bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards an integrated method for practicing: internalizing the composer’s language.
Authors: Pim Witvrouw
Published: September 2024

Name
Pim Witvrouw
Main Subject
Music Theory
Supervisors
Paul Scheepers / David Kuijken
Title of Research
Towards an integrated method for practicing: internalizing the composer’s language
Research Question
In which ways can we use the outcome of an analysis to develop a practice method focused on learning the general musical language of a score, instead of just memorizing the right notes?
Summary of Results
Musicians who could very well play, improvise and compose wrote down the majority of repertoire, which we encounter as Western classical musicians. In conservatories and music schools often an attitude towards classical music is developed from a narrower point of view: learning and performing a score. There are extra classes in solfeggio, harmony, improvisation, analysis and counterpoint. However, the reality is that, for most students these subjects are not connected to their practice as instrumentalists. As a pianist, I don’t use all the resources I have as a theorist, and there seems to be a separation between these two practices. Might there be a different way to start practicing a classical work? For the purposes of my research I have chosen one piece as a case study: the first movement of Beethoven's piano sonata n. 31 (op. 110, in A flat major). First I analysed the movement and then I looked at what I can do with the data generated from the analysis. I developed some exercises in order to prepare one for studying the actual work. These exercises could bring theoretical knowledge and improvisation skills into the instrumental lessons and give the player a deeper insight into Beethoven’s harmonic language and use of formal structures. Further research is necessary in order to work out these exercises for more repertoire of all levels, styles and even instruments. It is my intention with this research and future work to bring music theory and activities in the practice rooms of musicians closer together.
Biography
Pim Witvrouw began his professional music studies at the Young Talent Department of the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium) where he studied piano with Stefan Celen. He continued to study in the Netherlands at the Utrecht Conservatory, where he studied with Paolo Giacometti. In addition to this he studied musicology at the University of Utrecht. Pim is currently engaged giving piano lessons and music theory classes at the CKV-Almere. Since September 2018 he also teaches music theory at the Conservatory of Zwolle. In recent years he performed a solo program devoted to works of J.S. Bach.
I'm Nobody, Who am I?
Authors: Boukje van Gelder
Published: September 2024

Student Number
3169227

Supervisor(s)
Andrew Wright

Title
I'm Nobody, who am I

Research Question
My research question is too long for the form.

Summary
Emily Dickinson's poetry can be hard to understand the first time you read it. How then can the artist communicate an Emily Dickinson poem in a song in a way that an audience grasps the meaning the first time? For that reason, you need to define who you are on stage and what you want to communicate. But what do you communicate on stage when your first sentence is 'I'm Nobody!'? This research turns Nobodies into Somebodies and the other way around by looking at the voices (the characters) that are present in the poems of Emily Dickinson, specifically the poem 'I'm Nobody!'. Who speaks to whom? The research makes a journey from Emily Dickinson to scholars who write about her, composers who make songs on her poems and in the end to the performer who with all these people in her mind communicates the poem and the song to the audience. Finally, the voices in the poem become defined as various characters that can be performed on different settings of 'I'm Nobody!' by Ernst Bacon, Nick Raspa and Lori Laitman. From something vague and ungraspable the poem and its voices become very concrete and close to our own daily lives.

Short Bio
Mezzo soprano Boukje started singing as soon as she could speak. After her Bachelor’s in History at the Utrecht University, she decided that she wanted to explore as much as possible about singing. In 2017 she graduated from the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg and started her Master's in the Royal Conservatoire. Currently, she studies with Catrin Wyn-Davies. Boukje performed as a soloist in different concerts. She sang, for example, the alto solos in Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and she sang the role of Hänsel in the staged opera of Hänsel und Gretel from Humperdinck.
How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?
Authors: Laura Lunansky  , Coraline Groen
Published: September 2024

Student Number
3026329

Supervisor(s)
Andrew Wright, Maggie Urquhart

Title
De Formule

Research Question
How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?

Summary
This research was carried out in and through the practice and performances of ensemble ‘de Formule’, a piano quintet in which we both play the violin. As a result of this research, our goal was to perform the Shostakovich piano quintet in a dramatized way, which we did in 2018. The research text describes the internal research process. By looking at (historical) sources about the composer and the piece, and by analyzing the score we got an impression of the context and atmosphere of the quintet, and we created a story to go with it. We found that the piece fitted today’s very important topic about finding your identity within the (mass) society, knowing the history of Shostakovich’ own struggles and the expressions he creates in his melodies, harmonies, instrumentation etc.: sometimes searching, sometimes dragged along in sarcastic happiness and sometimes screaming for help. All these elements we used to conduct the research process, which included translation of the story lines and expressions into movements, words, light effects and different stagings. As a result of this dramatization, we noticed that the audience seemed to understand the music better, and for ourselves, the performance was a more meaningful experience.

