Possible Connection between the Development of Executive Functions and Music Education According to the Kodály Concept
(2024)
author(s): Orsolya Toldi
published in: KC Research Portal
This research will focus on comparing tasks that are used to measure the development of executive functions (EFs) and musicianship exercises according to the Kodály concept in order to find analogies and functional intersections between them. EFs are essential for our mental and physical health, for school and job success. Since these skills can be improved and early EFs training might help reduce social disparities in academic achievement and health, pinpointing activities that could develop EFs has become an important research topic in psychology, neuroscience, and education in recent years.
The main direction of this research will be a close examination of the tasks used for measuring the three core components of EFs - inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory alongside musicianship exercises taken from Kodály methodological books and lesson observations that work in a similar way.
This study has found similarities between EF tasks and Kodály musicianship exercises in all the three core components of EFs. These findings could indicate that with Kodály’s music education approach we are not only practising musicianship exercises but we might challenge our EF skills as well. This research, therefore, could be a first step that leads to a more complex investigation into the potential positive impact of music education according to the Kodály Concept on EFs.
Listening to / in Public Space
(2024)
author(s): Justin Bennett
published in: KC Research Portal
As an artist working often with audio walks I often have the nagging thought: does using headphones to present sound in public space immerse the listener in a bubble, separating them from their surroundings?
This research looks at the form of the audio walk and the possibilities of using binaural recording, narrative devices and locative media to prioritise engagement with the environment.
In addition it documents the re-activation of an older work of mine in a app using geo-location and it collects documentation of a number of walk-pieces including scripts, audio files, maps and other background information.
Lectorate Music, Education and Society, Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag. 2023-24
Navigating in Overlaps: Redefining Performance Space as Multi-Space
(2024)
author(s): Stijn Brinkman
published in: KC Research Portal
In this study it is advocated to perceive performance space as overlapping multiple spatial layers, all existing in the same moment, but all with different boundaries. A triangle of performer, audience and surroundings creates performance space together as co-players by activating spatial layers and redrawing spatial boundaries. A new term is coined to better understand the unstable, moving nature of performance space: multi-space. To deal with the concept of multi-space in actual performances, the use of the verbs ‘navigate’ and ‘zoom in/out’ are advocated.
Embedded in this study is an exposition of the artistic projects of Stijn Brinkman, in which the concept of multi-space is tested as new tool to create performances with more exploration, agency, imagination, and movement. By finding a way for performers to disappear and to be present at the same time, the domination of walls and the domination of a performer's body (both apparent in many traditional performances) are challenged. The concepts of multi-space, navigate and zoom in/out stimulate audiences to engage more with their surroundings, while helping performers to shape their ideas always through site-specific processes.
"Encumbered with useless graces": Ornamentation and Aesthetics in Eighteenth-century Scottish Music
(2024)
author(s): Jonty Coy
published in: KC Research Portal
Throughout the eighteenth century, a steady stream of Italian musicians travelled to Scotland, in search of artistic and commercial success. Inspired by the enterprise of their Scottish counterparts, many published collections of “Scots Tunes,” such that by the end of the century a rich body of repertoire had emerged. Italians and Scots alike valued this repertoire for various reasons: for some, these tunes represented an idealised vision of pastoral simplicity; for others, a fossilised record of the music of past generations; for others still, these tunes were a vehicle for the expression of nationalistic sentiment.
This repertoire presents a challenge to Early Music practitioners today, who must contend with the fact that this music has been transmitted through textual sources and oral tradition. To this end, many musicians engage with elements of Scottish Traditional performance practice – a practice that often diverges from, and is at times incompatible with, dominant understandings of eighteenth-century performance practice.
In this thesis, I summarise some of the ornamentation techniques employed by Scottish Traditional musicians, investigating their possible influence on Italian Scots Tunes sources. I contend that comparative analysis of these sources can inform performances of this repertoire, by revealing implicit relationships between notation, performance practice and aesthetic judgements. Further, I survey current trends in the historical performance practice of Scots Tunes, interrogating the ways in which this repertoire is framed by modern conceptions of “folk” music. I observe that this repertoire continues to be valued within a variety of aesthetic frameworks, which are themselves revealed, upheld, and reproduced through performance practice.
