Musical instrument playability can be analyzed by visualizing a subspace defined by musicians' control parameters. This is common for bowed-string instruments in the form of Schelleng diagrams. Such diagrams can be populated either through experimental measurements or physical modeling. It was recently suggested to use similar diagrams for analyzing wind instrument playability. This study explores this direction using a physical model, previously validated against experimental measurements. It is shown that reed beating needs to be taken into account before playability analysis. This could help arrive at specific reed and mouthpiece designs according to the musicians' desires.

Nicola Vicentino’s description of singers varying the beat in order to clarify the affect of the words and the harmony may seem to be relevant to certain keyboard music, all the more since sources point out that solo performers enjoy greater freedom than do ensembles. Tempo changes sometimes seem to be implied by striking differences between predominant note values in sections of a piece. One might expect shorter note values to be generally associated with a slower tactus, and longer note values with a quicker one, but some composers demand the opposite, so that the contrasts in the music are amplified rather than understated. Ornamented keyboard intabulations can occasionally be seen to imply textually and musically motivated tempo changes via noticeable variation in the density of ornamentation.

Andrea Antico’s 1517 print of keyboard intabulations of frottolas is rather well known to modern scholars, mostly because it is the first print of keyboard repertoire in Italy. Frottolas were a codified genre where a strophic text often predated the music and followed strict literary rules. Since Antico published instrumental arrangements, the texts are not immediately visible, yet they were very well known to the reader of those days. How was the music then performed when no text was heard? How was this monodic repertoire understood by the contemporaries? Did the player infer the correct accentuation of the music from an implicit text? If so, a correct understanding of the meter and of poetical conventions would be an essential element for an adequate performance of Antico’s arrangements of this vocal repertoire.

The volume deals with various topics related to keyboard music in the sixteenth century. These include aesthetic ideas associated with keyboard playing, the spread of the harpsichord in the sixteenth century, keyboard notation and its specific features, questions of tempo, rhythm and ornamentation, and iconographic sources as a basis for reconstructing playing techniques. It gathers the proceedings of a conference held at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 2021. The contributions cover a wide range of aspects of musical style, repertoire and performance practice, as well as the socio-cultural significance of plucked instruments in the sixteenth century. It is aimed at musicologists and musicians.

Numerous experimental and theoretical methods have focused on the bow–string interaction in bowed string instruments, including several artificial bowing setups. The current research aims to present an experimental approach to reproduce bowing techniques using a robotic arm. First, optical motion capture is used to track the 3D kinematics of the bow. The cello bow and corpus are equipped with reflective markers. The cello is mounted on a playing platform. The recorded 3D trajectories of the bow markers are used to control the motion of the robotic arm. This process requires converting the 3D data between the coordinate frames of the two systems. This conversion is described in detail in this paper. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, an experienced cellist was asked to play an adapted piece on the cello, which was then repeated using the robotic arm. The robotic arm is capable of accurately reproducing the bow velocity, but even minimal variations in position can compromise proper bow–string contact. To illustrate this, the study compares two similar robotic situations and discusses the challenges of adapting the robot’s coordinates as a function of a given playing parameter or the sound produced.

From the mid-1950s, Basel harpsichordist Antoinette Vischer (1909–1973) promoted the harpsichord as a modern instrument, commissioning numerous composers to contribute to a new repertoire. To this end, she turned to György Ligeti, who completed Continuum for her in 1968. The composer had already used the harpsichord in ensembles several times, but now he had to think about it in a soloistic function for the first time, starting from a specific performer with her specific instrument. In this paper, I focus on this relationship between composer, performer-commissioner, and instrument, drawing primarily on the correspondence between Ligeti and Vischer preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. These unpublished letters document their collaboration and how both negotiated their artistic positions and aesthetic concepts of the harpsichord as “some sort of machine.” An in-depth analysis of Ligeti and Vischer’s exchange about the instrument’s peculiarities and performance issues allows us to better un- derstand their self-conception as artists and their ideas of “modernity.” Furthermore, this case study sheds light on a specific period in the history of an instrument that through the efforts of performers like Vischer was transformed from an artifact of the past to an emblem of the present.

