University of Oxford
Faculty of Music
University of Oxford
Search

Graduate Research Colloquia: Hans Keller's 'Group functioning of a string quartet'

Hans Keller playing viola in an unknown quartet
08 May 2025 17:15
Denis Arnold Hall, Faculty of Music

Hans Keller playing viola in an unknown quartet

Copyright: Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust

As part of the Castalian String Quartet's residency, this session will consist of brief presentations by Eric Clarke, Jacob Downs, Laura Tunbridge, and Jennifer Walshe. Our point of departure for discussion is Hans Keller's 'Group functioning of a string quartet', which we will consider in relation to distributed cognition/creativity and improvisation, intimacy, models for unity and disintegration, and how a quartet might be infiltrated by external creative forces.  

Keller's text takes the form of a letter, responding to a questionnaire circulated by sociologist Margaret Phillips about small-group psychology in 1942. It is reproduced in Music and Psychology: From Vienna to London, 1939-52, ed. Christopher Wintle and Alison Garnham (London: Plumbago, 2003), pp. 41-47. We encourage you to read this short text before the session. 

Iphigenia at Aulis

04 November 2026 to 07 November 2026
The Oxford triennial Greek Play returns, with an original score by music student Peter Hardisty.

Little Kitchen

07 November 2026
An ensemble of singers, strings and a jazz trio (!) performing a range of music, from Nat King Cole to Charli XCX.

Rémy Ballot and OUO Solo Players - Bruckner: String Quintet, Mathilde Kralik: Nonet

08 November 2026
Following their successful chamber ensemble programme of Mozart and Strauss last January, violinist and conductor Rémy Ballot is joined by a chamber ensemble drawn from members of OUO to give a concert that presents Bruckner’s resplendent String Quintet alongside the work of his student, Mathilde Kralik. Kralik’s Nonet is scored for the rare combination of clarinet, bassoon, two horns, string quartet and piano.

A Celebration with Shesh Besh

09 November 2026
Bringing together Jewish musicians from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Arab musicians from northern Israel, Shesh Besh creates a distinctive and captivating sound, weaving Western classical music together with the rich musical traditions of the Middle East. But it is what happens between the musicians, as much as the music itself, that makes this ensemble so remarkable.

“O Mozart! Immortal Mozart”

09 November 2026
Mozart: Symphony No.40 in G Minor (K.550) | Schubert: Symphony No.5 in B-Flat Major (D.485)

The World's Music at Oxford: Dongyang Gozupa

10 November 2026
A unique fusion of gugak (Korean folk music) and progressive rock from a leading ensemble of South Korea's new wave of traditional music.