Musical Interactions between the Low Countries and Central Europe, 1400-1650

Since the nineteenth century, the music history in the later middle ages and early modern period has been dominated by the Low Countries. According to the standard narrative, from between c. 1400 and c. 1600, musicians born and trained in the Low Countries were sought out by institutions from across Europe, in a similar way to how today's football clubs compete to buy the best players. Via such recruitment, as well as by other transmission networks, trend-setting Low Countries musical styles were disseminated. Though this narrative was produced in a clearly nationalistic environment, the terms in which it is framed have remained deeply rooted ever since.This picture was reinforced by the political situation in twentieth-century Europe, divided by the Iron Curtain into West and East. As a result, the music-history of those parts of Europe on the Eastern side almost disappeared from international musicological discourse. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, research conducted on late medieval and early modern musical life in central Europe suggests that the traditional view is no longer acceptable. New sources, new archival work on institutions, and new biographical research demand a more synthetic music history than we currently possess. Interactions between local and international traditions, rather than blanket dominance, suggest a new, and more subtle way to understand the music-history of the time. This project will therefore focus on the relationships between the musical cultures of the Low Countries and central Europe in the late medieval and early modern period from the perspective of interaction rather than dominace. It will question and re-examine the prevailing discourse, and develop a new music-historical methodology. This methodology will then lay the basis for a future HERA project with partners from the Low Countries, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, and Spain.

Keywords:Music, Low Countries, Central Europe, Late medieval, Early modern

Disciplines:Musicology and ethnomusicology, History of music