‘Artistic research’ is still a fairly new concept within conservatories and universities. However, it can be argued that it has actually been carried out in music for centuries (be it in the investigation of acoustic phenomena, in instrument making, in the development of new compositional techniques or musical forms of expression). The subject of music theory in particular has always been at the interface between art and research. This seminar is intended to link the theoretical discipline of musical analysis back to what is its central precondition: artistic practice. This question is particularly relevant for students of the ‘Collège Glaréan’ who are intensively involved in a personal artistic research project: All of us who are engaged in such projects deal with existing works that we interpret, arrange, recompose or that influence us in a broader sense in our work as composers. The aim of the seminar is to present compositions that are relevant to our artistic work or our research projects. This will inevitably lead to a very colourful mixture of styles and epochs. We are going to to analyse these compositions and consciously ask how analysis can be made useful for our practice or our specific project and, conversely, how our practical experience influences our subjective analytical findings.

The seminar will be held in English (alternatively in German and/or French). To make it easier for external students to participate, it is planned as a mixed form of online and block seminar. In the weeks in which there is no session on Fridays, I offer individual consultations in which we can select suitable works and discuss the upcoming presentations in advance.

If you are interested, please send an email to Ro.Bauer@mh-freiburg.de by 9 October, stating your degree programme and major artistic subject. I will add those who can be considered to the corresponding GLAREAN course myself, where you will then find the video conference link.