Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

• 3. Internal publication Research published in this issue are only for internal circulation within the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague.
• 2. Royal Conservatoire Investigations Royal Conservatoire Investigations
• 1. Master Research Projects All research in KC

• Nights in the Spanish Gardens. Meaning and inspiration (2018) author(s): Samuel Tirado Villaescusa published in: KC Research Portal
  Name: Samuel Tirado Villaescusa Main Subject: Classical Piano Research Supervisor: Bart van Oort Title of Research: Nights in the Spanish Gardens: Meaning and inspiration Research Question: Which are the most important sources of inspiration in the piece Nights in the Spanish Gardens and how all of them affect the performance of the soloist and the orchestra? Summary of Results: Manuel de Falla's piece Nights in the Spanish Gardens has become popular during the last twenty years. Several of the greatest performers have recorded it achieving impressive results. However, the piece presents key aspects from the Spanish folklore and French impressionism that, usually, are not taken into account. Searching information for my research, I discovered that the most important sources of inspiration come from »cante jondo« (a Spanish primitive chant), the Spanish guitar and the music of Claude Debussy. Thus, I found several examples that prove the connection and help the performer to make the interpretation as coherent as possible. The research process changed my vision about topics such as the role of the soloist, the interpretation of ornaments, melodic lines and rubato as well as the imitation of the guitar in De Falla's music. Furthermore, this information could also help not only pianist performing Nights in the Spanish Gardens, but also any musician playing Manuel de Falla's music. Biography: Samuel Tirado begins his studies in Salamanca, where he completed a bachelor degree with Patrin Garcia Barredo. He has participated in masterclasses with teachers like Claudio Martinez Mehner, Ferenc Rados, Edith Fischer, Kennedy Moretti and Galina Eguiazarova among others. He has performed as a soloist and chamber music member and in places such as the national auditorium in Madrid, auditorium of Cuenca and theaters in Salamanca, Ciudad Real and Ávila. He has also played in countries such as Holland, France and Austria.
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• Tom Harrell: A Humble Brilliance (2018) author(s): Jan Toth Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Jan Toth Main Subject: Jazz Trumpet Research Supervisor: Patrick Schenkius Title of Research: Tom Harrell: A Humble Brilliance Research Question(s): What is it that makes Tom Harrell one of the most praised jazz trumpet players and composers in the world, and how did he achieve that despite his illness? How can we utilise Harrell's knowledge of music and apply it to our own playing? Summary of Results: Tom Harrell is one of those fascinating individuals that despite having history of weird behavior attributed to their illness like schizophrenia, managed to use his inspiration and hard work to become a jazz superstar and an idol to many trumpeters around the world. He is most often described by other musicians and his colleagues as a shy and modest person, both intelligent, and brilliant. In my research I was mostly analysing the brilliance of Mr. Harrell in his music. Beside the fact that he has written hundreds of compositions, some of which became standards, he is known for the lyricism of his playing, creating beautiful and melodic lines. I transcribed and analysed many of his solos to try and get into his way of thinking. He likes using aspects from the basic jazz vocabulary, but connects phrases in the way that it sounds very lyrical and appealing to the ear. He always chooses the prettiest notes and executes phrases with a warm sound. He rarely goes outside and when he does, he doesn't go far and always makes an esthetical figure out of it rather than to complicate things. In my research presentation I will be speaking more about his vocabulary and style of playing. I will demonstrate certain logical things he likes to play and how it can be practised and applied when playing with the band. You can clearly notice how much time and hard work Harrell invested in trumpet playing when you hear him consistently play his stuff through all 12 keys, with minimal difference in regard to the chorus played. His creativity can also be seen in his numerous compositions, which is something I will also touch in my research. Because of his mental condition, Tom Harrell had to live a very disciplinary life in order to make it work for him, which consequently also left him with many free hours to focus on his practising and writing. Biography: Jan Toth is a trumpet player born in Croatia, currently residing and studying in The Netherlands. He became very interested in music at the age of 11, when he first engaged in listening to jazz and blues recordings and started to play different styles of music in local bands. Jan finished the bachelor program at the Conservatory in Klagenfurt under Daniel Nösig, and is currently a student at the Conservatoire in The Hague, with Rik Mol as a mentor. In 2014 he passed the Marianne Mendt Competition to perform at the St. Pölten Jazz Festival alongside top Austrian musicians, and has since then (as well as before that) been a part of many different music projects.