Short Bio
Coraline Groen obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Her teachers have included Vera Beths, Peter Brunt and Philippe Graffin in The Hague, and Rodney Friend at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Groen was a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy 2018-2019 and played with the Bayrische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra. She was appointed principal of the second violins of the NJO, the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Academy Orchestra. Groen is a member of the Volkmann Trio, De Formule, and a duo with bayan player Robbrecht Van Cauwenberghe.
Monteverdi’s lamenti and lettere amorose and the pre-existing art of declamation
Authors: Judith Sepulchre
Published: September 2024

« Should the interpretation of Monteverdi’s lamenti and lettere amorose be closer to the pre-existing art of declamation? »

Nowadays, Monteverdi has become so sacred to the Early musician, that we are afraid of disturbing his art in our interpretation of his written down musical lines. So we stick to what is written, respecting every pitch, every note value, and God forbid we change the tactus! For a lot of Monteverdi’s music, this is a respectable approach. However, when it comes to the interpretation of his lamentations (lamenti) and love letters (lettere amorose), one asks themselves whether it should perhaps be done in a more declamative way. These two genres are composed in the stile recitativo and carry so much unrepeated text that it seems almost improbable that one should approach these compositions from the notes rather than from the poetry. If the seconda pratica is the beginning reign of the text over the harmony in the composition process, then why not adopt this same concept in the interpretation process?

Throughout this research, I will first observe the historical context of these two genres and their connections with the world of the Commedia dell’Arte. I will then discuss the very delicate question of the tactus. And finally, I will attempt to interpret a couple of Monteverdi’s compositions, basing myself on the declamation skills of a Commedia dell’Arte specialist with whom I worked closely.
Playing with Words
Authors: anna litvinenko
Published: September 2024

Western art, literature, and music have told many parallel stories throughout the centuries. Living through similar politics, philosophies, and technological advancements, it is no surprise that such links between the arts exist. Now, more than ever, a time when anything can be considered art and anyone an artist, I feel a necessity to understand these connections of the past in order to proceed forward as a musician. Being more and more involved in creating my own music, I thought it an opportune occasion to combine these interest and explore how a research into artistic and literary movements can help me develop my musical language and creativity as an improviser.

In this exposition, I have created a narrative that brings together the art, music, and poetry of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on my understanding and experience of these artistic and literary movements, I have created improvisations and semi-composed/semi-improvised pieces (some of which I collaboratively worked on with my trio Kalea), attempting to demonstrate how looking to the past can bring inspiration to our contemporary practice.
DEBUSSY AND MOVEMENT - IMANOL CASAN
Authors: Imanol Casan
Published: September 2024

For this project, Lien Baelde and I created a choreography based on "La Soiree dans Grenade" by C. Debussy. In order to prepare the choreography, I made an approach to the connection between music and dance and I analyzed the harmony and sctructure of the piece.

The objetive of the research is to see how my playing changes while working “La Soireé dans Grenade” with a dancer. To answer this question, I compare a recording before and after working with the dancer. This research concludes that mixing arts in the learning process has benefits in my playing, adding flexibility and tempo control.
The bassoon in Barcelona in the second half of the XVIIIth century
Authors: Bernat Gili Díaz
Published: September 2024

The recent discovery of original bassoons made in Barcelona in the 18th century and the researches made on the musical life of the city during this period give us the opportunity to understand how the instrument was conceived and which role it had in its musical context. When were this bassoons made? By whom? For what purpose? Which repertoire could have been played with them? Do they share any common characteristics? How are these linked to their function in the music of that time? All these and other questions are answered in this research by putting together an organological analysis of the instruments, the repertory that has been preserved and different written sources concerning the historical and musical context and the instrument making. This research will be presented in form of research exposition.
Music, Meaning and Emotion
Authors: Hannah Jefferies
Published: September 2024

Name: Hannah Jefferies

Main Subject: Classical Flute

Research Supervisors: Ines de Avena Braga,

Research Question: How can elements and features from psychology and philosophy illustrate what is fundamental to our emotions, in what way can these concepts be represented within and expressed by the flute repertoire, and how can we incorporate and convey these understandings as performers to create music meaningfully and be of beneficence to others?

Summary of Results:

This research sets out to contrast and evaluate diverse standpoints from psychology and philosophy to discuss firstly how emotions can be defined, whether music creates real emotions in us, and what capacities we possess to be both receptive and conveying of emotion within music. During my discussion, I incorporate examples of excerpts from the flute repertoire, consider the harmonic language used and function of musical structures, and balance this against the resulting emotional response from us.

