"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.
(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.
Searching for the Siren | Exploring contemporary vocal aesthetics
(2022)
author(s): Kristia Michael
published in: KC Research Portal
“Searching for the Siren” explores contemporary vocal approaches that mirror the aesthetics and the contemporary perception of defining the elements of Beauty. Specifically, three main thematics are researched: 1) The Folk Voice, which explores how folk elements and timbres enter in classical and popular music, 2) The Extended Voice, which describes the use of extended vocal techniques with reference to technical and physical aspects of timbral contrasts, vocal fry, scream and inhalation phonation, 3) The Absent, Transformed and Replaced Voice which occurred with the technological development. Ends with conclusions around the definition of the mythical creature of the Siren and its relation to the human voice. Every aspect includes personal views, works, performances and syllogisms.
La Basse de Violon
(2022)
author(s): Blanca Leticia Martín Muñoz
published in: KC Research Portal
About this exposition
Nowadays we can find a vast amount of information about the history of the cello. But do we know anything of its larger ancestor? What was its purpose in the music scene in France in the 17th century? And why did it disappear?
Little attention has been paid to the basse de violon, an instrument of great importance before the arrival of the cello.
In my presentation, I will discuss these questions as well as other matters that concern the basse de violon, starting with what is it, going through its development, its role as a solo instrument, and as the bass of the ensembles, and finishing with the reasons for its decay and ultimately complete disappearance in France.
Also, as part of my artistic presentation, I will base my conclusions by using videos of my experimentations on a surviving basse de violon from 1715 and a cello from the 19th century.
A practical exploration of the historical fingerings of Baroque Recorders in England, France and Germany
(2016)
author(s): Koske Nozaki
Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
Name: Koske Nozaki
Main Subject: Recorder
Research Supervisors: Inês de Avena Braga and Peter Van Heyghen
Title of Research:
A practical exploration of the historical fingerings of Baroque Recorders in England, France and Germany
Research Question:
What is “historical fingering” for Baroque recorders, and how does it work and affect our modern recorder performance practice.
Summary of Results:
The recorder was an important instrument in the Early Music revival, partly due to its large repertoire of Baroque music. However, most recorder players today do not use the instruments that were most commonly used in the Baroque period, i.e. those with historical fingering systems. Instead, we normally use instruments with “modern fingering,” a slight modification that simplifies fingerings and homogenizes notes. With our modern instruments and their different fingering systems, several notes and trills do not work with the existing fingering charts for Baroque recorders. The Investigation of this research, on 7 actual original 18th century recorders from England, Germany, and France, and 40 fingering charts from historical methods shows us; it is a very logical system. The people at the time were playing the recorders in a different way, with differently tuned instruments. Fingerings on the recorder have always been found by trial and error, by players, with their own comfort and ease in mind. Though it is clearly not possible to know how the people in the Baroque period were choosing their fingerings; the best approximation is to have the same instrument tuned in the same system from the time. Historical tutors allow us to realize how their system of thought was different, which helps us to get closer to them. A bit of effort to accept the valuable tips from centuries past, with a taste for authenticity on the Baroque-fingered recorder, is a necessity.
Biography:
Koske Nozaki (Tokyo, 1988) began playing recorder at the age of 9. He loved the friendliness of such a simple flute with so many possibilities, and had a lot of curiosity for repertoire and the instrument itself. His school life at a beautiful seaside was focused on the recorder ensemble with his friends, which taught him a lot of basic musical knowledge. In his high school life, on a mountain this time, he learned not only recorder, but cello in the school orchestra as well. He studied recorder and Early Music performance at The National Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, where he obtained his Bachelor degree. After three years of working as a recorder player and teacher in Japan, he moved to The Netherlands in 2014. He is currently completing his Master’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where he studies recorder and baroque flute.
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.