New (old) Music - Intercontextual Compositional Methodologies
(2023)
author(s): Martín Mayo
published in: KC Research Portal
It would be more than reductive to say that art is not created in a vacuum. Simply said, all art exists in a context, and said context includes medium, genre, style, and idiom, amongst other things. In the realm of Western music, much insight has been given regarding quotation, and less so regarding subtler applications of stylistic, generic, and idiomatic thought in composition. So, if all music exists in a specific context, how can composers creatively account for context in their compositions? This research seeks to answer this question by outlining methodologies via analysis of relevant works. Given the background and musical focus of the researcher, this research predominantly focuses on musical works that adapt or interact with Latin-American folkloric music and traditions, with many works dealing specifically with Venezuelan and Cuban folklore.
(2019) The Singing Violin: Portamento use in Franz Schubert’s violin music
(2023)
author(s): Emma WIlliams
published in: KC Research Portal
(this research was submitted March 2019)
How can late-18th- and early-19th-century vocal techniques influence our way of experimenting with portamento use in Schubert’s violin music and how can we reinstate the practice in ways that are relevant for current listeners and players?
The voice and violin have always shared an intimate connection. Violin treatises from the late-18th and early-19th centuries consistently encourage violinists to imitate vocal techniques. My thesis explores this relationship via the music of Franz Schubert (1797-1828), who revolutionised Lieder and used vocal techniques in his instrumental writing. Many fundamental vocal expressive devices, including portamento, have been lost in “modern” and “historically-informed” (HIP) singing and violin playing. My thesis aims to (1) understand the historical appropriateness of portamento in Schubert’s violin music and how different types of portamento work, (2) examine why the technique was lost, and (3) explore ways of reigniting it in today's musical aesthetic. I first analysed relevant written sources and early vocal and violin recordings, finding clear evidence of frequent and varied vocal and violin portamento use, clear links in portamento use between early-recorded singing and violin playing, and consistency between early-recorded portamenti and written sources from Schubert’s time. To understand why portamento was lost, I examined the wider phenomenon of style change in the 20th century and found that both recording technology and general 20th-century aesthetic changes encouraged “cleanness” and “repeatability” in music, thereby eradicating spontaneous and unique expressive devices like portamento. Finally, I researched innate emotional responses to music and portamento’s importance as an engaging communicative tool, and undertook my own artistic experimentation in early-19th-century music, collaborating with and surveying leading vocal and string 19th-century HIP practitioners to explore ways of making portamento expressive and relevant to modern musical practice and appreciation.
'What may have happened…'
(2023)
author(s): Johan van Kreij
published in: Research Catalogue, KC Research Portal
“What may have happened…" is a research driven by the desire to augment the sense of sharing in a decentralized improvisation-a creative musical situation in which the participants are in different locations. It focusses on extending the amount of communication channels in a decentralized improvisation setting—beyond the audible and visible. The aim will be not just adding extra layers of data exchange, but introducing various modes of interaction. This will be realized through the use of software and mobile devices.
Embodied Bits
(2023)
author(s): Pedro Latas
published in: KC Research Portal
The Master research “Embodied Bits” concerns how trans-human, post-digital and post-internet ideas relate to my Queer experience. It is, in a nutshell, an ongoing research on how the technological world has spilled over into the biological world and how Queer folks are front and centre when it comes to taking advantage of technological developments in order to realise their identities.
The research question is “How do we perform ourselves in the digital realm?”. Though it started as a research on the practicalities and aesthetics of internet/networked-based performances it quickly opened a Pandora’s Box of social inquiry and analysis. Performing ourselves means performing ethnicity, gender, sexuality, cultural identity... There is an inevitability in drawing a direct connection between these topics and how do we, as singular and, paradoxically, plural human beings within ourselves engage with modern day technology. Through technology we are able to build ourselves, to draft new identities, to build again if they no longer suit our needs.
As an artistic research, “Embodied Bits” looks into how digital media has influenced human experience and focuses on the experiences of non-normative bodies and identities, in which I include my own. These topics are interlaced with my own compositional and performative work, always informed and inspired by the previously mentioned ideas and historical context.
