Contrafacta and Musical Imitation
in Medieval Europe

International conference
27-28 June 2024
University of Tübingen

Programme

The art of Medieval inventio is attuned to processes of reassembling, interpolation, and translation, as poets engage with the work of their predecessors to negotiate their place in the larger context of European lyric. Contrafacta constitute one the most pervasive forms of lyric re-creation and show how songs, authors, and performers formed a vital network that spread across Europe, crossing linguistic borders, and overcoming large chronological and geographical distances. Similarly, the borrowing of short melodic phrases, the use of recurring formulas, or the reordering and readapting of music and text are more subtle traces of a distinctly medieval aesthetics, whereby remolding existing material is, in itself, a process of artistic innovation.
By devoting an international conference to the wide spectrum of techniques of musical reuse, we aim at bringing together interdisciplinary and interlinguistic perspectives to tackle a range of questions, involving:



Programme

27 June

9.30-10.00 - Institutional greetings

10.00-11.00

  • Coffee break

    11.30-12.30

  • Lunch

    14.00-15.00 - Keynote

  • Coffee break

    15.30-17.00



  • 28 June

    9.30-11.00

  • Coffee break

    11.30-12.30

  • Lunch

    14.00-15.30

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    The conference will be hosted at the Musikwissenschaftliches Institut of the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Pleghofsaal, Schulberg 2, 72070 Tübingen, Germany).

    The event is generously co-funded by the Universitätsbund e. V.

    Organizer: Stefano Milonia
    Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
    Musikwissenschaftliches Institut
    Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
    Institutional page
    Academia