The Theatrical Orchestra - by Adrian Curtin (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book analyses experimental performances by British music ensembles in the twenty-first century. It shows how theatrical approaches to presenting orchestral music can facilitate unique and powerful experiences for audiences, enable new interpretation of repertoire, and connect music-making to contemporary social issues.

Book Synopsis

The Theatrical Orchestra analyses experimental performances by British music ensembles in the twenty-first century. Orchestras are reconceiving how concerts are programmed and presented, how musicians perform, where performance can occur, and the role of the audience in the co-creation of the live event. They are embracing theatricality, thereby realising music more fully as a multi-sensory performance art. This book explains how and why orchestras are thinking theatrically about performance, and uses the work of British music ensembles as exemplars. It analyses performances by Aurora Orchestra, London Contemporary Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Manchester Collective, Multi-Story Orchestra, Paraorchestra, Scottish Ensemble, and Southbank Sinfonia. The book bridges musicology and theatre studies to analyse the theatrical orchestra on the concert stage and beyond, addressing such topics as visuality, storytelling, physical performance, site-engaged performance, and immersive performance.

From the Back Cover

'An excellent guide to an innovative, new body of work that has so far largely escaped scholarly attention: theatrical performances by classical orchestras. Adrian Curtin has deftly woven together interviews with key players, audience reactions, background research and his own critical responses to numerous performances by a variety of mostly British ensembles to craft a highly informed, profoundly perceptive and personal book.'
Björn Heile, Professor of Music (post-1900), University of Glasgow

This book shows how theatrical approaches to presenting orchestral music can facilitate unique and powerful experiences for audiences, enable new interpretation of repertoire, and connect music-making to contemporary social issues and modes of thought.

Orchestras are rethinking how they present music: attending to performance design, the creation of atmosphere, the configuration and choreography of bodies in space, audience experience, and the dramaturgy of the live event. They are collaborating in new ways with artists from other disciplines to create performances that challenge conventional understanding of the orchestra. This book focuses on the contribution of British music ensembles to these practices, analysing the theatrical aspects of their work in particular. It argues that increased attention to stagecraft along with cross-artform collaboration can reveal new aspects of orchestral music, allowing audiences to better appreciate its embodied, intersensorial qualities and narrative potential. The book delves deeply into performances presented by orchestras throughout the UK, examining the intersections between music and visuality, storytelling, physical movement, performance site, and audience immersion.

The theatrical orchestra makes an eclectic set of innovative performances vivid for the reader and theorises their cultural significance.

Review Quotes

'The theatrical orchestra is an excellent guide to an innovative, new body of work that has so far largely escaped scholarly attention: theatrical performances by classical orchestras. Adrian Curtin has deftly woven together interviews with key players, audience reactions, background research and his own critical responses to numerous performances by a variety of mostly British ensembles to craft a highly informed, profoundly perceptive and personal book. His clear and accessible writing style and his illuminating insights make this book a must-read for lovers and students of theatre, music and performance alike.'
Björn Heile, Professor of Music (post-1900), University of Glasgow

About the Author

Adrian Curtin is Associate Professor in Drama at the University of Exeter