Book review of: The reflexive teaching artist: collected wisdom from the drama/theatre field, by Kathryn Dawson and Daniel A. Kelin, II. Bristol: Intellect, 2014; ISBN 9781783202218 (£28.00)

In his latest book Peter Pesic skillfully frames the interrelationship between music and science in the context of intellectual exploration. He leads the reader from the ancient historical connections of music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy (the Quadrivium) to concepts that shape our modern understanding of nature by Riemann and Holtz. Importantly, the investigations start from the musical or auditory concept and work towards the related scientific or mathematical idea and not, as is often the case in literature on these subjects, in the other direction. As a composer, my relationship with mathematics, physics and science in general is both explicit in the acoustic properties of the sounds that I want to hear produced, and implicit in the structural and conceptual background work (the pre-composition)

This article studies eleven sixteenth and seventeenth century iconographical sources depicting slide brass instruments, by both Portuguese and foreign artists active in Portugal, as well as foreign artists depicting Portuguese scenes. This study addresses questions concerning aspects of trombone technique that have not previously been considered and may have implications in the way the trombone was understood elsewhere in Europe. It focuses on aspects of technique depicted that may be representative of the trombone’s contemporary design and performance and therefore the manner in which the instrument was held and indeed played. Finally, this article suggests a transitional technical period when the way of holding the single-slide trumpet may have been used to play the trombone.

Pace, penalty and pirouette: the sociology of physical culture was an event organised and hosted by PhD students Victoria Palmer (Glasgow Caledonian University) and Bethany Whiteside (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Funded by the British Sociological Association as a Postgraduate Regional Event, the day was primarily designed to be a supportive platform for postgraduate students from across Scotland and further afield to unite, discuss, present, and share their research with academics with similar interests. The event focused on aspects of ‘physical culture’, attracting scholars from several areas of study including dance, leisure studies, outdoor activity, physical activity, physical education, physical theatre, outdoor activity and sport. Broadly speaking, those who study physical culture are interested in the ways in which individuals engage in (or do not engage in) physical practices and how these individuals are affected by, or influence their social and cultural environment.