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The Répertoire international de la presse musicale (RIPM)
and
ICTM Study Group on Iconography of the Performing Arts
in association with
Centre de musique romantique française, Palazzetto Bru Zane, Venice

are announcing the symposium

IMAGES OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH MUSICAL LIFE

Venice, Palazzetto Bru Zane,

The implementation of new printing techniques in the 1840s advanced the publication of images in mass circulation newsmagazines, which were able to offer their readers for the first time plentiful illustrations of contemporary events. These illustrations visually supplement writings on music of the time, communicate with the music criticism, and document the reception of music performed in concert halls, theaters, salons and in other public places. Although the newsweekly L’illustration, which appeared in , is the most prolific French newsmagazine—publishing by the end of the century over 3,300 illustrations of musical life—it is certainly not the only one visually documenting nineteenth-century music events in France, in Europe and beyond. Nor is the press the only media offering reflections of musical life during this period. One also sees music recognized in photography, extensively in caricatures, and also in miniature statuettes.

The conference invites proposals for papers on any aspect of French musical life in the 19th century as reflected in the visual sources:

The conference’s keynote speaker will be H. Robert Cohen, who with the assistance of Sylvia L’Écuyer and Jacques Léveillé, published an index to and the reproduction of L’lllustration’s musical engraving in a three-volume printed set (Québec, ). Recognizing the significance of L’Illustration as an important source for the study French musical life, the Répertoire International de la Presse Musicale (RIPM) recently digitized all music-related images published through . The resulting searchable open-access database which contains an index and reproduction of the images, will be inaugurated during the conference.

Program committee:

English is preferred language for the conference presentations. Abstracts of 250–300 words may be submitted before to:

Zdravko Blazekovic
zblazekovic@gc.cuny.edu
Research Center for Music Iconography
City University of New York, The Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016-4309