Previously, research in the field of performing arts has mainly been carried out by researchers from other disciplines who have looked at art as an object of their methodology. This has led to a large number of results in musicology, humanities, social studies, psychology and many other areas, but in the last decades, a field has emerged that explores art as a phenomenon seen from the “inside” – from the artists themselves. This is usually called Artistic Research, and since 2012 the Danish Ministry of Culture has encouraged the national higher cultural education institutions to pursue activities within this field. After a preparatory work, and strongly inspired by the other… Read More
Continue ReadingAbout FormingPerforming
With the FormingPerforming project I’ve explored the complex processes involved in learning a new piece of music, and I have used my own practice as a research object for the project. I was lucky to get access to a work of high quality, which had not been recorded before: the Danish composer Paul von Klenau’s Piano Concerto from 1943. Probably as the only living Danish pianist I have previously performed piano music by Klenau, primarily his f – minor Sonata. The concerto is from the same period as this sonata, which gave me a good starting point for my work. (See About Paul von Klenau) So: On the one hand,… Read More
Continue ReadingAbout action representation and motor cognition
In Marc Jeannerod‘s book “Motor Cognition” from 2006, “action representation” is a very central concept, which I find it very interesting to connect with my reflections on practising. The term covers a hypothesis about motor actions that say, that the same neural mechanism is active whether we imagine an act, perform an act or observe an action. The term is related to the idea of mirror systems, since imitation is a basic element. Action representation, however, has more far-reaching implications, as the term includes a completely basic overlay of three phenomena, normally perceived as separate in relation to a motor action: 1) the mental imagining 2) the muscular performance and… Read More
Continue ReadingAbout Paul von Klenau
The Danish composer Paul von Klenau (1883-1946) was born in Copenhagen, as a child of a very wealthy family. His mother was born Berggreen and was the descendant of the composer A.P. Berggreen. Klenau began his education at the Conservatory of Copenhagen, with Otto Malling as his teacher in music theory among others, but travelled in 1902 to Berlin. His plan was to study violin with Joseph Joachim, but Klenau did not pass the entrance examination. But instead, on the basis of his compositions, he was admitted as “master student” with Max Bruch. This was the starting point for a great career as composer and conductor in Germany and Austria,… Read More
Continue ReadingAbout Marc Jeannerod
Marc Jeannerod (1935-2011) was an internationally recognized researcher in cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology. His research focused on the cognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms that lie behind motor control, motor cognition, emotion and self-awareness. Marc Jeannerod specialized in medicine and subsequent neurology at the University of Lyon. His further research training was under the guidance of Michel Jouvet, one of the discoverers of REM sleep. Later, he moved to the United States to work at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, before returning to Lyon, where he became a professor at the university. He founded and chaired the French Institute of Cognitive Sciences at… Read More
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