How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?
(2019)
author(s): Laura Lunansky, Coraline Groen
published in: KC Research Portal
Student Number
3026329
Supervisor(s)
Andrew Wright, Maggie Urquhart
Title
De Formule
Research Question
How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?
Summary
This research was carried out in and through the practice and performances of ensemble ‘de Formule’, a piano quintet in which we both play the violin. As a result of this research, our goal was to perform the Shostakovich piano quintet in a dramatized way, which we did in 2018. The research text describes the internal research process. By looking at (historical) sources about the composer and the piece, and by analyzing the score we got an impression of the context and atmosphere of the quintet, and we created a story to go with it. We found that the piece fitted today’s very important topic about finding your identity within the (mass) society, knowing the history of Shostakovich’ own struggles and the expressions he creates in his melodies, harmonies, instrumentation etc.: sometimes searching, sometimes dragged along in sarcastic happiness and sometimes screaming for help. All these elements we used to conduct the research process, which included translation of the story lines and expressions into movements, words, light effects and different stagings. As a result of this dramatization, we noticed that the audience seemed to understand the music better, and for ourselves, the performance was a more meaningful experience.
Short Bio
Coraline Groen obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Her teachers have included Vera Beths, Peter Brunt and Philippe Graffin in The Hague, and Rodney Friend at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Groen was a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy 2018-2019 and played with the Bayrische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra. She was appointed principal of the second violins of the NJO, the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Academy Orchestra. Groen is a member of the Volkmann Trio, De Formule, and a duo with bayan player Robbrecht Van Cauwenberghe.
Hearing Double: how to use the double bass in the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer.
(2018)
author(s): Eva Euwe
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Eva Euwe
Main Subject: Violone
Research Supervisor: Johannes Boer
Title of Research: Hearing Double
Research Question: Was the double bass used in the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm Van Wassenaer, and if so, how was it used?
Summary of Results:
As far as we know, the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer were written for a chamber music setting with one instrument per part. We do not know which basso continuo instrumentation was intended or preferred by the composer, but it could have been possible that a double bass was to be used. At that time in the Netherlands, double basses and bassists were around and it is not unlikely that they also played in relatively small settings such as chamber music. If the double bass played the basso continuo line in this piece, there are many reasons that it was used in a different way than the more usual 'concerto grosso' style of playing the continuo line. It is also likely that instead of a double bass, a smaller bass instrument in the 8 foot register was used to double the continuo line with. This would be an instrument that is perhaps bigger than most baroque cellos and close to a basse de violon or a G-violone.
To illustrate these possibilities, I have recorded several versions of the same Concerto with different basso continuo instrumentations.
Biography:
Eva Euwe (Amsterdam, 1988) studies historical double bass and violone with Margaret Urquhart at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. She received her Bachelor’s diploma from the Utrecht Conservatory where she studied modern double bass with Quirijn van Regteren Altena. She received masterclasses from world-class bassists such as Joel Quarrington and Edicson Ruiz.
Alongside her studies, Eva works as a freelance bassist with several ensembles such as De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, BarokOpera Amsterdam and Música Temprana. She also performs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as a participant of the OAE Experience 2018.