Themes
- Historiography. Since the second half of the 19th century, many biographies, journal articles, music history books, and music publications have shaped the image of Baroque music in France. In what ways can we critically examine this output in the present day?
- Cultural Approaches. Under new musicology's influence, having broken away from traditional history, cultural studies have opened up new investigative and scholarly fields: places of sociability, gender studies, listening methods, etc. More broadly, this renewal of perspective is extended to other spheres like court and patronage culture, corpus research, etc.
- Cultural Transfers. Couperin's Les Nations and Les Goûts réunis represent two approaches to an emblematic issue of the era. Historiographically speaking, this call for national styles has raised questions about the relationship between nationalism and internationalism. Can this approach be enriched by taking a crosscurrents perspective?
- Performance Studies & Practice. With the development of performance studies, the musicians’ playing has become object of study, documented by recordings now spanning more than a century. How can listening to these interpretations intersect with various images of a given composer? How has the interpretation of French Baroque music evolved with successive generations of performers?
- Music Pedagogy. During the 17th and 18th centuries, production of treatises and method-books for various audiences grew exponentially. What present-day use is there for these volumes and, more broadly, for any music teaching resources used in the context of a historically-informed music pedagogy?
- Music Analysis. Early music analysis is currently reinventing itself, notably by taking careful account of theoretical data of the era, or by making use of contemporary conceptual schemas, thus applying two approaches that are likely to intersect, especially in the context of digital humanities.
- Technical Innovation. How does acquiring contemporary scientific and technical knowledge resonate with the renewal of current knowledge in the fields of room acoustics, instrument building, music publishing, etc.?
- Outreach and Dissemination. How is French Baroque music used by different media (radio, television, film, album liner notes, newspapers, internet, concert programs, theatre productions...) and how has its image evolved?
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