International Conference
organised by
Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini (Lucca)
Palazetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française, Venice
under the auspices of
Comune di Sant’Ilario d’Enza
Corpo Filarmonico di Sant’Ilario
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Sant’Ilario d’Enza (RE), Centro Culturale Mavarta
27-29 September 2024
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini of Lucca and the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française of Venice are pleased to promote the symposium «Soundscapes of Histories Entwined: Food and Music 1400-1850», to be held from Friday 27 until Sunday 29 September 2024.
Conferences, seminars and even publications that have approached the subject of ‘Food and Music’ in an interdisciplinary and integrated way are rare if not inexistent. This is especially true when a wider definition of music, encompassing what R. Murray Schafer defined as soundscapes, is adopted. In as much as it has been considered by historians, conventional treatments of the topic immediately conjure up high end banquets of the early modern period in Europe, and the music that often preceded and ended them in the form of prayer, or accompanied them as entertainment performed between courses.
This conference intends to reach out to less well known aspects of this relationship, by encouraging contributions from a wide spectrum of different cultures dealing not only with the consumption of food and drink, but also with its production as reflected in the sonic worlds of labour, exemplified by the songs of fishermen and harvesters, and its sale and distribution. This latter category includes not only the well-known phenomenon of street cries, which is particularly well documented for more than one European city from the Middle Ages onwards, but also the soundscapes of urban markets.
Contributions about changing medical/dietetic theories regarding the function of music at banquets, such as papers on the notion of ‘recreation,’ one of the six non-naturals, are also envisaged, as are those exploring the evidence of commonplace books, travel diaries, and iconography. As these examples suggest, the three main themes of the meeting are the music and sound of the production, distribution, and consumption of food and drink in pre-industrial Europe.
Programme Committee:
- Iain Fenlon (University of Cambridge)
- Allen J. Grieco (Associated Senior Scholar, Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies)
- Roberto Illiano (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
- Étienne Jardin (Palazetto Bru Zane)
- Fulvia Morabito (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
- Silvia Perucchetti (Independent Researcher, Corpo Filarmonico di S. Ilario)
- Massimiliano Sala (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
Keynote Speakers:
- Iain Fenlon (University of Cambridge)
- Allen J. Grieco (Associated Senior Scholar, Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies)
The official languages of the conference are English, French, Italian and Spanish. Papers selected at the conference will be published in a miscellaneous volume.
Papers are limited to twenty minutes in length, allowing time for questions and discussion. Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words and one page of biographical information.
All proposals should be submitted by email no later than Sunday ***14 April 2024*** to <conferences@luigiboccherini.org>. Please include your name, contact details (postal address, e-mail and telephone number) and (if applicable) your affiliation with your proposal.
The committee will make its final decision on the abstracts by the end of April 2024, and contributors will be informed immediately thereafter. Further information about the programme and registration will be announced after that date.
For any additional information, please contact:
Dr. Massimiliano Sala
