|
Background and Goals
For several decades, philosophy of music or, more generally, humanistic research in music has concentrated on issues such as
the relationships between music, language and speech
the influence on local and global culture exerted by the immediate availability of music from virtually any time and place
the ways in which agents hear sounds as meaningful and representative, even when they come from the realm of what is usually thought of as “noise”
the ontological status of the work of music or more narrowly the status of the composition
and, more recently,
understanding processes in the minds and bodies of performing musicians and their audiences
inspired by the results of such investigations in music ensembles, getting a deeper understanding of human interaction in communities (or just person to person) in general.
Among the topics to which these considerations give rise are:
the extension and application of successful music teaching strategies to pedagogical method in general
expanding the techniques of music pedagogy by integrating those from other disciplines
assessing the implications of various approaches to music pedagogy with respect to expressivity, mastery, and individuality.
The Aesthetics of Music and Sound, located at the Institute for the Study of Culture (IKV), University of Southern Denmark (SDU), aims at shedding new light upon these questions by regarding music in terms of information and communication, aided by the tools under rapid development within information technology and motion-capture imaging, by practice-based research and by the new perspectives arising within aesthetics as a result of new technologies for studying and producing music.
This approach has its roots in activities within the Network for Cross-Disciplinary Studies of Music and Meaning (NTSMB [1]) founded with a two-year start-up grant from the Danish Research Council for the Humanities in 2001-2003 and with a base at what was then known as The Institute of Philosophy and the Study of Religions within the Humanities Faculty of The University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The purpose of the present program is to provide an interface between traditional academic humanities research and the work being done in the technological field of Music Informatics, chiefly that being done by researchers at Aalborg University Esbjerg (AUE), and with the practice-based research of the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark/Syddansk Musikkonservatorium & Skuespillerskole (SMKS) in its facilities in Esbjerg and Odense.
Music Informatics and its more specific sub-discipline Computer Music Modelling and Information Retrieval deal in short with making computers recognize, synthesize and play music. Several of the projects in the program draw upon this research to deepen our understanding of human interaction through music.
Practice-based research is an important topic for the Research Program in three different areas: I) when studying the work of music ensembles, a study which must have actual performances and rehearsals as its material, II) the research of the potential strengthening of students’ learning capacities by means of the skills acquired through musical education and experience and III) when trying to find ways of comparing the knowledge and skills obtained by musicians and composers to the more discursive knowledge paradigm of the academic world. There are recent and ongoing attempts in Denmark to place conservatory educations on an equal footing with those offered by universities. This provides some interesting challenges, in that the performing, composing and listening skills developed within conservatory environments don't necessarily fit in well with the more discursive sorts of knowledge commonly prized within university milieux. How should the knowledge which is clearly implicit in a fine performance by a concert musician or a piece written by an accomplished composer be made discursively explicit - or does the academic world need to expand its own horizons with regard to its own ideas regarding the nature and communication of knowledge? If the latter is the case, how can this be done without sacrificing rigor, clarity of thought or quality of argumentation? The Aesthetics of Music and Sound is fortunate enough to be able to draw on the expertise of Finnish philosopher Tere Vadén, who is a leading force in the area of performance-based research. Tere Vadén has worked in philosophy of science, in general, and on the question of the identity and role of science in contemporary society, in particular. These interests all seem to converge around artistic research:
. . . . What we see and hear is a need for carefully argued for criteria, principles and guidelines that are situated in both qualitative research and artistic practices. We have to keep in mind that even though artistic research has certainly been produced at various moments over the last twenty years, the research methods in the different fields of art and artistic expression – from music via design to theatre and from the visual arts to visual culture – are still only in the process of evolving, both in themselves and in relation to other artistic traditions.