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• Colourful Reprise (2018) author(s): Eimi Witmer Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Stephanie-Eimi Witmer Main Subject: Early Music Singing Research Supervisor: Kate Clark Title of Research: Colourful Reprise Research Question: “What does a singer need to know in order to ‘tastefully’ embellish the reprise in the airs of early 18th century French Cantatas?” Summary of Results: The French Cantatas emerged during the period between Lully’s last opera (Armide, 1686) and Rameau’s first opera (Hippolyte et Aricie, 1733). While the French cantata composers adopted the Italian forms and technique, they all remained in their attempt of uniting the Italian form with the traditional French Lyrical style, the “animated” melodies that served as an artful Imitation of the French speech. Every carefully constructed airs are therefore always to some extent an oration. The “reprise” in an air often stands as an confirmation of the periodic structure of the poem, which is the most powerful section where a singer confirms the statement made in the beginning. What sort of effects do we see in the reprise of Montéclair’s Cantata La mort de Didon? … such question asks for an contextual interpretation. Bearing in mind that the composers have chosen the melody, ornaments and speech rhythms - in order to convey the emotions being expressed by the words, it is essential that a singer masters reciting the French poetry and to bare the task of practicing oration so that one can convey the various “affects” or “passions” to the audience. Today we find the ingredients like “the quantity of syllable”, “oratorical accents”, “doubled consonants” and the French vocal ornaments in B. de Bacilly’s treatises Remarques curieuses sur L'art de bien chanter (1668). Furthermore, we find 18 variations of ornaments - each of them to serve different Expressions - described in Les Principes de Musique (Paris, 1736) by M. de Montéclair. Biography: The US/S-Korean Mezzo Soprano was born in Tokyo, Japan. After studying at the Kunitachi College of Music (Japan), she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Historical Singing in 2015 at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague studying with P. Kooij, M. Chance, J. Feldman, R. Blaze, P. Bertin and D. Mields. Eimi’s recent performances include J.S. Bach’s Matthew Passion, Hohe Messe and Magnificat (2nd Soprano), Vivaldi’s Gloria, Magnificat and Dixit Dominus, Monteverdi’s Selve Morale e Spirituale, Haendel’s Messiah, Rinaldo (Rinaldo), Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Sesto), Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Spirit /2nd witch), M. A. Charpentier’s Leçons de ténèbres (2nd Soprano), C. Monteverdi’s Il Ballo delle ingrate (4th ingrate) with Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset (Dutch National Opera / Brighton Early Music Festival).
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• Tools and arrangement of Latino American music for double bass solo and piano (2018) author(s): Abraham Ramos Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: 
Abraham Francisco Ramos Chodo Main Subject: Double bass Research supervisor(s): Stefan Petrovic Title of Research: Tools and arrangement of Latino American music for double bass solo and piano. Research Questions: Is it possible for double bass to assume the solo role in Latino American traditional music? How to make and arrangement for double bass and piano, keeping the traditional characteristics? Summary of Results: The characteristics of the double bass, all his life used to be an accompaniment instrument, in charge of the harmony and rhythm support, nevertheless many composers wrote solo pieces, concertos, etc. for this instrument. The fact that there are not many written pieces for double bass solo in Latino American traditional music and that I was born in a place where the migration movements made miscegenation of people, culture with Africa, Europe and Latino America, aroused my curiosity and my will is to build a project where I can bring this music to the double bass solo repertoire. Presented this reasons my master research is focus on how can the process of arranging this music for double bass solo and piano be done. At first I needed to choose the repertoire, define the stylistic aspects of the piece and determine how I am going to represent the defining aspects of the traditional music in an arrangement for double bass solo and piano. As a result of the outcome material I decided to concentrate in a small book all the necessary tools for arranging a traditional piece; this small book includes: a brief biography of the composer/s, description and definition of the piece and style; score examples of how it should be played; harmonic and melodic structure of the piece; translation of lyrics; and an example of my own arrangement for double bass and piano. To demonstrate that the double bass can assume the solo role in Latino American traditional music, is the main goal of this research paper. Biography: Abraham Francisco Ramos Chodo was born in 1992 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). At the age of 10 he stated studying Timple (traditional instrument of Canary Islands) at the SOLDOMILARE music school. In 2006 he began his music studies at the Conservatory of Canarias until 2012. One year after his entrance, he started playing the double bass. In 2012 he moved to Den Haag (the Netherlands) starting his bachelor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Currently he is studying his Master degree in the same conservatory. His musical performance trajectory is filled with projects related to Latino American music, Canary Islands’ traditional music, classical music and Fusion Jazz.
