ONTOMUSIC · Political Ontologies of Music: Rethinking the Relationship between Music and Politics in the Twenty-first Century

Political Ontologies of Music: Rethinking the Relationship between Music and Politics in the Twenty-first Century

ONTOMUSIC provided an innovative and interdisciplinary theoretical framework to analyse the political and ethical dimensions of contemporary art music in the twenty-first century. It explored the relationship between composers’ ontological assumptions, political thought and ethical concerns. Ontological assumptions were defined as personal or collective assertions about the nature and means of music, which reveal our beliefs on what music is as well as what music can do or accomplish. ONTOMUSIC argued that integrating composers’ ontological assumptions into the exploration of their political or ethical commitments makes possible the study of a broader range of living composers and their views about ethical issues such as social justice, human rights and the environment. ONTOMUSIC examined composers’ ontological assumptions in relation to four key approaches to music, ethics and politics: 1. The politics of musical material: compositional techniques, musical gestures and political metaphors 2. Sound activism: musical practices and environmental concerns 3. Music and political identities: cosmopolitanism and political engagements with the past 4. Ecological approaches: sound, music technology and the politics of musical interactions This research project was rooted in an interdisciplinary approach to music and performance practices, which sought to bridge historical musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory and philosophy. The three main research objectives were: 1) to understand how composers’ ontological assumptions shape the political possibilities of their music within a specific symbolic and social order; 2) to examine how composers have embedded their ethical concerns in specific compositional processes, performance settings and musical works; 3) to produce new sources and record first-hand views from composers, in particular women composers, where they develop their ontological assumptions connected to their ethical and political concerns. ONTOMUSIC advanced our understanding of how composers engage critically with the major ethical and political challenges facing our societies.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз