Finding a Place to Play: Site and Sociability in London's Alternative Classical Music Scene, 2004-2017

This thesis looks at the development of an identifiable ‘alternative classical scene’ which emerged in London in the period 2004-2017, in which young musicians began ‘curating’ DIY music nights, presenting new and twentieth-century art music in venues such as pubs, clubs, and outdoor urban sites. Analysing a selection of series and festivals (Rational Rec, Nonclassical, Kammer Klang and London Contemporary Music Festival), I show how their dynamics of play and sociability are related to the history of musical performance, and to the history of the buildings and districts in which they are located. I argue that musical performances in this scene promote a ‘relational listening’ that is engaged with social and political contexts and concerns. Drawing on the work of cultural and music historians, I trace genealogies for contemporary musical performances back to the nineteenth century. I also examine the relationship of contemporary performances in ex-industrial sites in London to the conditions of a global city in the era of post-Fordist, neoliberal capitalism. Finally, as a paradigmatic example, I analyse An Die Musik (2012) and The Visitors (2012) by performance artist, Ragnar Kjartansson, experienced in London in 2016-17. I show how these works frame musical performance and explore its relationship to site and sociability, referencing nineteenth-century debates about aesthetics and listening. Central to my enquiry is my experience as a situated listener. Using interviews and conversations with musicians, and first-person descriptions, I analyse my experience as a listener, as a social participant at musical performance events, and as a Londoner moving through the city, developing an approach informed by sensory ethnography and auto-ethnography. I argue for the combining of these critical methods with historiography in order to deepen understanding of the social cultures and affective experiences involved in listening to particular kinds of music, and listening in particular places