©2013 by the Korean Institute for Musicology
All rights reserved.
Autumn
2011, Vol.2011,
3, No.Vol.
2, 231–238
AUTUMN
3, No. 2
Ta b l e o f C ON TE N T S
177
209
Thomas Christensen Fragile Texts, Hidden Theory
Kyung Myun Lee
What Do Neurophysiological Studies on Musical
Intervals Tell Us about Sensory Consonance?
231
Janet Bourne
Fourth International Conference of Students of
Systematic Musicology (SysMus11):
A Conference Report
239
Tilman Seebass
The Foundation of the Regional Association
for East Asia of the International Musicological
Society
251
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Notes on Contributors
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©2013 by the Korean Institute for Musicology
All rights reserved.
Autumn 2011, Vol. 3, No. 2, 231–238
AUTUMN 2011, Vol. 3, No. 2
E D I TOR
Youn Kim
University of Hong Kong, HK
E D I TO RIAL BOA RD
Giorgio Biancorosso
Philip V. Bohlman
Ian Cross Robert O. Gjerdingen
Hermann Gottschewski
Christian Kaden
Hee Sook Oh
Jean-Jacques Nattiez
Uwe Seifert
University of Hong Kong, HK (Review Editor)
University of Chicago, USA
University of Cambridge, UK
Northwestern University, USA
University of Tokyo, Japan
Humboldt‑Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Seoul National University, Korea
Université de Montréal, Canada
University of Cologne, Germany
A D V IS O RY BOA RD
Mayumi Adachi
Hokkaido University, Japan
Kofi Agawu
Princeton University, USA
Wolfgang Auhagen
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Karol Berger
Stanford University, USA
Georgina Born
University of Oxford, UK
Leslie Bunt
University of the West of England, UK
Thomas Christensen
University of Chicago, USA
Daniel K. L. Chua
University of Hong Kong, HK
Nicholas Cook
University of Cambridge, UK
Joseph Dubiel
Columbia University, USA
Helga De la Motte-Haber Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Ichiro Fujinaga
McGill University, Canada
Lydia Goehr
Columbia University, USA
Penelope Gouk
University of Manchester, UK
Shuhei Hosokawa
International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan
Marcello Sorce Keller
Monash University‑Melbourne, Australia
Kyungil KimAjou University, Korea
Lars-Christian KochEthnological Museum Berlin, Germany
Frederick Lau
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, USA
Jerrold Levinson
University of Maryland, USA
Laurenz Lütteken
Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Susan McClary
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Gary McPherson
University of Melbourne, Australia
Bruno Nettl
University of Illinois, USA (Emeritus)
Richard Parncutt
University of Graz, Austria
Jann Pasler
University of California, San Diego, USA
Ronald Radano
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Alexander Rehding
Harvard University, USA
John Rink
University of Cambridge, UK
Giselher Schubert
Hindemith-Institut, Frankfurt/M., Germany
John Sloboda
Keele University, UK (Emeritus)
Catherine Stevens
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Eero Tarasti
University of Helsinki, Finland
Richard Taruskin
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Yosihiko TokumaruOchanomizu University, Japan (Emeritus)
Suk Won Yi
Seoul National University, Korea
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©2013 by the Korean Institute for Musicology
All rights reserved.
Autumn 2011, Vol. 3, No. 2, 231–238
Fourth International Conference of
Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus11):
A Conference Report
JANET BOURNE
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSIT Y
Who Stole Systematic Musicology?
Leman (2008) describes a lecture he presented at the University of Co‑
logne in 2003 entitled “Who Stole Systematic Musicology?” If other
disciplines such as psychology and neuroscience are expanding music
research (bringing music into the laboratory), what makes systematic
musicology necessary to modern research? In his conclusion, Leman
argues that the core of systematic musicology is not stolen, yet he pleads
for the discipline to play the role as “moderator at the crossroad of the
music research” (113).
