Institute for Music Aesthetics

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Institute for Music Aesthetics
founding 1967
Sponsorship state
place Graz
state Styria
country Austria
Head of Institute Andreas Dorschel
Employee about 8
including professors 2
Website Institute for Music Aesthetics

The Institute for Music Aesthetics , founded in 1967 as the “Institute for Valuation Research”, is an institution of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz . As the only institute of this kind in the German-speaking area, it is specifically dedicated to the philosophical penetration of musical phenomena.

Idea and task

The Palais Meran, seat of the Institute for Music Aesthetics

The institute promotes and conducts research and teaching in the field of musical aesthetics . This examines the basic requirements of musical theory and practice. Ideas such as form, structure, content, time, expression, understanding, interpretation and work are fundamental for musical production and reception. They form the thematic core of a historically founded philosophy of music. As aesthetics , it reflects in particular evaluations that are related to music (and more generally to art), as well as the standards on which such evaluations are implicitly or explicitly based. Music aesthetics typically proceed in an interdisciplinary manner : the conceptual richness of the philosophical tradition needs to be related to the empirical knowledge of aesthetic sensations and judgments in order to further develop both.

Foundation and development

Era merchant

Harald Kaufmann, finger exercises (1970)

The Institute for Music Aesthetics was founded on September 29, 1967 as the Institute for Valuation Research (originally: "Institute for Musical Valuation Research") at the then Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Graz. It was initially planned as an "Institute for Cultural Journalism". The academy appointed Harald Kaufmann , who had designed the institute in 1966, to be its first board member. At the symposium in 1967, the year it was founded, Theodor W. Adorno , who valued businessman highly, gave a keynote address. In two volumes of our own investigations - track lines. Analytical essays on language and music and finger exercises. Music society and valuation research - Kaufmann drafted ideas for the new research facility programmatically and applied them exemplarily in case studies. The Saarbrücken musicologist Werner Braun characterized Kaufmann's program as follows: “Modern 'valuation research' is about illuminating as much as possible of the hidden premises for the 'anticipatory' aesthetic judgment. The head of the Graz institute set up for this purpose, Harald Kaufmann, intends to use tests to expose the chains of associations and mediation and thus track down the 'group norms'. ”From December 16 to 19, 1969, György Ligeti taught“ about avant-garde composition techniques and finding criteria 'at the institute.

On June 1, 1970, Kaufmann was diagnosed with septic pleuropneumonia . On June 29, 1970, by resolution of the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Franz Jonas , he was appointed full professor. Kaufmann died on July 9, 1970 at the age of 42 in Graz.

Kolleritsch era

Palais Meran Graz, south wing

After Kaufmann's sudden death, Otto Kolleritsch took over the management of the institute in the same year, which he held until his retirement in 2002. During the Kolleritsch era, the institute was relocated from the Palais Saurau to the south wing of the Palais Meran . During this period there was, on the one hand, the opportunity to link the symposia to the Styrian Autumn . This required thematic coordination with the concert series 'Musikprotokoll' (founded by Peter Vujica and Emil Breisach ) of the avant-garde festival. On the other hand, Kolleritsch shifted the focus of the institute's work to the history of reception , and linked its approach in the 1990s with the modern / post-modern discussion of cultural studies . Kolleritsch excluded the methods of empirical social research favored by Kaufmann and limited the procedures of the institute's work to those cultivated by the humanities and cultural sciences. (Partly more intuitive) values ​​replaced the evaluation analysis. Harald Kaufmann's estate, whose ideas now faded into the background, was moved by his widow and heir, Erika Kaufmann, from Graz to the archive of the Berlin Academy of the Arts . According to the theologian and musician Johann Trummer (1940 - 2019) , the achievements of Kolleritsch, which were honored in a commemorative publication on his 60th birthday, culminate in an "unsurpassable life's work".

Era codfish

Andreas Dorschel, Vienna 2019

In autumn 2001, the institute's professorship was advertised internationally for the first time. Andreas Dorschel , who received the call, has oriented the institute (together with Federico Celestini ) more philosophically since 2002. Since the term "valuation research" had not established itself as the name of a research discipline in four decades, Dorschel renamed the institution to "Institute for Music Aesthetics" (since 2007). Nevertheless, Harald Kaufmann's legacy gained relevance again at the Institute. At the same time, the institute has opened up to international discussion with its research projects, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. In May 2019, the Institute for Music Aesthetics together with the Institute for Ethnomusicology at the University of Art and Design Graz organized an international symposium on the comparative (ethnographically comparative) aesthetics of music. A European group of experts stated in 2018 that the Institute for Music Aesthetics had developed into an “internationally unique flagship institution” in its field in the 2010s. In addition to scientific research, which is the main focus of the institute's work, there is a journalistic component in the form of reviews and essays for non-academic journals such as Lettre International .

Research projects

Signet of the institute (2017)

The Institute for Music Aesthetics was the location of the following research projects funded by the Austrian Science Fund:

  • P 25061-G15 What and How Does Music Express? Integrating Music Philosophy and Musical Analysis. FWF individual project to research the idea of ​​musical expression and its analysis. Duration: 2013–2019 (Deniz Peters / Andreas Dorschel)
  • AR 188 Emotional Improvisation . FWF / PEEK project on the question of how harmonious interplay (“togetherness”) develops in improvisations. Duration: 2014–2019 (Deniz Peters)
  • AR 259-G21 TransCoding: From 'Highbrow Art' to Participatory Culture . FWF / PEEK project on the possibilities of expanding participation in contemporary music with an artistic claim through social media. Duration: 2015–2018 (Barbara Lüneburg / Kai Ginkel)
  • M 2072-G26 Music as Life affirmation. FWF individual project to research the role of music in the philosophy of life in its historical context as well as in its possible current meaning. Duration: 2016–2018 (Manos Perrakis / Andreas Dorschel)

Valuation research studies

Valuation research studies. Volume 1, 1968

The studies on valuation research , founded by Harald Kaufmann in 1968, are the oldest book series in German-speaking countries specifically dedicated to musical aesthetics . They are published by Universal Edition (Vienna - London - New York, NY), Austria's only international music publisher.

Bibliography (alphabetical)

  • Andreas Dorschel: Working on the canon. Aesthetic studies of music from Haydn to Webern. Universal Edition, Vienna - London - New York, NY 2010 (Studies on Valuation Research 51) (together with Federico Celestini )
  • Andreas Dorschel: Perfection stays away. Aesthetic approximations. Universal Edition, Vienna - London - New York, NY 2012 (Studies on Valuation Research 53) (together with Philip Alperson )
  • Harald Kaufmann: track lines. Analytical essays on language and music. Lafite, Vienna 1969
  • Harald Kaufmann: finger exercises. Music Society and Valuation Research. Lafite, Vienna 1970
  • Otto Kolleritsch: It's going to be an event here. Critical aesthetics between artistic practice and research with art. Leykam, Graz 2014.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elisabeth Freismuth (Ed.), Development Plan 2016 to 2019. University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz 2016, pp. 27–28
  2. ↑ Styrian Provincial Archives Graz, K. 30 / No. 59. Quotation from Ingeborg Harer, visions of a pioneer: Vera Schwarz (1929–1980) and her concepts for establishing the field of early music / performance practice. In: Barbara Boisits / Ingeborg Harer (eds.), Early Music in Austria. Research and practice since 1800. Mille Tre, Vienna 2009 (New Contributions to Performance Practice 7), pp. 359–390, here pp. 360–361, as well as references on p. 385. Already on March 16, 1967, a “Kollegiumssitzung 'informed the Academy that the establishment of two new institutes of a scientific nature was planned: “1. Institute for Work Practice (Early Music, Ensemble), 2nd Institute for Valuation Research “(Archive of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Collegium minutes AV / HK / 06.07.1998).
  3. ↑ Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv (STLA), slipcase 78, X-38, GZ AK-38-1966-67
  4. ↑ Gottfried Krieger, A pioneer of music journalism in Austria. On the life and work of Harald Kaufmann (1927–1970). In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift LXV (2010), no. 7–8, pp. 4–12
  5. ↑ Theodor W. Adorno, letter to Harald Kaufmann from October 31, 1967. In: Werner Grünzweig / Gottfried Krieger (eds.), From inside and outside. Writings on music, musical life and aesthetics. Wolke, Hofheim, 1993, pp. 274–275, p. 274: “Seldom have I found intellectual integrity and strategic talent so happily combined in a person as in you; I am very anxious to tell you that. ”Adorno emphasized to Kaufmann“ that there are very few institutions to which I feel as deeply connected as your institute ”(Theodor W. Adorno, letter to Harald Kaufmann of January 8, 1968 . In: Werner Grünzweig / Gottfried Krieger (eds.), From inside and outside. Writings on music, musical life and aesthetics. Cloud, Hofheim 1993, p. 277).
  6. ^ Theodor W. Adorno: Reflection on music criticism. In: Harald Kaufmann (ed.): Symposium for music criticism. Institute for Valuation Research at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts, Graz 1968, pp. 7–21, reprinted in Theodor W. Adorno: Gesammelte Schriften. Volume 19, ed. by Rolf Tiedemann and Klaus Schultz. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1984, pp. 573-591. - Peter Vujica ridiculed the “symposium for music criticism” in two articles as “Beckmesser's rally” and “Arthurian music criticism round” ( Kleine Zeitung October 14 and 15, 1967).
  7. ↑ Lafite, Vienna 1969 and 1970. The finger exercises are dedicated to the memory of Adorno, who had died the year before.
  8. ↑ Most programmatic are the theses on valuation research, first presented in 1967 . In: finger exercises. Music Society and Valuation Research. Lafite, Vienna 1970, pp. 12-23. In them Kaufmann gives “an overview of the basics and categories of work at the Institute for Valuation Research in Graz” (Gerhard Schuhmacher, Musikästhetik. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1973, p. 51).
  9. ↑ Werner Braun, music review. Attempt to determine the historical and critical position. Gerig, Cologne 1972 (Musik-Taschen-Bücher Theoretica 12), p. 116 f.
  10. ↑ The correspondence between Ligeti and Kaufmann from 1958 to 1970 can be found in: Werner Grünzweig / Gottfried Krieger (eds.), From inside and outside. Writings on music, musical life and aesthetics. Wolke, Hofheim 1993, SS 164-262. For Kaufmann / Ligeti cf. a. Julia Heimerdinger, speaking about new music. epubli, Berlin 2014, pp. 144–145
  11. ^ Archives of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Persakt Harald Kaufmann AV 96/1, 10 P
