Queer and Gender-Fluid Artists in the Music Performance Universe of the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries
(2024)
author(s): Brian Lyons
published in: KC Research Portal
In classical music there has been an effort in recent years to bring to light those whose artistic output contributed to their genre or era but were not as well-memorialized as their caucasian heteronormative male counterparts. So, what about artist-musicians, and those adjacent to them, who lived outside the gender constructs of their contemporary hegemony? What contributions did they purposefully or inadvertently make? What is their reception history and how were these histories documented?
Queer Studies in- and outside of musicology has made strides to recognize the existence of historic queer and gender nonconforming individuals. Generally speaking, the aim has been to legitimize the gender spectrum and to make the lives of these noteworthy individuals known. Still it’s impossible for us to know how these gender non-conformists would have categorized their own gender in the Early Modern and Modern Periods were they to have the same terminology as we have today.
In this thesis I will cite figures from plays and broadsheet ballads of the 17th century, the developing opera genre in France in the early 18th century, the “low style” in London society and theater in the early 19th century, through to the Reconstructionist United States. By illuminating queer and gender nonconforming individuals and the performative acts that defined their personal lives, I show that these communities have always existed in some iteration and in many facets of the musical universe. What emerges is a centuries-old artistic lineage between gender non-conforming people that has yet to be fully explored.
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.
"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.
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.
The Viennese violone : A "Viennoiserie" with 5 spices
(2023)
author(s): Isaline Leloup
published in: KC Research Portal
This research examines if the Viennese tuning was used in the orchestral works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn and whether it is possible to link the composers and the use of this tuning in their writing style for the 16’ instrument.
The Viennese tuned violone is a particular 5-stringed 16’ fretted instrument tuned to “F, A, d, f#, a”. This instrument appeared in the region of Lower-Austria and Moravia in the late 17th century and was played until the middle of the 19th century. Considered a member of the viola da gamba family by its name “violone”, it also has similarities in its thirds and fourths tuning, flat back, sloping shoulders, and frets.
I have found no clear evidence of a date, or of a composer, who made specific use of Viennese tuning in orchestras after the solos of Haydn's six symphonies. The Viennese tuning disappeared progressively towards the middle of the 19th century. The last clear evidence we found in the music is Beethoven’s Septet op. 20, the first performance of Beethoven’s 1st symphony, and Schubert’s Trout quintet. We also have the performance on 2nd November 1800 of Sperger’s last symphony “Erbprinzessin-sinfonie”. We also know that instruments of this tuning were built until at least 1820. For Mendelssohn, analysis of his works has shown that its classical characteristics come out clearer with the Viennese tuning. This research is done in the form of an exposition to highlight the musical extracts of the different composers.
Rethinking ornamentation : a rhetorical approach to da capo arias of Georg Friedrich Händel
(2020)
author(s): Francisca Prestes Branco Gouveia
published in: KC Research Portal
Ornamenting baroque da capo arias is crucial for the historically informed singer. However, the choice of ornaments should do more than fit the affects portrayed in a given piece: it should emphasize their expression and move the affections of the audience. In Mattheson’s Der vollkommene Capellmeister it is suggested that rhetorical figures can be of good use as ornaments. Out of the abundant number of figures listed by theorists associated with the movement of the German Musica Poetica, only a few have simultaneously an affective meaning and can be applied to a pre-existing melody. This research explores some of the existing ornamented melodies by G. F. Händel and singers from the time of the composer to understand how these ornaments can be linked with figures from rhetoric, and how they assist in the expression of the text. This research associates rhetorical figures and manieren with general affects and demonstrates its practical use in selected operatic repertoire by G. F. Händel. This study aims to enhance the author’s aesthetic choices while performing, and furthermore encourage other singers to use ornamentation effectively in similar repertoire.
The bassoon in Barcelona in the second half of the XVIIIth century
(2020)
author(s): Bernat Gili Díaz
published in: KC Research Portal
The recent discovery of original bassoons made in Barcelona in the 18th century and the researches made on the musical life of the city during this period give us the opportunity to understand how the instrument was conceived and which role it had in its musical context. When were this bassoons made? By whom? For what purpose? Which repertoire could have been played with them? Do they share any common characteristics? How are these linked to their function in the music of that time? All these and other questions are answered in this research by putting together an organological analysis of the instruments, the repertory that has been preserved and different written sources concerning the historical and musical context and the instrument making. This research will be presented in form of research exposition.