This initial discussion is in support of a questionnaire which I conducted in order to gather results from respondents of their perceived emotional response and valence when presented with differing musical excerpts, both upon an initial and second listening. I aimed to gauge and qualify their reaction to musical traits which have been connected more strongly than others to specific emotional states, and additionally I was interested to find if there was a connection between memory of a piece of music, and emotional valence due to this familiarity.

Finally, having demonstrated the emotive strength it is possible for music to hold, I investigate how as artists we can harness and emphasise certain functions of music to create performances which are highly engaging and positively affecting for listeners. Additionally, this research then leads us to an understanding of the impact of integrating the effects of emotion and music, and suggests how this combination can be beneficial and utilised in and for the wider society, namely in the field of music therapy.

Biography:

I am currently a second year masters student from the UK studying classical flute at the Koninklijk Conservatorium with Jeroen Bron and Dorine Schade, having recently completed my Bachelors degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. During my studies I have been very lucky to have had the opportunity to perform as part of ensembles including Asko|Schönberg, New European Ensemble, European Youth Wind Orchestra, and Amadeus Orchestra Academy. Outside of performance, I greatly enjoy being part of outreach and community music; a highlight was working with the Manchester Camerata Orchestra, delivering music therapy to people with Dementia.
Speaking directly in an indirect way
Authors: Paul Deneer
Published: September 2024

This essay focuses on the connection between personal and artistic growth. The starting point for the essay is my position as a student counsellor at the University of Arts The Hague dealing with students that have personal issues that affect their artistic development. First I take a bigger view by focussing on personal growth in general, from a dialogical perspective. I also make a connection to mental health. With the concepts derived from this wider perspective, I investigate how they could play a role in art. I present material I gathered, about artists who struggle on a personal level with a possible effect on their artistic work. Also in regard to art, I make a connection to mental health. I look back on the reports from my conversations with students, and analyse the data of an interview I did with 14 students. To illustrate my argument, throughout the essay I present cases of students that contacted me during the past years.
Poly-rhythmic structures as frameworks for improvisation.
Authors: Giovanni Bermudez Cardenas
Published: September 2024

Name: Giovanni Bermudez
Main Subject: Jazz Double Bass
Research Coach: Jarmo Hoogendijk
Title of Research: Poly-rhythmic Structures as Frameworks for Improvisation
Research Question:
How can poly-rhythmic structures be used as generators of form when composing for
improvisation?
Summary of Results:
When thinking about the relationship between composition and improvisation, a
composition can be seen as a set of predetermined musical structures that function as a
sort of "map" for the improvisers to navigate, while at the same time providing a cohesive
character or "vibe" for the musical performance. The improvisation then occurs in
relation to these structures.
I want to know how can rhythm be used as the guiding element in the construction of
these structures. Particularly how poly-rhythms can provide structures that have a clear
contour, alternating between moments of tension and release.
For that, I have defined the following research question:
How can poly-rhythmic structures be used as generators of form when composing for
improvisation?
In order to answer that question I have looked into the musical traditions of West Africa
and Cuba, as well as the work of the saxophonist Steve Coleman.
The final product of this research is a series of four compositions for small jazz ensemble
in which I try to apply, in my own way, the ideas and concepts compiled during this
process.
Biography:
Giovanni Bermudez is a jazz bass player born and raised in Quito, Ecuador.
Initially a self-taught rock musician, he eventually became attracted to the possibilities of
improvisation and the rich tradition of Jazz. While studying in Quito, he worked as an
independent bass player performing with numerous bands and soloists in jazz, Latin, and
pop/rock music.
In 2009, looking to develop further skills on the double bass and to challenge himself in a
more competitive musical environment, he moved to the Netherlands to pursue studies at
the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. The international environment of the Netherlands
gave him the opportunity to perform all over Europe.
To understand staff notation aurally
Authors: Suzanne Konings
Published: September 2024

Name: Suzanne Konings

Main subject: Master of Music Theory

Research coach: Lázsló Nemes

Title of research: What's in a name? The relation between pitch notation, note names and sight singing in different forms of pitch notation and in different ways of approaching pitch notation

Research questions:
Are absolute note names necessary in sight singing, when reading pitch notation on the stave relatively? Mental process: one sees ‘do’ (a name that indicates a function) and thinks ‘F’ (indicating a pitch).
Are relative note names necessary in sight singing, when reading pitch notation on the stave ‘absolute’? Mental process: one sees ‘F’ (a name that indicates a pitch) and thinks ‘do’ (indicating a function).
Abstract:
Sight singing is a part of almost every music theory curriculum in conservatoires. But one might ask oneself why lessons in sight singing are needed for students who can already read music notation? The answer usually is: to develop the aural imagination in relation to music notation. The way students have learned to read music notation in the first place did not develop this skill well enough then?

