Abstract
This study is based substantially on the author's experience of collaboration with the British composer Judith Bingham between 2011 and 2013 in the preparation and performance/recording of three commissioned works for solo organ or harpsichord: The Everlasting Crown, Jacquet's Ghost, and Tableaux Vivants. Recordings (both live and commercial) of the first two works are included in the accompanying portfolio. Although Bingham's contribution to the solo organ repertoire, in particular, is substantial, spanning a period of some forty years, it has not previously been the subject of academic enquiry. Her solo harpsichord works, while fewer in number and less evenly distributed across her oeuvre, offer a number of particularly significant insights into her stylistic and technical development. The study examines Bingham's work in the selected genres from a number of viewpoints; specific analytical, technical and aesthetic questions are all examined in the course of the text. Drawing on a range of new material, including autograph scores of unpublished early works, and on interviews and correspondence with Bingham herself and with recent interpreters of her work, the text aims to: 1) identify characteristic elements of Bingham's compositional aesthetic; 2) situate her collaborative relationship with interpreters in the context of broader contemporary trends; 3) interrogate the implications for the interpreter of specific aspects of her marking of performance instructions; 4) analyse her treatment of pre-existing compositional models, and the influence of historically-inspired technical procedures, in specific works; 5) discern the significance of her post-performance revision of scores and her role as 'transcriber' of her own compositions. Overall, the study will assist in establishing a framework within which performers of Bingham's works might develop their interpretations.