Did They Throw Tomatoes? The Performer-Audience Relationship in 18th-century England
(2019)
author(s): Chloe Prendergast
published in: KC Research Portal
Student Number
3111644
Supervisor(s)
Stefan Petrovic and Jed Wentz
Title
Did They Throw Tomatoes? The Performer-Audience Relationship in 18-century England
Research Question
What was the nature of the performer-audience relationship in 18th-century England and how can this influence our relationship with audiences today?
Summary
With the explosion of the public concert in 18th-century England and the ensuing so called “rage for music”, it is clear that concerts were a vital part of the social life of England’s elite and burgeoning middle class. What created this experience? What roles did both audience and performers play? How did it differ from the ways in which we encounter classical music concerts in the 21st century? This research explores how 18th-century English music was publicly experienced in paid, secular concert settings. It was quite different from what we might now expect in the same setting, and therefore it engendered a vastly different performer-audience relationship than what we often have today. The concert spaces, audience makeup, and concert etiquette each were contributing factors in creating a varied and highly social experience for concertgoers. The aim of this research paper is to illuminate this experience and explore how something similar might be relevantly created in the 21st century.
Short Bio
Chloe Prendergast is a violinist originally from Denver, Colorado. She is the artistic director of the Beethoven Festival of the Hague, a member of Holland Baroque and the Butter Quartet, and has performed with groups including the Handel and Haydn Society, Pacific Musicworks, Henry Purcell Society of Boston, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Luthers Bach Ensemble, Collegium Ad Mosam, and Arcadia Players. Chloe currently studies at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague with Kati Debretzeni and Walter Reiter. She holds a degree from Willamette University, where she was a Phil Hanni scholar and studied principally with Anthea Kreston and Daniel Rouslin.
Approaching a Rhetorical Performance of Late 18th Century Keyboard Music from the Methods of john Walker
(2019)
author(s): Anders Muskens
published in: KC Research Portal
Student Number
3105008
Supervisor(s)
Anna Scott, Jed Wentz
Title
Approaching a Rhetorical Performance of Late 18th Century Keyboard Music from the Methods of john Walker
Research Question
How can we apply declamatory principles from late 18th century English treatises to historical performance of late 18th century solo keyboard music?
Summary
There is no doubt that the art of classical rhetoric played an important role in the conception and performance of music in the 18th century. In order to better understand how to perform rhetorically in an historically informed manner, an understanding of declamation as it was understood in the late 18th century is key. This thesis uses the written methods of English actor-turned-elocutionist, John Walker, as the basis to proposing a rhetorical approach to late 18th century solo keyboard repertoire. Linguistic concepts of sense, structure, style, and delivery (acting) are likened to analogous concepts in galant music and supported with statements from musical treatises and examples from musical works. Two main performance case studies are considered for comparison: the first linguistic, being Walker’s 1787 annotated version of Edward IV’s speech from William Shakespeare’s "Richard III"; and the second musical, being the Adagio movement of Joseph Haydn’s 1794 Keyboard Sonata Hob. XVI:52. It is hoped that this investigation will not only expand the horizons of the author’s solo performances, but will also provide interesting and useful tools for other musicians.
Short Bio
Anders Muskens began modern piano studies at the age of 4 in Edmonton, Canada. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Irina Konovalov. He now studies fortepiano and harpsichord at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague with Dr. Bart van Oort, Petra Somlai, and Fabio Bonizzoni. He received numerous awards including: 1st place at the Early Music Young Ensemble Competition at the London Exhibition of Early Music 2018 in a duo with soprano Tinka Pypker; and the „Hofkapelle Elbe-Elster“ prize at the „Gebrüder Graun Prize“ 2018 with his ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester.
To bow, or not to bow
(2018)
author(s): Alexandra Lopez Arca
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Alexandra López Arca
Main Subject: Classical Violin
Research supervisor: Liesbeth Ackermans
Title of Research: To bow, or not to bow. Modern bow vs. baroque bow: comparisons and inspirations
Research Questions: To what extent do the shape and construction of the bow affect the violinist’s sound and to what extent do her/his use of the bow and musical choices influence the sound? What can a modern violinist learn from experimenting with a baroque bow? What are aspects of the evolution of the violin bow, its use and the evolution of right hand technique from the 18th century until now that are essential to be aware of when playing with both modern and baroque bow?