Experiences in teaching made me think that we need functional note names (unique sound names) to be able to aurally understand pitch in staff notation, and that the absolute note names (unique pitch names) may be an instrumentally useful, but less effective step ‘in between’ in aural imagination. From existing literature and recorded tests with students performing special designed scores I hoped to learn more about connecting the inner hearing world to music notation in the most effective way.

Biography
Suzanne Konings studied music theory and musicology and has been the head of the music theory department in the Royal Conservatoire The Hague since 2004. From 2009 she has been specialising in teaching music according to the Kodály concept. Together with colleagues in and outside the conservatoire she is organising training programmes for teachers and musicians in elementary schools, music schools and higher music education. She teaches musicianship classes for students in the Royal Conservatoire and the National Youth Choir of the Netherlands.
Britten Folksongs and Their Traditional Counterparts
Authors: Phoebe Kirrage
Published: September 2024

Phoebe Kirrage
Classical Singing
Research Supervisor: Anna Scott
Britten's Folksong Arrangements and Their Traditional Counterparts
Question: How do the Britten Folksong arrangements relate to their traditional counterparts, with an emphasis on text?
This research explores the relationship between traditional British folk songs and their Benjamin Britten counterparts.
The function of this research is to create a new relationship between the original songs and their values and the impressions brought about by Britten through his edits. Primarily through harmonic arrangements, changes in melody and textual edits made by Britten.
Both folk and classical music have been crucial components in my life and have shaped me as a performer. There have been a great number of folk songs and tunes arranged for classical music yet there is very little dialogue between the two styles.
I have used a combination of my own fieldwork, interviews, rehearsals, recordings and historical research to create an in depth research into the differences made to the traditional songs by Britten in his arrangements. The final results have come to fruition in the creation of an in depth analysis of the differences between the arrangements and the songs, and a full recording of the sixth book of folk songs with guitar. The outcome is a combination of the two musical styles to create a new sound. A concert will follow in which the new arrangements will be performed in a space and atmosphere inspired by both classical and folk performance spaces. A noticeable difference in my classical performing has also come about through the research into storytelling and freeness in folk performance in combination with classical performance.
Phoebe Kirrage is a British soprano, having previously studied Musicology at Royal Holloway University of London, she is now pursuing her masters degree in classical singing under the teaching of Noa Frenkel. Having sung from a very early age, Phoebe has had the privilege of performing in some of the UKs most prestigious performance venues, including The Royal Albert Hall and The Barbican. In the Netherlands Phoebe has had the opportunity to perform in spaces such has the Grote Zaal in TivoliVredenburg. Upcoming performances include Britten's Turn of the Screw and Psalm 42 by Mendelssohn.
E quando mai potro cessar di piangere ? : an exploration of the links between arias with obbligato instruments and musical affects in Antonio Caldara’s oratorios composed between 1716 and 1736 for the Habsburg’s Hofmusikkapelle in Vienna
Authors: Maud Haering
Published: September 2024

Student Number
3262561

Supervisor
Inês de Avena Braga

Title
E quando mai potrò cessar di piangere ?
An exploration of the links between arias with obbligato instruments and musical affects in Antonio Caldara’s oratorios composed between 1716 and 1736 for the Habsburg’s Hofmusikkapelle in Vienna

Research Question
What is the link between obbligato instruments, text and affects in Antonio Caldara’s oratorios composed for the Vienna’s Hofmusikkapelle between 1716 and 1736?

Sub-questions
How can the creation of a descriptive catalogue of Caldara’s oratorios help uncover his choices for instrumentation in relation to the libretti and religious context?

How does Caldara’s choice of obbligato instrument emphasize the affects already present in the text?

Summary
The aim of this research is to rediscover music that has been forgotten for centuries. Through the topic of making links between obbligato instruments and affects in the texts from the libretti in Caldara's oratorios written when he was a composer at the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle, I would like to shine a light on new arias for voice and obbligato instruments which are, in my point of view, very beautiful and which deserve to be highlighted. Antonio Caldara needed to adapt to the imperial court music taste and also to its available instrumentarium, and from the day he started to compose for Charles VI, he began to use different instruments in his way of writing arias in his oratorios. In order to keep the focus of the research on his oratorios composed in Vienna, I purposefully will not discuss the considerable number of operas he composed in the same period, and I will contextualize these works thanks to a descriptive catalogue of each of the oratorios, to the translations of the texts of the arias, and by paying attention to the Habsburg dinasty in Vienna.

Short biography
Maud Haering is a French soprano. After studying Medieval Music at the Sorbonne University of Paris (France), she decided to continue her specialization in the Early Music repertoire in singing more Baroque and Renaissance music. With several ensembles, she performed different baroques styles (Italian, German, English and French) of different periods (17th and 18th centuries) either secular or sacred. Always looking for new repertoire to discover and sing, she really enjoys going into libraries to see manuscripts or to explore the thousands of resources available online to find new pieces. This research about Caldara is one of her explorations.
Waldorf music education meets Kodály methodology.
Authors: Raoul Boesten
Published: September 2024

How can Kodály music methodology contribute to the already existing Waldorf music education in giving the children ownership in music.
The Unplayable Notes of JS Bach
Authors: Oonagh Lee
Published: September 2024

Today there is little doubt that the oboe was one of Bach's most favoured instruments, and that it was an instrument with which he was extremely familiar. Yet, in spite of this, Bach composed numerous works which includes notes that are not playable on the model of oboe that we know were used during his lifetime. Why did Bach write notes that are generally regarded today as unplayable, or perhaps rather ‘unperformable’ due to the quality of both sound and intonation when produced on a contemporary copy of a historical instrument? This is a problem which has been somewhat confined to the footnotes of Bach scholarship but it nonetheless poses very important and relevant questions for the historical oboist, and in fact potentially for the Bach musician and scholar at large.
How can I find my own voice through my instrument
Authors: Julia Casañas Cast
Published: September 2024

Many classical musicians can suffer from tension and nervousness during solo performance. This research looks at how practicing improvisation and creative body movement, as well as creating one’s own performance together with a dancer, can affect the feeling of freedom and enjoyment on stage.

The researcher explored a way to find her own voice. By practicing free improvisation she explored new possibilities of her playing and expression as she searched for freedom and development of creativity. This resulted in a generally more free and involved feeling on stage. In addition, body movement courses helped her to be more aware of her body on stage, resulting in a better sound quality.

A project was created to address the question of how to create one’s own performance that comes from the performers own voice. The project created was based on the poem Woman Inhabited by Words by Guisela Lopez – a poem that was very meaningful to the researcher. In the performance she improvised on the viola; the sound is modified by a computer, and at the same time a contemporary dancer improvised on the music.

In this way, the researcher combined her love of dance and of playing music to find a new depth in her performance and performance experience.
Searching for the Top Range in Early Nineteenth Century Bassoon Repertoire from Sweden: Issues of Material and/or Technique?'
Authors: Donna Agrell
Published: September 2024

It is not uncommon to find a range of three full octaves in late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century bassoon repertoire, but passages ascending above b-flat' or c' were relatively rare. Composers active in Stockholm at the beginning of the nineteenth century such as Bernhard Crusell, Eduoard Dupuy, Franz Berwald and Eduard Brendler wrote pieces encompassing a range of Bb – to e-flat'', inspired by the Preumayr brothers, in particular the youngest, Frans Preumayr, who was an internationally known soloist and principal bassoonist in the Swedish Royal Orchestra from 1811–1835.
In conjunction with my current PhD research in the docARTES program at Leiden University and the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague, dealing with early nineteenth century bassoon repertoire in Sweden, one of my goals was to discover the means of reaching these top notes and integrating them into a fluid technique which would enable historical bassoonists to perform this extraordinary repertoire composed for the virtuoso Preumayr. I wondered if the keys to the high register might be found in a special reed type, or a physical technique involving, for example, jaw position? Was Frans Preumayr's ability dependent on a particular model of bassoon? Or could other factors be involved that I hadn't yet considered?
How Obvious is the Artistic and the Musical Expertise of the Music Teacher?
Authors: Adri de Vugt
Published: September 2024