What is “systematic musicology”? The term “systematic musicology”
first originated in Guido Adler’s (1885) article “The Scope, Method, and
Aim of Musicology,” where he divided musicology into a historical and
a systematic branch. Ethnomusicology was originally considered part of
systematic musicology, but established itself as a separate subdiscipline
of musicology by the middle of the twentieth century (Parncutt 2007).
What was formed was the tripartite idea of musicology commonly seen
in central Europe today: ethnomusicology, historical musicology, and
systematic musicology.
If historical musicology involves the history of music (through engag‑
ing with a specific genre, time period, and so forth) while ethnomusi‑
cology is the comparative study of music in different cultures, is the
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implication that systematic musicology is the study of “everything else”
connected to music? The term “systematic musicology” is common
in continental Europe, mainly in the German language (Systematische
Musikwissenschaft), but less common in English-speaking and nonEuropean countries (Leman 2008). This disconnect between systematic
musicologists around the globe contributes to different understandings
of the term “systematic musicology” amongst scholars. Though “sys‑
tematic musicology” appears to lack a clear definition, scholars have be‑
gun to sketch guidelines in order to clarify why systematic musicology is
important and necessary today.
First of all, Parncutt (2007, 3) regards systematic musicology as a
subdiscipline of musicology concerned with “music in general: what is
music, what is it for, and why do we engage with it?” (italics in the orig‑
inal). Honing (2006, 2), in trying to answer “what is music,” regarded
systematic musicology as noting a shift from music as art to “music as a
process in which the performer, the listener, and music as sound play a
central role.” Since systematic musicology involves both the natural sci‑
ences and the humanities, Parncutt separates systematic musicology into
two subdivisions: scientific musicology and cultural musicology. Scien‑
tific musicology promotes the scientific method, methodologies based
on data-oriented empirical research. The method of cultural musicology
is primarily intuitive and with a philosophical basis. The aim for system‑
atic musicologists, whether cultural or scientific, is to understand how
and why people engage with music the way they do. The second impor‑
tant aspect of systematic musicology is its interdisciplinary (or perhaps
the better word is “transdisciplinary”) nature. Systematic musicology
has promoted an integrated multidisciplinary approach since the late
nineteenth century, involving disciplines such as psychology, acoustics,
neuroscience, sociology, computer science, cognitive science, and more
(Leman 2008). According to Leman (2008, 92), one major character‑
istic which makes systematic musicology necessary for modern music
research is its ability to “transcend the proper discipline in response to
the driving forces of the musical topic . . . combined with the attitude of
putting music and people at the center of the focus, regardless of what‑
ever scientific method, approach, or discipline, is used.”
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SysMus11: A Conference Report
Fourth International Conference of Students of Systematic
Musicology (SysMus11)
Following the first three SysMus conferences, which respectively took
place in Graz, Austria (2008), Ghent, Belgium (2009), and Cambridge,
UK (2010), the fourth International Conference of Students of System‑
atic Musicology (SysMus11) was hosted by the Institute of Musicology,
University of Cologne, in Cologne, Germany, from October 5–7, 2011.
Under the supervision of Prof. Uwe Seifert (University of Cologne), the
director for the conference’s organizing team was Julia Wewers (Univer‑
sity of Cologne). The organizing team also included Dr. Lüder Schmidt,
Andreas Gernemann-Paulsen, Son-Hwa Chang, Rie Asano, Pia Driever,
Harm Hendrick Esser, Sandra Jarosch, Laura Klinkhammer, Fritz
Schinzel, Anja Steinke, and Timo Varelmann.