Summary of Results:
The bow is the soul of the violin. Playing with different bows alters our sound. Their shape and construction affect the articulation that we naturally get with them. This fact tells us a lot about the music for which they were built, and we can learn from it in a natural way. But when a violinist is only familiarised with a modern bow, the learning process with an old bow can hardly take place. It is better to know what the characteristics of each bow are and experimenting with them in order to get used to them. After having this experience, different attacks, articulations and nuances will emerge and facilitate the music for which every bow was thought. It is interesting to see how the sources from those times show us the musical value of the different possibilities of the old bow. Nevertheless, if the musical idea the violinist has in mind does not match the old bow’s natural behavior and the indications made for its use, using it would not bring any advantage. After an overview of the evolution of the bow and its relation with the right hand technique, I will explore the possibility of combining a modern instrument with an old bow as well as the benefits of using it for playing, especially when used following the indications the sources of that period reveal.
Biography:
Born in Santiago de Compostela, she finished her bachelor’s degree at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya before moving to The Hague, where she studies with Vera Beths. Since her years in Barcelona, she has developed a special interest for early music performance practice, stimulated by her lessons with Alba Roca and Lorenzo Coppola, and with Walter Reiter in the Royal Conservatoire.
Investigating smaller bassoons from the XVIII and XIX centuries, with practical performance on a Baroque fagottino
(2017)
author(s): Hugo Rodriguez Arteaga
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Hugo Rodríguez Arteaga
Main Subject: Baroque Bassoon
Research Supervisor: Johannes Boer
Title of Research: Investigating smaller bassoons from the XVIII and XIX centuries, with practical performance on a Baroque fagottino
Research Question:
Is there a (lost) tradition using these instruments in the XVIII and XIX centuries? What are the musical and technical advantages and disadvantages of performing a piece with fagottino?
Summary of Results:
The idea of this study was to collect information about smaller-sized bassoons found in the XVIII and XIX centuries. Berlioz talks about the "quint bassoon", and other "fagottino" in his treatise about orchestration, and smaller bassoons called "tenor", "octave", and "quart" are described in James Kopp's book, The Bassoon. Today the modern "fagottino" is used to teach children, as the modern bassoon is too big and too heavy, but historical models have been strangely ignored in early music performance practice. Is there a (lost) tradition using these instruments in the XVIII and XIX centuries? What are the musical and technical advantages and disadvantages of performing a piece with fagottino? This research project is a mixed work: the written part has background information about instruments, titles and performers. A description of practical experimentation approaching one work with fagottino, as well as the observation of a young player’s first confrontation with the instrument is included.
Biography:
Hugo Rodríguez Arteaga began studying bassoon in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, in 1999 with Prof. Maximiano Vera. In 2007 he started studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Canarias with Ana Sánchez Clemente and finished with honors. He has played in ensembles as Orchestra of the 18th Century, Die Kölner Akademie, MusicAEterna, Capella Cracoviensis, Lutherse Bach Orchester, Les Vents Atlantiques, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Vox Luminis and more several groups. He has worked together with such conductors as Frans Brüggen, Teodor Currentzis, James Coonlon, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alfredo Bernardini, Marcus Creed, Kenneth Montgomery, Alessandro de Marchi, Michael Alexander Willems and Pietro Rizzo. Currently he is studying historical bassoons at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague with Donna Agrell, as well as orchestral conducting with Kenneth Montgomery, Alex Schillings and Jac van Steen. He is active as a historical and modern bassoonist with different period and symphony orchestras all over Europe.
The characters of the flute. A performer’s exploration of the dramatic roles of the baroque flute
(2017)
author(s): Maria Florencia Gomez
published in: KC Research Portal
Before the flute's ascension to rival the violin and harpsichord in repertoire and expressive character, its first defined soloistic role emanated from music in the reign of Louis XIV.
Iconography and collections of allegories, circulated in Europe since Cesare Ripa's Iconologia´s first edition in 1590, depicted the flute with two distinct figures. In the first, the flute symbolises the sweetening of the human voice in vital persuasion, while the second related to the art of pleasing.
These artistic representations influenced the composer's choices for the flute, from keys and tempi to specific technical requirements. It must follow, then, that there is a strong link between the dramatic or allegoric content of the pieces in question and the technical and expressive identity of the late Sixteenth Century and early Eighteenth Century flute.
This paper addresses this phenomenon through the French Cantate, with a primary focus on A. Camprá and N. Clérambault, in addition to further context of stylistic influence in subsequent compositions.
