The voice with the cello: Siete canciones populares españolas.
(2024)
author(s): Paloma Garrote Vélez
published in: Codarts
With this research, I intended to make a journey through Siete Canciones Populares Españolas (1914) by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), in its arrangement for cello and piano by Maurice Maréchal (1892-1964), exploring the impact of the most common techniques in singing, such as phrasing, prosody, accentuation or diction among others, on the cello. My main goal was being aware of the potential contact points between both instruments to improve my interpretation.
Besides the exploration of the vocal technique, in each part of the research the most characteristic aspects of each song were analyzed. In the first cycle, I focused on longer phrasing and breathing in accordance with the text to generate pauses in the melody, using El paño moruno, Nana and Asturiana. In the second cycle, I focused on the diction and articulation, and also on the techniques of flamenco playing in Cancion and Polo. Finally, the third cycle explores the use of vibrato and projection using the Jota.
Create the Present, Recreate the Past
(2024)
author(s): DAVID VAAMONDE LÓPEZ
published in: Codarts
The following report documents a research project that aims to incorporate improvisation in classical piano recitals in an effective way, as a manner of refreshing such an old-fashioned format. In order to make it possible, the process started by mapping the field, developing basic skills in improvising interludes between written pieces and reading literature on improvisation as a concept. Regarding the need for a larger amount of technical and artistic resources, a more intensive study on piano extended techniques applied to improvisation and free improvisation was carried out, finishing the project with a focus on analysing the own aesthetics and working on proportion (time management).
The artistic results are satisfactory, fulfilling the initial goals. Thus, the improvised interludes work sufficiently on their own and in relation to the written pieces surrounding them, thanks to the development of an efficient system that allows the improviser to adapt them to various contexts, according to their artistic needs. As a result, they are capable of adding artistic value to the content of a regular programme, potentially changing the perception of the listener and enhancing their engagement to the musical act.
Such outcomes can serve as an inspiration to other musicians in order to start their own process, getting as close and incorporating as many elements of this one as they wish, with the intention of achieving a similar artistic development as the one derived from this research project.
Polyrhythms in Prog Music
(2024)
author(s): Erik Stein
published in: Codarts
My research takes place in the domain of drumming focusing on the world of polyrhythms; looking at how to integrate them in my own compositions but also how to use them in any kind of genre or situation.
As for my experience, polyrhythms and groupings are extremely effective tools to sound more musical and more interesting; expanding the realm of popular patterns without losing the essence of the role of a drummer in today's western music.
Motivated by curiosity, this research covers a 360 angle view of how to use them, focusing on grooves & rhythms - fills & Improvisation - multilayering rhythms and phrasing.
Documentation and annotation will serve AV demonstrations for practical use and the involvement of carefully selected experts and peers will provide necessary feedback to stay on track.
On a broader spectrum my findings can be translated to other players, inspire band members and open up doors for an alternative approach. Polyrhythms infused with dynamics and the right amount of dosing can sound easy and complex at the same time. This is what makes this subject not only part of a niche but can also be introduced to a wider audience. Researching mainly in the progressive rock domain, analyzing players such as Danny Carey, Gavin Harrison and Thomas Haake, my conclusions will be AV recordings and can be summarized in a ‘methodical’ overview.
Creature in the making
(2024)
author(s): Elena Cirkovic
published in: Research Catalogue
Elena Cirkovic is conducting a transdisciplinary research project at Aarhus University, the University of Lapland, the University of Helsinki, and the BioArt Society Finland on the complex interactions between Earth and outer space systems, as well as the limitations in communicating with the unknown and unpredictable. The associated artwork is aiming for simplicity, placemaking, and "non-disruptive" BioArt (to the extent possible).
(OM COTEUREN) Regifunktion i omvandling genom samskapandets processer
(2024)
author(s): Carina Reich
published in: Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
The aim of this documented artistic research project is to investigate functions of directing within an expanded understanding of co-created performing arts. My main question concerns the following. What practices and principles of directing in co-created performing arts are revealed in the sample narratives, expositions and final productions of the thesis, and what do these say about transformations within different spatial and social contexts? The project process consists of four documented stagings and a final performance. It is this way I develop the concept “The Coteur” which stands for a directorial function combining a unique, biographical director function (The Auteur) with the openness of a co-created process formed around place, collaborators and contexts, where the development of an original work start without a script. Here I am interested in what I call ”staged absence” which I consider to be an artistic principle based on the removal of “the expected”. What happens, for example when the lead vocalist and the music are taken out of a popular song to leave behind a group of beat counting back-up singers, looking for their cue and a rhythm. Or when boxers are taken out of the ring and only the choreography of the referee remains. In my artistic research project I want to challenge the premises of co-creative performing art, and the director function, by also using forms for seminars and association meetings, to stage collective readings aloud, from manuscripts. This is combined with autobiographical and reflective writing, influenced by the principles for knowledge in practice, to uncover and develop artistic principles for a co-creative director function.
Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga, the influenced musician [final]
(2024)
author(s): Alba Conejo Mangas
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Alba Conejo Mangas.
Main subject: Historical violin.
Research supervisor: Wouter Verschuren.
Title of the research: Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga, the "influenced" musician.
Research question: Is it possible to distinguish the influence of pre-flamenco in the villancicos of Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga?
Summary of results: During my research, I never imagined finding music from Lima or Guatemala composed by Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga, a musician from Córdoba, Spain, in the XVIII century, who had never been in these places. This discovery presented an interesting challenge: to bring back to life scores that had been forgotten for over two hundred years and to explore the music played in Córdoba Cathedral during the middle of the XVIII century.
My interest on Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga started when I listened to a beautiful villancico "Voy buscando mi cordero" by Gaitán y Arteaga, performed by La Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla with Enrico Onofri. Despite being sacred music composed for the church and for weekly mass, it was written in Spanish and carried a distinct Spanish folkloric flavour. Did Juan Manuel Gaitán y Arteaga have a connection with XVIII century Spanish folk music? This caught my attention and spurred me to delve deeper into his music, particularly his villancicos. I soon realized how little-known Juan Manuel's music is today
The line of research I pursued falls within the realm of musicological-historical research. The musicological techniques employed include those related to musical historiography, such as the chronological organization of historical-musical events, particularly in Córdoba. Additionally, it involves an understanding of musical compositions, forms, and styles, as well as musical aesthetics, encompassing the conception of music, its functions, and purposes.
The objectives are: to understand the musical personality of Gaitán y Arteaga in his villancicos and the relation between the folkloric and ecclesiastical world in Spain on XVIII C.
Biography: Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, she finished her modern bachelor under the guidance of Gordan Nikolic in Rotterdam. It was then, that she started her interest in historical performance. After her graduation, she studied for her baroque bachelor's in Brussels under the guidance of Ryo Terakado, and in 2022 she started her master's degree at The Hague Conservatory with professor Ryo Terakado too.
