organised by
Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini
Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française
IAM-Institute for Applied Musicology
Lovere (BG), Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini
Via Paglia 26/28
25-27 November 2027
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini, the Palazzetto Bru Zane and the Institute for Applied Musicology are pleased to invite submissions of proposals for the Conference «The Golden Strings: The Harp and its World in the Nineteenth Century» to be held in Lovere (BG), Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini, from 25 to 27 November 2027.
Few musical instruments occupied such a complex position in nineteenth-century European society as the harp. Associated simultaneously with aristocratic refinement, domestic accomplishment, femininity, sensuality, national identity, and artistic virtuosity, the harp stood at the intersection of private and public musical life.
The nineteenth century witnessed a profound transformation of the harp and of the culture surrounding it. Technological innovations, most notably the development and widespread adoption of the double-action pedal harp, expanded the instrument’s technical and expressive possibilities. At the same time, a rapidly developing network of conservatories, publishers, manufacturers, concert venues, salons, theatres, and musical societies contributed to the professionalisation and international circulation of harp performance.
Harpists travelled across Europe and beyond; composers explored new instrumental possibilities; manufacturers competed for international markets; publishers produced increasingly sophisticated repertoires and pedagogical materials; and women harpists, in particular, negotiated the boundaries between amateur accomplishment, professional musicianship, celebrity, and respectability. Yet the history of the nineteenth-century harp remains comparatively fragmented. Its repertoire, performers, institutions, technologies, pedagogical traditions, and representations have often been studied separately.
The present conference aims to bring these perspectives together and to consider the harp not simply as an instrument, but as a cultural phenomenon embedded in the social, artistic, technological, and economic transformations of the nineteenth century.
The areas of investigation can include (and extend) the following topics:
- The Harp in Nineteenth-Century Society
- Virtuosity, Performance, and Celebrity
- Women, Gender, and the Harp
- Repertoire and Compositional Practices
- Organology, Technology, and the Material Instrument
- Pedagogy, Conservatories, and Professionalisation
- Publishers, Markets, and the Musical Economy
- National Cultures and Transnational Networks
- The Harp Beyond the Concert Hall
- The Harp in Visual and Literary Culture
- Archives, Forgotten Figures, and New Sources
Scholarly Committee
- Roberto Illiano (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
- Étienne Jardin (Palazzetto Bru Zane)
- Fulvia Morabito (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
- Massimiliano Sala (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
Keynote Speakers
- Anna Pasetti (Conservatorio di musica ‘A. Steffani’, Castelfranco Veneto)
- David Rowland (Open University)
The official languages of the conference are English, French and Italian. Papers selected at the conference will be published in a miscellaneous volume.
Papers are limited to twenty minutes in length, allowing time for questions and discussion. Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words and one page of biography.
All proposals should be submitted by email no later than ***Sunday, 18 April 2027*** to <conferences@luigiboccherini.org>. With your proposal please include your name, contact details (postal address, e-mail and telephone number) and (if applicable) your affiliation.
Further information about the programme and registration will be announced in due course after that deadline.
For any additional information, please contact:
Dr. Massimiliano Sala
conferences@luigiboccherini.org
www.luigiboccherini.org
