Chamber Music
Objectives
a) To know how to create an appropriate performance of a musical work in aesthetic, rhetorical, expressive, stylistic and technical terms.
b) To acquire analytical skills, to develop a musical sensitivity and a capacity to engage autonomously with the musical world of the piece.
c) To know how to combine the individual performance within the chamber ensemble, grasping the specificity of the work, its inner balance and the dynamics of reciprocal interaction.
d) To master visual and gestural communication with the other members of the ensemble.
e) awareness of the musical and expressive dynamics of language in vocal music, understanding how decisions about word modulating, pronunciation, articulation, energy and tempo affect interpretation.
General characterization
Code
711021064
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Alberto José Vieira Pacheco
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - 168
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Admission requires musical skills and a real vocal or instrumental mastery equivalent to a 5th level of a music conservatory. Selection takes place at the end of January, on a date to be announced. Students should bring a prepared piece of their choice to this audition.
Bibliography
Klickstein, G. (2009). The musician’s way: A guide to practice, performance, and wellness. Oxford University Press
Murray, L. M. (2015). Chamber music: An extensive guide for listeners. Rowman & Littlefield
Radice, M. A. (2012). Chamber music: An essential history. University of Michigan Press
Rink, J., Gaunt, H., & Williamon, A. (Eds.). (2017). Musicians in the making: Pathways to creative performance. Oxford University Press
Rink, J. (2012). Sobre a performance: O ponto de vista da musicologia. Revista Música, 13(1), 32-60. https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v13i1.55105
Rosen, C., & Temerson, C. (2020). The joy of playing, the joy of thinking: Conversations about art and performance. Harvard University Press
Waddington-Jones, C. (2014). Creativity in ensemble performance: A case of intense coperformer empathy. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Performance Studies Network. University of Cambridge
Teaching method
The practice of chamber music practice will be conducted in two weekly sessions. The bibliography will serve as a support for reflection on the repertoire and its practice. In the first class, students are asked to perform a composition that demonstrates their level of musical proficiency. Taking into account this audition, the teacher, in agreement with all involved, will form groups of 2 to 6 students and determine the repertoire that will be worked on during the semester. In this way, the classes obey a set of goals to be achieved, previously stipulated according to the individual skills in the respective instruments. Each student will have at least one composition to be interpreted. Throughout the module, students will be encouraged to achieve the best possible musical performance and reflect on the field of artistic studies. At the end of the semester, a lecture-recital will be held, in which the groups will make a brief critical presentation of the work carried out with their respective compositions.
Evaluation method
The curricular unit does not have an exam. The evaluation will be continuous.
The assessment will take into account:
1. Proficiency and development in the domain of the repertoire under study (10%).
2. Rigor and effectiveness of the student's instrumental performance in rehearsals and classes (10%).
3. Attendance and commitment (10%).
4. Performance in the lecture-recital (60%).
Due to the practical and collective nature of this UC, attendance in classes will be essential. Therefore, each unjustified absence will result in a loss of 1.5 in the final grade. Consequently, having more than 6 absences will result in failure. Only absences due to health reasons will be considered justified (a medical certificate is mandatory in these cases), or proven official obligations and convocations. Finally, only students with student worker status will be free from mandatory attendance.
Subject matter
The contents of the course are as follows:
A) chamber music and its practice.
B) the chamber repertoire from the Baroque to the present
C) originality in musical practice and the issue of the performer as author.
D) the physical and mental well-being of the performer.
E) the expressive elements used in musical interpretation, such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, and texture.
F) musical styles.
G) the theory of interpretative practices.
H) the relationship between practices and musicology.
I) musical analysis applied to performance.