The Usage of recordings from other musicians as a source of information by students of Classical Music
(2023)
author(s): Pedro Domínguez Conde
published in: KC Research Portal
The main purpouse of this research is to find out how do students of classical department use recordings as a source of information for their daily practice and what kind of information they seek in those recordings that is helpfull for them. To get this a survey of ten question was disigned and shared through many methods on the students of the Koninklijik Conservatorium in The Hague. 24 students from varied specialities and courses answered the survey, and the collected data will be analysed
HOW TO IMPROVE CELLO ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS
(2023)
author(s): Carmen Ramírez Campos
Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
Orchestral auditions have become the main way to get into an orchestra. That is why preparing orchestral excerpts for auditions is a mandatory path to go through. In order to perfect my preparation of a selection of the most requested orchestra excerpts, I selected relevant etudes to support my practice. Together with my private teachers and youtube tutorials given by orchestral cellists around the world, I created a guide to help my practice. My goal was to find an approach that would not only support the technical demands of performing these excepts, but also create a better understanding of the difficulties while maintaining my own musicality.
How can the preparation of orchestral excerpts improve and develop my artistic and musical skills? What role do etudes play in this process?
Camilo Arias - Master Research Last Sand
(2023)
author(s): Camilo Arias
published in: KC Research Portal
While the commercial musical stream of "Latin American Baroque" has been associated with musical cross-breeding, the study of the colonial repertoire that composes it documents quite the opposite: the absence of non-European musical features. By accepting the impossibility to find the written "Mestizo Baroque", this research chooses to "re-imagine it" from orality. Taking the Fandango musical family as a framework, this research enters into playful dialogues between the XVIII century European fandango and its surviving folklore counterparts: the Mexican Son Huasteco and the Colombo-Venezuelan Joropo. Through analysis and transcription of oral sources, style comparison, arrangement, and improvisation this research aims to create a musical product that reclaims the mixed-raced identities, erased from colonial archives, in today´s Early Music industry.
An Embouchure Aid for Wind Musicians
(2023)
author(s): Giuseppe Sapienza
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Giuseppe Sapienza
Main Subject: Classical Clarinet
Research Supervisor: Wouter Verschuren
Title of the Research: An Embouchure Aid for Wind Musicians
Research Question: Assessing whether playing a wind instrument can change tooth position and investigate the effectiveness of an embouchure support device to provide dental support.
This study was inspired by the author's personal experience of discomfort and pain while playing the clarinet and aims to investigate the potential relationship between dental health and clarinet playing, specifically the impact of the mouthpiece on tooth position and stability.
A literature review of previous studies on the connection between wind instruments and tooth movement was conducted. The author collaborated with two professional dentists to develop an embouchure support device called PlayAid. The device was prototyped and tested by the author with a positive outcome.
The study found a correlation between playing the clarinet and an increased risk of dental problems, including tooth mobility, erosion, and discomfort. The upper incisors were the most commonly affected teeth. The literature review showed that playing wind instruments can cause changes in tooth position, specifically an increase in overjet.
Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that an embouchure support device, like PlayAid, can effectively provide dental support for players with dental problems but also for those who exclusively seek better embouchure comfort and sound quality.
The chosen format of a presentation will be a public exposition of the results of the research with a live demonstration of PlayAid.
APPROACHING IMAGES: A Journey from Imagery to the Concrete
(2023)
author(s): Rui Braga Simões
published in: KC Research Portal
The piano is an instrument filled with endless possibilities, and an absurd amount of marvellous repertoire, but also has its downsides, namely its extremely complex mechanism: fingers activate a key, that moves a hammer, that hits a string. It’s a lot of steps from the moment you imagine a note and the moment you hear it, and the resulting sound isn’t always what we hope for. This instrument can be limited for the things that are asked from pianists, such as playing singing and legato lines. However, there are ways of getting over this limitation, and one of them is the use of Imagery, I.e., having a strong imagination of something else in order to do things that, in many occasions on a piano, are technically impossible.
