Contrafacta and Musical Imitation in Medieval Europe
International Conference
Title: Contrafacta and Musical Imitation in Medieval Europe
Date: 27-28 June 2024
Website: https://contrafacta.com
Abstract: The art of Medieval inventio is attuned to processes of reassembling, interpolation, and translation, as poets engage with the work of their predecessors to negotiate their place in the larger context of European lyric. Contrafacta constitute one the most pervasive forms of lyric re-creation and show how songs, authors, and performers formed a vital network that spread across Europe, crossing linguistic borders, and overcoming large chronological and geographical distances. Similarly, the borrowing of short melodic phrases, the use of recurring formulas, or the reordering and readapting of music and text are more subtle traces of a distinctly medieval aesthetics, whereby remolding existing material is, in itself, a process of artistic innovation.