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Musicology Colloquium: Edward Klorman

Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 5:00pm

Virtual Event

Bio: Edward Klorman is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. A music theorist and violist, he previously held positions at The Juilliard School and at Queens College. His book Mozart’s Music of Friends: Social Interplay in the Chamber Works is the winner of numerous awards, including from the Society for Music Theory and the Mozart Society of America. He is currently at work on a second book on Bach’s cello suites for the Cambridge Music Handbooks series. An accomplished chamber musician, he was the founding director of the Canandaigua Lake Music Festival in the New York’s Finger Lakes region.

Title: “Koch, Carpani, and Momigny: Theorists of Agency in the Classical String Quartet?”

Abstract: This study examines historical writings about the late-eighteenth-century string quartet, a genre often compared to artful conversation. The conversation metaphor implicitly suggests “multiple agency” (Klorman), whereby the four parts (or their players) are interpreted as representing independent characters or personas. This paradigm contrasts sharply with the more monological musical personifications advanced by other influential authors on musical agency, such as Edward T. Cone (1974), who posits a “central intelligence” representing the “mind” of the composition, its fictional protagonist, or its composer. Focusing principally on discussions of Haydn’s and Mozart’s quartets in H. C. Koch’s Versuch (1793), J. J. De Momigny’s Cours complet (1806), and G. Carpani’s Le Haydine (1812), I will examine whether instrumental personas postulated by each author constitute genuine agents, according to criteria developed in Monahan 2013. At issue is whether personas are described as possessing (1) such anthropomorphic qualities as sentience, volition, and emotion; and (2) a capacity for independent action or utterance.

If interested in attending, contact David Yearsley at dgy2@cornell.edu for the Zoom information.

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Event Type

Lecture, Music

Departments

Department of Music

Website

http://music.cornell.edu

Contact E-Mail

dgy2@cornell.edu

Contact Name

David Yearsley

Dept. Web Site

music.cornell.edu

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