PhD in the Arts: Mordenti and acciature in keyboard basso continuo: sources and performance practice
The art of basso continuo lays at the heart of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century musical practice: from a written bass line, performers built the harmony that accompanied voices and instruments.In Italy, it found one of its richest expressions in suonar pieno (“full-voiced playing”), a style that also travelled beyond the peninsula. Its distinctive sonority emerged from multiple voices enriched by expressive dissonances known as mordenti and acciaccature. Historically described as “pleasant dissonances,” these special notes contributed to what musicians of the time called a “wonderful perfection of harmony.” Within the broader context of full-voiced playing, the research examines the different types of mordenti and acciaccature, where and how they were used, and the challenges of bringing them to life in performance. Drawing on the existant historical sources, it brings new evidence to light and seeks not only to deepen our understanding of their historical use, but also to foster their continued transmission in present-day practice.
Academic supervisor Kristin Van den Buys, artistic supervisor Mattias Lundberg
The Concert
The concert translates this research into sound through a varied selection of Italian vocal and instrumental music by Bassani, Cesti, Corelli, Caprioli, Albinoni, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Domenico Scarlatti, ranging from cantatas and arias to sonatas and balletti. Works by Cesti and Caprioli receive their first modern performances, reconstructed especially for this occasion from manuscripts preserved in the Vatican Library and the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella in Naples. María Gonzalez will be joined by soprano Hélène Walter, baroque violinists Anaïs Chen and Eva Saladin, and baroque cellist Daniel Rosin.
Where and when?
Concert on 15th September at 1 pm
Public Defense on 15th September at 2:30 pm
Both at Amuz, Kammenstraat 81, Antwerp.
Registration Concert and/or Public Defense
Send an email to Inge.Pieters@vub.be before September 8th and indicate whether you want to make a reservation for both the concert and the public defense or only one of both.