Research Proposal

 

 

 

Sandra P. Pérez Romero 
Historical Clarinet 
3077276 

 

Research supervisor: Inês d’Avena Braga

Main subject teacher: Eric Hoeprich

Master Circle leader: Bart van Oort

Head of Master Research: Kathryn Cok

 

 

Preliminary Title: The Voice of the chalumeau. A historical study of music for various sizes of chalumeau and voice in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice during the XVIII century.

 

Main Research question: What was the role of the chalumeau in XVIII century vocal music in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice between 1700-1750?

 

Secondary research questions: Is there a relationship between the affect of a piece and the size of chalumeau?; Was the repertoire composed for specific performers?; Did the music privilege a particular size of chalumeau?; How was the treatment of the chalumeau in sacred vocal music different to that of secular music?.

 

Relevance of the research: This research is relevant for historical clarinet players who would like to enlarge their knowledge on chalumeau music, and also for modern clarinet players who seek a connection with their (professional) practice and the style of XVIII century music. It will bring light to the development of the “singing” quality of the clarinet’s tone and its ability to blend well with several different instruments. This research aims to further increase the corpus of repertoire available at the moment in the main literature for historical clarinet and chalumeau. Since the main topic of this research is related to vocal music, singers can also profit from the final results of this research, with lesser known vocal repertoire that shall be presented.

 

Methodology: In the first stage of this research, I will collect all possible information about the extant sources of this music and where are they located.  After that, enquire in the relevant libraries about the music and also look for music/sources not previously notated in the main literature currently available. The second stage of this research is analyzing the music looking for answers to the secondary research questions of this proposal. 

 

Final presentation of results: I wish to present the results of this research in a thesis, which will include a table of all the repertoire for chalumeau that was found and where the sources are located, among other relevant details of each piece. After this work is finished, I intend to write articles about chalumeau to be published in specialized musicology magazines in my country (Mexico) or elsewhere. In addition, the presentation of lecture-recitals would be a great way to present the results of this research in an educational, yet entertaining manner. Moreover, the research will be the starting point for the creation of an appealing program to be performed in concert and even recorded.