Mixed Music: new forms of interaction between instruments and electronics
The contemporary compositional practice of mixed music, understood here as written music combining acoustic instruments with electronics, has a number of inherent problems. For example, the synchronization between the performer and the electronics, the complexity of digital interfaces and the need for an acoustic fusion between the two are some of the main issues discussed in academic research. This PhD project by Igor C. Silva aims to develop new systems that will provide simple, practical,...
Crossing Universes - Bow improvisation from the fusion of classical and jazz music
Within jazz, the use of the bow for improvisation is considered an enriching technique for developing an instrumental idiom on the double bass. Throughout history, many bass players have developed their own approach to bow playing, but the lack of specific material dedicated to arco improvisation within improvised jazz and other non-classical genres means that this practice remains largely underutilized. This doctoral research by Filippe Caporali aims to develop, based on artistic practice, a...
New perspectives on the performance practice of cornetti in the 16th and 17th centuries
The cornetto is an instrument well established in the world of early music. For example, it is regularly heard at prestigious festivals and concert halls. The challenge, therefore, does not lie in rediscovering a forgotten instrument. However, historical playing practices and traditions have only exceptionally influenced current cornetto performance practices. This PhD research by Lambert Colson focuses on a particular member of the cornetto family: the mute cornetto. By studying the strong...
In search of a lost sound
The doctoral research, conducted by Jan De Winne, will address both the creative aspects of copying eighteenth-century flutes and the choices a musician makes when performing a concert in the spirit of Historical Informed Performance Practice (HIPP). Two case studies of flutes built by Johann Joachim Quantz and Carlo Palanca are central to this research. Starting from the artisanal details of the instrument maker, a more complex question of authenticity in the production and recreation of...
How to scientifically shape the capital of contrabass tubas from a practical playing perspective. An in-depth study
The PhD research of Jens Demey aims to develop an informed artistic practice for contrabass tubas from 1845 (its invention) to the present day, using a cultural-historical context and an organological study. With a tube length of approximately 6 metres, the contrabass tuba is the largest brass instrument and thus the foundation of the orchestra. Its construction has changed significantly throughout history, while local construction traditions have remained intact. This has led to an enormous...
Cultural roots and interactions of contemporary rhythm in jazz
Informed by more than thirty years of research and playing experience with the concept of “rhythm” in various cultural, social, geographical, philosophical contexts, as well as by the search for ways to develop a better knowledge of rhythm and to offer a universal access to its different branches, PhD researcher Stéphane Galland strives to deepen the numerous elements discovered over the years in his musical practice. Galland can boast of collaborations with some of the most important rhythm...
From Servais over Casals to today: an innovative look at the Brussels basses of the romantic Belgian cello school
The famous Spanish cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) mentioned in his autobiography that in 1895 he came to study at the Brussels Conservatoire. Although little came of these plans, it is noteworthy that the Brussels cello class had great international appeal.
Accompagnamenti Straordinari in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century
From the inception of basso continuo, the principles of counterpoint served as the foundation for both composition and accompaniment. In 1628, Galeazzo Sabbatini, in his treatise Regola facile e breve, introduced what he termed "ordinary accompaniments," outlining the basic principles of counterpoint for beginners. He also distinguished "extraordinary accompaniments" as those not covered in his treatise, noting that they would be addressed in a subsequent publication—one that, to our...
The hybrid guitarist. An embodied approach to the interpretation of the folkloric elements in classical guitar repertoire
De moderne gitarist is een hybride gitarist: een uitvoerder die zich een veelheid van technische en muzikale eigenschappen eigen moet maken die niet alleen behoren tot de klassieke gereedschapskist, maar ook tot de specifieke culturele achtergrond van de werken. Dit wordt onmiddellijk duidelijk in repertoire dat sterk geïnspireerd is door folkloristische idiomen. Het heterogene karakter van de volksmuziekelementen roept de vertolker niet alleen op om melodische en ritmische inzichten aan te...
Possibilities and directions, a new approach in Double Bass Improvisation
In free improvisation on double bass, the area in between functional contexts on the one hand and the creation of unconventional sounds by means of extended techniques on the other, remains largely unexplored. By means of investigating the structures and mechanisms in the free and modal improvisations of Herbie Hancock, and modifying these materials in accordance with the limitations and possibilities of the contrabass, Stefan aims at developing strategies and methods that should enable...