Josef Beer - The perfect clarinetist
(2017)
author(s): Maryse Legault
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Maryse Gagnon-Legault
Main Subject: Historical Clarinet
Research Supervisor: Wouter Verschuren
Title of Research: Josef Beer - The complete clarinet virtuoso
Research Question:
What was the importance of the 18th century clarinetist Josef Beer and what made him stand out as the first international virtuoso on the clarinet?
Summary of Results:
The history of music is punctuated by the rise of crucial players who, by force of skills, influenced the work of composers, brought their instrument to technical improvement, pushed the boundaries of musical possibilities or just popularized a specific way of playing. One player did all those things at the end of the 18th century with the use of his instrument, the clarinet. Although mentioned in all history books about the clarinet, today’s scholars have done little research on Josef Beer. However, when looking closer at Beer’s life, repertoire and works, we notice how much he had the chance to be at the right place at the right moment. A known teacher of many of the greatest clarinet virtuosi, such as Michel Yost and Heinrich Baermann, he had influenced a generation of young musicians, popularizing his instrument all over Europe with his extensive tours. But what do we really know about Josef Beer and what made him stand out to become such an influential musician?
This research is about the life and works written for and by this intriguing man, as well as a reflection on the general implication of the soloist in clarinet concerti and how the music he played became extremely personal, by the addition of unique ornamentation and variations of the “skeleton” - the score - made by the composer. Mainly biographical and historical, this work aims also to approach Beer through the performances of works by composers gravitating around him, including his own compositions.
Biography:
Maryse Legault is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag in historical clarinets in the class of Eric Hoeprich. During her studies in the Netherlands, Maryse has had the opportunity to perform with many ensembles as a soloist, as well as an orchestral and chamber musician, in various countries including France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and Russia. Curious to approach different repertoires, she focuses her research around the role of late 18th-century clarinet soloists and the birth of the pre-romantic German school of clarinet playing. Maryse holds a bachelor degree from McGill University in Montreal and plans to pursue doctoral studies next year in order to deepen her research experience.
To beat or not to beat
(2017)
author(s): Jean-Loup Gagnon
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Jean-Loup Gagnon
Main Subject: Harpsichord
Research Supervisors: Bert Mooiman, Peter Van Heyghen
Title of Research:
To beat or not to beat: reflections on musical leadership practices in the 18th century
Research Question: What did musical leadership mean in the 18th century?
Summary of Results:
In the last century, historically informed performance practice has gained more and more popularity within the musical scene. In fact, musicians have being increasingly interested in historical articulation, phrasing, instrumentation, ornamentation, tempi, etc. Surprisingly, historical conducting practices have not been significantly investigated and hardly ever in a practical way. It may be the reason why there is a lack of experimentation in this domain, why even Early Music ensembles are using the modern way of conducting, which is to have an interpretative conductor that stands in front of the group. Would it not also be relevant to know how composers like Mozart, Handel or Bach would have “conducted” their works? Did Mozart conduct his wind serenade “Gran partita” by making gestures like we can see in Forman's movie Amadeus? Can we learn from their practical experience? This research demystifies conducting practices in the 18th century and brings a practical to the subject.
Biography:
Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in maestro al cembalo at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, Jean-Loup Gagnon studies improvisation and leadership from the harpsichord with Patrick Ayrton and harpsichord performance with Fabio Bonizzoni. His researches focus on leadership practices in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries and on stylistic streams like the Mannheim School and the Galant Style, which constituted the musical grammar for genius composers such as Mozart.
From Phrase to Phrasing - a Classical Perspective
(2017)
author(s): Jan Willem Nelleke
published in: KC Research Portal
This paper explores the structure and performance of musical phrases according to sources from the second half of the eigtheenth century.
As phrasing is such an essential part of music making it seems curious that there is not much written about it and its application usually taken for granted. This paper wants to address this from the assumption that a better understanding of structure (phrases) will enrich delivery in performance (phrasing). It is written from the viewpoint of a performer with a focus on the practical application of theory.
Subjects include repose-moments, cadences, phrase-rhythm, punctuation, notation, skills in phrasing, breathing, and observations on Classical phrase structures and proportions in general.
Case studies are provided to demonstrate and test the theory on practical use and extend into less obvious areas like writing song intro's and cadenzas.
