The Musical Dyad - Crisis and Growth through Music
(2019)
author(s): Jessica Kaiser
published in: Research Catalogue
Music has the fundamental ability to open up spaces of intersubjectivity and social interaction. When two people engage in making music together, questions surrounding relationality arise: As a duo, the two individuals can musically act together in various ways. In fact, it is the wide range of relationality, from close attachment to the possibility of crisis, dissociation, or at least the struggle for togetherness, that unleashes the artistic potential.
Confronting a piece of music, the question of relationship is prompted by music itself. To answer this question, the duo negotiates relational qualities through the process of interpretation. Together with the violinist Johanna Ruppert, I aim to explore how a developing interpersonal dynamic can be challenged and how it may respond to an audience that is made aware of the relational potential in the duo situation.
In an open rehearsal format, we experiment with choreographic elements and
(extra-musical) objects that can facilitate interaction. This performative approach allows to shift focus between different aspects of relation, such as connectivity, trust, resonance, fragility, embodiment or shared space. Drawing on the concept of musical empathy (Deniz Peters 2017) and joint feeling (Angelika Krebs 2015), this also entails questioning how empathetic processes, between co-performers as well as performers and listener, can be induced or intensified, without construing an artificial narrative.
In a live research situation, the audience is called upon interfering and interacting with us as a duo. This may be by moving through the room, (re-)positioning us and/or themselves or intervening with vocal statements. Objects such as threads, ties, hoops or clothes can be used as additional provocative means. Venturing into a state of crisis, our relationship shall be put to the test, only to give rise to new possibilities of relation and eventually to come out of this crisis – strengthened in our togetherness.
Combining Coco, Arranging for Het Coco Collectief
(2014)
author(s): Jannelieke Schmidt
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Jannelieke Schmidt
Main Subject: Classical Singing
Research Coach: Patrick van Deurzen
Title of Research: Combining Coco, Arranging for “Het Coco Collectief”
Research Question:How do I arrange from a market, artistic, voice technique and stylistic point of view mostly single-voiced by piano accompanied music for “Het Coco Collectief” which consists of five sopranos and one pianist?
Research Process: In order to develop my skills, theoretic knowledge and insight in the process of making arrangements I studied sources concerning music theory and chord writing, I made several arrangements, I interviewed arrangers and singers, I had my fellow Coco colleagues answer questions about their preferences concerning singing in the ensemble and I analysed my arrangements.
Summary of Results:
My paper contains all the information I gathered over a two year research period. It has become a little handbook of tips, tricks and rules. I gained skill and knowledge mainly through trial and error, rehearsals with the ensemble and analysing my interviews and questionnaires. I arranged three pieces by Rossini (La pastorelle delle Alpi, La Danza, La legend de Marguerite) one piece by William Bomcom (Amor) one piece by Johannes Röntgen (Op een Kwal) and one piece by Bizet (Adieux de l’hotesse Arabe). I used La Danza en La legend de Marguerite as material to compare arrangements before and after my research in order to detect differences in choice making and using gained knowledge and skill. I used Op een Kwal en Adieux de l’hotesse Arabe in order to explain how a piece changes through a rehearsal process and adapting the piece for either stage of radio.
Through talking to the arrangers and working on my pieces together with my coco colleagues and my research coach I found what I was looking for: skill. From the beginning of this research I was looking for justification of my choices. I found that for me to feel secure of my work I needed those two years of thinking that rules is all I needed. That if I could explain an idea by saying it there because of a style or historical context, from a voice technical of personality choice, from Coco’s image or other peoples opinion my arrangement would be good enough. If I could find arguments and explanations for why I did what I did, I should not have to justify why I dare to rearrange already ‘perfect’ repertoire. I created the handbook, containing tips tricks and rules: music theory, all the knowledge shared with me during interviews, Coco’s preferences, all the rules are there. Everything in order to be able to let go of them if it pleases me. My choices are still based on knowledge but now I can consciously use or not use the rules. I have developed a greater trust in my own artistic ideas about the pieces I arranged. I have developed a greater understanding of what it is to write for this ensemble, for these people. And as said before I have created a little booklet of rules for anyone who wants to arrange for voices and piano. During my presentation Het Coco Collectief will sing both La Danza and Adieux de l’hotesse Arabe.
In flux
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Tobias Andersson
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
In this research project, guitarist and improviser Tobias Andersson investigates compositional tools and techniques to create flexible harmonic frameworks for improvisation. In a strive for music that stays in an improvisational state the reseach project also adresses questions on the quality of coherence in the music. The research project investigates how the application of theoretical concepts associated to the 20th century western classical music and post-tonal theory can be useful when composing for improvisation. By taking a close look on the musical material itself, the author starts to compose music where all harmonic and melodic material is derived from a small original set.
The results of the investigation is a series of compositions for different ensembles, spanning from solo work, via smaller settings a large ensemble of wind instruments. The compositions are analysed in regard to the initial questions of coherence and harmonic flexibility, sharing insights to how the compositional approach influenced the musical results.
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE SONOLOGY ELECTROACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE
(last edited: 2022)
author(s): Richard Barrett
connected to: KC Research Portal
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This is a report on research supported by the lectorate ‘Music, Education and Society’, research group ‘Making in Music’, at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. The present text and the accompanying audio component constitute a documentation of just over one year’s activity by the Sonology Electroacoustic Ensemble, an improvising group I set up in 2009 in which I perform together with Conservatoire students, ex-students, faculty members and guests. A primary purpose of the research has been to address the question of how this activity might inform a more general approach to free improvisation in the context of this conservatoire and others, especially where combinations of electronic and acoustic instruments are featured, and how this might inform the learning trajectories of students of instrumental playing, composition, electronic music and other areas. This question is addressed principally through reflections on the workshops and performances undertaken with the ensemble between October 2018 and December 2019, which amount to around four hours of recorded material.