The Music of Beckett's Theatre

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Laws, Catherine (2003) The Music of Beckett's Theatre. Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui, 13. pp. 121-136. ISSN 9042008083

Abstract / Summary

Beckett's knowledge and understanding of music is apparent in both his textual references to specific musical works and the actual use of music in several of his plays. This paper considers aspects of the musicality of Beckett's language and his use of music, examining the ways in which, in certain plays, music plays a role in the exploration of subjectivity and representation. Additionally, the relationship between music, image and action in Beckett's work has implications in terms of genre and shares certain of the concerns of composers of experimental music theatre from the mid-1950s onwards.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The intention of Laws’s research over a number of years has been to provide insights into the specific musical qualities of Beckett’s late plays, prose and poems in relation to the examination of some of the extraordinary number of Beckett-related musical compositions. This involves exploring the ways in which certain compositions reveal aspects of musical form that are language-like in character. The broader aim of the research is to open up some of the less explored issues in word and music studies, and the relationship between recent musicology and aspects of non-musical theory. This long-term project will conclude with completion of the first book-length study of the relationship between music, language and meaning in the work of Samuel Beckett, ‘“Headaches Among the Overtones”: Music in Beckett/ Beckett in Music’, published by Rodopi Press (New York and Amsterdam) in 2008. This research has been supported by AHRC research leave.
ISBN: 9042008083
ISSN: 9042008083
Depositing User: Ex Falmouth Staff
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2014 08:37
Last Modified: 13 Oct 2017 16:04
URI: https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/561
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