INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM / COLLOQUE INTERNATIONAL

7-9 September 2023

Palais des Papes, Avignon Google Maps

Understanding heritage music-making spaces through the prism of archaeoacoustics (Musicology, Art History, History, Acoustics)

Please find here the call for contributions flyer.

Many musicologists have sought to demonstrate the link and interactions between acoustic space and the practice and evolution of musical repertoires. How can we not link, for example, the new construction of the choir of Notre-Dame at the end of the 12th century and the abundance of polyphonic experimentation referred to as the “Notre Dame de Paris School”? Other places, such as the Chapelle Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul in the Palais de Papes in Avignon, lead researchers to ask the same questions about a strong interaction between architecture, musical interpretation, and compositional techniques. The same is true of studies, from all periods, of holy chapels or large domed churches in the Eastern architectural tradition.

The international symposium Gothic Resonances is an opportunity to take stock of research in the fields of archaeo-acoustics in connection with musicology, history, and art history while also questioning the point of view of the performers of sacred medieval chant who experiment with the acoustics of concert venues to find favorable resonances under Gothic vaults. Collaboration between researchers in the humanities and the sound sciences has become a major issue in early music research. The very object of these questions now allows for innovative field experiments in archaeoacoustics and is linked to musicological research centered on the interaction of a production site with musical and vocal gestures. The choice of musical corpus must therefore be accompanied by research into musical iconography and archival studies to better locate the singers, their number, and age and to describe the furniture, hangings, and textiles of the clothes that had a definite influence on the resonance of the voices. This interdisciplinary research on the virtual reconstruction of heritage sound spaces has led to the creation of three-dimensional acoustic sound models using the principle of auralisation.

These new sensory experiences of architectural space open up innovative scientific perspectives between theory and practice and promote new ways of re-creating and disseminating musical heritage that deserve to be shared and discussed.

Researchers interested in these topics are invited to propose a 20-minute presentation (French or English) to be presented at the International Colloquium to be held at the Palais des Papes in Avignon from 7 to 9 September 2023. In addition to the focus on Gothic architecture and its associated music, papers may be proposed, without the constraint of architectural location or wider periods, around the following axes: Archaeoacoustics / Historically informed musical interpretation / Interdisciplinarity / Sound and music policy / Room acoustics / Sound space and politics / Soundscapes.

Proposals (maximum 300 words) should be sent, together with a short CV, to resonances.gothiques@gmail.com before 30 March 2023. The Scientific Committee's response for the selected papers will be sent before the end of April. An electronic edition of the proceedings will be proposed after the conference. Travel and accommodation expenses will be borne by the participants. However, the Organising Committee may grant scholarships to cover all or part of the costs incurred by speakers who do not have the possibility of funding from their laboratory or structure; doctoral students and young doctors will be given priority.

In addition to the focus on Gothic architecture and its associated music, papers may be proposed, without constraint of architectural location or wider periods, around the following axes: Archaeoacoustics / Historically informed musical interpretation / Interdisciplinarity / Sound and music policy / Room acoustics / Sound space and politics / Soundscapes.

Proposals (maximum 300 words) should be sent, together with a short CV, to resonances.gothiques@gmail.com before 30 March 2023.

The Scientific Committee's response for the selected papers will be sent before the end of April.

An electronic edition of the proceedings will be proposed after the conference.

Details of travel and accommodation information will be made available once notifications for presentation acceptance have been sent.

Travel and accommodation expenses will be borne by the participants. The Organising Committee may grant scholarships to cover all or part of the costs incurred by speakers who do not have the possibility of funding from their laboratory or structure; doctoral students and young doctors will be given priority. Please contact resonances.gothiques@gmail.com to make such a request.

• Frédéric Billiet (Sorbonne Université)
• Susan Boyton (Columbia University)
• Béatrice Caseau (Sorbonne Université)
• John Cooper, (Southwestern University)
• Mark Everist (University of Southampton)
• Julien Ferrando (Aix Marseille Université)
• Brian F.G. Katz (Sorbonne Université)
• Dany Sandron (Sorbonne Université)

• Frédéric Billiet (Sorbonne Université)
• Béatrice Caseau (Sorbonne Université)
• Julien Ferrando (Aix Marseille Université)
• Louise Condi (Sorbonne Université)
• Agnès Puissilieux (Sorbonne Université)

This conference is sponsored by the following research projects: "The Past Has Ears", "The Past Has Ears at Notre-Dame", and IMAPI « Immersion Musicale en Acoustique Patrimoniale Immersive », covering from ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, and current uses of heritage architecture.

Additional funding is provided by the Collegium Musicae, Sorbonne University and the Avignon Tourism bureau.

Please address any questions/requests related to this colloquium to resonances.gothiques@gmail.com