Sponsored by MOISA - Society for the Study of Greek and Roman Music and Its Cultural Heritage
Organized by Tim Moore, Washington University in St. Louis
Students of ancient Greek and Roman music have long recognized the value of using other musical traditions to test hypotheses. Recent advances in the field of ethnomusicology have multiplied the ways knowledge of other traditions can yield insights into Ancient Greek and Roman musical theory and practice. At the same time, cross-cultural comparison brings a number of methodological challenges, many of which have not yet been thought through sufficiently. This panel seeks papers that respond to the promise and the difficulties of cross-cultural comparison as a method of approaching ancient music. Possible questions to be investigated and topics to discuss include (but are not limited to):
- How can analogies with modern Western music help us in understanding ancient music, and what are the dangers of using modern Western concepts in approaching Greek and Roman music?
- What non-Western musical traditions are most helpful in the study of ancient Greek and Roman music, and why?
- What can modern instruments tell us about the musical instruments of ancient Greece and Rome?
- How can the scales and modes of other cultures help us understand Greek scales and modes?
- What light can changes in musical styles in the modern world shed on developments over time in ancient Greek and Roman music?
- How might features of musical performance in other cultures help us recapture the performance traditions of Greece and Rome?
- What can we learn about Greek and Roman sung verse by studying the poetics of other song traditions?
In an effort to showcase the best papers and the most innovative research in the field of ancient music, we also welcome abstracts that deal with other aspects of Greek and Roman music and its cultural heritage.
Abstracts for 20-minute papers to be presented at the 2017 SCS annual meeting should observe the instructions for the format of individual abstracts that appear on the SCS web site. The deadline for submission is March 1st, 2016, and all prospective presenters should be SCS members in good standing at the time of submission (i.e.: dues must be paid for 2016). Please address your abstract and any questions related to the panel to tmoore26@wustl.edu. In accordance with SCS regulations, all abstracts for papers will be read anonymously by two referees.