Systematic musicology promotes interdisciplinary research, ranging
from the natural sciences to the humanities, and the SysMus11 pro‑
gram reflected this interdisciplinary nature. Fifteen double-blind peerreviewed papers were divided into five oral presentation sessions: MultiModal Music Perception and Cognition; Musical Similarity; Musical
Communication and Interpretation; Music and Neuroscience; and Sound
Art, Performance, and Culture. The poster session displayed a diverse
range of topics with eight posters. In his introduction to the conference,
Prof. Seifert discussed fundamental questions of music research such as
“What is/does music?” and “Why/how does music move humans?” The
SysMus11 participants, overall representing four different continents
and numerous disciplines, presented an assortment of interesting in‑
sights and raised further questions regarding these fundamental issues in
music. This exchange of ideas and lively discussion would not have been
possible without the kind support of the following institutions: The
International Cooperative in Systematic Musicology and Comparative
Musicology (ICSCM); epOs Music (electronic publishing Osnabrück);
The Quality Management of the Philosophical Faculty (University of
Cologne); The Student Council of the Institute of Musicology (University
of Cologne); and the members of the SysMus Council.
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The Keynote Speakers
Professor Seifert said in his introductory address that the four keynote
speakers were divided nicely between the natural sciences (Prof. Ricarda
Schubotz and Prof. W. Tecumseh Fitch) and the humanities (Dr. Jin
Hyun Kim and Prof. Anthony Moore). The first keynote speaker was
Prof. Ricarda Schubotz from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität,
Münster, and the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research,
Cologne, Germany. Schubotz’s paper was entitled “Neurocognition of
Prediction.”1 The focus of Schubotz’s paper was on motor cognition;
specifically, how event prediction exploits the motor system. Schubotz
described a number of experiments performed in her laboratory that
looked at what humans can predict (such as spatial position, object, and
duration). For Schubotz, music (like language) is an action. The mo‑
tor system simulates the listening experience of a piece of music when
a musician is listening to a recording of his or her playing, relying on
memory traces of unique motor repertoire. The activation of this mu‑
sician/listener’s motor system feeds back into the processing of other
systems activated during performance. A non-musician listening to the
same music activates fragments of the vocal and articulatory system
which feed back into the auditory perceptual processing, creating cer‑
tain rhythmic and pitch expectations in the auditory domain only. In
summary, Schubotz’s presentation focused on the connection between
prediction and the motor system.
Prof. W. Tecumseh Fitch (the second keynote speaker) from the De‑
partment of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna, Austria,
presented a paper entitled, “The Evolution of Language, Speech, and
Music.” In studying the biology and evolution of music, Fitch described
two approaches: the multi-component approach (cognitive) and the
broad comparative approach (biological). The comparative approach
looks at the similarities and evolutionary relatedness among many
groups of organisms (or phylogenetic levels). Fitch explored three
important (and separable) components found in humans and other
animals: “song” (a learned, complexly-patterned audio signal), “instru‑
mental music” (manually generated sonic signals), and “dance” (physical
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SysMus11: A Conference Report
movement registered to acoustic signal). For empirical evidence, Fitch
discussed how computational models could be used to test hypotheses.
He closed by discussing possible futures for the biological study of mu‑
sic in cognition-related genes and the development of broad compara‑
tive databases.
Dr. Jin Hyun Kim from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, served
as the third keynote speaker, and the first “humanities” keynote, with a
paper entitled, “Future Perspectives of Music Research: Some Challeng‑
ing Research Questions and Methods.” Addressing the future of music
research in fields such as systematic musicology, Kim addressed stimu‑
lating questions regarding music and aesthetics. She discussed the issue
of interactivity—the influence of media on how people have emotions
and appreciate music.
The fourth and final keynote paper was “Histories of Sound” pre‑
sented by Prof. Anthony Moore from the Department of Art and Media
Sciences at the Academy of Arts (KHM) Cologne in Cologne, Germany.
Moore identified himself as a composer and a media artist before pro‑
ceeding with his brief history. He weaved together a collection of stories
regarding the history of sound and voice, from discussing the back‑
ground of Chinese acoustics to the history of the gramophone. Near the
end of his presentation, he stated, “there is no final layer of granite,” re‑
minding everyone to not ever think that they may have found the source
to complex questions.