Seit Ein Sportstück (1998) beziehen sich Elfriede Jelineks Theatertexte mit unnachahmlicher Konsequenz auf die griechische Tragödie. Vor dem Hintergrund von Rechtspopulismus, MeToo und Klimakrise durchkreuzt die Autorin den Blick von Aischylos, Sophokles und Euripides und que(e)rt dadurch Kategorisierungen im Hinblick auf Gender, Klasse und Ethnizität. Silke Felber beschreibt Jelineks Theater der (Tragödien-)Durchquerung erstmals an der Schnittstelle von Theater-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft. In Form einer materialreichen Studie bringt dieses Grundlagenwerk Gesten der Klage und der Wut zum Vorschein, die bis in die Antike und gleichzeitig in eine ungewisse Zukunft weisen.

Mit der Publikation sämtlicher sechs- und achtstimmigen Motetten sowie aller Kanons schließt der vierte Band der NSE die Neuausgabe der Motetten Ludwig Senfls ab. Darunter finden sich Senfls berühmte Überarbeitung des Ave, Maria … Virgo serena von Josquin Desprez und die drei für die Zeit außergewöhnlich groß besetzten und mutmaßlich für Staatsereignisse komponierten achtstimmigen Motetten. Der Band enthält darüber hinaus sämtliche als reine Kanons konzipierten Werke, etwa den dreiteiligen Doppelkrebskanon Crux fidelis – Ecce lignum crucis – O crux, ave, das mit 3–6 Stimmen zu singende Laudate Dominum oder den Rätselkanon Salve, sancta parens, der ein magisches Quadrat bildet. Neben den wissenschaftlichen Editionen bietet der Band zahlreiche Abbildungen sowie umfassende Kritische Berichte zu jedem Werk, die über die Texte, Choralvorlagen und den werkgeschichtlichen Kontext informieren. With the publication of all six- and eight-part motets as well as all canons, the fourth volume of the NSE completes the new edition of Ludwig Senfl’s motets. Among them are Senfl’s famous re-working of Josquin Desprez’ Ave, Maria … Virgo serena, the three eight-part motets with an unusually large scoring for the time (presumably composed for state occasions). The volume also contains all works conceived as pure canons, such as the three-part double canon Crux fidelis – Ecce lignum crucis – O crux, ave, the Laudate Dominum for 3–6 voices, and the riddle canon Salve, sancta parens, which forms a magic square. In addition to the scholarly editions, the volume offers numerous illustrations as well as comprehensive critical reports on each work, including information on the texts, plainchant models, and the historical context of the works.

Gleich geht es los; die Salon Performance Sundays at Salka's: Musik, Literatur und Film im amerikanischen Exil im Schönbrunner Schlosstheater kann endlich stattfinden! Nach mehreren Verschiebungen der Konferenz „Music Across the Ocean: Processes of Cultural Exchange in a Transatlantic Space, 1800–1950“, die den Rahmen bot, soll die Performance auch einem nichtwissenschaftlichen Publikum Einblick in die Forschung geben. Ein buntes Publikum aller Altersgruppen wartet im Foyer und im Schlosshof vor dem Eingang. Der verhangene Himmel, der später zu einem stürmischen, regnerischen Abend werden soll, gibt einen Vorgeschmack auf den bevorstehenden Herbst. Das Foyer des Schönbrunner Schlosstheaters wirkt mit seinen weißen Wänden beinahe puristisch; der Blick nach oben jedoch eröffnet eine andere Welt: Das Gewölbe gibt den Blick stellenweise auf einen „Himmel“ frei, an dem Vögel kreisen.

Inclusive education has become an important term in educational science discourse. While integration focuses on the incorporation of a small ‘special’ group into a larger one, inclusive groups take the requirements of a heterogeneous and diverse group into account from the very beginning. The educational environment is designed accordingly to allow for equal participation of all.