[…] The question is, how and within what framework should artistic research be carried out? (Hannula, Suoranta and Vadén 2005, p.11) [2]
It is important that researchers involved in the rapidly evolving traditions within computer music modeling and information retrieval do not become engrossed only in the – often very absorbing – problems which arise in this field as the tools themselves become more complex and theoretically sophisticated, thus risking loss of contact with the culture and practices of the world which they are trying to understand by means of models and simulations. Conversely, it is important that musicians and composers are updated as to the wealth of possibilities for new kinds of examination of even the most traditional forms of musical practice opened up by new digital technologies and the new kinds of questions, the framing of which are inspired by these technologies.There are, indeed, now resources which warrant the development of new types of music research, and, although traditional musicology will certainly always have a place on the academic map, those researchers who are deaf to the new technologies may well find themselves engaging in a form of academic re-enactment rather than bona fide research. A similar remark holds for humanists in general: questions of what “meaning” is, and what characterizes human communication, tend to be so bound up with language in the minds of many philosophers and theorists that the matter of whether or not music or any sort of sound-for-sound’s sake may be meaningful or viewed as a form communicative tool too often simply receives a negative answer. What is far more fruitful and exciting is to recognize that – whatever conceptual understanding we have gained regarding “meaning” – people do find music and sonic art “meaningful” – and furthermore, that music does play a role in our communication (imagine a language without intonation or melody or a classic Hollywood film without a score!), a role that must be further examined.
The Aesthetics of Music and Sound thus benefits from the geographical proximity of the three Danish institutions SDU (which also has a campus in Esbjerg), AUE and SMKS, each of which contribute substantially to the work being done in the program. Throughout the history of the program, there has also been substantial cooperation with other institutions as well – both in Denmark and abroad – and a large number of exceptionally versatile and experienced people have shared in each other’s work and expertise in the context of NTSMB, and continue to do so also through the online journal JMM: The Journal of Music and Meaning [3] and NNIMIPA [4] where the latter are also based at IKV-SDU. A continually growing list of international network partners is kept up-to-date on this site on the "Links" page
[1] Abbreviation of the Danish Netværk for Tværvidenskabelige Studier af Musik og Betydning; please see www.ntmsb.dk.
[2] For more information on Tere Vadén, see the tab “People”.
[3] A peer reviewed Internet journal initiated by the NTSMB; please see www.musicandmeaning.net.
[4] Nordic Network for the Integration of Music Informatics, Performance and Aesthetics; please see www.nnimipa.org.
|
|
Institute for the
Study of Culture
(Institut for Kulturvidenskaber - IKV)
Research Director for
The Aesthetics of
Music and Sound
and
Editor and Webmaster for
www.soundmusicresearch.org:
Cynthia M. Grund
cmgrund@sdu.dk
Updates
Archive
for ""Updates" and "News":
Click HERE.
 April 28, 2013:
Concert: Thursday,
May 2, 2013, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square - Campustorvet, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Giacomo di Tollo, piano, performs A Festival of Italian Operatic, Belle Époque and Contemporary Piano Transcriptions. Poster for the concert available HERE as a pdf-file. Program (with notes) available HERE as pdf-file. Please see HERE for more detailed information on the Lunchtime Concert Series at the University of Southern Denmark. Following the concert there will be a seminar with Giacomo di Tolo, PhD, LISIC -- Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Calais France: An Application of Cycles to Twelve-tone Structures, Thursday, May 2, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the twelfth and final seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE. For the fall 2013 seminar series, please see HERE.
April 23, 2013:
Concert: Wednesday,
April 24, 2013, 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. in Cafeteria 4 , University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Janus Araghipour, piano, plays music of Beethoven, Nielsen, Bach, Debussy, Schumann og Chopin. Poster for the concert available HERE as a pdf-file. Program (with notes) available HERE as pdf-file. Please see HERE for more detailed information on the Lunchtime Concert Series at the University of Southern Denmark. On Thursday, April 25, there will be a seminar with Carla Cash, PhD, Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy; Chair, Keyboard Area, School of Music;Texas Tech University; Lubbock, TX, via Skype:
Optimizing Music Learning: The Neuroscience of Skill Practice and Memory Formation, Thursday, April 25, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the eleventh seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
 April 14, 2013:
Concert: Thursday,
April 18, 2013, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square - Campustorvet, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Morten Heide, piano, celebrates that 2013 is the bicentennial birthday year for Charle-Valentin Alkan. Poster for the concert available HERE as a pdf-file. Program (with notes) available HERE as pdf-file. Please see HERE for more detailed information on the Lunchtime Concert Series at the University of Southern Denmark. Following the concert there will be a seminar with Morten Heide, Pianist and Choral Director; NNIMIPA (Nordic Network for the Integration of Music Informatics, Performance and Aesthetics) delegate-at-large representing The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark (AMDA), Odense, Denmark. Charles-Valentin Alkan: The Pros and Cons of Virtuosity, Thursday, April 18, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the tenth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
April 6, 2013:
Mogens Davidsen, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark. The Correlative Properties of the Unresolved Discord, Thursday, April 11, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the ninth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
April 2, 2013:
Mårten Nehrfors, PhD Candidate, Dept. of Musicology and Performance Studies, Stockholm U. (Via Skype).