Artistry is often regarded as one of the core aspects of music education. It is important, however, to realize that the concept of artistry has to be observed in many different contexts. When doing a modest research into this concept in the context of music teacher training, I became more and more aware of - on the one hand the ambiguity of the term and the ease of the use of it on the other hand. Many teacher-training programmes claim to develop the artistic and musical expertise of students on the basis of the idea that music teachers should be artists in the first place. By my research I have tried to understand why music teacher trainers and others are so convinced about the obviousness of the artistry and musical expertise of music teachers.
After organizing a conference with the title "Craftsmanship and artistry" (EAS Conference 2012), I had the opportunity to compile a book on artistry in music education. When finding the authors for the book, we had in mind to find contributions from different perspectives. Ultimately the book did focus on three main areas: the concept of artistry, pupil's artistry and the artistry of music teachers. Besides editing the book with a colleague, I was a co-author of an article on the competencies of music teacher and did write and article on artistry. I offer critical remarks on the seemingly obvious idea that music teachers should be musicians. He argues that content knowledge and skills in themselves are probably not that important for teachers, emphasizing instead that musical knowledge and skills in a pedagogical context should be a priority for educators. A second topic I raise is the role of musical identity. The fact that many music teachers would like to see themselves as musicians or think they should be, may well be influenced by the way music teachers are educated and trained. The question of what the kinds of musical expertise we should expect from music teacher is related to the opinions we have on music and music education. Finally, I discuss the complex connotations of the terms ‘musical’ and ‘artistic’ and comes to the conclusion that we had better use them critically.
Fontegara as researcher
Authors: Nuno Atalia
Published: September 2024

Name: Nuno Galego Marques Atalaia Rodrigues

Main Subject: Recorder

Research Coaches: Paul Scheepers and Rebecca Stewart
Title of Research: Ganassi as researcher, Practice based research and new horizons for HIP

Research Question: What changes when I start reading treatises of the past as the result of a practice based research not unlike my own?

Research process: The following questions have guided my research and relationship with the XVII century recorder treatise La Fontegara: Was Ganassi an artistic researcher? Can his 1535 treatise, La Fontegara, be thought of as the result of sixteenth century practice based research? What will change in our relationship to documents of the past once we look at them as analogous to our own artistic concerns? What could this understanding of artistic research as a trans-historic event mean for Early Music in particular?
My research and thesis leads me to a close reading of Ganassi’s recorder and diminution treatise La Fontegara, trying to go beyond the text and its possible literal meanings and tracing the lost instrumental practice of diminution. With this first treatise of its kind, Ganassi inaugurates an age of instrumental literacy, which has irrevocably shaped our perception of musical practice.
By linking the document to its biographical, social, theoretical and practical roots I try to sketch out the possible influences and projects (both political and artistic), which took part in making this work possible, helping to understand the trans-historic significance of research in defining a place for the artist within broader society. Also, I take the chance to reflect how this critical intimacy I establish with the work changes the very core of my identity as a recorder player by shaping my practice as a dialogue with a distant and mostly silent past.
Summary of Results: The goal of this research is to stress the importance of research in the arts in redefining the role of the musician within society and of opening up a new wave of debate with which to vitalize the historically informed performance movement. Ganassi’s La Fontegara is a document that holds a far greater importance than that of a simple recorder tutor, which positioned it as the first document in the project of emancipation of instrumentalists and their music. Furthermore, the document should be seen as a vital part of the XVII century propaganda project of diffusing the myth of Venice through its use of speculative music tropes such as the theory of proportions. FInally, I wish to rethink our present relationship to these documents as performers. They were not musical cookbooks but rather crystallizations of a continuous struggle between the performer’s knowledge and his need to describe it. To read La Fontegara, is to go beyond the treatise and speculate on the oral practice from which it stems.
Italian elements in French music for traverso by J.M.Laclair and M.Blavet
Authors: Radka Kubinova
Published: September 2024

Name: Radka Kubínová

Main Subject: Traverso Research Coach: Bart van Oort
Title of Research: Italian elements in French music for traverso by J.M. Leclair and M.Blavet

Research Question: How did the Italian style influence French music for the traverso between 1699-1750 ́?

Research Process:
My research question arises while studying music by Blavet and Leclair and their contemporaries. Their music includes many Italian elements and in my research I would like to reach a deeper understanding of the stylistic mixture. For that I need to uncover the social circumstances and back ground of the life of these two composers. I have studied French contemporary sources, mostly books written by the end of 17th century and beginning of 18th century describing musical life in France and its main musical personage. The big advantage of studying the contemporary sources in their original language is the possibility of getting the whole picture of the period.

