Doctor of Musical Arts performance portfolio : Howard John Evans

This portfolio submission contains three major performance-based projects withtheir critical evaluations and details of a public performance completed for theaward of Doctor of Musical Arts. The studio recordings of both Projects One andTwo represent performances of perceptive and imaginative musicalinterpretations, which demonstrate artistic stature and excellence. Critical reviewand testimonial evidence will be provided to justify and support this claim.Project One, namely The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, is a premiere recordingof a large-scale contemporary work in a new transcription. This recording wasthe culmination of my involvement in the initial concert performances of thiswork and represents a unique collaboration. Its significance lies in pushing theboundaries of the brass band genre and its integration with other performancedisciplines, allowing it to build bridges with the wider music community. Thiscontemporary transcription also follows in the tradition of previous arrangers andgives a developmental and historical framework to the project. I believe it alsodemonstrates artistic stature and excellence across the wider field of musicalforces used, showing a broader scope of awareness and skill, which is notconfined to the medium of the brass band.Sanctuary, Project Two, is a unique survey from a major area of the SalvationArmy's reflective music. The literature it draws upon is the form known as theMeditation, and a recording of this repertoire has never been previouslyconceived or produced. Whilst some of the works have been published for manyyears this project also includes a premiere recording which adds considerableweight to the historically important revival this project represents. This is alsoattested to and will be further explored in the critical commentary, showing thatthe performances here give significant new insights into the performance ofexisting repertoire, which has its own historicity of performance practice. In thisway there is a deep personal involvement in this project, as the music recordedhas also been used within its original functional conception, i.e. the publicationsin which these pieces have been produced were printed for the sole purpose ofproviding suitable material for the regular worship services in which SalvationArmy Bands perform.One of the major works, which received its premiere recording in Project Two,provides the thematic link to Project Three, embodied in the composer RaySteadman-Allen. He enjoys advanced standing in the brass band genre and hasmade a huge contribution to its repertoire over many years. As a composer hehas been one of the most distinctive voices within the brass band scene andespecially for the Salvation Army sphere over many years. My personalinvolvement with the composer over a number of years led to the opportunity to promote a work, which, in its entirety, had never before received a premiereperformance, Variants on The Triumph of Peace. The premiering of this work,and therefore my interaction and collaboration with the composer also acted as acreative spur to enable Steadman-Allen to complete one of his latestcompositions, Starmaker, so that both works could be premiered at the sameconcert. The premieres of these two works were recorded live and have beencommercially produced in CD format.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral (Level 8)

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Evans, HJ

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337186

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337186