One of Britain’s best-known conductors is to open a new series of public lectures by examining both how people connect with music, and whether it can be considered to have an “identity” of its own.
One of Britain’s best-known conductors is to open a new series of public lectures by examining both how people connect with music, and whether it can be considered to have an “identity” of its own.
Christopher Hogwood, who is also an Honorary Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge, will give the first of this year’s Darwin lectures this evening. Now in its 22nd year, this eight-part series of free public lectures is organised by Darwin College and attracts hundreds of listeners.
This year the theme is “Identity”, starting with Professor Hogwood’s presentation on identity in music, where this springs from, and how notions of “sameness” and “difference” arise in a musical context.
The lecture will explore not just how music is composed, but how it is heard and remembered after the performance. As well as considering questions of style and arrangement, Professor Hogwood will attempt to answer whether our familiarity with a piece of music alters its identity, or whether that identity can only be truly understood by the person who wrote it?
In addition, he will attempt to show how, by looking at different characteristics in anonymous compositions, musicologists can draw up the “DNA” of a particular piece and use this to trace it back to its probable composer.
As well as a renowned conductor, Christopher Hogwood is one of the best-known experts in early music. He is a lifetime emeritus director of the Academy of Ancient music, the orchestra he founded in 1973. He has also been a major force in a reappraisal of how music is performed and heard, based on the principle of discovering and recreating the composer’s intentions by going back to the original sources, correcting published errors and tracking subsequent changes.
All the Darwin Lectures will be given at 5.30pm in the Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue. An adjacent overflow theatre with live television coverage of the talk will also be available. All are welcome and the event is free to attend, however each lecture is usually attended by some 600 people so early arrival is recommended.
For more information, follow the link on the right of this page to the Darwin College website.
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