In this artistic research I approach the concept of Musical Imagery and present an arrangement I made of Debussy’s Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (from the second book of Images) for piano and percussion quartet, exploring the imagery elements I use in my practice and explaining how I turned them into something concrete, through the use of new layers added by the chosen instruments.
Interpretation of Schumann's 'Humoreske' in B flat major, op. 20, within the context of Jean Paul Richter's romantic concept of 'humor'
(2023)
author(s): Elisha Kravits
published in: KC Research Portal
This research began with the realization that Schumann's idea of "humor" (which the title of his work implies) might be very different from our own, and should be understood within the cultural and philosophical context of his time.
To this end, I decided to base my research on the writings of celebrated author Jean Paul Richter, whom Schumann idolized, and who devoted a large section of his "Introduction to Aesthetics" to the subject of humor; the profound psychological connections between Schumann and Jean Paul, which I point out, are also very revealing.
I went on to summarize some concepts within Jean Paul's definition of humor which seemed the most naturally analogous with the act of musical interpretation, such as romantic irony, "the Absurd" and "humorous sensuousness". In the final part of the research I put these ideas to use by experimenting with the interpretation of different sections of the "Humoreske"; in the written exposition I provided recordings to demonstrate the different possibilities which arise from this analogy, as well as a written explanation of the thought process behind each one. For the presentation I will demonstrate this at the piano.
These recordings are the "final" result of my research in the sense that they represent a clear answer to the research question. However, while the process of conscious experimentation was illuminating- and can be repeated with any other work by the composer!- I believe that the most important result of this research would be impossible to document or present here: that is, the more subtle, subconscious way in which understanding Schumann's connection with the spirit of his time will continue to influence my playing.
“How to motivate students in classroom mandatory music lessons?”
(2023)
author(s): Bárbara de Souza
Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
My experience teaching mandatory violin lessons during school time could have been more positive. Misbehavior, no engagement, no routine of practicing, and a deficient level of playing were some of the factors causing frustration in my teaching practice. Luckily, this frustration became an urge to change this situation and search for approaches to motivate the students in the context of mandatory music lessons. Action research and case study approaches were used for an intervention of three weeks in three different classrooms, with kids from 8-9 years old, from grade 5 at the Dutch Primary School system. Lesson plans were designed based on the principles of the Self-Determination Theory by Deci and Ryan (1985), with activities and strategies addressing the three innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Logbooks were also used as a way of stimulating the self-regulation of the students. The intervention showed that encouraging the students' autonomy was the best way to motivate them, and that can be done through simple activities that can be easily implemented in the lessons. Increasing their autonomy in several activities also added to their feeling of competence and relatedness. Using the logbook to track their practice was also a powerful tool to help them practice and boost their motivation.
Historical Clarinet Mouthpieces: An Analysis and Re-creation studyHistorical Clarinet Mouthpieces: An Analysis and 3D Re-creation study
(2023)
author(s): Sergio Sánchez Martín
published in: KC Research Portal
The mouthpiece of a clarinet plays a crucial role in sound formation and tuning, and there is still great potential for research within the field of historical clarinet mouthpieces.
This study explores the relationship between mouthpiece shape and performance practice in the first half of the 19th century when significant changes occurred in clarinet history. The author examines historical mouthpieces from various collections and creates 3D-printed replicas for experimentation. The research investigates how mouthpiece shape relates to changes in reed positioning and national styles, and how 3D printing technology can aid in understanding historical mouthpiece design.
The study finds evidence of a causal relationship between changes in reed positioning and mouthpiece geometry, especially reflected in the dimension of the mouthpiece window. The creation of a functional 3D-printed historical mouthpiece and experimentation with variations in shape shed light on how different parameters of the mouthpiece geometry affect the sound response. The research offers a useful tool for historical clarinet players to choose mouthpieces in a more historically informed way.
