Duncan Strachan

About Duncan’s Research:

Folk As Four is a hybrid research/practice-based project examining the use of Scottish traditional musical forms and materials in string quartet composition from 1750 to present day. The research situates the string quartet as a site in which “folk” and “art” music traditions intersect, raising questions of musical transmission, adaptation, and cultural identity within Scottish compositional practices.
Combining historical research and musical analysis with an original portfolio of string quartet compositions, the project adopts creative practice as a mode of scholarly enquiry. It examines how composers and performers across different historical periods have negotiated the relationship between folk-derived materials and the aesthetic, formal and sociocultural conventions of the string quartet.
By tracing these practices and placing them alongside key events in Scottish cultural history, and critically reflecting on contemporary compositional strategies through practice-based research, the project seeks to produce a new critical account of Scottish folk influence within the chamber music repertoire, contributing to wider debates on musical hybridity, national identity, and composition as research.