27^e année, 20 février 2026.

Comparative Perspectives on Genetic Criticism first Conference

16-18 November 2026, Rome

The IMS Study Group "Comparative Perspectives on Genetic Criticism" invites proposals for its first international conference. The conference seeks to take stock of current research questions, methodological approaches, and terminological frameworks in genetic criticism and sketch studies in music, while explicitly exploring their comparative potential across composers, repertoires, and research traditions.

Rather than focusing on individual case studies in isolation, the conference invites participants to reflect on similarities, divergences, and points of reference across different traditions of genetic research in music. Which concepts, methods, and analytical categories have already proven transferable? Where do terminological or methodological frictions arise? And how might comparative approaches open up new epistemic insights into musical creativity? Particular attention will be paid to experimental formats and to the implications of digital infrastructures, data models, and editorial tools for comparative research.

The conference is conceived as a methodological laboratory in which the transferability of genetic categories, terminological decisions, and analytical procedures can be tested and critically assessed.

We invite submissions that engage with, relate to, or critically examine one or more of the following themes:

Conceptual frameworks for creative processes (e.g., sketch, draft, working manuscript, leading voice/Leitstimme)

Methodological and terminological transfers from literary criticism and philology

Semantic shifts of key concepts across musicological traditions and contexts

Comparative analyses of terminologies and glossaries in editions, archives, and research projects

Composer-specific terminologies and cultural practices shaping them between idiosyncrasy and generalization

hallenges of interoperability in digital environments (metadata standards, cataloguing practices, digitization)

Epistemic potentials of comparative methods in research on compositional processes

Musical thinking between embodied cognition, practice-based writing, and notation

Practices of searching and discovering: impulses, exercises, models, preparatory materials, and theoretical readings

Transitions between stages, from preparatory materials to final versions, including revision phases

Collaborative constellations: copyists, publishers, librettists, musicians, and other agents involved in the composing processes

The impact of rehearsal and performance contexts on creative practices

Formats and Submission Guidelines

The conference will include individual papers of 30 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. In addition to traditional papers, the organizers particularly encourage proposals for tandem contributions designed for an experimental cross-reading session.

In this format, two scholars from different repertoires or research contexts exchange source material (e.g., sketches, drafts, working manuscripts) along with the necessary contextual information and analyze each other’s material. This approach is intended to test comparative transferability directly and to illuminate both obstacles and productive synergies in collaborative research.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, together with a short biographical note (max. 100 words), in one of the conference languages (German, Italian, English, French) by February 18, 2026 to elisa.novara@dhi-roma.it.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by April 18, 2026.

The conference will take place from 16 to 18 November 2026 at the German Historical Institute in Rome.

Selected contributions are planned for publication in the series Analecta musicologica.

Scientific Board: Fabian Czolbe, Andreas Münzmay, Elisa Novara, Federica Rovelli (IMS Study Group Steering Committee)

Please find further details here

Musicologie.org, 56 rue de la Fédération, 93100 Montreuil. ☎ 06 06 61 73 41.

ISSN 2269-9910.

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Vendredi 20 Février, 2026