The Student Activities
For three days, the students presented professional, high-level academic
papers. In addition to giving their presentations, the students were also
able to have their papers published in the conference proceedings.2 The
second day of the conference included an afternoon debating workshop
run by the Tilbury House, a British-style debating society at the Uni‑
versity of Cologne. The workshop began with members of the Tilbury
House explaining the rules and procedures for a debate. Following the
lesson, the students debated against each other while the Tilbury House
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members judged. With this opportunity, students had a chance to put
their newly-learned knowledge of debating to use. The SysMus11 con‑
ference, as with previous SysMus conferences, provided a platform for
students to reunite with old friends and make new ones. In addition to
the activities already discussed, students were given a chance to develop
friendships and professional relationships over meals at a variety of dif‑
ferent restaurants throughout Cologne.
Manuela Marin, SysMus co-founder and director for SysMus08 (in
Graz, Austria) as well as a presenter, led the closing ceremonies with Ju‑
lia Wewers. In the closing ceremonies, Marin and Wewers were excited
to announce a new SysMus group on the SysMus Conference Series
website (https://sites.google.com/site/sysmusconference/sysmus-group).
They discussed the following aims of the SysMus Conference Series: to
make systematic musicology better known outside the German-speak‑
ing world and to strengthen the network of young systematic musicolo‑
gists and researchers from related fields. SysMus12 has since been held
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in May while SysMus13 took place in
Genoa, Italy in mid-September of this year.
Overall, SysMus11 was a brilliant platform for international students
to gather and share their music research pursuits in an encouraging
and warm atmosphere. Even though the approaches and methodolo‑
gies were all different, each presentation sought to answer fundamental
questions in regard to the phenomenon of music. The aim of each con‑
tribution was to enhance understanding of music, grounding knowledge
in different disciplines, which created an ideal environment for interdis‑
ciplinary discussions and responses.
For any information on past and future SysMus Conferences, or on
the SysMus Conference Series in general, please visit the series’ official
website: https://sites.google.com/site/sysmusconference/home.
Notes
1. Expectation has been considered an important part of the music listening
experience, as noted by Meyer (1956) and others.
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2. The SysMus11 conference proceedings are published in Wewers and Seif‑
ert (2012).
References
Adler, Guido. 1885. “Umfang, Methode und Ziel der Musikwissenschaft.”
Vierteljahresschrift für Musikwissenschaft 1:5–20.
Honing, Henkjan. 2006. “On the Growing Role of Observation, Formal‑
ization and Experimental Method in Musicology.” Empirical Musicology Review 1 (1): 2–6.
Leman, Marc. 2008. “Systematic Musicology at the Crossroads of Mu‑
sic Research.” In Systematic and Comparative Musicology: Concepts,
Methods, Findings, edited by Albrecht Schneider, 89–115. Frankfurt am
Main: Peter Lang.
Meyer, Leonard. 1956. Emotion and Meaning in Music. Chicago: Univer‑
sity of Chicago Press.
Parncutt, Richard. 2007. “Systematic Musicology and the History and Fu‑
ture of Western Musical Scholarship.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies 1 (1): 1–32.
Wewers, Julia, and Uwe Seifert, eds. 2012. Under Construction: Trans- and
Interdisciplinary Routes in Music Research. Proceedings of SysMus 11,
Cologne 2011. Osnabrück: epOs-Music.
Abstract
SysMus11, the fourth International Conference of Students of System‑
atic Musicology, was held at the University of Cologne, Cologne, Ger‑
many in October 2011. The conference included presentation and pub‑
lication of twenty-three peer-reviewed papers and posters from mostly
PhD or Master’s students. The participants, representing four continents
and numerous disciplines, raised interesting insights regarding system‑
atic musicology. The four keynote speakers were from both the natural
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sciences (Prof. Ricarda Schubotz and Prof. W. Tecumseh Fitch) and the
humanities (Dr. Jin Hyun Kim and Prof. Anthony Moore). Considering
SysMus11 was successful, SysMus12 (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) in
May 2012 will surely be just as enlightening.
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