2017 Royal Musical Association Music and Philosophy Study Group Conference
Themed Session: Rethinking Collaborative Authorship through Music
Convener: Nina Penner
Deadline: 15 October 2016
Conference Dates: 13–14 July 2017
http://www.musicandphilosophy.ac.uk/theme2017authorship/
King’s College London, UK
The nature of authorship in the collaborative arts has been subject to lively debate in philosophical aesthetics, yet these debates have focused almost exclusively on cinema with scant attention to music. Music scholars, on the other hand, often need to make decisions about the authorship of particular musical works, yet there has been little theoretical discussion of how such determinations ought to be made.
Through a conversation between philosophers and music scholars, this panel seeks to evaluate the applicability of current philosophical theories of authorship to music, propose revisions where necessary, and explore new models. We invite papers theorizing the nature of authorship in any collaborative art form involving music, including but not limited to song, opera, musical theatre, dance, cinema, and television. Of particular interest are considerations of musical traditions that have been historically underrepresented in the philosophy of music, especially jazz, popular music, and non-Western musics.
Topics of interest might include (but are not limited to):
* critiques of current understandings of authorship, both of musical works for performance and performances thereof
* discussions of changing historical understandings of authorship in particular musical arts
* explorations of the consequences of determinations of authorship for the histories we tell
* responses to the debate between Paisley Livingston and Berys Gaut addressing particular musical arts
Proposals of no longer than 300 words should be submitted to nina.penner@gmail.com with the subject heading “MPSG Authorship Session.”