Pozorování a jeho popis
(2025)
author(s): Roman Štětina
published in: Research Catalogue
(CZ)
Předmětem mého výzkumu je ekfráze – detailní obrazný popis, který svou přesvědčivostí vyvolává ve čtenářově či posluchačově mysli vizuální představy nebo jiné multisenzorické, emocionální a estetické prožitky.
Prostřednictvím setkání a rozhovorů s lidmi z různých oborů se snažím přiblížit roli popisu napříč historií i rozličnými oblastmi lidské činnosti. Zkoumám, jak se měnilo postavení popisu coby kdysi esenciálního stavebního prvku rozhlasových pořadů. Dále jeho význam a užití jako jedné z prvních forem reprodukce umění, analytického kunsthistorického nástroje nebo nedílné pomůcky při interpretaci výtvarných děl. Zaměřuji se také na jeho aplikaci v podobě promptu pro generátory obrázků založených na strojovém učení a trénování neuronových sítí. A věnuji prostor také úloze popisu v životě nevidomých a zrakově hendikepovaných i jeho funkci jako klíčového nástroje v psychoterapeutické praxi.
Podstatnou součást práce tvoří sdílení konkrétních pedagogických postupů při výuce umění v intermediálním ateliéru na Akademii výtvarných umění v Praze (AVU) a v kurzu intermediální přípravky tamtéž. V tomto prostředí, kde se často pohybujeme mezi médii, hraje ekfráze zásadní roli – umožňuje překlenout mezeru mezi slovy a obrazy, respektive plní roli žánru prostředkujícího mezi médii.
V závěru disertační práce prezentuji vlastní umělecký audit v podobě autorské knihy. Zároveň uvádím sbírku ekfrází převážně fiktivních uměleckých děl, které jsem během svého výzkumu nashromáždil od studujících a vyučujících na AVU.
úvodní ilustrace: Martin Groch
(EN)
My research topic is the ekphrasis, i.e., a detailed figurative description that, with its conclusiveness, evokes visual images or other multisensory, emotional and aesthetic experiences in the reader’s or listener’s mind.
Through meetings and interviews with people from different disciplines, I try to approach the role of description throughout history and various areas of human activity. I examine how the notion of description as a historically essential building block of radio programmes has changed. Furthermore, the emphasis is put on its importance and use as one of the first forms of art reproduction, as an analytical tool for art historians or as a crucial device for artwork interpretation. I also focus on its application in prompting of image generators based on machine learning and neural network training. And I also consider the role of description in the lives of the blind and visually impaired as well as it being a key tool in psychotherapy.
A substantial part of the work is dedicated to the dissemination of specific pedagogical practices in teaching art in the Intermedia Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU) and in the intermedia preparatory course there. In this environment, where we often switch between various media, the ekphrasis has a crucial role. It allows us to bridge the gap between words and images, or rather it represents a genre that mediates between the given media.
In the conclusion of my dissertation, I present my own artistic audit represented by my artist's book. At the same time, I present a collection of ekphrases of mostly fictional works of art that I collected from students and teachers at the Academy of Fine Arts during my research.
thumbnail by Martin Groch
Srrjei – sörj ej att din sköna tid förflutit
(2024)
author(s): Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, Live Maria Roggen
published in: VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
What is a narrative, when it moves through time and history, when it moves through bodies? The narrative is always in danger of dying, until it is picked up and given new movement into new contexts. Where does the new begin? Where does the old one go? Vocalist Live Maria Roggen and pianist Ingfrid Breie Nyhus have over several years investigated duo music that was once romantic music. Through time, body, forgetfulness, fallibility – and improvisation as a method – the music has merged with the whims, derailments and backtracks of the inner sound and the duo's body. Where does the narrative live in the next moment?
Etableringen av en norsk klavertradisjon: Interpretative trekk ved Edvard Griegs Ballade op. 24, Geirr Tveitts Sonate nr. 29 op. 129 og Fartein Valens Sonate nr. 2 op. 38.
(2024)
author(s): Einar Røttingen
published in: Research Catalogue
The theme of this dissertation is three important Norwegian piano works. The dissertation includes a main text, a recording and a critical/practical edition of Valen’s Sonata no.2 op.38. By using a musicological/analytical and artistic approach, this dissertation aims to create a greater understanding for these three works as a part of a Norwegian and continental European piano tradition. The main text investigates the contents of the music and how the works are built. It looks at the performance indications in the score and performance practice traditions (historical recordings). References and allusions to other works in the same genres and to similar piano styles are discussed. By looking at possible autobiographical and metaphorical allusions, the dissertation aims at finding an understanding for the works’ origin and meaning. The critical and practical edition contributes for the first time to correct errors and unclear readings of the existing edition and presents a possible realization of Valen’s incomplete score. The main text also includes general criteria for the interpretative choices on the CD. (Norwegian version only, some parts are translated to English as articles)
At Cross Purposes, reflections on constellations
(2024)
author(s): Janne Schipper
connected to: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
published in: Research Catalogue
When gazing at the night sky together with someone, it can be challenging to guide the other person’s attention to a specific star or cluster. To completely follow the alignment of the eyes and the tip of the index finger to the object in mind would require us to climb into the other, to see the world through their eyes. How do we know if we have the same star in mind as the person next to us? Are we talking at cross-purposes?
At Cross Purposes, reflections on constellations, comprises three texts by different authors on language, narrative, sign and signification, as well as poetry and anxiety in art.
Radical Interpretations of Iconic works for Percussion
(2024)
author(s): Kjell Tore Innervik
published in: Norwegian Academy of Music
The artistic development project Radical Interpretations investigates two iconic works for solo percussion and re-composes these. The goal of the project was to develop new creative and transdisciplinary research in interpretation of musical works.
Participants: percussionist Kjell Tore Innervik, Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH), composer Ivar Frounberg, NMH, designer Maziar Raein, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, experience designer Ståle Stenslie, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and music recording producer Morten Lindberg.
During the 3 years project, the team engaged with the music of Morton Feldman and Iannis Xenakis. The solo percussion pieces The King of Denmark and Psappha were the point of departure.
The cd [UTOPIAS ](http://www.2l.no/pages/album/141.html)(2L) contains the pure audio version of the pieces in high definition and immersive sound.-><-
On this site you will find other interpretations and iterations of the music made by the team.
Tradering, oppløsing
(2022)
author(s): Ingfrid Breie Nyhus
published in: VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
TRADITIONING, DISSOLVING: What does 'traditioning' mean, what can the 'traditioned' become? On exploring rules and possible spaces in tradition and creation.
To Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, the apparently impossible combination of folk music and grand piano, is a creatively generative musical situation. The rules of the 'slått' tradition are transposed to a new space in the grand piano, and the rules of the grand piano are destabilized in the meeting with the 'slått'. This exposition unfolds questions, reflections and new questions, from a longer process with the music "Slåttepiano".
The singing Performer: Who am I on stage when not singing?
(2022)
author(s): Julia Pallanch, Heloisa Amaral
published in: KC Research Portal
Approaching Kunstlieder with the background as a jazz interpreter, has challenged me to find, not only, my interpretation of the lieder/songs but to also find my interpretation of my role(s) as the singer on stage between classical music and jazz scenes. Through performing music, the chosen body of work, we are not only repeating and interpreting the music but repeating and interpreting ways of performing it. This research focuses on the role(s) of the singer on stage and the moments between the songs; the open space between one piece of music and another that offers the possibility to communicate and connect with the audience. What happens in these moments? What stories do we tell and how do we tell them? What do I communicate with, through, in - and outside of the lied, the song, the piece of music. What do I perform in the open space between between the songs - my self(s)?
The Feeling of Sound: Music Curating, Performing and Connecting with and through Music
(2022)
author(s): Laura Sophie von der Goltz
Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
Long story short
In this research exposition, I would like to invite the reader on a journey of discovery in the field of classical music presentation. Over the last 50 years there have been many suggestions on how to allow the professional field of classical music to develop alongside its time and people.
To get a new perspective on the topic, I approach ASMR as a connected topic, investigate it under the aspect of listening and then make a transfer to my professional practice. ASMR stands for autonomous sensuous meridian response and is describing a special kind of sensory perception. I study ASMR as way of perception and as well as a YouTube / media phenomenon.
My research question is:
What can I learn from ASMR (about contemporary audience’s perception of sound) and how can I integrate this in my artistic practice?
When I talked to colleagues or teachers from a classical music context, ASMR appeared to them at first as something bizarre and insignificant. Still, it has millions of followers on the internet. A large number of followers is not necessarily an indicator of artistic quality, but it can certainly be an argument to arouse curiosity. After all, the number of followers towards a subject does say something about its appeal or the ability to grasp people.
By comparing ASMR to synaesthesia, I want to focus on perception and sensuousness but also explore common traits and differences of the two phenomena as both neurological phenomenon and the social (artistic) movement.
An analysis and five experiments involving technological and dramaturgical tools often used in ASMR, leads to the final chapter: the artistic implementation. During the two years of my master studies, I designed two performance concepts, in which I applied the insights I gained throughout this research. A documentation of the process and a more elaborate explanation of the concept are to be found in chapter 4.
In the end of this exposition, I summarize the conclusions of the research I made on a general and on a personal level.
In order to acquire more information as well as a wider view, I have reached out to literature within the fields of sociology, (social) history, psychology, neuroscience and philosophy . During my years of studies in music, music pedagogic, historical and innovative performance practice, I quenched my thirst for knowledge about the past and now I am hungry to learn about the now and the future.
Research and Critical Edition of Capriccio Diabolico by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
(2022)
author(s): Eva Calvo López
published in: KC Research Portal
In short, the proposed work consists in a critical edition of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Capricho diabolico, backed up by previous research in which I compare the manuscript and Andrés Segovia's interpretative edition. As a result of the significant differences between the two, I propose a version that is faithful to the original work, but without overlooking the collaboration between the two musicians.
Fragments in Time
(2022)
author(s): Tobias Leibetseder, Thomas Grill, almut schilling, Till Bovermann
published in: VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
The processual sculpture "Fragments" is in permanent development and consists of artefacts of the "Rottings Sounds" project of artistic research*. Waste, things collected, things stored and things put aside, texts, pictures, data, sounds etc. are the basis of the shape-changing work. It is located at the Auditorium of Rotting Sounds. For this exposition, media representations of physical fragments have been arranged, then subjected to multiple stages of erosion processes specific to digital data. Object or exhibition, museum or archive, collection or documentation are moments of intrinsic research and decomposition, accompanying the process and resting in the distant but immediate eye of the virtual observer.
*"Rotting Sounds – Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio" is a cooperation of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. It is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) as project AR445-G24.
HONEYMOON IN POMPEII - work in progress
(2021)
author(s): Sven Vinge
published in: International Center for Knowledge in the Arts (Denmark)
“HONEYMOON IN POMPEII – work-in-progress” is an artistic research project conducted at the National Film School of Denmark. In it, I explore transmediality through the production of a prototype artwork spanning film, literary text, sculpture, and virtual reality all loosely inspired by the archeological technique used to cast the Pompeian victims of the Vesuvius eruption in 79 ad.
I describe my initial inspiration and how I changed my intentions of exploring a consistent storyworld to more abstract associations and themes and the different collaborative efforts in producing the four parts of the prototype (a test not meant for public exhibition). The prototype ended up consisting of:
1) A film representing a foot specialist helping a costumer try running shoes in a sports store but showing an obsessive interest in her feet and crossing her personal boundaries.
2) A literary text consisting of selected passages of Wilhelm Jensen’s short novel “Gradiva” (1902) translated to Danish in which we meet the young archeologist Norbert Hanold and notice his obsession with an ancient bas-relief portraying a young woman walking.
3) A sculpture consisting of four transparent plastic reliefs depicting a walking woman (copies of the bas-relief described in the novel) suspended in a 1x2x2 meter aluminum frame.
4) An erotic virtual reality experience in which the perceiver’s bodily movements affects the virtual world. When moving, the represented scene freezes and vice versa.
We conducted a test of the joint transmedia artwork with a small group of respondents who answered a questionnaire reflecting on their experience. I reflect on the respondent’s answers and propose further questions and themes that may be interesting to explore through artistic research: How does one explore transmediality not necessarily in relation to a consistent storyworld but also relying on abstract characteristics? What are the limits (if any) between mixed media art, transmedia art, and installation art? How can transmediality be explored as either a goal in itself or as a development tool for artists working with particular media in mind? Could it be beneficial to explore transmediality through the metaphor of archeology and how?
Walton viola Concerto beyond the score
(2021)
author(s): Alberto García Pérez
published in: KC Research Portal
The Walton Viola Concerto is one of the most famous and recognized compositions in the viola repertoire. Apart from this, it is a compulsory piece in any viola orchestra audition. This research is focused on my practice and artistic process of the Walton Concerto, consequently subjective, to create an artistic choice. In order to achieve an ideal interpretation of this composition, I will investigate and analyze the first two recordings made of the Concerto, as both represent different versions of the piece with several differences between them. These recordings were made by Frederick Riddle in 1937, and by the famous violist William Primrose in 1946. This research aims to: (1) decide what details or alternatives I can recover from these recordings to inspire my own interpretation, and (2) find out what ideas from the first recording are reflected in the second one. Taking into consideration these recordings, I first drew up a list mentioning the differences found between them. Then, I classified these differences into different categories such as bowings, different notes, fingerings, orchestration, and so on. Finally, I recorded myself playing both versions of some passages. The main outcome I found is to discover that the sound-based approach (listening to recordings and experimenting with them) is a richer source of inspiration for a musician than a purely score-based comparison. I hope these artistic ideas can be a great stimulus and encouragement to other violists who want to play this wonderful Concerto.
Learning from a vocal approach on music
(2020)
author(s): Sophie Elisabeth Ehling
published in: Codarts
When we speak, there is rhythm, intonation and expression in the words that we choose. When we sing, a melody is added, the story surrounded by musical context. When I play the cello, I can express feelings, thoughts and stories without using any words.
I based my research on the relation between language and music, because I wanted to know how to be more expressive in my cello playing. Singers have the text to guide them into making clear what the story is about. As instrumentalists, we might not use words during a performance, but we can definitely learn from involving vocal elements into our approach to music.
That is why I consulted experts in the German, French and English language, as well as singers and cellists, to guide me in my process of making an ‘instrumental translation’ of vocal repertoire, in order to broaden my spectrum of possibilities to be expressive. Based on the results of desk research, text and score analysis, interviews and work sessions with the experts and experimentation on the cello, I made a comparison that led me towards the final result, recording the third movement of César Franck’s sonata, a piece in which I could put a lot of the new things that I had learned.
I hope that this research can assist anyone who is looking for a way to become more ‘outspoken’ in their instrumental playing, and to stimulate instrumentalists to always stay open for new ways to interpret a piece.
Extra-musical Systems in Music: their implementation in contemporary music in the context of multimedia
(2016)
author(s): Andrius Arutiunian
published in: KC Research Portal
The purpose of this research is to define methods of applying extra-musical and data-based systems in multimedia music works. The first part of the paper concentrates on the outline of the motivation and reasoning for using extra-musical systems from a composer's or sound artist's perspective and gives a historical precedent context. Parallels are drawn together with contemporary art and art critique examples. The second part of the research outlines the possible modes of the data-based systems application by analysing multiple multimedia works by composers or sound artists written in the last two decades including a piece by the author of the paper. The types of multimedia and its connection to sound are discussed, the conceptual deconstruction and its semiotic implications of the data used are analysed. The given conceptual and semantic context is applied for analysing the musical parameters and data's usage in sound control. Each of the pieces discussed outlines a particular mode of the conceptuality towards the extra-musical system usage and functions as a primal device for further conclusions drawn. The final part of the research consists of the general overview of the conclusions drawn and attempts to establish a general outline of the motivation and the resulting outcome behind the usage of the extra-musical systems in multimedia works.
Reseach: Caprice Basque, P. Sarasate
(2016)
author(s): Mikel Ibanez
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Mikel Ibañez Santervas
Main subject: Violin
Main Subject teacher: Peter Brunt
Research supervisor: Herman Jeurissen.
Title of the research: Caprice Basque op.24 by Pablo Sarasate. Way of being interpreted.
Research question: Why did Pablo Sarasate compose the first dance of the Caprice Basque in 3/4 bar?
Summary of results:
The first dance of the "Caprice Basque" op. 24 by Pablo Sarasate is composed in 3/4 although it is a traditional dance from Basque Country which is usually played in 5/8. The piece was composed in 1880 when the quintuple bars were not still common at the classical occidental musical language but they were beginning to be spread little by little. After having analyzed all the documentation about it, my conclusion is that in the folkloric music often the musicians do not play what is written in the score really precisely. Sometimes what is written in the score is just an approximation of what it sounds. Is at the second half of the XIX, when, the folkloric music gets analyzed by expert musicians, that we start to see the relation between what we listen and what we read in the scores. This is exactly the case of Pablo Sarasate. He knew about the 5/8 bar when he composed the Caprice Basque ( because of the geographical closeness of Pamplona (his hometown) and the Basque Country, and because there were in the Basque tradition some written 5/8 “Zortziko” examples as the one we have seen of 1813 by Antonia de Mazarredo or her sister Juana de Mazarredo) but despite he wrote it in 3/4, it is completely sure that he would interpret it in the traditional way. Attached we can see a transcription of the piece in 5/8 which shows how the "Caprice Basque" op. 24 should sound.
Biography:
Mikel Ibañez, violinist. Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) in 1989. He began his violin studies at de age of 6 at his hometown’s conservatory with the teacher Agustí Coma Alabert. Throughout his ten first years of studies, he complemented the violin lessons with his main teacher having some master classes with other teachers like: Víctor Parra, Christiam Ifrim, Joaquín Palomares and Keiko Wataya. Once he was graduated in 2006, Mikel was accepted in MUSIKENE to study bachelor with the prestigious Japanese teacher Keiko Wataya. He obtained the bachelor degree with distinction in 2012. Then, searching for a technical and musical development, Mikel moved to The Hague after being accepted at the Royal Conservatorium of the same city to study with Peter Brunt, and got the bachelor degree in 2014. Currently, he studies second year Master at the Royal Conservatorium of The Hague with Peter Brunt.
Adapting the marimba into Astor Piazzolla's music
(2016)
author(s): Yves Popow
published in: Codarts
It is common in the percussion world to play the music by Astor Piazzolla without being proficient in the Tango style. A lot of percussionists, including me, simply play the piano or guitar parts on the marimba without making any adjustments to the arrangement, because it sounds good to us and it is technically possible. By copying directly, we think we know about the style, but we are wrong. This issue can also be found in the marimba arrangements of Bach’s Cello Suites. In my opinion, one should research about styles of the compositions if they were not originally written for percussion. Otherwise one will never be as close as possible to the intended style, which is essential for a good performance.
Since Tango is about arranging, my goal is to find a suitable role for the marimba in the music of Astor Piazzolla that is as closely aligned to the stylistic traits of Tango as possible.
Approaching jazz composition through the music of Billy Strayhorn
(2015)
author(s): Leonie Freudenberger
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Leonie Freudenberger
Main Subject: Jazz Saxophone
Research Coach: Karst de Jong
Title of Research: Approaching jazz composition through the music of Billy Strayhorn
Research Question:
What are the most important elements of Billy Strayhorn's compositions?
How can I incorporate his compositional approach in my own writing?
Billy Strayhorn (1915–1976) was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and lyricist whose works have influenced the genre of jazz music until today.
The research contains two phases: First, the analysis of his compositions.
Second, the attempt to compose originals using the detected stylistic, harmonic, melodic and conceptional tools.
Considering the enormous oeuvre that Strayhorn produced, it is inevitable to make a selection of songs to analyze. My criteria for this selection are the following:
Which songs have become part of the standard repertoire in jazz, performed by various artists throughout the 20th (and 21st) century?
Where can I find aural trademarks, which I recognize both as a listener and as a player and which contribute to my personal perception of the “Strayhorn sound”?
Can the compositions be reduced to a lead sheet and performed by a small jazz combo without losing their essence?
My final intention is not only to compose using Strayhorn-typical elements and tools, but also to write music for myself as a performer and for my group to play it.
On longer terms, I hope that I can abstract this method further on and profit from it beyond the results of this research.
Biography:
Leonie Freudenberger, born 1988 in Baden-Baden (D), has played the alto saxophone since her childhood. She started her professional jazz education at the University of Music in Mannheim in 2008 and came to Den Haag in 2011, where she finished her Bachelor's degree. Apart from her Master studies, she writes music and performs with her own group and takes part in various projects, playing alto and baritone saxophone.
A More Sincere Brahms: An Exploration of Widening Expressive Possibilities in the Opus 120 Clarinet Sonatas.
(2015)
author(s): Raissa Fahlman
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Raissa Fahlman
Main Subject: Classical Clarinet
Research Coach: Anna Scott
Title of Research: A More Sincere Brahms: An Exploration of Widening Expressive Possibilities in the Opus 120 Clarinet Sonatas.
Research Question: What might documentary and sounding evidence of the performing styles of Johannes Brahms and his contemporaries reveal to modern performers about amplifying expression via increased tempo flexibility in Brahms’s Opus 120 Clarinet Sonatas. Given this evidence, what ideological and practical factors might inhibit modern performers from incorporating this evidence in their own interpretations today?
Summary of Results:
The exploration of documentary and sounding evidence relating to the performance style of Johannes Brahms and his contemporaries reveals much to modern performers about the difference in performance styles between the nineteenth century and our own. The documentary and sounding evidence examined in this research project demonstrates that Brahms and his contemporaries played within a much wider spectrum of expressive possibilities, revealing more accelerandi, ritardandi, and independence between voices, than our controlled modern interpretation of Brahms would allow. Ideological and practical factors however discourage modern performers from implementing this evidence into their own performances: pressures of fidelity, authenticity, text-centricity, and the diminished role of performers as compared to composers have all contributed to the constant scrutiny of performers' interpretative choices, and have increased the risks associated with performances viewed as expressively licentious. Practical application of this research via documented performance experiments however shows that modern performers can, when aware of the above historical evidence as well as the ideological pressures they face, implement stylistic tools from the past into modern interpretations of Brahms's works. For my own performances of the Brahms Opus 120 Sonatas, this research project has informed my interpretation, resulting in recordings of increased fluidity of phrasing, a more expansive range of expressive freedom, and an overall stylistic shift towards greater artistic freedom and a natural interpretive flow that is less hindered by societal pressures. My recordings also demonstrate that this research is not only relevant within the Opus 120 Sonatas, but transferrable across all of Brahms’s music. The goal of this research is not only to expand expressivity in my own performances, but to offer this evidence to other performers who may struggle with the question of expressivity when performing Brahms as well.
Biography:
Raissa Fahlman is a devoted clarinet soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. She has participated in several world premieres as a member of chamber ensembles, large ensembles and as a featured soloist. Recent musical commitments have included two Long Term Creative Music Residencies at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, where she was an Artist in Residence. Raissa is an alumni of the University of Calgary where she graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Music degree, and was awarded for excellence in her musical study by twice receiving the XL 103.1 Newcap Award in Music, as well as numerous scholarships for academic excellence. She is currently a masters student at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague.
(un)Romantic / Improvising Interpretation
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, Live Maria Roggen
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
(un)Romantic / Improvising Interpretation" has been an artistic research project 2021-2024 led by Live Maria Roggen (vocalist/composer, professor of vocal improvisation) and Ingfrid Breie Nyhus (pianist/composer, associate professor of contemporary performance) at the Norwegian Academy of Music, funded by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.
A Play With Traditions
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Ingfrid Breie Nyhus
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
"A Play with Traditions - interpreting and performing between folk and pianism" is an artistic research doctorate project by pianist Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, at the Norwegian Programme of Artistic Research & the Norwegian Academy of Music 2011-2016.
Ingfrid Breie Nyhus is a performer within classical and contemporary interpretation and folk musical tradition. In this project, she explored musical possibilities in the tension field between art music's and folk music's performance traditions. She investigated similarities and differences in the traditions, and let them intertwine in her piano playing. This exposition is the reflection of the project, on artistic processes, contexts and considerations.
Songs We Sing
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Hans Knut Sveen, Alwynne Pritchard
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This project began in 2018, with the simple desire to play songs that we love. These could be pieces with strong associations, ones we had enjoyed singing and playing before, or songs we had never sung and that were, perhaps, even new to us. When the songs were written or what genre they might come from was not important. Original instrumentation (piano, harpsichord etc) and received ideas about vocal style were also not a priority. Finding a way of creating renditions with the tools at hand (Alwynne's voice and Hans Knut's harmonium) is what originally defined the project.
The Polyphonic Touch. Coarticulation and polyphonic expression in the performance of piano and organ music
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Andrew Wright
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Performances of solo keyboard repertoire can sound more or less polyphonic depending on the performer’s use of divergence in expression. Rather than being a purely cerebral experience, this expressive divergence is situated in an ecological relationship between keyboard and player where the gestural dynamics of technique and musicianship overlap. Specific body schemata relating to expressive divergence are therefore foundational to the interpretive freedom of the performer in creating polyphonic expression, and feature transparently in the musical result. This dissertation of Andrew Wright
theorises expressive divergence by examining the embodiment of single voices through the hierarchical structuring of coarticulation, and by showing how these multi-layered gestures combine in the polyphony of expression. This performative view of polyphony is contextualised not only in musical practice, but also in the wider interdisciplinary use of polyphony as a metaphor. Single-player polyphonic expression is shown to enact or demonstrate an inner experience of the plurality of subjective agency, an experience made possible by its embodied dimension. Besides verbalising and theorising polyphonic expression, this dissertation provides experiments and exercises useful for developing such a practice, as well as examples of its application in concert.
“Lasciatemi morire” o farò “La Finta Pazza”: Embodying Vocal Nothingness on Stage in Italian and French 17th century Operatic Laments and Mad Scenes.
(last edited: 2021)
author(s): Elisabeth Laasonen Belgrano
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This music research drama thesis explores and presents a singer’s artistic research process from the first meeting with a musical score until the first steps of the performance on stage. The aim has been to define and formulate an understanding in sound as well as in words around the concept of pure voice in relation to the performance of 17th century vocal music from a 21st century singer’s practice-based perspective with reference to theories on nothingness, the role of the 17th century female singer, ornamentation (over-vocalization) and the singing of the nightingale. The music selected for this project is a series of lamentations and mad scenes from Italian and French 17th century music dramas and operas allowing for deeper investigation of differences and similarities in vocal expression between these two cultural styles.
The thesis is presented in three parts: a Libretto, a performance of the libretto (DVD) and a Cannocchiale (that is, a text following the contents of the Libretto). In the libretto the Singer’s immediate inner images, based on close reading of the musical score have been formulated and performed in words, but also recorded and documented in sound and visual format, as presented in the performance on the DVD. In the Cannocchiale, the inner images of the Singer’s encounter with the score have been observed, explored, questioned, highlighted and viewed in and from different perspectives.
The process of the Singer is embodied throughout the thesis by Mind, Voice and Body, merged in a dialogue with the Chorus of Other, a vast catalogue of practical and theoretical references including an imagined dialogue with two 17th century singers.
As a result of this study, textual reflections parallel to vocal experimentation have led to a deeper understanding of the importance of considering the concept of nothingness in relation to Italian 17th century vocal music practice, as suggested in musicology. The concept of je-ne-sais-quoi in relation to the interpretation of French 17th century vocal music, approached from the same performance methodology and perspective as has been done with the Italian vocal music, may provide a novel approach for exploring the complexity involved in the creative process of a performing artist.
Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Performance in Theatre and Music Drama
at the Academy of Music and Drama,
Faculty of Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts,
University of Gothenburg
ArtMonitor dissertation No 25
ArtMonitor is a publication series from
the Board for Artistic Research (NKU),
Faculty of Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts,
University of Gothenburg
A list of publications is added at the end of the book.
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ISBN: 978-91-978477-4-2
Significant Meaninglessnesses
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Hans Knut Sveen
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This solo recording is motivated by an intention to present Girolamo Frescobaldis dance pieces, galliards and correntes, from his book 2 (1637), in a setup with music of more "substantial" character, such as the improvisational and madrigal-like toccatas, polyphonic canzonas and the larger scaled variation work on the passacaglia. Are parts of it considered more meaningful or important when a composer like Frescobaldi publishes his pieces in a specific order and that hints in the preface that the essential part of the publication are the toccata-pieces? Are the shorter dance pieces at the end of the music book considered less significant?
The title of the recording plays around with the paradox which might occur when we consider music as more or less important or significant. In his preface to the collection, granting the reader liberty to remain practical when performing the music, Frescobaldi’s significant way of demonstrating ‘meaninglessness' trigged the overall performance of the pieces, to read them thoroughly and yet to play them with ease.
Improvisation in 19th century music
(last edited: 2014)
author(s): Bert Mooiman
connected to: KC Research Portal
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Name: Bert Mooiman
Main subject: Music Theory
Research coaches: Prof. dr. Hans Fidom (VU), Dr. Marcel Cobussen (UL)
Title of research: Historically Inspired Improvisation - Improvising on basis of 19th-century music making
Research question: Which was the role of improvisation in 19th-century music?
Abstract:
The average modern classical musician, the performer of music from the common practice era, tends to perform from scores only, and to treat a score like a text that should be converted into sound as precisely as possible. This is usually a one way process: without a score there will be no music. As a result of this attitude the musical languages of the common practice period have become dead languages, more or less like Latin and Ancient Greek, which are (with very few exceptions) no longer spoken actively but only translated into modern languages. More and more musicians become aware of the artistic limitations of this approach. In order to become, like musicians from the past, creative performers who are able to enter into a living relationship with the music, learning how to improvise seems to be a valuable means.
The Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (The Netherlands) invests in ‘classical’ improvisation. An environment has been created which fosters the idea that improvisation is important for classical musicians, and a lot of experience has been gathered in teaching improvisation to those students.
But what precisely do we mean with the word improvisation? And how exactly do we argue that improvisation is important for the new generations of conservatoire students? Improvisation by classical musicians is often referred to as ‘classical improvisation’ or ‘improvisation in a classical style’. These terms are not without problems, though. I would like to propose the notion of ‘historically inspired improvisation’ instead, indicating improvisation which uses thorough knowledge about music making in the past as a source of inspiration. ‘H.I.I.’ doesn’t necessarily aim for style imitations; rather, it works the other way around: integrating what we can use from historical music practices into our own creative music making. In this way, improvisation has the potential to fertilize all our ‘musicking’ (Chr. Small) – even when we play from scores.
