Re-evaluation of early mass settings
A project to re-evaluate early polyphonic masses has been launched at the Weimar University of Music and the University of Mainz. It is being led by Christiane Wiesenfeldt and Klaus Pietschmann, who worked at the universities of Bern and Zurich between 2003 and 2009 and also habilitated in Zurich.
The project entitled "The early mass setting between liturgical function and artistic aspiration" deals with the early mass setting as a central musical genre of the 15th and 16th centuries. Until now, its scholarly exploration has taken place from a predominantly philological, work- and style-historical research perspective.
The researchers in Mainz and Weimar now want to undertake a systematic reassessment of the early polyphonic masses. The aim is to consider the connections between musical texture and liturgical purpose and to develop methodological approaches that combine perspectives from the history of ritual and piety with those from the history of composition.
Two doctoral students and four research assistants are working on the project for three years. The two project leaders will compile a monograph on the subject. In addition, the doctoral students Franziska Meier and Kirstin Pönnighaus will write qualification theses on settings of the Requiem and the tradition of the early L'homme-armé masses.
A core element of the project work is the further development of the MassDataBase database, which was set up in advance of the application using funds from the Johannes Gutenberg University's research funding and the research focus on historical cultural studies. It is also planned to organize several supplementary, interdisciplinary workshops.
