Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AVIGNONMUSIC (Music, Religion and Civic Identity in Renaissance Avignon (c.1500–1630))
Reporting period: 2022-10-03 to 2024-10-02
This project – which explored the musical life of Renaissance Avignon (c.1500–1630) at all levels of society, from top to bottom – had two main objectives. The first of these was to help shift the focus of research on French Renaissance music away from the royal court and Paris, as has traditionally been the case in musicological circles. By shedding light on the musical life of a city that remains almost completely underexplored for this period, it also sought to demonstrate how events happening at a regional, national, and international level had an impact on music-making within a single city in France at this time.
A second main objective was to draw attention to the project’s findings as widely as possible, not just within the musicological community and scholars working in other fields (both within the Anglophone and Francophone academic spheres), but even among the public at large. The hope, in essence, was that the project would (and will) ultimately encourage much more research on the urban musical life of Renaissance France in future. In light of the increasing attention given in recent years to ‘soundscapes’ studies, this objective has added importance. Work has already been done on many other countries and regions in this domain, but equivalent research focused specifically on France is, to date, practically nonexistent.
A second main objective was to draw attention to the project’s findings as widely as possible, not just within the musicological community and scholars working in other fields (both within the Anglophone and Francophone academic spheres), but even among the public at large. The hope, in essence, was that the project would (and will) ultimately encourage much more research on the urban musical life of Renaissance France in future. In light of the increasing attention given in recent years to ‘soundscapes’ studies, this objective has added importance. Work has already been done on many other countries and regions in this domain, but equivalent research focused specifically on France is, to date, practically nonexistent.
For this project, the MSCA Researcher conducted a significant amount of archival research, particularly (but not exclusively) in Avignon, collecting a mass of hitherto unknown and unpublished data on the city’s musical life and musicians during the Renaissance period. Much of this information will be presented in the MSCA Researcher’s monograph on this subject, which will be published with Brepols as part of their ‘Épitome musical’ series. Two book chapter contributions have also resulted from the project – one of these will appear in a volume published by Buisson/Presses de l’Université de Montpellier, the other in a volume for Boydell & Brewer. In addition, the MSCA Researcher organized an international conference at the CESR in Tours held on 8 and 9 February 2024 (https://www.lestudium-ias.com/events/musical-life-and-civic-identity-renaissance-france-c1500-c1650(opens in new window)) the proceedings for which will be published by Classiques Garnier. This will include 2 contributions written by the MSCA Researcher (a chapter and the introduction to the volume). Other activities undertaken by the MSCA Researcher included presenting their findings in numerous conferences, symposiums and seminars during the two years of the fellowship.
The exploration of France’s urban musical life through this project has already contributed to a wider understanding of research on soundscapes, which, to date, has largely overlooked this geographical region. Ongoing and future publications (such as those mentioned above in the previous section) will continue to present the project’s findings to the academic community and beyond, and it is hoped that these will inspire future research on the musical life of Renaissance France’s cities and towns. At the same time, a deeper understanding of Avignon’s musical life in the sixteenth century has evident implications for issues that concern us today, since questions of identity – such as whether the local inhabitants really considered themselves and their music to be French – emerge frequently. Given the rise of nationalist parties across France and other parts of Europe, this observation is significant and has relevance beyond purely musicological debates.