Eloquence of the Ineffable — The aftermath of the 2018 opera La Tragedia di Claudio M
You are cordially invited to session #9 of In the Making, a public series by the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) and Art Institute West Den Haag. In this series, different practices of research in the arts are presented.
Although he proclaimed that words were the origin of his music, Claudio Monteverdi never found words to illuminate the process of this seconda prattica, his pathbreaking compositions in the new style of his times. From the moment of its revival around 1900, his music ignited the creativity of composers in the 20th Century and challenged them to merge it into their own work. Carl Orff, Ernst Krenek, Luigi Dallapiccola, Paul Hindemith, Hans Werner Henze, Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna and Alexander Goehr delivered remarkable work in this sense. Fascinated by the immanent eloquence of Monteverdi's compositions, the work of those composers formed a parallel track to the development of historical performance of the original works from the 1920s until the present day. The artistic research project of creating La Tragedia di Claudio M synthesises both these tracks and reflects on the essence of Monteverdi and the inexplicable survival of his music disguised in new modernity. Convinced that Monteverdi’s original ideas were influenced by his viola bastarda improvisations leading to those inexplicable choices, Johannes Boer will demonstrate these with his colleague viol player Israel Castillo. The impossibility of putting this essence in words is the main subject of the dialogue.
Presenters
Johannes Boer
Musicologist and viola da gamba player, dedicated much of his career to combining both disciplines. He participated in ensembles like The Royal Consort, Huelgas Ensemble and Cantus Cölln. As a soloist, he performed solos in Bach’s Passions with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. For his solo CD, ‘Practising Time and Art’ he recorded viol music from the Dutch 17th century. In 2002, he led the Dutch Foundation for Historical Performance Practice (STIMU) and organised international symposia at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. As a member of the editorial board of Tijdschrift Oude Muziek, he wrote many articles, interviews, CD- and book reviews. From 2006 to 2020, Johannes was head of the Early Music department of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. In 2014, he started a docARTES PhD project, which resulted in the opera La Tragedia di Claudio M (2018).
Johannes Boer
Musicologist and viola da gamba player, dedicated much of his career to combining both disciplines. He participated in ensembles like The Royal Consort, Huelgas Ensemble and Cantus Cölln. As a soloist, he performed solos in Bach’s Passions with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. For his solo CD, ‘Practising Time and Art’ he recorded viol music from the Dutch 17th century. In 2002, he led the Dutch Foundation for Historical Performance Practice (STIMU) and organised international symposia at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. As a member of the editorial board of Tijdschrift Oude Muziek, he wrote many articles, interviews, CD- and book reviews. From 2006 to 2020, Johannes was head of the Early Music department of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. In 2014, he started a docARTES PhD project, which resulted in the opera La Tragedia di Claudio M (2018).
Israel Castillo
Isarel Castillo began his Viola da Gamba studies with Gabriela Villa-Walls at the National School of Music of the UNAM and continued them at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he obtained his master's degree as a soloist in 2008 under the tutelage of Anneke Pols, Wieland Kuijken and Philippe Pierlot.
In addition to his work as a Viola da Gamba player, Israel participates as a creator, performer and workshop instructor in numerous 'creative collaboration projects', whose objective is to use music as a vehicle of communication outside of its conventional forms in order to recover its function as a cohesive entity between individuals in our society.
Israel Castillo
Isarel Castillo began his Viola da Gamba studies with Gabriela Villa-Walls at the National School of Music of the UNAM and continued them at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he obtained his master's degree as a soloist in 2008 under the tutelage of Anneke Pols, Wieland Kuijken and Philippe Pierlot.
In addition to his work as a Viola da Gamba player, Israel participates as a creator, performer and workshop instructor in numerous 'creative collaboration projects', whose objective is to use music as a vehicle of communication outside of its conventional forms in order to recover its function as a cohesive entity between individuals in our society.