Summary of Results:
The end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century in France was a “golden age” for traverso marked by an intense interaction between French and Italian style. This interaction is reflected in all aspects of music: composition, forms, instruments and interpretation. The Italian style introduced many new features which were hardly accepted by a conservative society represented by aristocracy and absolutist monarch Louis XIV. Another section of the society, modern and open to anything, new was represented by very controversial and powerful person of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans who was the most important musical patron in France at that time.
The best conclusion of the interaction between the two styles is “Les goûts réunïs” by François Couperin. In the preface of the book Couperin explains that the best solution is to take the best elements from each nation and put them together.
Mindful practicing - Mindfulness and goal setting exercises for fostering self-efficacy
Authors: Magdalena Morales Hidalgo
Published: September 2024

This research explores the creation and application of mindfulness and goal setting exercises and tests its relationship with the construct of self-efficacy for music learning and practicing. Three separate questionnaires and pre- and post-intervention interviews were applied to a sample of 11 conservatory students. All participants but one rated higher scores of self-efficacy for music learning and practicing in one of the questionnaires. The additional questionnaires, interviews and formats that were analyzed give this study a broader scope for identifying distinct factors that may have a relation with the exercises applied and higher self-ratings of self-efficacy.
The content of this research provides an analysis of mindfulness practices and goal-setting strategies and their application to the instrumental practice of music conservatory students. The material envisioned for this study is both original and retrieved from external sources. Some of the material is taken from author Vanessa Cornett and her book “The Mindful Musician” (Cornett, 2019), as well as from Sarah Samuel’s book “Mindful Crafting” (2018) and Bernadette Dijkhuizen-Keogh’s work (2019).
This research wishes to provide tools not only for students who want to improve their sense of self-efficacy regarding their instrumental practice but also for teachers, who want to explore the material developed in this study with their students.
Exploring Expressive Lied Performance: Re-enacting Lotte Lehmann’s Pre-World War II Lied Performances
Authors: Marlina Deasy Hartanto
Published: September 2024

After the second world war, the musical performance style remains changing from intensely expressive into clean and litteral. The exaggeration of expression through tempo, rhythm, portamento, ornamentation were suddenly gone and became utterly unrealistic and old-fashion. The cleanliness of the performance style brought singers to put more focus only to the score and text. Realizing how much the gap between two different styles, I have only partially understood the half picture of the style. My thesis will focus on the re-enactment study of Lotte Lehmann's recording in 1930s of An die Musik by Schubert and Ich grolle nicht by Schumann.
Keyboard transcriptions of orchestral works by M. Marais and J. Ph. Rameau
Authors: João Guimarães Rival
Published: September 2024

Name: João Guimarães Rival
Main Subject: Harpsichord
Research Coaches: Inês de Avena Braga and Patrick Ayrton
Title of Research: Keyboard transcriptions of orchestral works by M. Marais and J. Ph. Rameau
Research Questions:
How did French Baroque composers adapt orchestral works for the harpsichord? What needs to be observed when making new transcriptions based on historical examples?
Research Process:
Often, as a harpsichordist, one needs to transcribe or adapt an orchestral piece for keyboard, either when accompanying or even if only to understand it more deeply for continuo playing.
The motivations of playing orchestral excerpts that were not yet transcribed, or which are currently known nowadays is perhaps the main point of my research. It relies on the analysis of the examples of transcriptions realized by Jean-Henri D’Anglebert (1629- 1691) from several works by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the 1693 Anonymous transcriptions from Alcide by Marin Marais (1656-1728), and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s (1683-1764) Les Indes Galantes (1735). In order to apply the results of these analyses, I transcribed a few instrumental excerpts from the operas Sémélé (1709) and Les Boréades (1764) by Marais and Rameau respectively, and will present a report on how the transcriptional process was made.
Summary of Results:
I believe that the results of my research have opened up new perspectives in this field, and provided new historically informed transcriptions for solo performance. With the examples analyzed, the present study detailed important aspects of the transcriptional process and unraveled many of its issues, concerning compositional techniques involved on translating an orchestral piece to harpsichord in two different periods of French music. As mentioned above, it is extremely important for a harpsichordist to identify which tools were used to idiomatically translate an orchestral writing to a keyboard one, if only for a better understanding compositional practices, the solo repertoire and for the development of a more historically informed accompaniment. My research aimed to identify more clearly what could be considered a “French harpsichord language”, considering its sound qualities and different possibilities of interpretation, and how it was used in two major periods of French music, symbolized in this context by Marais and Rameau, and their impact on the musical life of nearly a century. The presentation will be focused on the process of transcription with live music examples enhanced by a PowerPoint presentation.
Metformin Improves Glycemic Control and Postprandial Metabolism and Enhances Postprandial Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Secretion in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Failure: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Authors: Melenovský Vojtěch , Hošková Eva , Velebová Kateřina , Veleba Jiří , Borlaug Barry A. , Benes Jan , Kuda Ondřej , Čajka Tomáš , Segeťová Markéta , Thieme Lenka , Kopecký Jan , Kopecký Jan , Pelikánová Terezie , Haluzík Martin , Hill Martin , Kahleová Hana
Published: September 2024

