From 1 to 3 December, the “Chigiana Conference 2022” will take place in Siena, the international conference of the Accademia Chigiana, now in its third edition of the new format that renews the historic Chigian appointments that have characterized the history of 20th century musicology . The conference is dedicated this year to the theme “Music and Spirituality from the times of the French Revolution”. Three days of work which will attract teachers, musicologists and scholars from all over the world to Siena, in the evocative setting of Palazzo Chigi-Saracini, seat of the Academy.
«We have reached the third edition of the rediscovered Chigiani conferences – explains Susanna Pasticci, Director of the Scientific Committee and of the “Chigiana” Journal of Musicological Studies – whose rebirth, after the long history of the past decades, is due first of all to the enthusiasm of the artistic director of the Nicola Sani Academy who strongly wanted to bring back to life the historic musicological activities of the Chigiana Academy. Long-standing activities that date back to 1939, the year in which there was the first publication of the magazine “Chigiana” and which in 2019 returned to new life, with the resumption of publications and international appointments on an annual basis”.
The history of Chigian musicological activities began in 1939 with the volume Antonio Vivaldi. Notes and documents on his life and works, created on the occasion of the first edition of the “Settimana Musicale Senese” festival dedicated to Antonio Vivaldi and today available for online consultation (like the other volumes of the first series of the historic magazine) on the Academy website Chigiana. After years of conferences and publications, always linked to the artistic programming of the Sienese institution and after the launch of a second series that began in 1964, when Edizioni Olschki of Florence took over the publication of the magazine and the conference activity of the Accademia Chigiana had now obtained international recognition, the activity was interrupted in 2012.
«In 2019 we started again with the publication of the first volume of the third series – explains Susanna Pasticci. – From 2020 we have therefore also resumed with the annual organization of international conferences, linked to the themes of the Chigiana’s musical and artistic programming. After an initial study meeting dedicated to Ildebrando Pizzetti, held in 2018, an important symposium dedicated to the philosopher, sociologist and musicologist Theodor W. Adorno was held in 2019, on the theme of the concept of mediation in music; in 2020 it was the turn of the conference on the theme of changing listening in the era of the dominance of the visual. So, last year the international conference had as its topic “Music and Power in the long 19th century”. It is a source of pride to see how the top international experts in the field of musicology always respond enthusiastically to our proposals. It means that the name of Chigiana in the field of musicological study and training is still today strongly recognized internationally».
Again this year there were numerous requests for participation from all over the world, selected by the scientific committee.
The aim of the conference, like every year, is to better understand our time, investigating its relationship with the past and with previous centuries. This year, the three-day event aims to explore the impact of the multiple declinations of the concept of spirituality – in terms of creative activity, performance practices or the listening experience – on the musical cultures of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries .
A path that starts from the French Revolution which had a decisive impact on the collective mentality towards religious practices, triggering a process of “secularization” which paved the way for a progressive sacralization of art. In the last two centuries, the possible interactions of music with a non-dogmatic conception of spirituality have undergone various aesthetic redefinitions. In 19th century sacred music the syncretic unity of text, music and rite undergoes a progressive weakening, leading to the configuration of new balances between factors of an aesthetic order and elements of a religious nature, while in secular musical repertoires and practices direct references multiply or allusions to the sphere of religion and spirituality. Since the 20th century, in conjunction with a significant decrease in the production of liturgical music, many composers have shown a strong attraction to the sphere of spirituality, often hidden among the ins and outs of an openly secular and worldly poetic universe.
The musical outcomes of these complex interactions between the sphere of the sacred and that of the non-sacred have yet to be fully explored, to the extent that they intertwine with a series of wide-ranging issues: the relationship of composers with tradition and modernity; the concept of progress as a gradual approach to the idea of perfection; the aesthetic tendency towards abstraction; the possibility of redefining the music listening experience on the basis of particular aesthetic criteria; the search for new dimensions of musical temporality; the interaction between religiosity and processes linked to national identity, and so on.
The works will begin on Thursday 1 December at 3.30 pm, with a dialogue between Franco Cardini, ISUS/SNS Professor Emeritus, as well as one of the greatest historians of the Middle Ages, and the writer, journalist and musical reporter of Corriere della Sera, Giancarlo Riccio. The opening speech on the theme “The celebration of death, between music and politics” is entrusted to Simone Caputo of the ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome. James Garratt, of the University of Manchester, and Melita Milin of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts complete the picture of the speakers on the first day.
The first day of work will end with a musical appointment that will feature the ‘Guido Chigi Saracini’ Choir of the Cathedral of Siena, directed by Lorenzo Donati, in the concert scheduled at 7 pm in the concert hall of Palazzo Chigi Saracini.
On Friday 2 November, the conference will see Eftychia Papanikolaou, from Bowling Green State University, Antonio Cascelli from Maynooth University, Hedy Law from the University of British Columbia, Matteo Macinanti and Lorenzo Corsini from the Sapienza University of Rome, Martin V. Clarke, Open University, Roe-Min Kok, of McGill University, Candida Felici, of the G. Verdi Conservatory of Milan, Maria Rosa De Luca, of the University of Catania, University of Catania) and Federico Gon, of the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory of Trieste .
Finally, on Saturday 3 December there will be Mila De Santis, from the University of Florence, Brian Inglis, from Middlesex University, London, Graziella Seminara, from the University of Catania, June Boyce-Tillman, from the University of Winchester, Kerry Bunkhall from Cardiff University , Stefano Lombardi Vallauri, from the IULM University of Milan, Andrew Shenton from Boston University, Massimiliano Locanto from the University of Salerno, Jan Christiaens, from the University of Leuven, Sonja Wermager, from Columbia University, and Germán Gan-Quesada from Autonomous University of Barcelona.
The Scientific Committee of the conference is made up of the Director Susanna Pasticci, Philip V. Bohlman, Simone Caputo, Mila De Santis, Roe-Min Kok, Eftychia Papanikolaou and Andrew Shenton. The Organizing Committee by Antonio Artese, Marica Coppola, Stefano Jacoviello, Anna Passarini, Nicola Sani and Samantha Stout.
The Conference will be broadcast live online on the Chigiana Digital digital platform.
The complete program and the details of the individual speakers can be consulted at the following link