by Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti Embrace sonic realism through Sonic Choreography: use your body’s movements to create a living auditory canvas that captures the everyday. Choose a specific sound you wish to convey visually. Design a visual map (by hand or electronically) that represents your movements. Use arrows, lines, or shapes to symbolise actions associated with your […]
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by Jerric Chong As you will undoubtedly have gleaned from the grey, hulking buildings occupying the northern half of Oriel’s usually picturesque Second Quad, the Senior Library is out of commission as one of the nicest spaces to study in Oxford, instead awaiting its conversion into a temporary dining facility while the hall closes (for […]
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by Hani Ali You may, or may not, know about Beyoncé’s recent five-day stint in London for her Renaissance World Tour. If you weren’t aware, I may be tempted to ask you ‘what rock have you been living under?’ Five nights, three hours, sixty thousand attendees per night – Beyoncé’s first world tour in seven […]
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by Jerric Chong We at Oriel are quite privileged indeed to be able to listen to an extraordinarily broad range of live music. Even discounting the superb ensembles and performers of every genre who can be heard across the city and university, Oriel is fortunate to be able to put on a wide array of […]
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by Anonymous The heavy psychoanalytical undertones of Katherine Perry’s ‘California Gurls’ has been the subject of much scholarly attention in recent years, as has the Oedipal complexity that dominates the lyrics. However, less well documented is the gastronomic and culinary imagery which pervades the song both lyrically and videographically. This, coupled with a recognition of […]
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by Thomas Darcy What I have to say is that I ultimately don’t trust these Poor Print people when they say the issue’s theme is just a suggestion. I accept that many pieces before me and no doubt after (pending continued JCR funding) in fact have little relation to the others that exist around them. […]
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by David Maw In his lengthy debate poem Le Jugement dou Roy de Navarre, the poet–composer Guillaume de Machaut related his experience of the Black Death. Celestial portents, earthquakes, and bad weather heralded its coming. It provoked processions of flagellants, conspiracies about poisoned water and air, and the scapegoating of Jews. Its victims suffered bodily […]
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by Lauren Hill; original composition for piano, flute, clarinet, violin and cello. Performed by players from the CHROMA ensemble. Score to be found here.
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by Lauren Hill Dissonance pervades our world. Tensions and conflict can tear apart the perceived stability of our lives, shifting harmony and order into a harsh cacophony of sound. In relation to psychology, cognitive dissonance can be explained as the inner mental conflict which results from simultaneously holding contradictory and incongruous beliefs; in order to […]
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An original composition for piano, by Chris Hill. Download the score here
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by Josh Cottell I sit down at the piano and play two chords. It’s a C7(♭9) leading to a F▵(add9). Damn! That’s crunchy. Hearing these chords would make many think immediately of jazz. But why? What is it about these chords that makes us think of jazz? The answer to this question is in the essence […]
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An original composition for piano, by Chris Hill. Download the score here
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Clickbait Investigative journalism by Alex Waygood. Featured image by Out Of The Blue. Out Of The Blue’s recent Christmas single, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, is as fun, frivolous and festive as ever. And yet, watching it, I couldn’t help feel as though there were something missing. Namely: where did the gay go? Out Of The Blue’s music videos […]
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An original composition for piano, by Chris Hill. Download the score here
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An original composition for piano, by Chris Hill. Download the score here.
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by Jenny Potter It’s 5:15pm and we’re standing amongst rows of records, reeling in the late-summer-evening humidity and pretending to browse through DVDs. There are perhaps a dozen people scattered throughout the shop in the same state of pretence. Approximately twenty minutes later, Leftwich appears and we form a misshapen semi-circle around the corner where […]
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by David Maw Thursday’s Child Pierre Boulez was born on Thursday 26th March 1925 in the quiet provincial Loire town of Montbrison. An older brother of the same name had been born in 1920 but survived only a few months. His older sister, Jeanne, born in 1922, was to be a staunch supporter and confidante […]
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by Alex Waygood Legacy Monday morning, 0th week, Hilary Term 2016. A text wakes me at 7:47am. That’s about five hours before I usually get up. Groggily, I spot something from my mum about Bowie flash across the screen, and roll back into bed. I resolve to read it later; presumably she’s just heard his […]
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by Serena Yagoub The busker’s voice is one of the most prominent and defining sounds of Oxford’s centre; their melodies have wafted between Cornmarket’s side roads and become engrained within their stone-walls. But this music is not simply a characteristic of the city, it is an intrinsic part of the musicians that produce it. This […]
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by Lizzie Searle All through Oriel Arts Week 2015, we’re providing a daily shot of musical inspiration to set you off to a good start! Make sure you come back daily for your music recommendation & explanation provided by Oriel College Music Society members. 14th century song does have the potential to sound pretty dry […]
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by Edward Wren All through Oriel Arts Week 2015, we’re providing a daily shot of musical inspiration to set you off to a good start! Make sure you come back daily for your music recommendation & explanation provided by Oriel College Music Society members. Intelligent and soulful, ‘Neon’ and Mayer’s debut album Room For Squares […]
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by Emily Essex All through Oriel Arts Week 2015, we’re providing a daily shot of musical inspiration to set you off to a good start! Make sure you come back daily for your music recommendation & explanation provided by Oriel College Music Society members. Schicksalslied means ‘Song of Destiny’ and this piece thoroughly deserves an […]
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by Maks Adach All through Oriel Arts Week 2015, we’re providing a daily shot of musical inspiration to set you off to a good start! Make sure you come back daily for your music recommendation & explanation provided by Oriel College Music Society members. A family of four from Barnes are enjoying a short trip […]
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by Alasdair Cameron All through Oriel Arts Week 2015, we’re providing a daily shot of musical inspiration to set you off to a good start! Make sure you come back daily for your music recommendation & explanation provided by Oriel College Music Society members. Think folk music and phrases like ‘preservation of tradition’ might readily […]
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by Jacob Warn – Arts Rep. “In the undergraduate body alone, there is a phenomenal wealth of talent and an overflowing energetic drive in artistic fields.” The Oriel Arts Week is quite simply a week-long celebration of the arts. It is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the wide-ranging artistic talents of Oriel students and […]
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Music by Chloe Cheung
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by Henry Bruce-Jones The other day a friend asked me, “Why do you only listen to ugly music?” In his defence, I was listening to one of the more improvisational tracks from Arca’s Blade Runner OST by way of Berghain, Xen. Yet, it still seemed to me an odd question considering some of the most important and influential […]
Read moreAs Christmas festivities gradually turn the academic battle in favour of the hardworking student, last week jazz musicians and enthusiasts alike welcomed reinforcement in the form of a delightful master class given by the college’s visiting musician, Tim Garland. Audience and performers gathered in anticipation of an evening of musical instruction and production that offered something to […]
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Utterly provoking and lyrically fantastic – take a moment to check out some of Ed Wren’s original compositions. This is music that demands serious listening that simply can’t be missed!
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When our parents were young, and punk-rock had captured the hearts and minds of a generation, there must have existed at least one or two thoughtful individuals who would have mused at some point or other, disillusioned with the heady musical vogues of their own day; “whatever did happen to jazz anyway?” But these days, […]
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