PhD Defense

You are cordially invited to the public defense and artistic presentation by Ned McGowan of the research project “Speed in Music.”

Speed is not merely a musical parameter — it is a fundamental dimension of how we experience the world. The pace at which events unfold and relate to each other shapes our perception of time itself, from the rhythm of a conversation to the unfolding of daily life. In music, speed becomes a lens through which these deeper truths about time and experience come into focus, making it not only an artistic concern but a profoundly human one.

McGowan’s research investigates musical speed — what it is, how it is perceived, and how it can be explored within compositional, improvisational, and performance practice. Drawing on several decades of work as a composer, flutist, and improviser, he argues that speed in music is far richer and more nuanced than tempo alone suggests. He proposes that speed functions as the rate of perceptual events in time, operating across multiple, independent yet concurrent timescales, and co-constructed by the music, performer, environment, and listener.

The dissertation builds this framework through five interlocking perspectives — from thresholds of speed and temporal resolution, to density and motion, smooth and striated time, and speed as a relational phenomenon. These are brought to life through focused investigations into tuplets, polytempo music, and a case study of the solo flute piece Torrent. The research integrates artistic creation, theoretical reflection, scientific literature, and situated performance experience, arguing for speed as a central dimension of musical life.

Kindly RSVP.

PhD DEFENSE – Tuesday 2 June 2026 — 16h00

Academy Building, Leiden University
Rapenburg 73, Leiden

PROMOTORES

Prof. dr. R. J. Barrett
Prof. dr. M. Cobussen

OPPOSITIECOMMISSIE

Prof. dr. H.A. Borgdorff
Prof. dr. R. de Groot – Universiteit van Amsterdam
Dr. Y. Kyriakides – Royal Conservatoire The Hague
Dr. M. Phillips – Royal Northern College of Music
Dr. R. Schaefer – Leiden University
Prof. dr. S. Lindberg – Leiden University

We look forward to welcoming you at the artistic presentation and public defense.

RSVP