Project description
A diachronic approach to musical evolution
For decades, music theory has been dominated by synchronic approaches, which focus on static snapshots of musical moments. While valuable, these theories have three significant blind spots. They cannot explain trends, leaving out the processes of change over time. They also fail to evaluate music between two snapshots, often applying outdated or anachronistic models. Lastly, they obscure trends by presenting a false sense of stability. In this context, the ERC-funded DIACHRONY project aims to shift this paradigm by adopting a diachronic methodology, focusing on processes of change. By studying 1 700 works from 1680 to 1819, the project explores trends in large-scale form, phrase structure, cadences, and schemata, offering fresh insights into musical evolution.
Objective
This proposal argues for a quantum shift in the way we theorize about music. In the past three decades, music theory has been dominated by synchronic theories based upon typologies. The value of these theories notwithstanding, there are three significant “blindspots” that arise from a purely synchronic perspective. First, synchronic approaches are incapable of explaining trends – they at best capture “snapshots” along a timeline, but cannot explain processes: how one snapshot progressed to another. Second, music written between two snapshots is evaluated in synchronic approaches either according to a defunct model, or according to one that had not yet come into existence, as often occurs with the music of the generation between Bach and Mozart. Third, such snapshots mask trends during their period of interest behind a false façade of stability.
I propose to address this problem through a diachronic methodology, designed to focus not on definitions and synchronic typologies, but rather on processes of change over time. To this end I will carry out a corpus study of unprecedented scope, covering 1700 works between 1680-1819. In two overlapping subprojects based upon the same corpus, I will examine trends in four fields: large-scale form; phrase structure; cadences (musical units signifying closure); and schemata (stock musical phrases).
Tracing the diachronic process of change across the decades of the corpus, I will reveal the forces that propelled music from one style to another, and through this, the tensions with which composers were faced and to which they responded. Furthermore, my novel diachronic approach will enable a more flexible mode of accounting for the fuzzy limits of theoretical definitions and histories. Lastly, with its original conceptual premises and its corpus-based methodology, this project will serve as a model for a new approach to music theory, encouraging the embrace of a diachronic perspective in other fields of music theory too.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
91904 JERUSALEM
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.