ππ¦πͺπ΄π΅π£πΆπ΄π΅π¦π³π΄: The Search for Liberty in Authenticity Through Franz Liszt's Interpretation of Beethoven's music
(2025)
author(s): Aruth Masrangsan
published in: KC Research Portal
This work explores the balance between tradition and innovation in classical music performance, focusing on Franz Liszt's interpretation of Beethoven's music and the concept of Geist (spirit). It traces Liszt's evolution from his early studies with Carl Czerny, a direct pupil of Beethoven, through his virtuosic performance years, to his later focus on preserving Beethoven's legacy as a teacher. Drawing on sources from musicians and scholars, the study examines the philosophical and practical challenges of authenticity, highlighting the tension between historical accuracy and artistic expression. It argues that authenticity should not rigidly reproduce the past but should capture the spirit of the music in a way that resonates with contemporary audiences. Ultimately, the study advocates for a balanced approach, honoring historical sources while allowing for personal creative interpretation. By examining Liszt's legacy, this work aims to inform and inspire my own performance practices, blending historical performance studies with personal expression.
Exploring plurality of interpretation through annotations in the long 19th century: musician's perspectives and the FAAM project.
(2024)
author(s): Nicholas Cornia
published in: Research Catalogue
The quest of reconciling scholarship and interpretative freedom has always been present in the early music movement discourse, since its 19th century foundations. Confronted with a plurality of performance practices, the performer of Early Music is forced to make interpretative choices, based on musicological research of the sources and their personal taste.
The critical analysis of the sources related to a musical work is often a time-consuming and cumbersome task, usually provided by critical editions made by musicologists. Such editions primarily focus on the composer's agency, neglecting the contribution of a complex network of professions, ranging from editors, conductors, amateur and professional performers and collectors.
The FAAM, Flemish Archive for Annotated Music, is an interdisciplinary project at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp that wishes to explore the possibilities of annotation analysis on music scores for historically informed musicians.
Annotations are a valuable source of information to recollect the decision-making process of musicians of the past. Especially when original musical recordings are not available, the marks provided by these performers of the past are the most intimate and informative connections between modern and ancient musicians.
Contrary to a purely scholarly historically informed practice approach, based on the controversial concept of authenticity, we wish to allow the modern performers to reconcile their practice with the one of their predecessors in a process of dialectic emulation, where artistic process is improved through the past but does not stagnate in it.
Tales of the unexpected (public version)
(last edited: 2021)
author(s): Hans Koolmees
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
The starting point for this research was mainly practical: exploration and mapping of the possibilities of electronics, the combination with acoustic instruments, and the application of this knowledge and skills in new compositions. After one year it became clear that this original plan needed to be adjusted. An essential characteristic of electronic instruments is their relative unpredictability, and this should therefore be taken into account when investigating the integration of electronics in a composed environment. This lead to an expansion of the research field:
1. Exploring, editing and applying the possibilities of electronics in compositions.
2. How to deal with factors such as unpredictability, improvisation, freedom, coincidence, intuition and control.
As a result of this research I have expanded my knowledge and skills in working with electronics, and I applied this in a series of new compositions for electronics, and for electronics and voice. It also gave new insights on the balance between control and improvisation, and thus provided a possible answer to the research question.
An unforeseen by-product of the research is the reflection on the communication between musician and instrument, and by analogy, the communication between composer and music, or, better formulated: the role of the composer in the balance between the musical imagination and the musical result.
Beside the musical content, the topic of this research is the reflection on the process itself: it also sheds new light on the relation between composing and researching.
The Relationship Between the Military, Bodies, and Performance Practice
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Lydia Cardenas
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This map seeks to visualize the relationship between power paradigms that propel the military industrialized complex, the human body, and performance art. I was inspired by interviews with J. and S., both military veterans, and their performance practices. By using the body as a tool for research, performance acknowledges that we know in different ways, thus creating a bridge between the authority of written scholarship with lived experience. So too, veteran artists bridge stratified worlds, constantly recalibrating embodied military training in a civilian environment. By using the cultural capital of art, writing and movement, J. and S. remind audiences of invisible chains of power and authority that connects us to foreign policy and global communities.
Power paradigms : neoliberalism, capitalism, colonialism
Psyche: woundedness, validation, healing, boundaries