Divertimento Sextet
(2023)
author(s): Robert Franenberg
published in: KC Research Portal
In 2000, I took part in a project performing all of W.A. Mozart’s (1756-1791) Salzburg divertimentos for strings and winds in the quaint town of Delft in the Netherlands. In attempting to keep true to authentic performance practices we played on period instruments with one player to a part and most significantly the bass line was to be performed solely on the double bass; thus, no cello and no cello/double bass doubling of the bass line.1 Some of my colleagues involved in this project found this to be quite a ‘radical’ idea, for in chamber music settings many musicians are accustomed to the cello as the bass instrument of choice, and depending on the repertoire, a double bass might double the line, but double bass alone…impossible! Indeed most recordings I have heard of these pieces have been performed by a chamber orchestra or as chamber music with the bass line performed by a cello and double bass.
With trumpets?
(2023)
author(s): Fabio Bonizzoni, Casper Schipper
published in: KC Research Portal
A good deal of mystery still surrounds some aspects of Arcangelo Corelli's work. Firstly, although he was recognised as the main composer of Sinfonie in Rome around 1700, all of his repertoire of this genre, with the exception of one, seems to have disappeared; secondly, none of his survived orchestral scores contains evidence of the well documented practice of using winds, trumpets in particular, in conjunction with strings. To fill these gaps, speculations have tried to identify, amongst Corelli's works, not only the ones that might have originated as Sinfonie, but also those that might have included trumpets in their original form. This research moves along the same path but sets a slightly different goal: on the one hand it considers that it is virtually impossible to determine if any of Corelli’s survived compositions were originally conceived as Sinfonie with trumpets. On the other hand, it argues that through a study of Lulier's Santa Beatrice d'Este oratorio - a work that preserves the only genuine Corelli's Sinfonia that has survived - and through a comparative analysis of the two Handel's Roman oratorios, it is possible to approach closely the soundscape of Corelli's Sinfonie con trombe. To achieve that goal, in accordance with contemporary Roman examples, newly composed trumpet parts have been integrated into some movements of three concertos from Opus 6. The outcome can be listened in the audio-video material part of this paper. Whether the addition of trumpets on top of a string-only movement could have been improvised, and not planned beforehand with written parts, is open to further speculation.
Waldorf music education meets Kodály methodology.
(2023)
author(s): Raoul Boesten
published in: KC Research Portal
How can Kodály music methodology contribute to the already existing Waldorf music education in giving the children ownership in music.
Singing and Playing - A Kodály Approach to Cello Playing
(2023)
author(s): Alice Andreani
published in: KC Research Portal
Alice Andreani - Classical Cello
Research Supervisor: Daniel Salbert
Research Title: "Singing and Playing - A Kodály Approach to Cello Playing".
Research Question: “What are the effects that the practicing of exercises involving singing and playing has on cello playing?
The objective of my research is to draw attention to the importance of developing and training musicianship skills; in this paper I will argue on why musicianship training should receive as much importance as studying the technique of an instrument.
I will specifically focus on the effects that practicing exercises involving singing and playing on the cello, has on the development of a good inner hearing and musicianship skills over time, as well as how singing is proven to be an helpful tool in combination with playing, when approaching a piece from the cello chamber or orchestral repertoire.
This research is based on literature research and practice based research. It includes a series of 40 exercises for cello and voice written by me as well as guidelines on how to practice singing and playing.
Biography:
Alice Andreani is a cellist, now pursuing her master degree at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, in the class of Michel Strauss and Jan-Ype Nota.
In 2021 she was awarded the Andrea Elkenbracht prize. In the season 2021/2022 she was an intern in the Noord Nederlands Orkest. Alice has been playing with the Kamerorkest van het Noorden and has taken part in different chamber music festivals. Her interest for music goes beyond playing as she is very passionate about teaching; she is enrolled in the year 2022-2023 in the teaching training course Muziek als Vak.
Hindemith’s Musical Enigmas Through the Eyes of Bach
(2023)
author(s): Kaat Schraepen
published in: KC Research Portal
Taking the audience on a journey is always an important goal of mine while performing. My research was created not only to add to my knowledge but more importantly to my performance and my connection to the audience. Throughout my research I uncover the enigma of Bach as an inspiration for Hindemith. What connects these two composers living 200 years apart? How do we connect the ‘new and modern’ to the ‘old and familiar’? Is Hindemith in fact 'Bach with a modern twist'? By discovering the similarities and differences between Bach’s 6th Cello Suite and Hindemith’s Solo Sonata Op.25 No.1, through background research and putting their structure and harmony in relation to each other, a new world of interpreting both composers opened up to me. The research makes my performance more involved but also allows me to take the listener by the hand, guiding them through this more ‘modern’ music by Hindemith and his contemporaries such as Max Reger, by accompanying his music with Bach, and accompanying the music with short metaphorical stories highlighting the composers' similarities as well as different approaches. Engaging the audience, allowing them to open their ears and view the music in a new light.
