Acknowledgements
To sign this thesis with my own name is only partly accurate, since writing it has only been possible thanks to the help and generosity of more than a few teachers, colleagues, friends, family members, and institutions. For this reason, and since the digital format of the Research Catalogue liberates me from the constraints of the printed page, I will take the chance to properly and wholeheartedly thank:
Renee Jonker, for knowing exactly what to say every single time I was close to getting stuck during this research trajectory, for steering my thoughts just enough so I would not loose sight of my goals, and for his support, enthusiasm, good humour, and generosity.
Charles Spence, for accepting to supervise an at times notoriously unscientific research, and for freely sharing his vast knowledge on all things crossmodal and multisensory.
Stichting de Zaaier, for the generous support they have given to this research, their trust, and their inspiring work.
Everyone who came to the experimental performances and Four Bites of Autumn, for their trust and help, without which this research would not have been possible.
Julia Hernández Sánchez, for her endless patience in listening to my (also endless) ramblings about the wondrous behaviour of wholegrain spelt flour in bread and pastry baking, the seemingly magical properties of koji, and all of my other eccentric obsessions; for being my favourite person to cook for and make music with; and for her support throughout the strenuous labour and many frustrations that writing a master’s thesis necessarily implies.
Jonty Coy, for proofreading the manuscript of this research, and for basing an entire delicious dinner on the ingredients of one of my breads.
Casper Schipper, for all his help in finding the perfect format for this thesis on the Research Catalogue, and for patiently and clearly responding to each and everyone of my questions.
Loes Rusch, for her crucial suggestions when looking for literature dealing with this research topic, and for her enthusiastic support of this investigation.
My parents, for their support, their love, and the countless family foraging trips that have shaped my relationship to nature and food. Specifically, I want to thank my dad, Eduardo Polo Malmierca, for the glorious illustrations that have become the soul of this thesis, for teaching me about the sense of triumph you feel when you learn something new by yourself, and for showing me the beauty of a vegetable’s journey from seed to plate. And my mum, Ursula Baader, for luring me into the kitchen as a child, for showing me that the joys of eating together are even greater when preceded by those of cooking together, and for teaching me to trust my senses and instinct over any recipe.
Alex Baker, for being a part of this project since its very beginning, and for believing in it; for his splendid playing; for being the best possible person to spend whole days rehearsing with; and for his friendship and trust.
Gaston Badoux, for having made Four Bites of Autumn possible, for always making things easy, and for his inspiring labour at Delftse Molen de Roos, a place that has contributed more than he would believe to making Delft feel like a real home to me.
The Nederlands Muziek Instituut, for providing me with the microfilm of Albertus Groneman’s trio sonatas.
Jed Wentz, for inviting me to play during his inspiring lecture about Albertus Groneman’s life during the Schuyt Festival Leiden 2022, and for generously sharing his notes with me when I decided to include this composer’s story in Four Bites of Autumn.
Gemeente Delft, without whose support Four Bites of Autumn could not have happened.
The Dutch Historical Acting Collective, for all their teachings on affect, gesture, and declamation, which have inspired and influenced every artistic endeavour I have undertaken during the past year, including this research.
Enrico Coden, for being the best classmate one could wish for, for his support and friendship throughout this master’s degree, and for his inspiring academic rigour.
Kate Clark, for having been, for the past four and a half years, a continuous source of inspiration, musical, pedagogical, and personal.
Wilbert Hazelzet, for his enthusiastic appraisal of my breads, and for his generosity in all things.
Andrea Leine and Harijono Roebana, for their helpful advice while designing A Year in Four Bites, and for their always inspiring artistic work.
Sanne Nagtzaam, for her invaluable help during the preparation of A Year in Four Bites, and for reminding me of the power of storytelling.
Martyn Smits, for having allowed and helped me to shape my bachelor’s degree to exactly fit my needs, even if that meant earning credits for baking bread; and for giving me the best definition of artistic research I have heard, which had me hooked from the first moment.
Tijn Vaes, for his ever-inspiring presence and knowledge, and for having been the first to recommend Richard Sennett’s books to me.
Theo Decloedt, for many a walk through forests and heathland, for his friendship, and for countless conversations that have helped me solve a great deal of artistic and personal dilemmas.
Miguel Villanueva Hering, for decisively shaping my musical understanding and compositional thinking, and for reminding me of the importance of being an autodidact.