Musical Form, Forms & Formenlehre: Three Methodological Reflections

Preface

7 P r e f a c e Preface Ludwig Holtmeier The present volume arose from a symposium on Formenlehre that took place at the 6th European Music Analysis Conference (EuroMAC ) in Freiburg, Germany, October 10–14, 2007. The conference— with ‘interpretation’ serving as its overriding theme—was organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie (this also being its seventh annual meeting), the Gesellschaft für Musik und Ästhetik, the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, and the Freiburger Albert-LudwigsUniversit ät (the conference occupying a central position within the 550th anniversary celebrations of that university). The conference was also supported by the Société française d’analyse musicale, the Gruppo analisi e teoria musicale, the Société belge d’analyse musicale, the Society for Music Analysis, and the Vereniging voor Muziektheorie (DutchFlemish Society for Music Theory). With 180 speakers and well over 500 participants, the 6th EuroMAC was, one must presume, the most comprehensive European conference on music theory ever. The considerable success of the conference, which even surprised the organizers, seems to have been based on two main factors. In the first place, the content of the thematic sessions chosen jointly by the European societies (‘Analysis and performance practice,’ ‘Text and music,’ ‘The interpretation of new music,’ ‘The notion of improvisation in the 18th century,’ and ‘Formenlehre’) seemed generally to have struck a chord. Moreover, most of the sessions that met with strong approval at the conference bore witness to some more or less clearly expressed national ‘tendencies.’ In Germany, the so-called historische Satzlehre (historically informed music theory) currently stands at the center of the music-theoretical mainstream, while that topic seems only recently to have gained ground in North American circles. By contrast, the Schenkerian sessions were dominated by North American theorists, yet were also complimented by some European specialists, a group that has been rapidly developing in the last number of years. In the second place, the 8 L u d w i g H o l t m e i e r theme of ‘Formenlehre’ stood at the heart of the conference in a manner that seemed to transcend the ever perceptible departmentalization of national customs and discourses within European music theory as well as the rift between North American and European research and pedagogical traditions. Music-theoretical discourse on Formenlehre is a truly international one: it is currently perhaps the only discourse, within the context of a ‘global’ music theory, that rests on a broad foundation, anchored by various national traditions. Our conscious effort to build bridges with North American music theory was met by some critical concerns in the run-up to the conference . A few of my European colleagues required an explanation for our having invited one Canadian and two American scholars to discuss one of the most ‘German’ of all theory topics at a plenary session right in the heart of this large European conference. Was it possible that something was being sold as ‘new’ that was already standard practice throughout Europe and, especially, Germany? Mild resentments arose every now and then, but also a rarely admitted feeling of inferiority in the face of a music-theoretical tradition whose superior productivity since the end of the Second World War is widely perceived and recognized, but whose specific form and content remain even today somewhat foreign to many European music theorists. Nevertheless, the meeting of cultures at the Freiburg conference was an extraordinary success, because the Formenlehre topic could be discussed on equal footing, face-to-face. More simply put: beyond all the secret codes and closed systems, a language was spoken here that was familiar to nearly all the participants. In the course of this amicable and open meeting in Freiburg, even isolated, critical reservations gave way to insights. Thus, the three scholars whose differing ideas are documented in this volume stood at the center of the Freiburg conference not as representatives of North American music theory, but as those who, in recent years, have considerably determined the international discourse on Formenlehre. A European conference on music theory is first of all a music theory conference , and only thereafter European. 9 P r e f a c e I expressly thank William E. Caplin, James Hepokoski and James Webster, but also especially Pieter Bergé for his conceiving and organizing the Freiburg Formenlehre session and for his efforts in bringing it to publication. Ludwig Holtmeier – Freiburg im Breisgau...