Postgraduate Researchers

DMUS Research Student - Conservatoire

Project title: Joseph Kaspar Mertz and Josephine Plantin: the romantic repertoire for guitar and fortepiano 

Project abstract:   

This research project explores the nineteenth-century repertoire for guitar and fortepiano duo by performing little-known works on period instruments and creating new transcriptions for this formation. The guitar and fortepiano duo played a significant role in nineteenth-century salon culture, as shown by numerous music publications of the time. There is also much evidence of active women participation as both performers and composers in the duo formation. 

My project begins with the works of guitarist Joseph Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) and pianist Josephine Plantin (1819-1903), one of the last important guitar and piano duos of the nineteenth century, and expands to explore three key areas: 

1) The sound of historical instruments, investigating the characteristics of period instruments, their use in the nineteenth century, and their potential in modern contexts;  

2) The role of women musicians in the guitar and fortepiano duo, both as performers and composers;  

3) The transcription of new works for the guitar and fortepiano duo, inspired by the past, with a specific focus on the romantic style, little explored in the duo formation. 

This research aims to outline the social and cultural context in which the instruments were played, emphasising the essential contribution made by women in the development and spread of this duo formation. 

Through the music of Mertz, Plantin and their contemporaries, alongside my original transcriptions, I aim to reveal the captivating sound world of this unique duo. 

 

Supervisors: Dr. Maria McHale, Professor Clíona Doris