The use of the mental status examination (MSE) in fictional characters when interpreting and performing the music of Schumann and Bartók by Rinde Louise WIllemijn Yildiz

Name: Rinde Yildiz  Main Subject: Viola Research Coach: Anna Scott Title of Research: The use of the mental status examination (MSE) in creating fictional characters when interpreting and performing the music of Schumann and Bartók Research Question: How would the MSE of the fictional characters that I create in musical compositions, in combination with relevant biographical information of the composer and scores, influence how I understand, practice and perform Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto (Op. posthoumus, Tibor Serly Edition) and Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Op. 113) Summary of Results: In order to examine how the MSE of fictional musical characters, in combination with relevant biographical information and scores, influences how I understand, practice and perform Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto (Op. posthumous) and Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Op. 113) I kept up a logbook to write down all the steps I took during this investigation. The results of this research paper are divided over four layers. Layer one: the biographical information of Schumann and Bartók gained from books, articles and letters; Layer two: a rough interpretation of Schumann’s Märchenbilder and Bartók’s Viola Concerto based on reading scores, examining the manuscripts, playing and listening to various recordings, in combination with biographical information. Layer three: a thorough MSE of the fictional characters that are created in specific sections of Schumann's Märchenbilder and Bartók’s Viola Concerto. Layer four: using the MSE of fictional characters during interpreting, practice and performance and make recordings to find out if there are differences between interpretations before and after the incorporations of fictional characters. During this research I found that the creation and incorporation of fictional characters influenced my playing in such a way that I concretized my interpretations. As a result, I was able to pay more attention to all the details of the piece and to have a clearer image of phrasing. Furthermore, using and experimenting with the MSE meant that I broadened my imaginary palette. Biography: Rinde Yildiz (1991) is a second-year master student at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague where she studies classical viola with Mikhail Zemtsov. During her studies she has been playing in various music groups and formed different ensembles. Besides her studies in music, she studied medicine at the University of Amsterdam where she received her bachelor and master degrees in June 2014 and April 2019 respectively. Concerning her medical studies, Rinde has special interest in the psychiatric branch. Having a background in both medicine and music, she is fascinated in subjects where both fields can be connected.

How would a Mental Status Examination (MSE) of the characters that I create in musical compositions, in combination with relevant biographical information of the composer and scores, influence how I understand, practice and perform Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto (Op. posthumous, Tibor Serly Edition) and Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Op. 113, Henle-Verlag edition).

CHAPTER I: METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH QUESTION

METHODOLOGY AND FORMAT OF DOCUMENTATION:

References

[1] S Pridmore, The Psychiatric Interview: A Guide to History Taking and the Mental State Examination (Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000), https://books.google.nl/books?id=IRH4kQEACAAJ.

In order to find an answer to my research question, I used the following tools: full scores of Robert Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Op. 113, Henle-Verlag edition) and Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto (Op. posthumous, Tibor Serly Edition); these two works' manuscripts; biographies, letters, and articles written by or about Schumann and Bartók; and The Neuropsychiatric Mental Status Examination. The research design of this paper entails four layers:

The first layer includes biographical information concerning Schumann and Bartók that I gathered in order to create fictional characters in their pieces. Therefore, I searched for articles, books, letters or any other source that could give me some impression about the life (events) and the character of these composers, with a focus on what I call psychiatrically-valid life events. I put special focus on the period in which Schumann composed Märchenbilder and in which Bartók composed his Viola Concerto. During this process I used a logbook to write down the things that seemed useful in the formatting of my own characters. Topics that I focused on are: childhood, family, love/marriages, travels and mental and somatic/health. Although the mental or psychiatric state of the composer has been subject to research in both psychiatry and music history, to date, the influence of this knowledge on practicing and performance has not been as thoroughly studied. I think that knowledge about the mental state of the composer might support us musicians in finding our own way of giving expression to the piece.

The second layer is a rough interpretation of the pieces that I made at first sight by playing, reading scores, examining the manuscripts and listening to various recordings in combination with the biographical information I gathered during the readings I did. From this rough interpretation, I selected a number of sections in which I could create fictional characters.

The third layer is a further elaboration of the second layer in which I made a thorough description of these characters. Therefore, I used musical characteristics in the pieces such as harmonies, rhythm, dynamics, and orchestration with other parts, to shape these characters. Subsequently, I carried out the MSE on these fictional characters in much the same way psychiatrists use the MSE to evaluate their patients. Within this MSE, the following elements are reviewed: their appearance and attitude (cooperative? kind? is there eye contact?), their orientation (does he/she know where he/she is, who she/he is and what day it is?), their level of alertness and whether attention can be drawn and maintained, is there presence of hallucinatory behavior, are their thoughts coherent or incoherent, and is their speed of thinking heightened or slowed down. Also, it is interesting to know whether the person has awareness and insight into their own mental state. In terms of content, it will be evaluated whether thoughts are colored by particular ideas or subjects, such as paranoid illusions for example. Mood and affect will also be put into context. Their impulse control and psychomotor movements will be objectified, and lastly, their risk of suicide will be estimated.[1]

The fourth layer is the incorporation of these fictional characters, with their full MSE description, into my practicing process. I recorded myself playing (sections from) Schumann’s Märchenbilder and Bartók’s Viola Concerto using different mental status descriptions to see whether the awareness of the assessment outcome on the characters that I created affected my way of performing. For example: is my phrasing different when I imagine a disoriented character or do I use different timing when I imitated a rigid personality. I wanted to find out if there are ways to make the musical characters visible and, most importantly, audible in my performance.

NOTE: the analyses and characters that I describe are fictional, based on my own imagination and medical knowledge in combination with biographical and harmonic analyses. My aim is not to label these fictional characters with psychiatric diagnoses, but rather to create descriptions and images of characters that are useful in a musical interpretation. Also, it is important to mention that this research is not meant to make a psychiatric or psychological analysis of the composers' own mental states.

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