The Thesis

Submission by Janey

Apologies for what might be a kind of boring post, if you're not quite as much of a music dork as I am. Bear with me, though, since my monumental task this fall is to write my master's thesis. I'm a baroque cellist, and I'm getting a combined degree in that and musicology. So I'm writing a thesis and doing a lecture recital on the same topic. It's been surprisingly difficult to find a topic that is both musicologically juicy and musically challenging, actually. In general, my academic interests have run both earlier and later than my performance interests (and abilities). I think Medieval and Renaissance vocal music and the way it intertwines with culture is really interesting. I think popular music is underserved by academics, and occupies a fascinating place in modern society. But, let's face it guys, a lot of aspects of Baroque music have been done to death. Hence my bewildered bemusement to find myself staring down a thesis on Handel, one of the most done to death composers I can think of. Sure the music is great, but what more can there possibly be to say, you might ask? Quite a bit, in fact! As a cellist, I was stunned to learn that no one has ever really gone through to find all the bits that Handel wrote for cello solo. They're there, we all know it. And I'm setting out to find them, among other things. Because I am who I am, I'm also motivated by a desire to stick it to the Keyboard Mafia. Continuo is NOT in fact synonymous with harpsichord! Damn the man! Ahem. Anyway, I'm hoping to draw some interesting conclusions about the relationship between Handel's solo cello writing and his continuo lines.