After having presented a paper with the catchy title The Eastern Sonata at conferences in Detmold, Bonn, and Moscow, I have now finally completed the written version (in German language) which includes further examples and references to secondary literature. For everybody interested in my discussion of Beethoven’s legacy and reception in Russia, Sergei Taneyev‘s theory of sonata form, and Nikolai Medtner‘s early piano sonatas, please refer to this source. As always, feedback and suggestions are much appreciated.
Who Owns Pseudo-Beethoven?
I am wondering if standard copyright applies to the score of the AI-generated orchestral work constructed after the drafts of Beethoven’s 10th Symphony, which was performed recently by Beethoven Orchester Bonn and Dirk Kaftan for the Beethoven 2020 anniversary. Given that it isn’t actually a human work, and that it is uncertain how significantly Walter Werzowa contributed to it, shouldn’t it be in the public domain? Maybe the Beethoven-Haus Bonn can clarify.
Board Membership at DTKV Berlin
I am happy to announce that I have been elected vice president of Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband Berlin. Looking forward to representing our members’ professional interests and to shaping the association’s future work together with my colleagues on the board, Elizabeth Franzen, Jens Domeyer, Agnes Stein von Kamienski, and Simon Borutzki, who now serves as president.
This Autumn’s Activities
There’s a tough schedule of travels and appearances ahead for the following two weeks. However challenging, I look forward to being on the move again, and to meeting friends and colleagues on the following occasions:
(a) 23 September, 8.30 pm: Online participation in the 10th European Music Analysis Conference, hosted by the Moscow Conservatory, with a paper on Beethoven, Taneyev, and Medtner. Please get in touch, should you wish to join.
(b) 24 September, 12.00 noon: 20th Symposium of the German Shostakovich Society at Berlin University of the Arts. I’ll be presenting on Shostakovich’s passacaglia movements of the 1940s.
(c) 29 September, 5.30 pm: 17th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung at Bonn University, discussing Beethoven, Taneyev, and Medtner again.
(d) 2 October, 3.00 pm: 21th Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie at Basel Music Academy, presentation of the website Musiktheorie Digital with three fellow panelists.
Diversifying Music Theory
During the past semester I tried to augment my music theory classes with music by women and BIPoC composers. In doing so, I was delighted again and again to see how well these fit into my teaching, and to discover pieces that I hadn’t been aware were existing. There is so much more that is worth listening and analysing beside the so-called classical canon (which I didn’t want to exclude, but to enhance with lesser-known compositions), and I got a number of very positive reactions from the students, so there’s no reason not to continue in this manner. Promoting diversity in the music theory curriculum turned out so easy that I feel I should have done this so much earlier.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of composers from whose music I took the most inspiring and rewarding examples offered during the last four months: Maddalena Casulana, Raffaella Aleotti, Francesca Caccini, Anna Amalia of Prussia, Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges, Juliane and Louise Reichardt, Maria Theresia Paradis, Sophie Westenholz, Maria Szymanowska, Louise Farrenc, Emilie Mayer, Pauline Viardot, Ella Adaïewsky, Cécile Chaminade, Mélanie Bonis, Ethel Smyth, Amy Beach, Leokadiya Kashperova, Elena Gnesina, Florence Price, Germaine Tailleferre, and Lili Boulanger.