How pianists programme lesser-known solo repertoire: an autoethnography through Clara Schumann’s Sonata and interviews with four pianists

See, N. H. (2024) How pianists programme lesser-known solo repertoire: an autoethnography through Clara Schumann’s Sonata and interviews with four pianists. Doctoral thesis, Royal College of Music.

Abstract

The Western classical music canon is experiencing unprecedented transformations, driven by composer anniversaries, sociopolitical movements, and diversity quotas. Recent scholarship addresses intersectional analysis, global perspectives, and broader frameworks to assess women’s creativity (Mathias, 2022), and demonstrates the growing awareness of the role researchers play in recontextualising historical figures such as Clara Wieck-Schumann (Davies and Grimes, 2023). However, discourses on methods of inclusion have not transcended issues raised in the 1990s (Macarthur et al., 2017) and historical patterns demonstrate that progress is not linear. Despite growing interest in directors’ strategies (Tröndle, 2021; Kouvaras et al., 2022) and audience experience (Pitts and Price, 2021), Gilmore’s (1993) remains the only published study exploring how performers select lesser-known works, albeit focusing on their aesthetic interests and the avant-garde. This thesis examines the interrelation between the solo pianist’s sense of identity and agency as a performer and their selection and programming of lesser-known repertoire. The inquiry focuses on approaches to women composers’ music, then extends to composers lesser-known due to stylistic unfamiliarity or other demographic characteristics. Study 1 (Chapter 4) adopts autoethnography to examine my decisions and experiences in contextualising Wieck-Schumann’s Sonata (1841–42) in four concerts. Drawing upon literature on Wieck-Schumann (Davies et al., 2021), gender and the canon (Citron, 2000), concert programming (Gotham, 2014), and audiences, the concerts are framed as method and output, with live recordings. To position performers as co-creators of meaning and value, Study 1 findings are integrated with a concurrent Study 2 (Chapter 5), wherein Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is applied to four pianists’ accounts of their approaches. The thesis contributes novel insights into understanding pianists’ musical, social, and personal connections to lesser-known repertoire; the interrelationship between this repertoire and their professional identities; interpretative strategies and frameworks; perceptions of pianists’ role as performers and of audiences; and programming agency. The findings bear practical implications for programming, artistic development, conservatoire pedagogy, and effective EDI strategies in music.

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