Understanding Classical and Early Romantic Dynamics 1750-1830
(2017)
author(s): Bart van Oort
published in: KC Research Portal
In eighteenth century scores, dynamics were notated almost exclusively in a general way. The dynamics belonging to the melancholy or passionate development of a musical phrase or the minimal dynamical differences between a dissonant and a consonant in (for instance) a Mozart Adagio or a Chopin Nocturne are so subtle that it is even better to not notate anything. The deepest utterances of both the composer's and the pianist's soul cannot be caught in any notation.
However, in my opinion many of the notated dynamical indications are not fully understood or mis-interpreted. At the same time, implied dynamics can be found (while today often not realized) in virtually every musical phrase.
In this research project I have investigated classical dynamics, focusing on the local function of forte and piano, on crescendos and diminuendos, the influence of harmony, the dissonance-consonance resolution, the relative meaning of ff, the dynamics of high notes, and other factors, such as the density of the notation, the direction of the melody, the register of the phrase and the character of the work.
This research is part of a larger research project on the nature of the classical language, addressing dynamics, rubato and phrasing.
The use of Bel Canto singing in the Italian opera of the XVIII century
(2015)
author(s): Mariana Andrade Pimenta
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Mariana Andrade Pimenta
Main Subject: Early Music Singing
Research Coach: Inês de Avena Braga
Title of Research: The technical principles of Bel Canto in the 18th and 19th centuries:
an experimental case study on dynamic range
Research Question: How did the vocal exercises from Bel Canto singing influence my
singing technique, especially in the dynamic range associated with pitch?
Summary of Results:
The format chosen by the author for this investigation was the Research Paper, as this
study required an investment on knowledge about Bel Canto singing technique and the
application of the latest into her singing practice, which resulted into a deep reflection
and reached new conclusions. The focus of the practical sessions of the author was on her
dynamic range. The purpose was to increase flexibility in her dynamic range in the
different registers of the voice. The research went through the following process: (1) an
audio recording of G. F. Händel aria: “Se Pietà di me non senti”, from the opera Giulio
Cesare; (2) in this same phase of the research, she used the software Voice Profiler 5.1 to
record her Voice Range Profile (VRP), the same piece and the vowel /a/, throughout the
vocal registers, exploring the complete dynamic range of her voice; (3) after three months
of practicing specific exercises designed to train the dynamic range, the same recordings
were made and also a comparison with the first ones. The results indicated that the
training had an impact: An increase of flexibility in realizing Messa di Voce was verified
in the author’s middle vocal register. This impact did not happen in the highest vocal
register, where technical differences were not detected by the VRP recording. The latest
result is also applicable in the Händel aria. This method has proved to be beneficial in the
middle section of the author’s vocal range. The appliance of this method is a work in
process, which the author believes that it should bring more beneficial results; it offered
the author a much bigger awareness of the breathing system, which resulted in a better
quality Messa di Voce. The knowledge gained from the sources from the 18th and 19th
centuries, guided the practical study in this investigation. In future studies, the author
wishes to further research Italian vocal technique and use this important knowledge of
historical information by transferring it to her singing practice. The outcome of the
present study is an interesting interdisciplinary fusion between Old Italian vocal
pedagogy of Bel canto singing and advanced vocal technology.
Biography:
Mariana Pimenta is a soprano born in Madeira Island, Portugal. She graduated in
Classical singing in Aveiro, Portugal in 2011 and started her specialization in Early
Music Singing at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in 2012. As a performer Mariana
has been performing as a soloist and in ensemble singing, in some countries, as The
Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Ecuador.
The Performer Composer Relation
(2014)
author(s): Joao Carlos Ferreira de Miranda Santos
published in: KC Research Portal
This Research Investigates the musical relation Between Researcher and Performer in the 18th Century and its philosophical assumptions
Comparisons of Perspective in the Empfindsamer Stil: How the music of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach represents a microcosm of an emerging cultural initiative
(2014)
author(s): Kristen Huebner
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Kristen Huebner
Main Subject: Traverso
Research Coaches: Inês de Avena Braga and Jacques Ogg
Title of Research: Comparisons of Perspective in the Empfindsamer Stil: How the music of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach represents a microcosm of an emerging cultural initiative
Research Question:
What are the musical tools available to musicians which can be used to unlock the complex understanding of the Empfindsamer Stil?
