Feb 1, 2024
I talk to Professor Niels Berentsen about the
beginnings of improvised counterpoint, the reconstruction of
incomplete music by Johannes Ciconia, computational analysis of
counterpoint, teaching 15th/16th century canon, improvisation in
the classroom at the Haute école de musique, the long history of
improvisation models, and more.
Niels has taught the theory and performance of
medieval and Renaissance music at the Royal Conservatoire of The
Hague since 2011. He received his PhD from Leiden University in
2016. Since 2018 he is professor of improvised counterpoint at the
Haute École de Musique de Genève (Switzerland). As a researcher,
Niels has investigated techniques of polyphonic improvisation in
the 1300-1500 period.