Name: Johan de Wijs
Main Subject: Baroque Trombone
Research Coach: Wouter Verschuren
Title of Research: Possibilities of instrumentation of the Italian madrigal
Research Question: What are the possibilities of instrumentation of the Italian madrigal
other than the all-vocal ensemble?
Summary of Results:
The practice of changing instrumentation in Italian vocal music is a commonly applied
practice, but what historical precedent is there for this practice? And what were de
reasons for 16th-century performance to turn a polyphonic piece into something that
could be called a pseudo-monody? It seems strange that one would write a composition
with complicated polyphony, with voices of equal importance, only to change it to
something completely else when performed. This study explores the possible reasons
performers and composers might have had to do so, and tries to give a complete image of
the cultural circumstances leading to this practice. In this study, the consequences of
these findings for the modern performer will be discussed.
The presentation will supply an answer to these questions through looking at the history
of the Italian madrigal and its predecessors through the teachings and opinions of leading
musicologists, as well as listening examples and score study of musical examples, to be
shown through a PowerPoint presentation.
Biography:
Johan was born in 1985 in Oirschot, Noord-Brabant. From an early age Johan started
playing the trombone in a local windband. Shortly thereafter he was admitted to follow
the Young Talents programme at the Brabants Conservatory of Tilburg. After several
year of studying Johan completed his studies at the conservatory of Lausanne,
Switzerland, with honors.
After completing his studies on the modern instrument he discovered a new interest in
early music practise and decided to sign up for the Masters Programme Early Music in
The Hague, to specialize in this field.