Call for Proposals: Papers and New Works

Nothing new? Understanding newness in medieval and contemporary music

The Plainsong and Medieval Music Society (PMMS) and the Centre for Research
in New Music (CeReNeM) invite abstracts for papers, and proposals for new
works, for an exciting two-day conference at the University of Huddersfield
from 25–26 April 2009. 

Since antiquity, writers and musicians have responded to innovation in ways
that have sought to encourage it and condemn it in equal measure. From the
commonly-encountered musical illustrations of the psalm Cantate Domino
canticum novum (‘Sing unto the Lord a new song’)  in medieval manuscripts,
to the terms used to theorise the music of the time both then and now (‘ars
antiqua/nova’, ‘new song’), the medieval mind was captivated by the
possibilities of developing notations and musical styles. In the twentieth
and twenty-first centuries, the term ‘new music’ has come to serve as a
catch-all for a proliferation of current musical practices, from the
avant-garde to the popular. Yet composers of both ages have produced works
that have blended old and new, and that were knowingly ‘intertextual’.
Nothing new? Understanding newness in medieval and contemporary music offers
musicologists and composers the opportunity to explore common ground between
the medieval and digital ages, through a stimulating mixture of conference
papers, lectures, performances and composition workshops. A composition
competition, culminating in the workshop and performance of new works
exploring concepts of newness, is being generously funded by the Plainsong
and Medieval Music Society.

Call for Papers
Proposals are invited for papers on any element of medieval or contemporary
music that deals with issues of ‘newness’ (or ‘oldness’). Papers that deal
with the use of medieval compositional techniques within contemporary
musical styles, or that consider individual works, are particularly welcome.
Other topics might include:
-	New notations
-	The new in Ars nova, the old in Ars antiqua
-	New song
-	Plainchant repertories
-	The use of pre-existent materials in new contexts
-	Sampling techniques
-	Liturgies old and new
-	The use of popular music in religious ritual
-	Theorising newness in music
-	Creating ‘new’ ideas in the 21st century
-	Reinventing the past in music
-	Musical borrowing
-	Old/new approaches to performing medieval music
-	Copyright in contemporary music
-	Innovation and originality

Papers should last 20 minutes, to allow time for questions. Proposals for
themed sessions and roundtable discussions, especially those that include
discussion of both eras, are encouraged. Please email all abstracts (200
words) to Dr Lisa Colton to arrive no later than 1 September 2008. Include
details of any technical equipment that you will require for your
presentation. Proposals will be selected, and the decision conveyed, by the
end of December 2008.

Compositions: Call for works
Compositions based on the conference theme of ‘newness’ are invited for a
workshop and competition, for which a prize will be offered by the Plainsong
and Medieval Music Society. Works can be of any duration. Instrumentation
should include some or all of the following: piano, clarinet, saxophone,
guitar / electric guitar, percussion, electronics. Composers are encouraged
to write for ‘open’ / indeterminate instrumentation. Compositions should be
submitted no later than 12 January 2009, when they will be considered by a
panel. A selection of pieces will be workshopped during the conference, and
some will be performed in the conference concert, as part of a programme
performed by edges ensemble. Applicants whose works have been selected by
the panel for inclusion in the workshop or concert will be notified by the
end of January 2009. The workshop will take place in St Paul’s Hall, a
converted Victorian church with a 3.5 second reverberation. Composers using
electronics are welcome to discuss their technical requirements with Dr
Pierre Alexandre Tremblay.  Scores (three copies), one copy of any technical
requirements and all relevant electronic parts/patches/plans, and a 200 word
programme note that explains how the music engages with, or reflects, the
theme of the conference, should be sent to Dr Bryn Harrison, Creative Arts
Building, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH.
Materials are submitted at the sender’s risk and will not be returned unless
a suitable SAE is included.

edges ensemble is a flexible group of performers committed to exploring a
variety of new musics, from entirely improvised music through to complex
scores. Experimental classics are rehearsed alongside new works by
undergraduate and postgraduate composers, as well as works by emerging
composers from across the globe. Recent concerts have featured music by Fred
Frith (performed with the composer as part of hcmf 2007) and English
experimental composers, both concerts combining graphic and indeterminate
scores with more fully notated pieces.

Proposals are welcome from musicians at any stage in their professional
career, including postgraduate students. For further information and advice
on your proposal, please email the conference organiser, Dr Lisa Colton (
[log in to unmask] ). It is hoped that some of the conference papers will
be suitable for publication as a volume of essays in the future.

‘There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we
don't know.’ (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911)