| Description |
This project examines the role of music in Rome in creating, circulating, reinforcing, policing and subverting norms of gender and sexuality. The methods by which sexuality and the erotic are transmitted by music (of any age) are not wholly understood; through this investigation we learn more about the affective nature of music, and how music can be used as a political and cultural tool. The research identifies eroticism in music in secular song, drawing on madrigals as well as a repertory of strophic song that is marginal within the discipline of musicology, and then, with reference to settings of the Song of Songs and to the liturgy of women saints, explores eroticism in sacred music. A key aspect is the examination of how early modern women and men interacted with music and fashioned diverse identities that were distinguished by class, ethnicity, race, region, religion, gender, and sexuality. The project argues that some aspects of the European project originate in early modern history. The project promotes awareness and understanding of diversity in the history of gender and sexualities and responds to European legislation against discrimination. It is vital to make clear the long history of sexual diversity in Europe, and the long history of music’s role in sexualities, as a means to work against discrimination on grounds of sexuality and to support and encourage a healthy attitude to diversity. This project will be carried out in Los Angeles, New York and Cork. The initial stage of data collection and analysis will take 12 months, with the remaining 24 months spent writing and developing a monograph, hosting an international, interdisciplinary conference in Europe and developing advance research training networks.
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