Events

20 April 2010

Communiqué - Robert Constable: Proportion and Musical Design

Lecture

Robert Constable is a pianist, composer and teacher who has developed a multi-facetted career. Robert studied at the Sydney Conservatorium and at the University of Durham. For ten years he was Professor and Dean of Music at the University of Newcastle where he developed the renowned Stuart Piano research project, which led to the establishment of a Stuart Piano factory. Robert is currently Professor and Head of the School of Music at The University of Auckland.

As a pianist, Robert Constable was one of the original members of the iconic Seymour Group Contemporary Music Ensemble in Sydney. With that group he participated in a large number of first Australian performances of new music by leading Australian and international composers. In the field of composition, from the early 1990’s Robert Constable has become well known across a broad range of activities including the improvisation of piano accompaniments to silent films. He has developed this particular craft to a high level, composing and performing instant soundtracks for the great films of the silent era.

In the field of written and electronic composition, Robert Constable has composed a large body of music in various genres including music for the theatre, electronic soundtracks for documentaries and a large number of ensemble works of various kinds. Robert Constable is definitely a “sound architect”. In this talk he will outline the various steps in the creative process of composition, from commission to completed work, and will discuss the principles of proportion and musical design that he uses, illustrating his talk with one of his recent works, Jewel for violin and piano.

Organisation:

School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland.