The Document as Music. Exploring the musicality of verbatim material in performance
(2018)
author(s): David Roesner, Bella Merlin
published in: Journal for Artistic Research
During a four-week fellowship at the LMU Munich in 2016, Bella Merlin (UC Riverside, USA) and David Roesner (Theatre Studies, LMU Munich) investigated the relationship between original interview material and its (musical) staging. In particular, they explored the ethics and aesthetics that musicalisation might present in relation to the speech patterns, vocal inflections and rhythms of their interview partners from across three generations in three different countries. In this article they will draw conclusions from their working process, which address questions about verbatim theatre and musicality beyond their particular study.
Music in the making: identities and personality at play
(last edited: 2026)
author(s): Jonas Howden Sjøvaag
This exposition is in revision and its share status is: visible to all.
This artistic research investigates what kind of music arises from multiple musical identities. The answer is the album III, a collaborative work with guitarist Juhani Silvola, supported by a research exposition that documents and reflects upon the creative process, and an extensive timeline showing it as it unfolded.
The main argumentation within the work revolves around the importance of distinguishing between musical identities (plural) and personality (singular). The rationale behind this is to generate productive creative friction – to use the knowledge of multiplicity as a tool – to identify and push against boundaries and have knowledge from one identity inform, and expand, another.
Identities are multiple, situational, and enacted through doings: (in my case) the drummer, the singer, the producer, the programmer, et al. They coexist, each with its own expectations, vocabulary, and criteria for success. Personality, by contrast, is shown as the continuous thread – the container in which all identities meet and negotiate, providing coherence without dissolving difference. The research unfolds across three phases: Startup, Deconstruction, and Assemblage.
Methods include archival listening (revisiting accumulated recordings as material to draw from, either through self-gratification or analysis), physical and material constraints, custom software tools, and playing my instruments. In some cases, peripheral projects became ‘methodological sites’, allowing for focused and longer-term exploration and research. Spirit of Rain, Be Like Water, and a duo with Hans Martin Austestad, all function as experiments where methods combine and generate knowledge.
A central concern is the role of machines in creative practice. Noting, but not necessarily drawing on, philosopher John Searle's (1980) Chinese Room Argument and the concept of procedural agency, this work follows a line of thought in which machines may exhibit tendencies, but not personality. What emerges from human-machine collaboration is shaped by this asymmetry. The exposition, built using HTML and hosted in the Research Catalogue framework, is not a linear argument entirely, but rather a pathway through sounds, texts, videos, and fragments – organized semi-chronologically and tagged by function. It demonstrates that answering a question about musical identity requires both artistic result and theoretically aligned reflection.
The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough; Musicality of Movement approach (Virág Dezsö) for singers; connecting the physicality of singing, body awareness, performative skills, and improvisation [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-07-12 15:20] [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-08-01 11:06]
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Charlotte Riedijk
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Abstract
The incentive for this research was to explore ways of integrating the physicality of singing into vocal education by means of the Musicality of Movement (MoM) approach. Musicality of Movement is a physical performance training program designed for musicians. Traditionally the importance of the physicality of singing is recognized, yet it remains underexposed in vocal training, which eventually can lead to inhibited vocal freedom and wooden or awkward performances. The Musicality of Movement approach (MoM) opens ways to freer, more imaginative stage presence, better physical awareness and more expressive singing.
The working hypothesis was:
Integrating the Musicality of Movement approach into classical voice education will offer singers tools to enhance stage presence, imaginative expression, clarity of performative skills and can create ways to find physical and mental wellbeing on stage.
The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the three interventions—consisting of MoM lessons and workshops—that were executed during the academic year 2023-2024, with three groups of voice students, in three different settings. Interviews and questionnaires were analysed to give an impression of how working with the MoM approach supported performative skills and stage presence. Positive results were obtained from relatively small groups of students which shows a need for future research over a longer period and with a larger research population.
Most mentioned keywords to indicate what the MoM-lessons brought the students were body awareness, better breathing, performance skills and playfulness. The practicality of the approach was shown by the fact that participants mentioned to use the exercises in their individual vocal practice.
The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough; Musicality of Movement approach (Virág Dezsö) for singers; connecting the physicality of singing, body awareness, performative skills, and improvisation [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-07-12 15:20]
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Charlotte Riedijk
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Abstract
The incentive for this research was to explore ways of integrating the physicality of singing into vocal education by means of the Musicality of Movement (MoM) approach. Musicality of Movement is a physical performance training program designed for musicians. Traditionally the importance of the physicality of singing is recognized, yet it remains underexposed in vocal training, which eventually can lead to inhibited vocal freedom and wooden or awkward performances. The Musicality of Movement approach (MoM) opens ways to freer, more imaginative stage presence, better physical awareness and more expressive singing.
The working hypothesis was:
Integrating the Musicality of Movement approach into classical voice education will offer singers tools to enhance stage presence, imaginative expression, clarity of performative skills and can create ways to find physical and mental wellbeing on stage.
The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the three interventions—consisting of MoM lessons and workshops—that were executed during the academic year 2023-2024, with three groups of voice students, in three different settings. Interviews and questionnaires were analysed to give an impression of how working with the MoM approach supported performative skills and stage presence. Positive results were obtained from relatively small groups of students which shows a need for future research over a longer period and with a larger research population.
Most mentioned keywords to indicate what the MoM-lessons brought the students were body awareness, better breathing, performance skills and playfulness. The practicality of the approach was shown by the fact that participants mentioned to use the exercises in their individual vocal practice.
During a four-week fellowship at the LMU Munich in 2016, Bella Merlin (UC Riverside, USA) and David Roesner (Theatre Studies, LMU Munich) investigated the relationship between original interview material and its (musical) staging. In particular, they explored the ethics and aesthetics that musicalisation might present in relation to the speech patterns, vocal inflections and rhythms of their interview partners from across three generations in three different countries. In this article they will draw conclusions from their working process, which address questions about verbatim theatre and musicality beyond their particular study.open exposition comments (0)