Projects

Chordal Accompanimental Practices on viol from intabulation to realisation

Harry Buckoke

Harry’s research work looks at the techniques and influence of chordal and polyphonic accompaniment on viola da gamba in the sixteenth century. Research methods include intabulations of works by composers linked to this manner of performance (Dalla Viola, De Bercherm, Tiburtino etc.), on viol and lirone, and analysis of the few sources detailing the practice. 

The project builds towards an understanding of how the instrument and its possibilities influence these adaptations both in terms of the structure (what notes are actually played) and manner of performance. This includes examining the instrument’s vocal but non-verbal properties and the aesthetic consequences of using an instrument as a proxy voice (or voices), removing language and incorporating multiple voices as one musician.

La Grande Bouffe – challenges in the performance of musical comedy

Stijn Saveniers

Humor in the performance of operetta is not limited to the literary dimension of the libretto. The music – or its absence – forms an essential dramaturgical interpretation of the libretto. It proves, however, to be challenging to balance the musical text, the lyrics and the spoken portions of the libretto in such a way that they reinforce each other.

From my experience as an operetta conductor, the interpretation of the music score is key to obtaining that balance.

This research project aims at defining humor techniques related to operetta music scores, using three Belgian Belle Époque operettas as case studies, and developing a proposition to operationalize these humor techniques within a contemporary narrative.

Ritualization of concert practice in Russian post-minimalist music

Maya Fridman

This research is driven by the necessity to investigate the subject of performing instrumental works by Russian post-minimalist composers, and to explore possibilities of incorporating the spiritual ideas that informed those works in a concert practice. The aspiration of Russian post-minimalism to occupy a territory between music, spirituality and philosophy has often been neglected by both artistic and academic communities. In this research I will examine ritualization of the concert practice as a creative method on examples of its leading exponents, e.g. Alexander Knaifel, Vladimir Martynov and Nikolai Korndorf. This research aims to critically reflect on concepts and approaches directly related to the performance of Russian post-minimalist music, and to contribute to its wider recognition in the Western contemporary music world.

Philosophy in sound

Vera Plosila

My research focuses on theories of the sublime by the Berlin Enlightenment philosophers Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86) and Johann Georg Sulzer (1720–79). Both were active in the group Montagsklub, whose other members included the playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, poet Karl Wilhelm Rammler, writer–composer Christian Gottfried Krause, flutist Johann Joachim Quantz and organist–singer Johann Friedrich Agricola. Closely associated to Montagsklub were also other court musicians, such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The members discussed contemporary aesthetic thought from England, France and Germany. My first objective is to inquire, how the sublime was theorized in the circle during the 1750–70’s.

Mid-century Berlin also saw a growing esteem for instrumental music, which was strongly related to the time’s aesthetic preferences. The ineffable quality became an expressive asset in the time’s aesthetic thought. Thus, I want to discover, how an acquired sensibility towards the mid-century aesthetic theories can aid the performance of the Montagsklub circle’s instrumental chamber music.