Improvising New Consonance: Following the Subterranean Connections between North American and Italian Avant-Garde Collectives (1963–1976)

Bertolani, Valentina

Improvising New Consonance: Following the Subterranean Connections between North American and Italian Avant-Garde Collectives (1963–1976)

dc.contributor.advisor	Sallis, Friedemann
dc.contributor.author	Bertolani, Valentina
dc.contributor.committeemember	Eagle, David
dc.contributor.committeemember	Neidhöfer, Christoph
dc.contributor.committeemember	Piekut, Benjamin
dc.contributor.committeemember	Cadel, Francesca
dc.date	2018-11
dc.date.accessioned	2018-07-04T14:24:05Z
dc.date.available	2018-07-04T14:24:05Z
dc.date.issued	2018-06-26
dc.description.abstract	“Improvising New Consonance: The Subterranean Connections Between North American and Italian Avant-Garde, 1963–1976” is grounded in both music history and music analysis and explores the communities created around collective improvisation in the Bay Area, Rome, and Montreal through four case studies: New Music Ensemble, Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Musica Elettronica Viva and MuD / Sonde. This research challenges the understanding of collective experimental improvisation as a genre, framing the phenomenon through the contemporary paradigm of “artistic practice as research.” This reading favours a broader understanding of experimentalism as a cross-generic phenomenon. The work is articulated in two interconnected and equally important parts to sustain my argument: 1. Using Actor-Network Theory, I examine what cultural policies were put in place within a Cold War and post-colonial context to support international exchanges among otherwise extremely localized experiences. This geography challenges dominant narratives about post-war music, normally focussed north of the Alps and on the US East Coast. 2. Building on Steinbeck’s work on the Art Ensemble of Chicago, I analyze the collective practices that allowed the groups to develop unconventional improvisatory responses. I discuss exercises developed to solve peculiar improvisational problems, and assessment strategies used to evaluate recorded sessions, linking this body of knowledge to the recordings we have to build an innovative analytical framework.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Bertolani, V. (2018). Improvising New Consonance: Following the Subterranean Connections between North American and Italian Avant-Garde Collectives (1963–1976) (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32228	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/32228
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/107006
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.publisher.place	Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	improvisation
dc.subject	collective improvisation
dc.subject	experimental music
dc.subject	avant-garde
dc.subject	1960s
dc.subject	1970s
dc.subject	Canadian music
dc.subject	American music
dc.subject	Italian music
dc.subject	cultural diplomacy
dc.subject	experimentalism
dc.subject.classification	Music	en_US
dc.title	Improvising New Consonance: Following the Subterranean Connections between North American and Italian Avant-Garde Collectives (1963–1976)
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Music
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true