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• Stockhausen's KONTRABASS from ORCHESTER-FINALISTEN: A performative approach (2018) author(s): Miguel Moreno Traba Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Abstract Name: Miguel Moreno Traba Main Subject: Double Bass Title of Research: The double bass in Stockhausen's LICHT. Archetypes and the role of double bass. How can you shape your interpretation. Research supervisors: Pete Saunders and Cristiano Melli. Research Question: • What is the specific function of the double bass in Orchesten Finalisten? • Sub-questions: How do the different double bass solos in the Licht world compare?. • How should the knowledge of the symbols related to the characters, change the way one performs this piece? Sumary of Results: The objective of this research is to analyse Karlheinz Stockhausen's HALT and KONTRABASS, both pieces from his opera cycle LICHT – Die sieben Tage der Woche. (LICHT – The Seven Days of the Week). The goal is to study how a performer can shape the interpretation of these pieces according with the symbology the composer uses in the cycle. LICHT is a cycle of seven operas, one for each day of the week. There are three main characters or archetypes. Michael, Lucifer and Eve. Each opera in the cycle has a particular symbol, colour and main subject and is named after the days of the week. MONTAG aus LICHT is Eve’s Day; DIENSTAG aus LICHT is the day of Michael and Lucifer’s Confrontation; MITTWOCH aus LICHT is the Day in which they reconciliate and cooperate; DONNERSTAG aus LICHT is Michael’s Day; FREITAG aus LICHT is when Eve is tempted by Lucifer; SAMSTAG is the Fallen Angel Day and, finally, SONNTAG is Michael and Eve’s Mystical Union. All the musical material is based in Stockhausen’s Superformula technique. Each character has a melody (called formula by the composer) written to represent their archetype; all three formulas placed in counterpoint is what is called Superformula. With this study, using the knowledge of LICHT’s symbols and musical construction, we believe that a richer and more accurate performance of HALT and KONTRABASS can be achieved. As result, we hope to bring more interest not only in Stockhausen’s music but also to newly composed music in general. Biography: Miguel studied his Bachelor degree with David Monrabal in Murcia (Spain). After that he went to London to study for a Master in Orchestra with LSO at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2015, finishing in 2016. In that year he came to The Hague to do another master at Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag. He played as double bass tutti in various professional orchestras and also in youth orchestras. He was principal bass in Murcia youth orchestra from 2010 to 2014, and also play in the Spanish Youth Orchestra (JONDE) (2014). He was principal double bass in the winter tour with the NJO (2018). He is on the reserve list of the Gustav Malher Jugendorchester (2018).
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• Relative Solmisation as a Tool for Teaching and Learning in Choral Education (2018) author(s): Tim Tomassen Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Tim Sebastiaan Tomassen Main Subject: Master of Music Education according to the Kodály Concept Research Supervisors: Suzanne Konings, Jasper Grijpinkh: Title of Research: Relative Solmisation as a Tool for Teaching and Learning in Choral Education Research Question: How can Relative Solmisation be used as a Tool for Teaching and Learning in Choral Education? Summary of Results: In the Netherlands National Children’s Choir children from all over the Netherlands with different backgrounds, sing on a high level and perform on stage with professional orchestras and ensembles. The tool of relative solmisation is used in studying the repertoire they will sing in concerts. In this paper I will look into the way this tool is being used and how this relates to the development of broader musicianship skills of the choir singers. I will analyse the initial stage of musical literacy as presented in three different Kodály method inspired books. To be able to analyse the teaching and learning process in both the literature and my own teaching practice for the Netherlands National Children’s Choir of Vocaal Talent Nederland I will use the Sound – Name - Symbol diagram. In this practice based case study I hope to show which steps are involved in the process of learning to sight-read music as a young choir singer. Biography: Tim Tomassen is a music teacher who teaches at De Haagsche School Vereniging International Department, The Hague. After his Bachelor in Music Education at Codarts, Conservatory of Rotterdam he studied the Master of Music Education according to the Kodály Concept at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. Since 2016 he is working as a solfege and theory teacher at the Netherlands National Children’s Choir and the School of Young Talent at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.
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