hall audience with a digital audience, bringing new expectations.
The second development I find interesting is the dominance of short form content. On the app TikTok, with 1 billion active users in 2021, 34 million videos are posted daily, averaging under a minute each.
This research will bring a selection of music to life by animation, experimenting with disseminating it via short form content. Orpheus Brittanicus, vivid music by Henry Purcell, rich with colour and ideal for creative interpretation, will be recorded and set for animation. In other words, I intend to use technology to bring music even more vibrantly to life by means of animation, and to communicate it to a new audience online.
Image: title page and engraving of Purcell (by Robert White) from the second edition of his posthumous publication (by Henry Playford) of various songs for voice and continuo, Orpheus Brittanicus, Britain's Orfeo.
Bibliography:
Purcell, Henry. Orpheus Brittanicus. Temple Change, 1698.