Research Process:
My research process has been the result of years working and performing the 1788 Quartets for Keyboard, Flute and Viola by Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach. Besides a deep musical analysis of these three works, the main body of my research has dealt with the developing style which is commonly associated with this music, that of Empfindsamkeit or Empfindsamer Stil. The English translation equating to “sensitive style” is often associated with the Sturm und Drang, a highly influential literary movement of the 1770s. After reading much of the actual literature of the Sturm und Drang, including Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, I set out to draw a distinction between the terms Empfindsamkeit and Sturm und Drang. Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach’s ersuch ber die ahre rt das lavier u spielen provided the springboard for my musical analysis of the Quartets and a subsequent categorization of three distinct musical characteristics used to describe the music of the Empfindsamkeit.
Summary of Results:
Having its origins in literature, the Sturm und Drang aimed to represent an artistic struggle showing the depths and extremes of the human experience, working most often in contradiction with the mainstream Enlightenment ideology of the time, which was founded and based on man’s ability to reason. Breaking away from this restrictive model, the Sturm und Drang influence crept further into cross-disciplines of poetry, theater and painting, yet striking deepest in the most ambiguous and indefinable of arenas, music. The Quartets of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach surprised and demanded a more explicit and contemplative attitude in order to perform with any real consciousness or effect. In addition to shifting roles in instrumentation with the keyboard asserting dominance over the supporting flute and viola, I have explored rhythmic manipulation and surprise, in addition to dynamic juxtaposition. Perhaps most taxing for the performer of these Quartets is the abruptness with which one must make changes in mood and character; drastic intervallic leaps, modulation to strange keys and an intentional disruption of the rhythmic pulse all contribute to a sense of impulsiveness, the suggestion of something that cannot be predicted and should be performed with an equal amount of surprise. The presentation will take the form of an informative demonstration combining live musical examples with visual representations of paintings and portraits of key figures in a PowerPoint presentation.
Postcolonial Fandango: Interdisciplinarity between Early Music, Ethnomusicology and Postcolonial Studies
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Camilo Arias
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
The musical label of "Latin American Baroque" has been associated with musical cross-breeding, allthough the body of its repertorie (music from colonial archives) documents rather the absence of afro-hispanic or hispanic-amerindian musical features. By accepting the impossibility to find the written the exoticized "Mestizo Baroque", this research chooses to "re-imagine it" from orality. Taking the Fandango musical family as a framework, it 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 research aims to create a musical product that resolves the identity tensions present in the Performance of Colonial Baroque Music.
Look again
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Inês de Avena Braga, Claudio Ribeiro
connected to: KC Research Portal
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
It goes without saying that engaging with the ethos of early music demands a considerable amount of continuous research on the practices of the past, as most aspects of performance are not written in the score, and the understanding and usage of signs and other written indications have changed considerably over time. As curious musicians, research is not only a source of inspiration and innovation in our work but also a source of constant questioning and strengthening of our musical practices. Questions such as “is this actually true?” and “can I really say/do that?” are recurring, and, although these are not always fully or definitively answerable, we find it important to keep asking, going back to the sources and answering over and over again.
In this research, as part of the 2021 Lectorate ‘Music, Education and Society’ of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, we will look again at well-known Italian sources and search for new sources of information on performance practice of music written in Italy in the first half of the 18th century (music methods, instructional writings and evidences in repertoire), without imposing our current practice on it, but being open to what these sources may say that is in shock with what we usually do or take for granted. What can we (re)learn about the performance practice of late 17th- and early 18th-century Italian music by going back to the sources? Our conclusions and inconclusions will hopefully stimulate a review of today’s performance practice and renew approaches on the research of performance practice.
The 'cello' in the Low Countries : the instrument and its practical use in the 17th and 18th centuries
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Elske Tinbergen
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This research of Elske Tinbergen is only available in Dutch.
In 20e-eeuwse naslagwerken is niet veel geschreven over de cello in de Lage Landen in de 17e en 18e eeuw, wat doet denken dat het instrument in die tijd hier niet of amper gebruikt werd. Echter, geschreven en pictoriale bronnen alsmede instrumenten en bladmuziek uit deze twee eeuwen geven wel informatie. Op basis hiervan kan gesteld worden dat de cello in de Nederlanden veel meer gebruikt werd dan gedacht. Er werden hier instrumenten gebouwd, er werden zeer veel afbeeldingen geproduceerd (schilderijen, maar ook bijvoorbeeld gebruiksartikelen zoals tegels, drinkglazen en
zilver) en er is ook een substantiële collectie muziek voor cello gecomponeerd, zowel voor cello solo als cello continuo.