Shaping the Community through Song - Ideology in the Song Collections of Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Thursday, April 4, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the eighth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
 March 15, 2013:
Concert: Thursday,
March 21, 2013, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square (Campustorvet), University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Emma Oemann, soprano, and Teresemarie Lisiux, piano, celebrate the arrival of spring with Britten, Mozart, Puccini and Bernstein. Please seeHEREfor more detailed information on the Lunchtime Concert Series at the University of Southern Denmark.
Following the concert there will be a seminar withTeresemarie Lisiux,
Cand. Musicae, Master of Music - main subject: classical piano. The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark. Progress in Piano Pedagogy through Research, Thursday, March 21, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the seventh seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
March 9, 2013: Tere Vadén, Professor, Dept. of Art; School of Art, Design and Architecture; Aalto University, Helsinki (Via Skype). Dwelling “In-Between”: The Ineffability of Musical Meaning as an Asubjective Phenomenon, Thursday, March 14, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the sixth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester is currently under construction and may be found HERE.
March 1, 2013: Mary L. Tuck, currently in the MA Ethnomusicology program at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. What Music Tells Us About Ourselves and Our Cultural Experience, Thursday, March 7, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the fifth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
February 22, 2013: Nereya Otieno, Master's Candidate in Cognition and Communication, Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen.Music, Rhythm and Embodied Cognition, Thursday, February 28, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE.This is the fourth seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
February 17, 2013: Concert: Thursday, February 21, 2013, 12 noon - 1 p.m. in Cafeteria 4, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Minako Jensen, piano, plays Chopin, Scriabin, Liszt and Brahms. Concert poster available HERE. Concert program available HERE. The concert is followed by a seminar with
S. Alex
Ruthmann,
PhD, Assistant Professor of Music Education, Department of Music; Faculty Fellow in Residence, Commonwealth Honors Program, University of Massachusetts Lowell; President, Association for Technology in Music Instruction; Co-Editor, International Journal of Education & the Arts:Aesthetics and Pedagogies for Making Music with New Media (Via Skype) on Thursday, February 21, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE.This is the third seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
February 10, 2013: Golan Gur, MA, Doctoral Candidate, Institute of Musicology and Media Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin (Via Skype). Oracular Music: Musical Modernism and the Ideology of Progress, Thursday, February 14, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the second seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester is currently under construction and may be found HERE.
February 2, 2013: Matthias Bode, Associate Professor, Dept. of Marketing & Management, U. of Southern Denmark. On the Meanings of the Sounds of Commerce, Thursday, February 7, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the first seminar during the spring of 2013 in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound. The schedule for all seminars during the semester is currently under construction and may be found HERE.
February 1, 2013: This is the first day of the spring 2013 university semester here in Denmark, so welcome back to all who have spent the month of January either taking or grading exams!
This site will be updated during the next few days to reflect all that will be happening during the spring term. Please keep an eye out especially for the Lunchtime Concert Series and the seminar series Topics in the
Aesthetics of Music and Sound, and please check the site's calendar periodically for the other activities which will also be taking place throughout the spring semester.
