title: Arnold Trowell - Violoncellist, Composer and Pedagogue

authors: Griffiths, Martin

subjects: Trowell

abstract: This thesis is the first study of Arnold Trowell, cellist, composer, conductor and teacher.  It is primarily concerned with the cellist’s contribution to pedagogy and composition as informed by biographical detail. The latter begins with an initial examination of the life of his father, Thomas.

Starting in the 1880s with Thomas’ arrival in Wellington, New Zealand the family background is discussed in terms of the musical climate of that city. Arnold’s creative and professional life in Great Britain and Europe provides the main body of the subsequent chapters of this study.

Arnold Trowell was born in Wellington in 1887. He was an eminent and successful musician in England from 1907 until his death in 1966. Virtually forgotten since, he wrote a large number of pedagogical compositions that are still played by young cellists, as well as numerous substantial works for a variety of chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestra.

After studying cello and composition in Frankfurt and Brussels from 1903, Trowell moved to England where, in 1906, he began teaching, performing and publishing. His compositions include seven concertos, three sonatas, four symphonic poems and numerous pieces for cello and piano. 

Trowell was Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music and a cellist who was described by Edmund van der Straeten as “in a line with the greatest virtuosos of the present time.”  He gave hundreds of concerts throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland and broadcast frequently with the BBC.

The thesis addresses three research questions: What was the context and nature of his career as a virtuoso cellist? Was Trowell’s main contribution to music in the pedagogical field? If so, was it primarily for composition or his teaching? 

Three major sections relate to Trowell’s career as performer, teacher and composer. A chronological framework is adopted for Part One: Life of Arnold Trowell that focuses on the early years of the cellist’s life. Part Two begins with a survey of the development of cello technique in the early twentieth century and ends with a detailed analysis of Trowell’s solo and accompanied cello works. Musical illustrations from Trowell’s scores and the similar works by other composers are provided. Part Three addresses the chamber and orchestral music.

Appendices include a list of Trowell’s complete works, further information on contemporaneous cellists, etudes and bow techniques of the early twentieth century, a detailed and select list of Trowell’s students, as well as his writings on technique and pedagogy. A complete edition of the 24 Etudes Technology of Violoncello Book IV and a compact disc recording of works by Arnold Trowell are included.

The conclusion is that Trowell’s major contribution to music was in the area of cello pedagogy, in particular, the composition of teaching etudes and miniatures.

text: Arnold Trowell - Violoncellist, Composer and Pedagogue This thesis is the first study of Arnold Trowell, cellist, composer, conductor and teacher.  It is primarily concerned with the cellist’s contribution to pedagogy and composition as informed by biographical detail. The latter begins with an initial examination of the life of his father, Thomas.

Starting in the 1880s with Thomas’ arrival in Wellington, New Zealand the family background is discussed in terms of the musical climate of that city. Arnold’s creative and professional life in Great Britain and Europe provides the main body of the subsequent chapters of this study.

Arnold Trowell was born in Wellington in 1887. He was an eminent and successful musician in England from 1907 until his death in 1966. Virtually forgotten since, he wrote a large number of pedagogical compositions that are still played by young cellists, as well as numerous substantial works for a variety of chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestra.

After studying cello and composition in Frankfurt and Brussels from 1903, Trowell moved to England where, in 1906, he began teaching, performing and publishing. His compositions include seven concertos, three sonatas, four symphonic poems and numerous pieces for cello and piano. 

Trowell was Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music and a cellist who was described by Edmund van der Straeten as “in a line with the greatest virtuosos of the present time.”  He gave hundreds of concerts throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland and broadcast frequently with the BBC.

The thesis addresses three research questions: What was the context and nature of his career as a virtuoso cellist? Was Trowell’s main contribution to music in the pedagogical field? If so, was it primarily for composition or his teaching? 

Three major sections relate to Trowell’s career as performer, teacher and composer. A chronological framework is adopted for Part One: Life of Arnold Trowell that focuses on the early years of the cellist’s life. Part Two begins with a survey of the development of cello technique in the early twentieth century and ends with a detailed analysis of Trowell’s solo and accompanied cello works. Musical illustrations from Trowell’s scores and the similar works by other composers are provided. Part Three addresses the chamber and orchestral music.

Appendices include a list of Trowell’s complete works, further information on contemporaneous cellists, etudes and bow techniques of the early twentieth century, a detailed and select list of Trowell’s students, as well as his writings on technique and pedagogy. A complete edition of the 24 Etudes Technology of Violoncello Book IV and a compact disc recording of works by Arnold Trowell are included.