The extra dimension: exploring 3D use of the accordion bellows
(2023)
author(s): Kaat Vanhaverbeke
published in: KC Research Portal
In my search for extradimensionality in accordion playing, I have explored the three-dimensional use of the accordion bellows. This concerns moving the bellows forward or backwards at different angles, instead of typically maintaining a straight line. This research dives deeper into how the 3D bellows technique influences accordion music interpretations. A survey spread to accordion teachers worldwide made clear that this technique is quite unknown and undiscovered.
In 4 case studies, video recordings of musical interpretations were compared using a linear bellows concept versus using 3D bellows. After intensive reflection, benefits of the 3D bellows technique became clear. Firstly, it allows a better balance between the right and left-hand manual. Different frequencies and harmonics could be discovered through the 3D use of the bellows, which could lead to more resonance and timbre nuances. Furthermore, the technique enhances direction and phrasing in accordion music, reinforced by the visual perception of 3D bellows. However, the technique should be reviewed in different musical styles: in baroque compositions, for instance, the 3D movements are preferably less explicit. Considering some prerequisite skills, an important concern in the practice process has been when to apply 3D bellows.
The research suggests that 3D bellows can be included more explicitly in accordion practice and pedagogy today. It was found to be a useful tool to deepen musical interpretations and musical hearing in accordion students and professionals.
Composing Situation: An approach for understanding and repeating a musical practice
(2023)
author(s): Arie Verheul van de Ven
published in: KC Research Portal
This paper is about finding relationships within my own composition process, how these relate to my relationships with the world around me, and how these impact the music that I make. In this paper I will touch on how my work has been influenced by psychogeography, making music about locations, and my experiences working in community arts. I will discuss my influences from the work Situationists International and later psychogeographic explorations, the community art world in Toronto, discussing how they have influenced my composition process and how the relationships between people, places, and sound play into the music that I compose, and the musical worldviews that helped me shape these influences into my own work. I will further explore, specifically, a part of my process which involves the setting up of situations in which music occurs as part of my compositional practice, discussing how the situation in which music is being made impacts that music, and how the music can impact the situation, finding reciprocity within these musical relationships.
LEADING FROM THE HARPSICHORD: A HISTORICAL INFORMED APPROACH TO EARLY MUSIC 'CONDUCTING'
(2023)
author(s): Pablo Devigo
published in: KC Research Portal
The harpsichord enjoyed a preponderant role at the end of the 17th century, not only on its own but, in the words of C. P. E. Bach, as an instrument "entrusted [...] with full command" and "in the best position to assist [...] the entire ensemble in maintaining a uniform pace."
The following is a study of the aspects related to ensemble leadership as exerted by the harpsichordist. For this, this research draws conclusions from historical sources in regards to the influence of the basso continuo realization in the ensemble, and other non-verbal communication devices (such as gestures) in order to reveal a global picture of this kind of leadership that was particularly prevalent at the time.
Sonic Placemaking: (Re)Creating Place as a Comprehensive Compositional Practice
(2023)
author(s): Isaac Barzso
published in: KC Research Portal
This paper is focused on the development of a large-scale personal compositional practice centered around the concept of placemaking. Its content is focused on the relationship between data analysis, data sonification, and musical structure in the development of art which engages in a practice which I refer to as ‘sonic placemaking.’ In the end, this research intends to put this artistic practice in a space to interrogate the relationship between art and social change, both on small and large scales. The different sections of the paper will provide context and support for my practice's conceptual and philosophical background, drawing on related theoretical writings in geography, sociology, fine art, and composition while guiding the reader through my process in executing these concepts through works of multimedia art and acoustic composition — and, at the same time, actively questioning the ability of this process to influence social change and worldmaking.