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

• An Interdisciplinary Approach to Jazz Performance (2015) author(s): Priscilla Nokoe published in: KC Research Portal
  This research is an exploration in how other performing arts disciplines, namely Dance/Movement and Theater, can be used and implemented in a jazz performance to possibly create a interdisciplinary performance.
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• The Unplayable Notes of JS Bach (2015) author(s): Oonagh Lee published in: KC Research Portal
  Today there is little doubt that the oboe was one of Bach's most favoured instruments, and that it was an instrument with which he was extremely familiar. Yet, in spite of this, Bach composed numerous works which includes notes that are not playable on the model of oboe that we know were used during his lifetime. Why did Bach write notes that are generally regarded today as unplayable, or perhaps rather ‘unperformable’ due to the quality of both sound and intonation when produced on a contemporary copy of a historical instrument? This is a problem which has been somewhat confined to the footnotes of Bach scholarship but it nonetheless poses very important and relevant questions for the historical oboist, and in fact potentially for the Bach musician and scholar at large.
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• Adapting Telemann’s unaccompanied violin fantasias to the guitar - an investigation of transcriptional methods (2015) author(s): Thomas Heimstad published in: KC Research Portal
  Name: Thomas Heimstad Main Subject: Classical Guitar Research Coach: Patrick van Deurzen Title of Research: Adapting Telemann’s unaccompanied violin fantasias to the guitar - an investigation of transcriptional methods Research Question: “Which considerations does a guitarist have to make when playing and transcribing G. P. Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for unaccompanied violin?” Research Summary: Transcription is a very important part of the classical guitar tradition, as most of the original repertoire for the guitar has been transcribed from the manuscript. This is because the composers did not always have complete mastery of the guitar. The transcriptions of early music provided guitarists in the early 20th century, with a valuable addition to an otherwise sparse repertoire. This contributed to bring the guitar into the classical limelight, and its recognition as a serious instrument ensued. One genre of music which has been, and still is, popular to adapt to the guitar, is the unaccompanied solo pieces from the Baroque era. The implied polyphony of the solo violin music is often possible to realise on the guitar. This research investigates the different aspects of the transcriptional methods, specifically when working with music for unaccompanied violin. By using Carlo Marchione’s transcription of G. P. Telemann’s first Fantasia as an example, an analysis of and a comparison with the urtext sheds light on the different decisions, which are involved in the process of making a functional version for the guitar. The presentation will include visual and auditory explanations of the different possibilities, excerpts from an interview with Marchione, and examples from the score analysis presented through PowerPoint. Biography: Thomas was born in 1989 in Bergen, Norway and started playing the guitar at the age of 7. His guitar lessons started with Tino Andersen, continued with professor Stein-Erik Olsen at the Griegacademy of Bergen, followed by one year of Erasmus exchange with professor Marco Socías at Musikene in San Sebastián, Spain, and finally he enrolled in the master class of professor Zoran Dukic at the Royal Conservatoire in Den Haag, The Netherlands.
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• 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.
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• 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. 
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  How to use feedback, advice and judgement after an exam (2015) author(s): Barbara Bekhof published in: KC Research Portal
  Abstract Name: Barbara Bekhof Main Subject: Viola Research Coach: Susan Williams Title of Research: How to use feedback, advice and judgement after an exam Research Question: How can feedback, advice and judgement be used in such a way, that it contributes to the learning process of the students? Summary of Results: This research paper is to conclude the study at the Royal Conservatory. This paper answers the question of how to use feedback, advice and judgments during an exam, and during the preparation of it. Feedback is information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. Important when giving feedback is that the learner is aware of receiving the feedback, and that the comments are objective. Advice is an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action. Important when giving advice is that the person receiving the advice is willing to receive advice and understands on what feedback the advice is based. A value judgment is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something or someone, or of the usefulness of something or someone, based on a comparison or other relativity. Judgement is an important part of an exam. For students it is important to know what the criteria are, and towards what they have to work to. To understand more of the learning process, different aspects of playing a string instrument are discussed in the fifth chapter. These aspects are technical facility, musicality and performance quality. The different phases in a musician’s preparation are discussed in the sixth chapter. From learning the score till mastering a piece. In this research all those aspects are combined to offer a guideline for juries and guideline for teachers during the preparation. Recommended for the examinations of the Royal Conservatoire would be to draw up a set of criteria, which are clear for the students and for the teachers who will grade the students. Biography: Barbara Bekhof (1991) first started playing the violin at age 6. From age 12 she attended the external preliminary program of the Royal Conservatoire, where she was taught by Koosje van Haeringen and from 2008 viola with Liesbeth Steffens. After graduating from the gymnasium, she went on to study Building Engineering at the TU Delft, while simultaneously continuing the viola. In 2013 she received her bachelor diplomas for both Building Engineering as Viola. Her masters at the Royal Conservatoire enabled her to go on exchange to the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne, where she studied under the renowned violist Alexander Zemtsov. After her return, she continued her master with Michael Zemtsov, as well as the master Urbanism at the TU Delft.
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