Historically Informed Performance Practice on natural trumpet
This PhD project by Jean-François Madeuf focuses on the in-depth artistic and theoretical research of the historical trumpet: its playing techniques and style, its historical context, its literature, and its repertoire. The research will not only be based on historical research but will also assess from the researcher’s own performance practice whether the information available in historical treatises and other sources is also valuable for the technique of the instrument and for the...
The Interpretation of Robert Schumann: between Inspiration and Rationality
This doctoral research by Marco Mantovani focuses on six piano pieces by Robert Schumann composed between 1836 and 1838 (i.e., Fantasie op. 17, Fantasiestucke op. 12, Davidsbundlertanze op. 6, Novelletten op. 21, Kinderszenen op. 15, Kreisleriana op. 16), a period that was arguably one of the turning points in his personal and artistic life. Many of Schumann’s most important piano works and some of the most illuminating examples of his extraordinary compositional process and his formal and...
Metal-Jazz: The use of contemporary progressive rock/metal practices to expand the contemporary jazz soloing idiolect
With the assimilation of pedal techniques developed by progressive metal drummers, this PhD research by Luis Mora aims to expand the expressive capabilities of drummers in the rhythmically complex context of contemporary jazz. To this end, the researcher works on three interacting fronts: the development of a new vocabulary for footwork in line with the jazz tradition; the incorporation of recent playing technique developments from progressive metal practice; and the expansion of the jazz...
Claviorganum, a curiosity? A quest into the history and the influence of the claviorganum on musical praxis
We can conclude from historical source material that sixteenth- and seventeenth-century instrument building experienced a tremendous explosion of varied instrumentation, partly due to the continuous search of the theorist, musician, and instrument builder for new instrument-technical and resulting extra-musical possibilities. Yet today within historical performance practice we often see the use of a standardized set of instruments. The applicable keyboard instruments are thereby reduced to...
Pierre Gaviniès (1728-1800): the revolution of the violin
Pierre Gaviniès (1728–1800) is one of the most important figures in the history of the violin: as a player, as artistic director of the ensemble Le Concert Spirituel, as a teacher, and as a composer. While he was widely admired during his lifetime, he is little known today, although his violin studies, known as the 24 Matinées, are still performed.
Bow techniques for guitar playing: arrangements of contemporary works for cello, violin and viola played on the classical guitar
This doctoral research by Kostas Tosidis explores the importance of the bow in the guitar playing. In complete interaction with the repertoire of instruments such as the cello, violin and viola, it attempts to define techniques that until now have not been employed or extensively analyzed, with the central aim of optimizing the guitar playing. Much of the research focuses on documenting all these techniques and their application to modern guitar playing in a method that will include text and...
Crossroads of Trumpets: The Role of Chromatic Trumpets in 19th-Century Music Performance in Ghent and Brussels
Around 1800, Joseph Haydn and Johann Nepomuk Hummel each composed a trumpet concerto, for chromatic keyed trumpet. This instrument is one of the forerunners of today's trumpet. In 1900, Alphonse Goeyens, trumpet teacher at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, discovered a manuscript of the Haydn concerto in the conservatory library. This research aims to examine the evolution of chromatic trumpets in the Low Countries within these 100 years with a focus on Ghent and Brussels.
Instrument portrait: the Recorder
In this PhD research, Tomma Wessel focuses on the performance techniques and different types of the extended instrument family of the recorder. The acoustic properties, their repercussions on sound production and new sound possibilities are the focus. The processing of the results leads to a clear conceptual framework. Extensive sound and video examples serve to illustrate the in-depth research. The result will be a website accessible to composers and players.
Contemporary vocal jazz: an artistic cartography of European encounters
The question whether there is an artistic movement, a “school” of vocal jazz that is not solely based on the American tradition, has never been fully explored by jazz musicians. Therefore, with this doctoral research Barbara Wiernik wants to find out to what extent our milieu defines us artistically, whether there are more European currents, and what its main branches are. The methodology originates in artistic practice and is based on filmed meetings with a number of European key figures...