Research Alive: Changing notes for notability
Unveiling what makes music so magical in the ears and minds of the listener through keynote presentations featuring collaborations between researchers and performers.
Changing notes for notability:
Re-enacting a legendary performance by Domenico Dragonetti and Ludwig van Beethoven
Shanti Nachtergaele, PhD student in Musicology, Double Bass, Winner of the 2020-2021 Research Alive Student Prize
Meagan Milatz, fortepiano
This presentation will reenact a popular anecdote about double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, which describes him playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2 with the composer. It will explore how Dragonetti’s instrument and his individual performance style would have influenced his approach to playing the cello sonata on double bass, as well as how this performance fit into his larger strategy of self-promotion. The presentation will conclude with a performance of the sonata’s final movement on three-string double bass, transcribed in the style of Dragonetti.
The Research Alive Student Prize is made possible by a generous donation from Ms. Jill de Villafranca and Dr. David Kostiuk.
Shanti Nachtergaele is a Vanier Scholar and PhD student in musicology, co-supervised by Tom Beghin and Steven Huebner. Her dissertation will examine the sociomaterial history of the professional double bassist in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She has published in Early Music and The Online Journal of Bass Research, and has an article forthcoming in the Spring 2021 issue of Music and the Moving Image. Also an active performer on double bass and violone, she specializes in historically informed performance and has played with ensembles such as the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Toronto), American Bach Soloists (San Francisco), and Accordes! (Oxford).
With the safety of our community and our students’ education remaining as top priority, performances will not be open to the public. We thank our audiences for their continued support to our community and our School.
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