December 10, 2012: Concert: Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square (Campustorvet) University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Nu er det jul with Nikolaj Nottelmann, tenor, and Cynthia M. Grund, piano. Concert poster available HERE. Concert program available HERE. The seminar in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound with Anne Helle Jespersen,  Research Librarian in Music, Head of Music Section; Library of the University of Southern Denmark, entitled 'Rhythmical Building Blocks': Creating Creativity which was scheduled to take place on Thursday, December 13, 3:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, IS BEING RESCHEDULED AS PART OF OUR SPRING SERIES. PLEASE WATCH FOR NEW DATE DURING THE SPRING! Poster for the seminar available HERE. For fall 2012 series information and updates, please see HERE.
December 1, 2012: Matthias Bode, Associate Professor, Dept. of Marketing & Management, U. of Southern Denmark. On the Meanings of the Sounds of Commerce, Thursday, December 6, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. NOTE: M. BODE RESCHEDULED - WATCH FOR NEW DATE DURING THE SPRING! Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the twelfth seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. The schedule for all 13 seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
November 25, 2012: Oded Ben-Horin, Associate Professor, Stord Haugesund University College, Norway, Faculty of Learning and Culture (Music Dept.) - via Skype. Write a Science Opera on Thursday, November 29, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the eleventh seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. The schedule for all 13 seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
 -forskning i æstetiske læreprocesser gennem lyd i krop, kultur og kunst
(Soundtracks - research in aesthetic learning processes involving sound in the body, culture and art) please see HERE; poster available HERE. The course is offered in Danish by IKV-SDU on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. Pages with course materials HERE.
November 19, 2012: Concert: Thursday, November 22, 2012, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square (Campustorvet) University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Den første koncert i Syddansk Musikkonservatorium & Skuespillerskoles Kammermusikfestival 2012. Concert poster available HERE. Concert program available HERE. Followed by a seminar in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound with Tom Eide Osa, Associate Professor, University of Bergen, The Grieg Academy.  The seminar is entitled Wittgenstein and Music Performance as Aesthetic Practice and takes place, Thursday, November 22, 3:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the tenth seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. For series information and updates, please see HERE.
November 11, 2012: Tomas McAuley, PhD Candidate, Department of Music, King's College London (via Skype). Music and Epistemology: The Case of Friedrich Schlegel on Thursday, November 15, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the ninth seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. The schedule for all 13 seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
November 2, 2012: S. Alex
Ruthmann, PhD, Assistant Professor of Music Education, Department of Music; Faculty Fellow in Residence, Commonwealth Honors Program, University of Massachusetts Lowell; President, Association for Technology in Music Instruction; Co-Editor, International Journal of Education & the Arts: Aesthetics and Pedagogies for Making Music with New Media (Via Skype)on Thursday, November 8, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. (NOTE: A. RUTHMANN RESCHEDULED - WATCH FOR NEW DATE! On November 8, Oded Ben-Horin gives us a "preview of coming attractions" for his talk on November 29.) Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the eighth seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. The schedule for all 13 seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
 October 27, 2012: Concert: Thursday, November 1, 2012, 12 noon - 1 p.m. on the Campus Square (Campustorvet) University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Martin Vestergård Hansen, piano, & Josefine Opsahl, cello, play Cassadó, Bach and Debussy. Concert poster available HERE. Concert program available HERE. Followed by a seminar in the series Topics in the Aesthetics of Music and Sound with Matias Vestergård Hansen, currently studying piano with Amalie Malling at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. The seminar is entitled Composition as Inquiry and takes place, Thursday, November 1, 4:15 p.m.-6:00 p.m. in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TIME OF THE SEMINAR HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 4:15 P.M. SO AS NOT TO COLLIDE WITH THE HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN ACADEMY ANNUAL LECTURE AT SDU AT 3:00 P.M. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the seventh seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. For series information and updates, please see HERE.
October 5, 2012: Niels Chr. Hansen; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital; Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom; Royal Academy of Music Aarhus.
Elucidating the Significance of Statistical Learning in Music Cognition through Behavioural Experiments and Computational Modelling on Thursday, October 11, 3:15 p.m. - 5 p.m. in in U73, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M. Audience participation via Skype is also welcome. Poster for the seminar available HERE. This is the sixth seminar in a series of 13 seminars during the fall of 2012. The schedule for all 13 seminars during the semester may be found HERE.
| |