De meest verrassende uitkomst van het onderzoek is wel dat er door veel cellisten in de 17e eeuw een andere streektechniek (n.l. onderhands) werd gebruikt dan in de 18e eeuw. Deze uitkomst wordt ondersteund door een overweldigende collectie afbeeldingen. Deze andere streektechniek resulteert in een andere klank en articulatie wat een ander karakter aan een muziekstuk geeft.
Daarnaast is er uitgebreid onderzoek gedaan naar Alexis Magito, lid van een beroemde 18e-eeuwse Rotterdamse familie van voornamelijk kermisklanten maar ook van enkele musici. Alexis was cellist, componist en graveur. Tijdens dit onderzoek is veel informatie over zijn levensloop boven water gekomen. Twee van zijn cellosonates zijn door de promovenda op cd gezet.
Conclusie: het onderzoek laat zien dat de cello ook in de Lage Landen wijdverbreid was en dat er vele verschijningsvormen en speelwijzen waren.
Vestito a ponti d'oro e a cento corde in seno - 'History, repertoire and playing-techniques of the Italian salterio in the eighteenth century'
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Franziska Fleischanderl
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
The present study of Franziska Fleischanderl is the first comprehensive and fundamental compendium on the Italian salterio of the eighteenth century. It sheds light on its genesis in the ecclesiastical environment, its dissemination and use in all regions of Italy, its social rise to the highest circles of the aristocracy, its virtuoso professionals and noble amateurs, and last but not least, its original genre-spanning repertoire. It is a great peculiarity of the Italian salterio that it was played with three completely different playing techniques in equal measure. Either the strings were struck with two small hammers (battuto), plucked with the fingernails and fingertips (finger-pizz) or plucked it with plectra, that were fixed in metal finger rings and placed at the fingertips (plectra-pizz). The search for and reproduction of original playing utensils such as hammers and finger rings, as well as instructions for assigning the appropriate playing technique to the original salterio repertoire and mastering all three techniques, constitute the artistic research part of this study, which was conducted on an exceptionally well-preserved, beautifully decorated, original salterio made by Michele Barbi in Rome in 1725.
Vokales Instrumentalspiel in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Claire Genewein
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
The performance practice of Italian instrumental music in relation to vocal music and text: Sources and their modern realization. In my work I, Claire Genewein, have shown that in the second half of the 18th century in Italy, one prepared instrumental music for performance with the help of texts. Central to this work is a treatise by Benvenuto Robbio Conte di San Raffaele stemming from the circle around Giuseppe Tartini which demonstrates the various steps of learning instrumental music through text underlay. Based on this, I could show how in various genres (solfeggi, recitatives, arias) numerous composers (Domenico Corri, Francesco Geminiani, Guiseppe Tartini) used texts and singing in preparing instrumental music for performance. The influence of this sort of “vocal” preparation on the interpretation of instrumental music has proved itself to be very fruitful in my own playing as well as in my work with students.
Sense and Sensibility, performing music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
(last edited: 2017)
author(s): Ingrid Eriksen Hagen
connected to: Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
For Norwegian version, see the exposition "Fornuft og kjensle - å framføre musikk av Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach"
Engaging in the complex and expressive music of Bach; on the clavichord, which is as intense and nuanced as it is delicate and soft in volume; aspiring to a musical empathy in which the performer and the listener jointly experience the true content and emotion of the music – spurs a craving for closeness and intimacy.
But how close can we get? How close do we want to get?
Close enough to hear the instrument. Close enough to understand what the music is telling us – to follow all the wonderful diversions – in close up. Deepest sincerity. Tender caresses. The rush of joy. The thought that could not be – could… be… – …
But then the floor creaks. Someone turns round. I can’t hear it. Why is she playing so faintly? I don’t understand it. All those notes. So full on the whole time! So, who was that guy anyway – he lived a long time ago, right?
These are the reflections in Ingrid E. Hagen’s research fellowship project. Based on my personal encounters with the music of Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) and his concepts of musical empathy, I worked on public mediation of his music, mainly on the clavichord. I have explored the tension that exists between intimacy and distance – and have experimented with different means of achieving that intimacy, and registered the resulting resistance to these experiments.
I have reached out to people outside of the conventional concert setting, on a quest for the intimate interaction in the interests of empathic, shared experience of the music. I have performed Bach's music in the open air, at museums, for people who were not expecting to experience live music. I have investigated relationships between music and language; structural, stylistic and contextualising. Both in order to improve my own understanding and artistic empathy with the subject matter, and to investigate the ways in which different means of communicating and their use in musical mediation can influence experiences in various ways.
