Song Culture of the 17^th Century as a Culture of Translation

The project is dedicated to the German song culture of the 17^th century that will be examined for the first time in an European context. The project pursues an interdisciplinary approach that takes into account both literary and musical aspects.

Despite an increased interest in song research, too little attention has so far been paid to the fact that song authors such as J. Rist, G. Greflinger, H. Albert and Ph. von Zesen adapt and translate texts and melodies that circulate throughout Europe. Thus songs are central media of the European cultural transfer of this epoch. Two dimensions have to be considered:

(1) the transformations of lexicology, metrics and musical design,

(2) the socio-cultural recontextualisations.

The aim of the project is to provide case studies for the first time for the desideratum of German song research in a European context through an interdisciplinary anthology based on two workshops. The Königsberg Musikalische Kürbishütte and Heinrich Albert’s Arien (1638-1650), that contain many translations of Italian and French texts and music that have not yet been fully identified, will be discussed and analysed in a work meeting at the DHI Rome in 2020.
To the programme.

The project is based at the University of Tübingen where it is managed and worked on by Dr Astrid Dröse.

Project website at the University Tübingen.

Publications (project-related):

• Dr Astrid Dröse