Reassessing what we call music : investigating undergraduate music student response to avant-garde music of the 1960s-early 70s through performing Annea Lockwood's "Piano Burning"

The chapter discusses the preparation and performance of “Piano Burning” through a dialogue between an undergraduate music student (Strickland) and a teaching music academic (Blom). It focuses on issues that emerge from the practice and from the literature about the work to seek an understanding of what the piece can offer students educationally in relation to what we call music. Like Christopher Small (1998), writing in reference to a symphony concert, we will attempt “to tease out the complex texture of meaning that a musical performance – any musical performance, anywhere, at any time – generates … to enrich our experience of it” (14). The chapter begins with discussion of the background of “Piano Burning” and its context in the 1960s, the role of the performer and the audience, the text score and issues of authenticity. It responds to the following question – what is the educational merit of introducing first year university music students to performing “Piano Burning” by Annea Lockwood