Database of scores and recordings of orchestral exams at the Paris Conservatory
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Database of scores and recordings of orchestral exams at the Paris Conservatory
Yan Maresz (Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris - CNSMDP ) [PI], with Stephen McAdams (McGill University), and external collaborators Yannaël Pasquier (CNSMDP), Arthur Macé (CNSMDP), Sophie Lévy (CNSMDP), Philippe Brandeis (CNSMDP)
Description:
There exists an abyss on the subject of the history of orchestration pedagogy, and this project proposes a first step in approaching this topic through the orchestration exams from initiation and end-of-curriculum classes at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). Many student orchestration exams have been destroyed at the National Archives since the orchestration classes were introduced at the Conservatory in 1977. However, a significant number of scores remain to be collected. The recordings of these scores by the Conservatory orchestra have largely been preserved on various supports according to the audiovisual service at the Conservatory.
We propose to entrust a collection mission and the constitution of a database to a research assistant, who will also work on the history of orchestration teaching at the Conservatory. The core of this RA's task would be to collect scores and recordings of orchestration exams since 1977. This involves:
Identification of sources (scattered between the Conservatory, the National Archives, and possibly, private collections).
Digitization of scores
Reformatting of audiovisual sources
Creation of an anonymized database of exam scores and recordings with metadata such as orchestration professor, year, piano piece that was orchestrated, and jury comments and marks
A second task will be to develop these collected sources as research data. This could consist of an analysis of the data in the form of a report including:
Evolution of the studied repertoire
Prosopography (background) of orchestration students
Two types of deliverables could be expected:
The creation of a database structure with scores and recordings to expand upon the data already posted on the ACTOR Repository (actor-project.music.mcgill.ca/members/CNSM_PrixOrchestration, login: actor, password: 1007Timbre).
A module for the ACTOR Timbre and Orchestration Resource on the history and orchestration pedagogy at the Conservatory, which could feed the pedagogical perspective on the TOR.