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Pierre Baillot (1771–1842), an eminent French violinist and pedagogue of the early nineteenth century, offers a surprisingly modern role model to musicians in today's fast-changing world of music. First, Baillot's career foreshadows the resilience and versatility required of entrepreneurial musicians today. Baillot lived in turbulent times through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic years, and restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. His life spanned the transition from Classical to Romantic eras of music and he combined a virtuoso performance career with that of teacher, composer, concert entrepreneur, exponent of new music and violin textbook author. Second, as in the case of contemporary creative performers, Baillot sought to extend his art by experimenting with ways to extend the range and expressiveness of the violin. This essay discusses Baillot's embrace of old and new approaches to violin music and practice. Drawing on his textbook, L'Art du Violon (1834), and research literature on music-making of the era, this essay analyses three of Baillot's innovative approaches: harmonic preluding as an improvisation method, his four-string Adagio composition using an extended bowing technique, and his empirical exploration of acoustically enhanced Tartini tones. While Baillot regarded the art of harmonic preluding, for example, as a link to improvisational traditions, he also saw it as integral to creative development and to technical mastery of harmony, the latter sometimes lacking in violinists more accustomed to playing the melodic line. Even today we find Baillot's extended violin techniques surprising.

This article explores the motivations, approaches and results that occurred when six composers/musicians devised works of experimental music that involved community participants over six years at the annual classical Tyalgum Music Festival in regional Australia. The main aim of this study was to investigate how this music was shaped by community participation in its creation and performance. This qualitative research study drew on retrospective interviews with the musicians involved and the author’s observations and reflections on their music events. The musicians discussed how they responded to people and place in creating and performing their works; they maintained that their involvement with the community resulted in valuable and creative music-making. This study demonstrates that artists can inspire interesting and enjoyable music-making with a community that also expands the possibilities for mainstream arts, cultural practices and festival curation.

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