(Un-) settling Sites and Styles
(2021)
author(s): Einar Røttingen, Bente Elisabeth Finseraas
published in: Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen
(Un-)settling sites and styles: In search of new expressive means.
Eight performers (voice, piano, violin, cello), one musicologist and one composer aspired to unsettle their habitual ways of working with musical interpretation of 20th century and contemporary Norwegian composers. By collaborating to develop new perspectives and methods, they investigated questions of style and how different sites influenced their rehearsals and performances.
How do performers find new expressive means? How can intersubjective exchange within a research group contribute to articulating tacit knowledge? How can mutual unsettling approaches influence conventional or subjective attitudes of fidelity to a score or a performance tradition? How can novel sounds, musical material and musical meaning emerge beyond prejudiced conceptions or through improvisation?
The three-year project was facilitated by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (Grieg Academy), University of Bergen, and resulted in texts, sound recordings, videos, and new commented score editions.
Babylon Quartet: Ghosts, Mirrors, and The River
(2017)
author(s): Babylon Quartet
published in: KC Research Portal
Names:
Babylon Quartet: Kellen McDaniel, Danielle Daoukayeva, William McCleish, Leonid
Nikishin
Main Subject: Chamber Music
Research Supervisors: Renee Jonker, Liesbeth Ackermans
Title of Research:
Babylon Quartet: Ghosts, Mirrors, and The River: A case study in performance and compositional practices of modern electro acoustic music
Research Question:
What are some of the important challenges faced in creating and performing works which utilize electronics, and what kinds of performance practices and compositional approaches can be used to mitigate and overcome these challenges?
Summary of Results:
The use of electronics in music composition and performance continues to expand, both in commercially mainstream and artistically niche genres of music. This presents a growing set of demands on classically trained musicians who wish to perform music which uses electronics. This paper is mainly a primary source documentation of performance techniques, challenges and solutions presented by the members of Babylon Quartet in their preparation and performance of an original work for string quartet involving electronics. The piece was written by violist Kellen McDaniel and his brother Marshall McDaniel. It consists of first hand accounts of all four players as well as the two composers, detailing the process of first premiering the work, and then subsequently revising and adapting the work for future performances, as well as relevant technical explanation and documentation. The goal of this research is to provide insight and practical solutions on how some core challenges of electro-acoustic performance can be overcome from both compositional and performance perspectives.
Biography:
Babylon Quartet is a string quartet based in The Hague. Playing together for the past three years, they have been honored as recipients of Het Kersjesfonds Strijkkwartetstipendium as well as winning first place De Grote Kammermusik Prijs - De Doelen. They consist of violinists Leonid Nikishin (Russia) and Danielle Daoukayeva (Netherlands), violist Kellen McDaniel (USA), and Cellist William McCleish (Canada). Kellen McDaniel and his brother Marshall McDaniel are a composing duo from Los Angeles, California. They have composed works for the concert hall and theater, as well as film and television.
In Search of A Lost Language: Performing in Early-Recorded Style in Viola and String Quartet Repertoires (October 2019)
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Emlyn Stam
connected to: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Early recordings made between the 1880s and mid-1930s reveal a wide gap between the performance practices of a century ago and those of today. Though many contemporary musicians often claim fidelity to composers’ intentions, they clearly prefer to avoid the risks associated with playing in ways familiar to the very composers to whom they pledge fidelity. Given this state of affairs, I, Emlyn Stam, suggest a re-thinking of the concept of Werktreue, predicated upon the notion that 19th-century performers enacted their fidelity to works and composers by creating altered and highly personalized versions of the detail, structure and time of composers’ works. My own performances aim to enact this performer-centred Werktreue in order circumvent the frequently restrictive nature of modern performance practices while closing the gap between these practices and those heard on early recordings of viola solo, viola/piano and string quartet repertoires.
The question my work engages with is: how might viola and string quartet playing in the performer-centered, moment-to-moment and communicative style heard on early recordings be brought about today? In order to achieve this aim, the study of relevant literatures on early-recorded style is combined with historical research and the detailed analysis and ‘all-in’ copying of early recordings.