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

• Practice Performance for Brass Players (2022) author(s): José Dias Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  Name: José António Ferreira Dias Main Subject: Trombone Research Supervisor: Caroline Kang Title Research: Practice Performance for wind instruments. Research question: How can body and mental exercises influence our musical preparation for performance? What kind of techniques and exercises can influence our daily practice and performance? How can we apply them? In my research, I have been exploring techniques and exercises to improve my practice during the practice room and performance. As a trombone player myself, I searched for techniques and exercises that might help wind musicians during daily practice achieve a more relaxed and calm performance when under pressure. I made a selection of exercises and techniques that helped me, which I think might help others improve their daily practice. To put everything into practice, I started by creating performance sessions in my study room and invited people to watch and see if the exercises were really working. This research documents my process and experiences along the way. My research allowed me to change my routine and daily practice. Due to my findings, my daily practice has changed: inviting an audience into my practice room is now a regular part of my practice. I improved my efficiency and became more comfortable and relaxed playing for people. I improve faster than before this experiment. Keywords: Exercises, Relaxation, Daily Practicing. Short Bio: José Ferreira Dias was born in july 18, 1993, and is native from S.Cipriano- Portugal. He began his musical studies in 2011 with Professor Alexandre Vilela at the professional school of arts in Covilha (EPABI). In 2016 he completed his course and moved to the Netherlands to do his Bachelor's degree with Tim Dowling, Pete Saunders, and Brandt Attema, completing it in 2020. José is currently a 2nd year Master's student at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He cooperated with the Dutch National Opera and Residentie Orkest and has done an internship with the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra. At the moment, he is a member of the G.O.A.T. trombone quartet.
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• An exploration of developing a convincing interpretation of Frank Bridge and Arnold Bax's Cello Sonata's (2022) author(s): Harry Broom Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : KC Research Portal
  In what way did Frank Bridge and Arnold Bax’s (Legend Sonata) Cello Sonatas ultimately contribute to the expansion of the identity of British Cello Music performance and how can I incorporate this into my own playing and interpretation?
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  Double Bass in Indian Classical Music (2022) author(s): SD connected to: KC Research Portal published in: Research Catalogue
  In this presentation we will discuss the incorporation double bass in Indian classical music. Although it’s a foreign instrument to India by origin, but it has immense possibilities for this music. We will discuss it’s origins in India, basics of Indian classical music, similar Indian instruments, Indian classical violin, bassists exploring Indian classical music, cross genre & indian fusion music involving the double bass & it’s application as an accompanying instrument in this tradition & arguments for it’s incorporation.
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  Research and Critical Edition of Capriccio Diabolico by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (2022) author(s): Eva Calvo López published in: KC Research Portal
  In short, the proposed work consists in a critical edition of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Capricho diabolico, backed up by previous research in which I compare the manuscript and Andrés Segovia's interpretative edition. As a result of the significant differences between the two, I propose a version that is faithful to the original work, but without overlooking the collaboration between the two musicians.
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• Performing Music Theory (2022) author(s): Bart de Graaf published in: KC Research Portal
  In my thesis Performing Music Theory, I will examine how listening to recordings of musical performances may influence my analysis of Chopin’s First Ballade. Therefore, I take the music as heard in performance as the starting point for the analysis, rather than the score. By consulting recorded performances by various pianists, I will analyze how different performances may lead to different analyses. These analytical observations will concern phrase structure, harmony, topical analysis and form. The interpretation of form in particular is highly dependent on tempo choices that pianists make. In the case of the First Ballade, a piece with very few tempo indications, these choices vary widely. I will show that in some cases clear analytical conclusions can be drawn from performances. And in other cases, rather far-fetched theoretical analyses must be made to describe the performer’s choices, demonstrating how problematic it is to base an analysis entirely on performances. What does that mean for the relationship between performer and theorist, and more particularly for the position of the ‘prescribing’ theorist, who considers analysis as a starting point in a musical interpretation? And what does this mean for the importance of the Analysis course at conservatories?
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  A Quest for Musical Clarity: Grounding Compositional Practices in Gestalt and Perception Theories (2022) author(s): Charles Baumstark published in: KC Research Portal
  What are the main theories on sound and musical perception? Is there a possibility for the composer to understand those ideas and use them as the basis for the organization of his craft? Would those be enough to create the musical ‘clarity’ I am looking for? Finally, can I find a way to formalize any of those theories in my composition practice? As a starting point for this investigation, part one establishes the philosophical ground for this investigation about clarity, particularly stressing the difference between intention and object, between form and structure, and their complementary nature and interaction with each other, before drawing a first idea on musical perception through the lens of Gestalt theory. Parts two and three detail the different elements that come into play while applying those ideas into my composition practice. I introduce a list of the parameters that will play a prominent role in the elaboration of the representation of the mathematical formulations seen in part four by developing further my understanding of the theories elaborated by Leonard B. Meyer around the idea of ‘expectation’ in his book Emotion and Meaning in Music, and articulating them from a practical point of view. The fourth and final part of this investigation exposes a mathematical representation of my thinking on those ideas in order to conceive and use them in my composition practice. This ‘model’, based on an understanding of what will be referred to as ‘motion’, is the ground for the elaboration of the musical shapes in my pieces.
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