Philip Rupprecht: Modern British Music
Music professor explores British avant-garde classical composers
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Durham, NC -- The arts scene in 1960s England was famous for the British Invasion in pop music. But new Duke music faculty member Philip Rupprecht thinks a focus on pop music misses something more interesting.
Rupprecht is currently working on Avant-Garde Nation: British Musical Modernism Since 1960, a book about avant-garde classical music in Britain in the 1960s and 70s.
“This was a very rich period in British music,” said Rupprecht, an associate professor of music theory. “When we think about British music from the 60s and 70s we think of pop music, the Beatles above all. But the avant-garde classical scene was big as well. There was lots of BBC support for new music, plentiful commissions for composers working in this genre and a great deal of radio airplay. In the U.S. there’s never been that sort of institutionalized support. I argue that this body of avant-garde classical music, as well as pop music, contributed to a sense of national identity in Britain during those decades.”
A native of England, Rupprecht grew up in Birmingham where he sang in the church choir and played clarinet and piano. As a teen, he said he became increasingly interested in music from the 20th century, including the most recent works of younger composers.
“I was interested in what makes music expressive, what specific things in the music provoke an emotional response,” Rupprecht said. “It is through examining musical language that I try to wrestle with this question.”
He joined the Department of Music in the fall of 2006, after completing a year as a fellow at the National Humanities Center where he worked on his upcoming book. He also taught for 12 years at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center at City University of New York. His 2001 book, Britten’s Musical Language, was published by Cambridge University Press.
In addition to his love of new music, Rupprecht is a self-described “big jazz fan.” He said he is excited by the prominence of jazz and new music at Duke and in the larger Triangle community.
“I was ready for a change from New York,” he said, “and I was impressed by the balance of academics and artistry in the Duke Music Department. You’ve got the Ciompi Quartet and the Encounters new music series. And there are more. There’s a synergy here between really outstanding musicologists, performers, and composers.”
At Duke, Rupprecht said he expects his work in the analysis of 20th century music will add to what is already “a very solid program.” He will teach undergraduate and graduate theory classes.
“The final project in my undergraduate class is a creative composition project. In the last class, we’ll perform all the compositions. It’s a great way for the students to apply what they’ve learned, and I think they’ll really enjoy it.”
His dream class? He smiles. “I’d like to teach a course on the poetics of multi-track studio recording in the 1970s.”
