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

• Ornamentation and French style in Henry Purcell's vocal music (2015) author(s): Kristen Witmer Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Kristen Witmer Main Subject: Early Music Singing Research Coaches: Gerda van Zelm & Patrick Ayrton Title of Research: Ornamentation and the French style in the vocal music by Henry Purcell Research Question: What kind of ornamentation did Henry Purcell use in his vocal music and to what extent can his music written in French style be treated in a French way? Summery of Results: Henry Purcell received his musical training as a small boy during a unique era in England. By the command of King Charles II who wished to have the same kind of music he experienced at the French court, Purcell learned the newest style of composition in England at that time. Purcell is often acknowledged as a composer who developed his own unique style combining French and Italian style. However, it was only later in his life that Purcell intentionally started to learn and adapt the Italian style to his music. When Purcell writes in the French style, can I sing it like I would sing French music, with notes inégales and French ornamentations? Diverse interpretation on rhythmical alteration of Purcell’s music have been offered by many performers till the present day, and as if there’s been no conclusion reached, the interpretation is still left widely open for all performers. What was the likely custom of singers in Purcell’s time? What did Purcell expect in the performance of his vocal music? Fortunately, sources from Purcell himself and his contemporaries provide immense information on what kind of ornamentation was common at the time. Together with plenty of record about what kind of trained singers sang for Purcell, we can see how far Purcell took the advantages of these star singers to write even more elaborate music. The presentation will include further look at the reliable sources I’ve found on Purcell’s ornamentation, introduction to the important soprano singers of Purcell to be shown through a PowerPoint presentation, as well as a live performance of an ornamented version of Purcell’s song which I will demonstrate as the result of my research. Biography: American/Korean soprano Kristen Witmer studied classical and baroque singing at Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduation she received a scholarship from The Meiji Yasuda Cultural Foundation and studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague where she obtained Bachelor degree in Early Music Singing. She currently proceeds her Master degree with Lenie van den Heuvel, Peter Kooij, Michael Chance and Jill Feldman pursuing her research on Henry Purcell’s vocal music. Recent musical activities as a soloist include Handel’s Messiah with M. Suzuki, Bach’s Motet with P. Herreweghe, CD recording with Vox Luminis and Purcell’s King Arthur with Jean Tubéry.
  open exposition comments (0)
• The Literary Heritage of Schumann’s ‘Kreisleriana’ (2015) author(s): Shin Hwang Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Shin Hwang Main Subject: Fortepiano Research Coach: Stefan Petrovic Title of Research: The Literary Heritage of Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana Research Question: What is the significance of Schumann labeling his piano cycle, after E.T.A. Hoffmann’s collection of works known as Kreisleriana? What aspects of E.T.A. Hoffmann influence Schumann in the composition of his own work? Summary of Research: Upon discovering Schumann’s Kreisleriana, I was drawn to several aspects of the work that aroused in me a curiosity in deciphering what, if any, connection it had to E. T. A. Hoffmann’s work of the same title. While there has been plenty of research done on his Papillons, Opus 2 and its relationship to Jean Paul’s Flegeljahre, I failed to find an indepth study of the relationship between the two Kreislerianas. In this paper, I explore the parallel philosophy of the two writer-composers: their definition of music as ‘tonepoetry’ and their belief in the spiritual power of music. I then compare their shared mission in condemning the musical Philistine and upholding the true artist. Lastly, I examine Hoffmann and Schumann’s use of fragmentation to veil the inner continuity of the work. I conclude that, above all, it is the exuberant fantasy of Hoffmann’s imagination that Schumann attempts to capture in music. Biography: A prize-winner of the 1st International Westfield Fortepiano Competition, Shin Hwang is a versatile keyboardist who has won recognition in both modern and historical performance. In 2011, he was invited by Malcolm Bilson to perform in the United States Library of Congress for the American Musicological Society Lecture Series: “What the Autograph Can Tell Us: Beethoven's Sonata in E major, Opus 109”. As a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright and DAAD Scholarship, he has studied with Jacques Ogg, Robert Hill, and Bart van Oort.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  My personal development of music-therapy (Muziektherapie) through working with children with autism (2015) author(s): Natalia Alvarez-Arenas Arias Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name of student : Natalia Alvarez-Arenas Main Subject : Classical percussion Research coach : Renee Junker, Stefan Petrovic and Arianne In’t Velt Format of documentation :Research paper Title of your research : My personal development of music-therapy (Muziektherapie) through working with children with autism Research question : How can I extend my professional-musical skills to work with and help children with autism? Summary: A professional musician has enough musical knowledge and capability to feel and transmit the music helping to improve health, mental, physical and social problems of children with autism. During the course of the research I worked for 6 months with 8 children with different syndromes of autism by giving them individual music sessions and exploring different ways to support their development through my music skills. All the lessons have been recorded. The results have been quite satisfactory. The children have improved their physical and mental communication and their focus capacities, reducing negative symptoms such as anxiety and isolation, emotional and physical control, listening, coordination and communication with others. Biography: Natalia Alvarez-Arenas (1986) She studied at the Royal Conservatory of Atocha in Madrid where she got her double bachelor degree in Percussion and Percussion Pedagogy in 2009. In 2013 she also finished her bachelor degree at the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag with Fedor Teunisse and Luuk Nagtegaal. All through her career she has played with different orchestras and ensembles. She was one of the leaders of Davai Perkusion ensemble when they won the first prize of the Grachtenfestival in 2013. Now she is a member 4D Kwartet and she runs her own academy of music and movement for children in Den Haag. Recently she has played in projects with Asko Schönberg Ensemble, Slagwerk Den Haag, Residente Orquestra and with Diamantfabrike.