Through this process, I became aware of the great extent to which different concert formats or other modes of presentation influence what audiences listen to in the music, and what they gain from it.
I have worked intensively on a selection of Bach's keyboard music, and recorded the CD für Kenner und Liebhaber. Together with the final concert in November 2016, the CD represented the artistic results of my research fellowship.
My artistic method has been a reflexive process in which questions are addressed in experiments, articulated in a dialogue with the study material, be it musical, literary or artistic experience, in a constant quest for intimacy; for getting closer. I organised this non-linear approach in the form of 'tracks', which allowed me to address multiple questions in parallel and as they intersected along the way.
My research fellowship was undertaken at the Grieg Academy, Institute of Music, under the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and was funded by the University of Bergen.
My supervisors were Professor Torleif Torgersen of the Grieg Academy, and Professor Maria Bania of the University College of Theatre and Music, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Fornuft og kjense - å framføre musikk av Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
(last edited: 2017)
author(s): Ingrid Eriksen Hagen
connected to: Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
For English version, see the exposition "Sense and Sensibility, performing music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach".
I møtet med Emanuel Bach sin komplekse og uttrykksfulle musikk – med klavikordet, som er like intenst og nyanserikt som det er sart og lydsvakt – med tankane om musikalsk empati, der utøvar og lyttar saman opplever det sanne innhaldet og kjenslene i musikken – oppstår ein trong til nærleik, intimitet.
Men kor nær kan me kome? Kor nær vil me kome?
Nær nok til å høyre instrumentet. Nær nok til å forstå kva musikken seier – til å følgje med i alle dei vedunderlege svingane av – skarpt vidd. Djupaste alvor. Ømmaste kjærteikn. Boblande glede. Tanken som ikkje let seg – let … seg … – …
Men så knirkar golvet. Nokon snur på seg. Klarar ikkje høyre. Kvifor speler ho så svakt? Klarar ikkje forstå. Så mange notar. Fryktelig fort heile tida! Kven var no eigentleg denne fyren – det er veldig lenge sidan han levde?
Dette er refleksjonen i Ingrid E. Hagen sitt kunststipendiatarbeid. Med utgangspunkt i mitt personlege møte med Emanuel Bach (1714–'88) sin musikk og hans idear om musikalsk empati har eg utforska formidlinga til publikum, i all hovudsak på klavikord. Eg har arbeidd i spenningsfeltet mellom intimitet og avstand – prøvd ut ulike måtar å kome nærmare på og kjend på motstanden som oppstår i desse forsøka.
Eg har oppsøkt menneske utanom den konvensjonelle konsertsituasjonen, på jakt etter det nære møtet for empatisk samoppleving av musikken. Eg har framført Bachs musikk utandørs, på museum, for menneske som ikkje forventa å oppleve levande musikk. Og eg har undersøkt relasjonar mellom musikk og språk, både strukturelle, utrykksmessige og kontekstualiserande. Dette har eg gjort for å betre mi eiga forståing og kunstnarlege innleving i stoffet, og for å finne ut korleis ulike vis å kommunisere og utnytte desse i formidlingssituasjonen kan forme opplevinga på ulikt vis.
Gjennom arbeidet har eg vorte merksam på kor mykje ulike konsertformat eller andre presentasjonsformer påverkar kva publikum lyttar til i musikk, og slik kva dei får ut av den.
Eg har arbeidd inngåande med ein del av Bachs klavermusikk, og spelt inn CD’en "für Kenner und Liebhaber" med solo klavikordmusikk. Saman med avslutningskonserten i Stranges Stiftelse i Bergen i november 2016 utgjorde CD’en stipendiatarbeidets kunstnarlege resultat.
Min kunstnarlege metode har vore ein refleksiv prosess, der spørsmål blir undersøkt i forsøk, utforma i dialog med det faglege stoffet – det vere seg musikalsk, skriftleg eller kunstnarleg erfaring, i eit stadig forsøk på å kome nærmare. Denne ikkje-lineære arbeidsforma organiserte eg som «spor», og kunne slik arbeide med parallelt fleire problemstillingar som grip inn i kvarandre undervegs.
Stipendiatarbeidet blei gjennomført på Griegakademiet, inst. for musikk innan Program for Kunstnerisk Utviklingsarbeid, og var finansiert av Universitetet i Bergen.
Rettleiarar var professor Torleif Torgersen ved Griegakademiet og professor Maria Bania ved Högskolan för scen och musik, Göteborgs Universitet.