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.
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.
An improvisatory approach to nineteenth-century music
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Bert Mooiman
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
In the field of Western art music, improvisation has become a much discussed topic. In this interdisciplinary study Bert Mooiman argues that in this context, improvisation is not to be seen as a quasi-autonomous skill or art form, but as an aspect of music-making in general. With this research, Mooiman offers a ‘panorama’ of nineteenth-century styles and situations of music-making that together sketch a picture of improvisatory aspects of nineteenth-century music. Music was generally experienced as a wordless language, and he argues that making music was understood as a rhetorical act: performers strove for musical persuasion. This study focuses on the performer: it explores how performers in the nineteenth century might have thought during the real-time act of music-making, and how performers today might learn to use musical languages from the past actively again. For this last aspect, the area of music theory is relevant; Mooiman concludes his dissertation with a discussion of how traditional music theory is challenged by improvisatory music-making.