  12. ↑ Cf. Otto Kolleritsch (Ed.), Re-appropriation and redefinition. The 'postmodern' case in music. Universal Edition, Graz 1991, and, in a more systematic outline, Susanne Kogler, Adorno versus Lyotard. Modern and post-modern aesthetics. Alber, Freiburg / Br. - Munich 2014. Kogler received his doctorate in 2001 under Otto Kolleritsch.
  13. ↑ The objection was raised against the Graz “valuation research” of the last three decades of the 20th century that it had “de facto” replaced the scientific investigation of valuations by the journalistic upgrading of new music , i.e. research by taking sides. “Value judgments are formed in social consensus. Science can register them and look for a corresponding explanation. However, it should be careful not to make itself the mouthpiece of this or that side if it does not want to deprive itself of its credibility. ”( Hellmut Federhofer , New Music and Modern Democracy , in: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music ( IRASM ) XXX (1999), H. 1, pp. 3-13, here p. 12, cf. pp. 5-6).
  14. ↑ Gottfried Krieger, Experience - Analyze - Criticize. on the interrelationship between practice and theory with Harald Kaufmann. In: Werner Grünzweig / Gottfried Krieger (ed.), From inside and outside. Writings on music, musical life and aesthetics , Wolke, Hofheim, 1993, pp. 9-14
  15. ↑ https://www.adk.de/de/archiv/archivabteilungen/musik/
  16. ↑ Doris Leitinger (Ed.): Critical music aesthetics and evaluation research. For the publisher's 60th birthday. Universal Edition, Graz / Vienna 1996 (= studies on valuation research . Volume 30).
  17. ^ Johann Trummer, congratulations for Otto Kolleritsch. In: Doris Leitinger (Ed.): Critical Music Aesthetics and Valuation Research. For the publisher's 60th birthday. Universal Edition, Graz / Vienna 1996 (= Studies on Valuation Research. Volume 30), pp. 120–130, p. 124
  18. ↑ See the time . No. 47, (November 15) 2001, p. 87.
  19. ↑ Celestini was a lecturer at the Institute for Music Aesthetics from 2008 to 2011. For the “philosophical orientation” cf. Federico Celestini, Andreas Dorschel: work on the canon. Aesthetic studies of music from Haydn to Webern. Universal Edition, Vienna / London / New York, NY 2010 (= Studies on Valuation Research. Volume 51), and Federico Celestini: Nietzsche's Philosophy of Music. On the performativity of thinking. Fink, Paderborn 2016.
  20. ↑ Dorschel initially seems to have promised to save the term “valuation research” after the canon discussion ; see. Andreas Dorschel: What is musical valuation research? In: Yearbook of the State Institute for Music Research Prussian Cultural Heritage 2004. Schott, Mainz / London / Madrid 2005, pp. 371–385. The publication series of the institute retains the term.
  21. ↑ Kolleritsch reprimanded the renaming: This is where it will happen. Critical aesthetics between artistic practice and research with art. Leykam, Graz 2014, pp. 339-340
  22. ↑ From October 20 to 21, 2010, 40 years after Kaufmann's death, the institute hosted the first international conference on his work. Volume 58 of the Studies on Valuation Research published in 2015 texts from Kaufmann's estate archived at the Berlin Academy of the Arts: Harald Kaufmann: Musical Travel Pictures. Edited by Werner Grünzweig and Gottfried Krieger, Universal Edition, Vienna / London / New York, NY. See also Andreas Dorschel: Vera Schwarz and Harald Kaufmann: New musical thinking in the early years of the Second Republic. In: Ingeborg Harer, Gudrun Rottensteiner (Hrsg.): Science and practice - old and new. Leykam, Graz 2017 (= New Contributions to Performance Practice. Volume 8), pp. 29–37.
  23. ↑ Ethnoaesthetics of Music. Concepts, Criteria, Case Studies ; see. Doris Griesser, Why beauty sounds different everywhere. In: Der Standard, Research Special, May 15, 2019, p. 10.
  24. ↑ Bruce Brown (Brighton, UK); Rachel Cooper (Lancaster, UK); Jürgen Faust (Stuttgart, DE); Kirsten Merete Langkilde (Basel, CH); Keith Negus (London, UK); Mick Wilson (Gothenburg, SE)
  25. ^ Antonio Loprieno / Kerstin Mey (eds.), Reflections on the further development of the art universities. Austrian Science Council, Vienna 2018, p. 96
  26. ↑ Cf. Barbara Lüneburg, TransCoding: From 'Highbow Art' to Participatory Culture. Social Media Art Research. Transcript, Bielefeld 2018 (Culture & Theory 155)
  27. ↑ See Manos Perrakis (ed.): Life as an Aesthetic Idea of ​​Music. Universal Edition, Vienna / London / New York 2019 (= studies on valuation research. Volume 61).