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

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  Albeniz, from the piano to the wind (2023) author(s): Celia Matamoro published in: KC Research Portal
  Albéniz was one of Celia’s favorite composers from her childhood and always felt a special connection to his work. However, in the fifteen long years that she has been studying music, she has never been able to play any of his pieces on the bassoon. Now that she has finished her master's degree -and she had to reflect on where she comes from and, ultimately, who she is-, she decided to investigate the composer in depth with the aim of arranging his Spanish Suite, originally written for piano, so that at the end of so many things, she can interpret it with her reed quintet. Thanks to its flexibility and wide palette of colors, sound, and articulation, the combination of reed instruments achieves a greater range of register and color, and provides Albéniz's music, inspired by elements of flamenco and Spanish folklore such as cante jondo, a texture and expressiveness that evokes the human voice. Caire Reed Quintet was formed in 2020, in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic crisis. The five of them are from Spain and they share the same passion for Albéniz. With this work the author wishes to offer other composers and performers the opportunity to discover, learn and experience how much the reed quintet's sonority can contribute to certain styles of music such as Spanish nationalist, reaching a greater range of register and color, and endowing this style of music from a new perspective.
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  The process of vihuela intabulation of sacred music in 16th century Spain (2023) author(s): Kateřina Maňáková published in: KC Research Portal
  The process of vihuela intabulation of sacred music by Cristóbal de Morales, using examples contained in Orphénica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana and instructions by Juan de Bermudo.
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  Making a simple International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)—For singers, conductors and composers (2023) author(s): Bas Ammerlaan published in: KC Research Portal
  This research develops a simplification of a graphical resource: the International Phonetic Alphabet. The choices made to simplify it are based on an analysis of existing diction methods. The thesis format seemed most suitable for my research, as the IPA is a graphical notation method which is meant to be used by writing it down. (While it is of course used to notate sounds, these sounds themselves are not actually the focus of the research. There are also already an abundance of audio examples for the IPA symbols.) The IPA can be a very useful aid for classical singers, from ensemble singers to soloists, but appears intimidating from the amount of symbols it has. This research looks at which IPA symbols are used and which are not used in five different diction methods for classical singers. These are systematically analysed and presented graphically to the reader to help visualise which of all the symbols presented on the IPA chart are regularly used by singers. The end result is practical in nature: a Simple IPA chart which uses only those symbols a classical singer really needs to sing the five main languages for classical singing: English, French, German, Italian and Latin.
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  Man's struggle for salvation: A programmatic interpretation of Franz Liszt's B minor Sonata (2023) author(s): Leone Monaco published in: KC Research Portal
  Research question: “What can be learned about the programmatic relationship between Franz Liszt’s B Minor Piano Sonata and its programs?” My research started as an investigation of the traditional programmatic relationship between Franz Liszt B minor Piano Sonata and Goethe’s Faust, but it had an unexpected outcome: Liszt B minor Sonata can be programmatically connected to multiple programs at the same time. Through the study of symbols behind themes and harmonies used by the composer, connections with other compositions, and the composer’s notes and letters, my research explains why and how the Sonata is programmatically inspired by Goethe’s Faust, Milton’s Paradise Lost and the Bible not only in its structure, but also from a philosophical and spiritual point of view. I propose to look at the Sonata in a different way, considering a more general and Christian “leading thought” which connects all its possible programs and permeates the whole work: Liszt’s Sonata tells the story of every man and his lifetime struggle against temptations and damnation to reach salvation. At the end, I give practical suggestions on the interpretation of specific passages of the Sonata based on the considered symbolic connections with its programs and composer’s notes. The chosen format of presentation is the exposition, because it gives me the possibility not only to include explanatory pictures and score excerpts, but also to use my own recordings to explain better the symbolism of themes or harmonies in certain passages and to show the practical and interpretive outcomes of my research.
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  Felipe Libón, the first travelling Spanish Virtuoso and his Violin Concerto No.6 (1812). A Performance Practice case study: I. Poco Allegro (2023) author(s): Saya Ikenoya published in: KC Research Portal
  One of the first Spanish virtuoso violinists to achieve international recognition, Felipe Libón enjoyed a successful performing and composing career. He worked and performed alongside other celebrated violinists: Rode, Kreutzer, and Baillot, who were founders of the so-called "19th Century French Violin School". We will experiment with applying the extensive indications of the treatises (Baillot, Campagnoli, Woldemar, Spohr, Cartier, and Libón himself) to build a performance practice case study.
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  The Voice in Arranging - Rethinking the role of vocalists in big bands and large ensembles (2023) author(s): Giulia Bättig published in: KC Research Portal
  This research explores how the voice can be used creatively in large ensembles and big bands. It is structured in five parts, starting with an introduction explaining my interest and personal connection to this topic. I then analyzed the work of composers and arrangers that used vocalists in their large ensembles before me - for example Kenny Wheeler, John Hollenbeck and Martin Fondse. There I looked at how they used vocalists in their works and found that oftentimes, the voice still is used as a doubling part for the lead melody, but seldomly is used as an independent part in the arrangements. I then moved on to analyzing my own compositions I’ve written for a vocal section and large ensemble. I saw that I unconsciously often used the same kind of arrangement style, and drew a lot of conclusions for my future works out of this analysis. In part four, I compiled my research of others and my own work into a small handbook of arranging tools for big band and voice section. With this, I want to inspire other composers and arrangers to write for vocalists in new and creative ways. After this, I concluded my research with a reflection and conclusion in the last part. In my presentation, I want to talk about my progress working with others and my own music, and the conclusions I drew out of it, as well as showing some examples of my analysis and the handbook I wrote.
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