“Richtig, gut, leicht und bequemer”: Developing Practical Skills in Keyboard Notations from 1550–1650
Doctoral project of Jasper Koekoek.
This doctoral research project explores how contemporary keyboard players can internalize historical notation systems that predate the dominance of modern staff notation. As a harpsichordist, I examine two central media within the period 1550–1650: the New German Keyboard Tablature (Neue Deutsche Orgeltabulatur, NDOT) and the Italian Keyboard Partitura. Both were vital to a keyboard player’s expertise and reflected the polyphonically oriented musical practices of their respective cultures. NDOT, written with letters and lines, was used for both solo and ensemble music, while the keyboard notation ‘partitura’ presented four staves and required mastery of seven clefs. Through the lens of Historically Informed Performance (HIP), the project combines autoethnographic research grounded in artistic practice with historical content analysis, and unfolds across three concerts and three peer-reviewed articles. The research also investigates the power dynamics between NDOT, ‘partitura’ and the increasingly popular ‘intavolatura’, and examines what the widespread transmission of NDOT sources in regions such as Poland, the Baltics and Scandinavia reveals about cultural exchange. By combining artistic and scholarly approaches, the project aims to establish a more performer-oriented perspective on historical notations and to support notational polymathy.
Keywords: historical notation, historically informed performance, HIP, autoethnography, early music, renaissance, baroque, keyboard instruments
Jasper Koekoek is a doctoral researcher in the Arts Study Programme at the DocMus Doctoral School.
Future doctors in music
We have approximately 150 doctoral students enrolled at the Sibelius Academy. This blog offers a view to their research projects.
The doctoral students are a part of a research community which is a unique combination of artistic activities, education, and research.
Their projects cover a wide spectrum of topics in the realm of music, combining musical practices and different research approaches.
Latest posts
Follow blog