  open exposition comments (0)
• 
  Mechanical and human performance on Ligeti's second book of "Études pour piano” (2015) author(s): Juan Miguel Moreno Camacho Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Main Subject: Classical Piano Research Coach: Andrew Wright Title of Research: Mechanical and human performance of Ligeti's second book of Études pour piano Research Question: What should be our perspective as performers playing or practising a piece by a composer? Summary of Results: In 2006, when I was sixteen, I listened to Claudio Martínez Menher playing some etudes by a composer who had just passed away two months before: Ligeti. I remember I was very impressed with his music: a fluency of notes in ppp characterized by an amazing effervescence and strange accentuation, which sometimes develops to fff range while going up and up in the keyboard. Practicing this music I feel like it represents building a complex machine with a very precise mechanism... somehow nonhuman, very mechanical... I used to like a lot this kind of working time on the piano. Nevertheless, I felt a bit shocked about the idea of enjoying music being a mechanical part of it. What should be our perspective as performers playing or practicing a piece by a composer? I realized very soon that there is not a general answer for this question, it depends a lot on what composer we are playing and, furthermore, performers have a proper perspective of what is music for their self. I have focused my research in the second book of Etudes pour piano by Giörgy Ligeti because it contains etudes between numbers 7 and 14. Giörgy Ligeti did pianola version of etudes number 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14-A together with Jürgen Hocker. He introduced small differences at the score of pianola and pianist version. Moreover, as we can easily guess, the musical result of the performance of both versions are really different. The premier of Ëtude number 9, “Vertige”, was made using a pianola. Furthermore, first version of Étude number 14 is so complex that, together with this first version, whose title is Étude 14A “Coloana fârâ sfârsit”, Ligeti did a simplified version: The Étude 14, “Columna infinitâ”. At the score of Étude 14A, Ligeti indicated this piece is composed “for player piano (ad. lib. live pianist)”, and he wrote, “played presto as prescribed this version is best performed on a mechanical piano (or on a Yamaha Disklavier). With appropriate preparation, a performance by a live pianist is also possible”. Biography: Born in Malaga, Spain 1989, Juan Miguel Moreno Camacho started his piano studies at the age of seven with Gordana Komericki. He continued his studies with Ángel Sanzo at the Badajoz Conservatoire where he obtained his Bachelor Degree. Afterwards, Juan Miguel had regular masterclasses in Alcala de Henares with Josep Colom (2011), and at Musikeon with Luca Chiantore (2012). Furthermore, he has had masterclasses with Joaquin Soriano, Oxana Yablonskaya, Jacques Rouvier, France Clidat, Imre Rohmann, Andrzej Jasinsky, Claudio Martínez Menher, among others. Juan Miguel currently studies at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague with David Kuijken, and composition with Martijn Padding.
  open exposition comments (1)
• 
  An Etude Manual For The Bow (2015) author(s): Sean Hawthorne Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: Sean Hawthorne Main Subject: Cello Research Coach: Stefan Petrovic Title of Research: An Etude Manual For The Bow Question: How can we best use a short collection of etudes to build the foundation for the consistent development of artistic freedom in the bow? Summary of Results: Etudes are extremely beneficial to instrumentalists because of their unique ability to build fundamentally important techniques while simultaneously applying them to musical ideas. It is very easy to select the etudes that one plays based on arbitrary factors. I propose here a short collection of etudes that have been chosen because of the ways in which they compliment one another. The point of this manual is to introduce a new and organized way of thinking about physical development through etudes. My aim is to introduce cellists to a way of approaching these works with utmost awareness. It is imperative that we never stop carefully considering our fundamentals, developing new techniques or pushing our acquired techniques beyond current limit. Cellists have been given the tremendous gift of a thoroughly comprehensive selection of etudes. Many of the most historically relevant performing cellists contributed to the literature through their own etude compositions. In this report, I focus on David Popper, Carlo Alfredo Piatti and Jean-Louis Duport. I have chosen two etudes by each composer that together provide an integrated and synergistic daily education in the use of the bow as an artistic medium. This is a collection of six etudes which, when practiced in succession, will establish a greater foundation for fluid and elegant artistic expression in the bow. Even more importantly, it will demonstrate a method of daily etude practice that any cellist can replicate with any etudes to solve physical problems that obstruct artistic output. Biography: Sean Hawthorne is a 23-year-old cellist studying with Michel Strauss and Jan Ype Nota at Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag. Prior to his attendance here, Sean studied The Juilliard School with Richard Aaron. He served as principal cellist of numerous orchestras including the National Repertory Orchestra and the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, Sean performed Tchikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and Strauss’s Don Quixote as a soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra. In 2014 Sean was selected as the IOS Cello Apprentice with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. He served as a member of the section for ten weeks.
  open exposition comments (0)
• research understanding rubato in classical style (2015) author(s): Zijun Dandan Wang Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  The aim of this paper is to explain rubato in the Classical period. Modern piano pedagogues have not defined in detail how to use rubato, or when, where, and why to use it. I have tried to find some answers. Through studying the many classical treatises and modern sources and letters of the great masters or their friends, this paper intends to paint the picture of how rubato is practiced in the late 18th and early 19th century. It includes examples from different composers discussing the different types of rubato as well as tempo markings, slurs, dynamic markings, expressive markings and ornamentations/cadenzas, related to rubato.
  open exposition comments (0)