This randomized trial tested the effect of metformin on glycemic control and cardiac function in patients with heart failure (HF) and type 2 diabetes while evaluating intestinal effects on selected gut microbiome products reflected by trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and gut-derived incretins. Metformin treatment improved glycemic control and postprandial metabolism and enhanced postprandial glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) secretion but did not influence cardiac function or the TMAO levels. Metabolic effects of metformin in HF may be mediated by an improvement in intestinal endocrine function and enhanced secretion of the gut-derived incretin GLP-1.
Onset and progression of dental erosion in a mouse model
Authors: Marie Haabeth Brox Julie , Tulek Amela , Sehic Amer , Mulic Aida , Paaske Utheim Tor , Khan Qalbi
Published: September 2024

Objective: Purpose of this research was to examine the onset, progression and wear rates of dental erosion in an established mouse model.
Material and methods: Dental erosion in mice was experimentally induced, and the acidic effects of cola drink on their teeth after 2, 4 and 6-weeks were closely analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The tooth height and enamel or dentin loss were established. 
Results: The dental erosion on the molars showed clear progression from 2 to 6 weeks. By the 2-week mark, a significant portion of enamel was already eroded, revealing the dentin on the lingual cusps. When adjusted for attritional wear, molars exposed to cola for 2 weeks showed a 35% drop in lingual tooth height compared to controls (533 μm vs. 818 μm). At 4 and 6 weeks, the cola-exposed group continued to display decreased lingual tooth heights by 40% (476 μm vs. 799 μm) and 43% (440 μm vs. 767 μm), respectively.
Conclusion: This study revealed significant acidic effects of cola drink on mouse molars as early as 2 weeks. These findings highlight the challenge of monitoring dental erosion clinically and underscore the importance of early preventive and intervention measures.
Experimental study of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the evaluation of random-pattern flap blood supply in the early postoperative stage in rats
Authors: Ma Jian-Xun , Xia You-Chen , Bai Zhi-Yong , Zhang Hua-Bin , Xie Xia
Published: September 2024

Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) could be used to reveal the status of blood supply of the superficial flap of rat model in the early postoperative stage.
Methods: One viable and one ischemic random-pattern flap were prepared on the left and right back of the same rat respectively with a number of 40. CEUS examinations were applied within 12 h and 7 days postoperatively, and the quantitative measurements of microvascular blood volume (BV) of the base and the end of both flaps were expressed using acoustic intensity as a ratio to that of the healthy skin.
Results: Within 12 h post operation, there was a smaller BV value of the ischemic ends than that of both the ischemic bases and viable ends (p < 0.001), while no difference was indicated between ischemic bases and viable bases or between viable bases and viable ends. The same result was provided 7 days post operation.
Conclusion: Microcirculation of superficial tissues such as random-pattern flaps in this rat model can be assessed quantitatively by CEUS. It could sensitively and accurately reveal the objective status of tissue perfusion in the early postoperative stage.
A Review on New Trends of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
Authors: RB* Aher , S Jadhav , Y Sharma , P Pawar
Published: September 2024

Computer science’s artificial intelligence division is able to analyse intricate medical data. They can be employed in various clinical contexts for diagnosis, treatment, and outcome prediction due to their capacity to exploit important relationships within a data set. The terms “artificial intelligence” and “neural networks (computer)” were used in searches on Medline and the internet. By cross-referencing important papers, further references were found. This study presents an overview of several artificial intelligence approaches and an evaluation of significant therapeutic applications. Nearly every area of medicine has investigated the effectiveness of artificial intelligence methods. While fuzzy expert systems, evolutionary computation, and hybrid intelligent systems are examples of artificial intelligence techniques, artificial neural networks were the most widely utilised analytical tool. Medicine is becoming increasingly interested in explainable artificial intelligence (AI). In a technical sense, is an age-old issue in artificial intelligence, and traditional AI methods aimed to be understandable and traceable. Their inability to handle the uncertainties of the actual world was a drawback, though. Applications grew more and more successful when probabilistic learning was introduced, but they also became more and more opaque. The introduction of traceability and transparency in statistical black-box machine learning techniques, especially deep learning (DL), is the focus of explainable AI. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that can assess complex medical data. Their capacity to find and use meaningful links in a dataset can be used for outcome prediction, therapy, and diagnosis in a variety of therapeutic settings. Additional references were found by cross-referencing significant articles. This paper presents an overview of numerous artificial intelligence algorithms and reviews important therapeutic applications. Every field of medicine has looked into how well artificial intelligence tools work. Artificial neural networks were the most widely used analytical tool; other artificial intelligence techniques included fuzzy expert systems, evolutionary computation, and hybrid intelligent systems.