115: Job IJzerman

Nikhil Hogan Show

My guest today is Professor Job IJzerman! He teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is known for his popular book, “Harmony, Counterpoint, Partimento” Published by Oxford University Press in 2018.

0:38 Background 1:50 Did you improvise or compose growing up? 2:12 Did you have any experience with thoroughbass or basso continuo? 2:36 Two anecdotes that highlighted the need for harmony pedagogy reform at the conservatory for IJzerman 7:07 Being introduced to Robert Gjerdingen’s work and partimento in 2007 9:09 What steps did you take to put the partimento theory into practice 10:31 Can Partimento be applied to other styles than the Galant style? 12:33 How was the reception to your new method among students? 16:55 Where did you take your partimenti and solfeggi exercises from? 19:57 What duration is the course of study in your book designed to encompass? 20:43 From your observation, how does your new method compare with the standard conservatory method instruction in harmony? 24:27 Do you examples of students who studied harmony in a different but have converted to your new method? 25:57 How have your peers in the faculty responded to the method? 28:10 Do you receive emails from professors around the world about the book and what has been the reception? 30:23 Karst de Jong 31:22 Peter van Tour 32:16 Do you separate the study of Harmony and Counterpoint? 34:57 Should musicians who are learning music of the Common Practice Era study Renaissance music? 35:54 What are the differences and overlap among the Italian Partimento, and German and French Thoroughbass traditions? 38:01 German Thoroughbass and Italian Partimento 39:19 Music Schemata Theory and Partimento 44:46 Hexachordal 18th century Italian Solfeggio 48:30 How did you jump from the 16th century hexachordal solfeggio method to the updated 18th century version? 49:33 Mutating up vs down being different 50:10 Differences and overlap with Move-able Do and 18th century Italian Solfeggio 51:36 How should someone start learning 18th century Italian Solfeggio 54:30 What’s the way to learn how to mutate between Hexachords correctly? 55:43 Understanding which syllables are part of a melisma and long diminutions 57:32 When accidentals appear in the bass and the Solfeggio changes key, do you have to change all the notes of the hexachords on the spot? 59:14 Do you use the original names of the keys like C-solfaut? 59:34 Can you navigate through a Solfeggio with the correct syllables on a first read through? 1:01:58 What is the best way to learn Partimento? 1:05:53 Job IJzerman demonstrating some patterns at the piano 1:07:40 What’s the best way to learn Counterpoint? 1:08:26 Should you sing and play music extensively first before embarking on written counterpoint? 1:09:40 IJzerman’s method of teaching Counterpoint 1:11:29 Does this lead into 18th century and 19th century Counterpoint? 1:12:21 Should we learn music at the beginning with 2 voices or 4 voices? 1:16:38 Is Partimento practice and theory useful for learning and analysing the music of later styles? 1:19:42 Wrapping Up