27^e année, 31 février 2026.

Metamorphoses of the Musical Work: Self-Recasting and Rewriting in the Twentieth Century

29–30 octobre 2026, Vernice

Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice

In Western art music, composers have frequently recast or rewritten works that they had already thoroughly sketched or completed, thereby producing revised versions or entirely new compositions. This practice assumes diverse forms and originates from a wide range of motivations depending on the historical period, cultural context, genre and individual circumstances. It reflects the evolving conception, scope, and function of what we understand as the musical work.

In twentieth-century music, one of the most familiar examples of this type of transformation is orchestration, in both its traditional and continually renewed sense—as exemplified by Maurice Ravel’s orchestrations of his own piano works. Yet transformation may also concern the unfolding and the formal structure of a composition: in these cases, what emerges is not a mere transcription, but a genuine reworking, in which the original material undergoes processes of expansion and refiguration. This approach finds exemplary expression in Luciano Berio’s Chemins, Pierre Boulez’s Notations pour orchestre or Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Fünf Sternzeichen.

Transformation may also involve—or be prompted by—adaptation to a new context: choreographic, theatrical, cinematographic, or other artistic and technological domains. One might recall Hans Werner Henze’s reuse of material from Being Beauteous in Alain Resnais’s film Muriel, ou le temps d’un retour; or the retrieval and transformation of earlier materials in the stage works of Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono, according to compositional strategies and aesthetic goals that differ profoundly from one another.

Unlike adaptations or reworkings by other composers, these forms of musical “metamorphosis” reveal the evolving creative vision of the original author. They also illuminate the shifting productive conditions—artistic, institutional, and technological—within which compositional practice takes shape. While this phenomenon has long attracted attention in historical,

philological, and analytical studies, many questions remain regarding its processes, motivations, and aesthetic implications.

The Institute of Music of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini invites proposals for a two-day conference examining this phenomenon in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music. Papers may focus on a single composer or on several, provided that each transformation discussed was executed by the same individual (or, in the case of co-authorship, by the same individuals).

Papers presented at the conference may subsequently be revised and submitted (in English) for publication in a special issue of the journal Archival Notes (https://onlinepublishing.cini.it/index.

php/arno) dedicated to this topic. Scientific Committee: Gianmario Borio (Università di Pavia / Fondazione Giorgio Cini), Paolo Dal Molin (Università di Cagliari), Angela Ida De Benedictis (Paul Sacher Stiftung), Ludwig Holtmeier (Hochschule für Musik Freiburg), Francisco Rocca (Fondazione Giorgio Cini)

We welcome contributions that examine all the following aspects:

Contextual dimensions: the production, dissemination, and reception of the works;

Poietic dimensions: the evolution of compositional thought and technique;

Aesthetic dimensions: artistic goals in relation to other factors.

Submissions must be grounded in archival materials and/or primary sources documenting

compositional processes.

Research may focus on:

1. Works by composers whose collections are preserved at the Institute of Music of the Fonda- zione Giorgio Cini ); specific inquiries can be directed ;

2. Works by major twentieth- and twenty-first-century composers held in other institutional archi- ves.

Submission requirements

A 500-word abstract (excluding references) outlining:

— Objectives of the paper

— Works under study

— Current state of research

— Sources and data to be used

— Theoretical and methodological framework

— 3–5 keywords

Bibliographic references

Typological and logistical list of sources

Short biographical note, including references to three publications relevant to the proposed topic

Conference details

Dates: 29–30 October 2026

Language: English

Selected participants will be hosted free of charge from 28–31 October (3 nights); travel

expenses are the responsibility of participants

Deadlines

Proposal submission: 31 January 2026 (to concorsimusica@cini.it)

Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2026

Submission of revised papers for the special issue of Archival Notes: 31 January 2027.

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

ISSN 2269-9910.

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Samedi 31 Janvier, 2026