The conclusion is that Trowell’s major contribution to music was in the area of cello pedagogy, in particular, the composition of teaching etudes and miniatures.

year: 2012

title: “Spider man does not get lost”: Examining transitional objects in supporting a child’s transition to school

authors: Woodhouse, Hazel Maxine

abstract: In their move to school, children and their family are faced with significant changes in their relationships, environment and routine. In this article, the experiences of a group of children transitioning into a New Entrants (NE) school classroom from their early childhood centre (ECE) are discussed. As they began adapting to the new social and geographical climate of school, the use of digital images and transitional objects became a foundational tool to support them in forming a connection and sense of belonging in this new place. Through the combination of these images and transitional objects there is potential to support their roleplay, enabling them to rehearse social and geographical scenarios that are affecting them in their world. This article will discuss that play is the medium through which children can show teachers where they are in their understandings, in effect planning their own next steps in their transition journey. This emphasises the importance of the NE teacher observing children’s play to provide a thorough and responsive transition plan.

text: “Spider man does not get lost”: Examining transitional objects in supporting a child’s transition to school In their move to school, children and their family are faced with significant changes in their relationships, environment and routine. In this article, the experiences of a group of children transitioning into a New Entrants (NE) school classroom from their early childhood centre (ECE) are discussed. As they began adapting to the new social and geographical climate of school, the use of digital images and transitional objects became a foundational tool to support them in forming a connection and sense of belonging in this new place. Through the combination of these images and transitional objects there is potential to support their roleplay, enabling them to rehearse social and geographical scenarios that are affecting them in their world. This article will discuss that play is the medium through which children can show teachers where they are in their understandings, in effect planning their own next steps in their transition journey. This emphasises the importance of the NE teacher observing children’s play to provide a thorough and responsive transition plan.

year: 2019

title: Poipoia te tamaiti ki te ūkaipō

authors: Gabel, Kirsten

abstract: This thesis explores traditional philosophies of Māori motherhood. Drawing from traditional accounts of our cosmologies, from mōteatea, whakatauki and pakiwaitara, it seeks to uncover aspects of our maternities that for many Māori mothers today have become buried under the plethora of Western maternal knowledges.
Māori maternities represent a conflicted space for Māori women and whānau in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand. Colonisation has acted to significantly corrupt a traditionally empowering and healthy philosophy of Māori motherhood. Successive legislative and social interventions have, over many generations, served to undermine the powerful position of the maternal in Māori society, to denigrate the sanctity of the Māori maternal body and to destroy a collective and supportive approach to raising children.
This thesis draws on Māori and indigenous legal theories, on mana wahine theories and on kaupapa Māori theories in its analysis. It unpacks some of the specific legislative and policy initiatives introduced by the state that have served to undermine traditional Māori maternities.
In the face of a comprehensive and targeted colonisation process, Māori maternities have survived and continue to be a site of resistance and empowerment for Māori whānau. Despite the best attempts of the state to undermine Māori maternities, Māori whānau have continued to mother in ways that reflect our traditional philosophies of mothering.
Finally, this thesis also proposes a theory of Māori motherhood that is grounded in our traditions, philosophies and ideologies. It concludes that Māori maternities are a significant space of resistance and tino rangatiratanga for Māori today.

text: Poipoia te tamaiti ki te ūkaipō This thesis explores traditional philosophies of Māori motherhood. Drawing from traditional accounts of our cosmologies, from mōteatea, whakatauki and pakiwaitara, it seeks to uncover aspects of our maternities that for many Māori mothers today have become buried under the plethora of Western maternal knowledges.
Māori maternities represent a conflicted space for Māori women and whānau in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand. Colonisation has acted to significantly corrupt a traditionally empowering and healthy philosophy of Māori motherhood. Successive legislative and social interventions have, over many generations, served to undermine the powerful position of the maternal in Māori society, to denigrate the sanctity of the Māori maternal body and to destroy a collective and supportive approach to raising children.
This thesis draws on Māori and indigenous legal theories, on mana wahine theories and on kaupapa Māori theories in its analysis. It unpacks some of the specific legislative and policy initiatives introduced by the state that have served to undermine traditional Māori maternities.
In the face of a comprehensive and targeted colonisation process, Māori maternities have survived and continue to be a site of resistance and empowerment for Māori whānau. Despite the best attempts of the state to undermine Māori maternities, Māori whānau have continued to mother in ways that reflect our traditional philosophies of mothering.
Finally, this thesis also proposes a theory of Māori motherhood that is grounded in our traditions, philosophies and ideologies. It concludes that Māori maternities are a significant space of resistance and tino rangatiratanga for Māori today.

year: 2013