In my essay, a recorded student improvisation will be taken as a starting point. I will analyse and comment upon this recording, developing the idea of musical ‘loci communes’ which enables us to connect improvisation with the interpretation of a score. It is interesting to compare such insights with original treatises on improvisation, especially Carl Czerny’s Anleitung zum Fantasieren auf dem Pianoforte (1829). Czerny turns out to presume skills that are no longer self-evident to musicians of today, while on the other hand issues which are nowadays important are not addressed in his text at all. Drawing upon the theory of loci communes, I will work out an example of how I think Czerny’s book can still be a valuable source of inspiration today.
During the presentation, I will focus on the concept of the locus communis, highlighting its double function as a way to recognize musical meaning in a score, and as a source of Historically Inspired Improvisations. The presentation will have the form of a lecture-recital.
Biography
The Dutch pianist, organist, improviser and music theorist Bert Mooiman studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, The Netherlands, where he took his certificates as a solo pianist and organist cum laude. After completing his Music Theory studies in 2003 he started teaching music theory (principal subject), improvisation and piano at the Royal Conservatoire. He performs both on piano (solo, chamber music) and on organ (solo, basso continuo). His work as a researcher and his activities as a performer meet in his lifelong interest in improvisation, which also became the topic of his current PhD research at Leiden University.
What is a narrative, when it moves through time and history, when it moves through bodies? The narrative is always in danger of dying, until it is picked up and given new movement into new contexts. Where does the new begin? Where does the old one go? Vocalist Live Maria Roggen and pianist Ingfrid Breie Nyhus have over several years investigated duo music that was once romantic music. Through time, body, forgetfulness, fallibility – and improvisation as a method – the music has merged with the whims, derailments and backtracks of the inner sound and the duo's body. Where does the narrative live in the next moment?open exposition comments (0)
When gazing at the night sky together with someone, it can be challenging to guide the other person’s attention to a specific star or cluster. To completely follow the alignment of the eyes and the tip of the index finger to the object in mind would require us to climb into the other, to see the world through their eyes. How do we know if we have the same star in mind as the person next to us? Are we talking at cross-purposes? At Cross Purposes, reflections on constellations, comprises three texts by different authors on language, narrative, sign and signification, as well as poetry and anxiety in art.open exposition comments (0)
TRADITIONING, DISSOLVING: What does 'traditioning' mean, what can the 'traditioned' become? On exploring rules and possible spaces in tradition and creation. To Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, the apparently impossible combination of folk music and grand piano, is a creatively generative musical situation. The rules of the 'slått' tradition are transposed to a new space in the grand piano, and the rules of the grand piano are destabilized in the meeting with the 'slått'. This exposition unfolds questions, reflections and new questions, from a longer process with the music "Slåttepiano".open exposition comments (0)
In short, the proposed work consists in a critical edition of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Capricho diabolico, backed up by previous research in which I compare the manuscript and Andrés Segovia's interpretative edition. As a result of the significant differences between the two, I propose a version that is faithful to the original work, but without overlooking the collaboration between the two musicians.open exposition comments (1)
(un)Romantic / Improvising Interpretation" has been an artistic research project 2021-2024 led by Live Maria Roggen (vocalist/composer, professor of vocal improvisation) and Ingfrid Breie Nyhus (pianist/composer, associate professor of contemporary performance) at the Norwegian Academy of Music, funded by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.open exposition comments (0)
"A Play with Traditions - interpreting and performing between folk and pianism" is an artistic research doctorate project by pianist Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, at the Norwegian Programme of Artistic Research & the Norwegian Academy of Music 2011-2016. Ingfrid Breie Nyhus is a performer within classical and contemporary interpretation and folk musical tradition. In this project, she explored musical possibilities in the tension field between art music's and folk music's performance traditions. She investigated similarities and differences in the traditions, and let them intertwine in her piano playing. This exposition is the reflection of the project, on artistic processes, contexts and considerations.open exposition comments (0)
This project began in 2018, with the simple desire to play songs that we love. These could be pieces with strong associations, ones we had enjoyed singing and playing before, or songs we had never sung and that were, perhaps, even new to us. When the songs were written or what genre they might come from was not important. Original instrumentation (piano, harpsichord etc) and received ideas about vocal style were also not a priority. Finding a way of creating renditions with the tools at hand (Alwynne's voice and Hans Knut's harmonium) is what originally defined the project.open exposition comments (0)