Code 19886
Level of study Second Year
Credit value 20
Semester THIS MODULE WILL NOT RUN IN 2012/13. When this module is offered (not every year) it runs over both.
It is an increasing trend in professional productions of works for the popular musical theatre to perform using small bands with an eclectic variety of instruments, rather than the 'full' orchestras associated with either operettas or of the 'golden age' of the 1920s-50s. This course intends to explore the techniques of arrangement which can be used in order to cope with this trend, while preserving the essential essences of the composer's intentions, in terms of melody, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, and the retention, as far as possible, of instrumental 'signifiers' frequently found in works of this nature. A variety of case studies will be examined, arrangements attempted and tried out, with the final project being to (re-)score an entire work of musical theatre for a band wholly or mainly comprising the members of the module group, culminating in a joint production with the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies (Oh! What a Lovely War in 2005-06).