Returning to the past by avant-garde paths

RETURNING TO THE PAST BY AVANT-GARDE PATHS

On the centenary of El retablo de maese Pedro (1923-2023)

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

25 and 26 May 2023 ⎢ MADRID

5 and 6 October 2023 ⎢ MONTPELLIER

CALL FOR PAPERS

On June 25, 1923, the stage premiere of El retablo de maese Pedro took place in the salon of the Princess de Polignac in Paris. Based on a text from Don Quixote, this chamber opera composed by Manuel de Falla is an important manifestation of a powerful avant- garde aesthetic of the 1920s: musical neoclassicism. From its first performance a hundred years ago to today, El retablo has become an iconic work of Spanish music and culture, inspiring interpretations and responses from numerous creators in the interwar period. It is a work that presents a version in miniature of Falla’s new sound universe, forcing the audience to reconsider basic categories in art, such as the different forms of musical neoclassicism, the reinvention of national identity, returns to the past, the dichotomy between tradition and modernity, the coexistence of the highbrow and the popular, correspondences between music and literature, and the role of the puppet in the renewal of theatre. This congress aims to take a deep dive into the work, exploring its origins, its defining features, the process of its creation, the circumstances of its premiere and its current stature, while also reflecting on all that El retablo de maese Pedro implies, including its ties with similar works created in a close geographical/cultural context. The principal themes to be addressed at the congress are as follows:

1) Different visions of and perspectives on musical neoclassicism.

2) Returns to the past in the music of the interwar period: a new stile antico?

3) Harmonic, formal, and timbral innovations (and renovations) in the 1920s.

4) The crisis of opera and the rise of musical theatre.

5) The puppet as an agent of theatrical renewal.

6) Correspondences between music and literature in the Edad de Plata.

7) Don Quixote revisited: new constructions around the literary myth.

8) Falla’s compositional procedures and aesthetic in the 1920s.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals are to be submitted via email to mulicoproject@gmail.com. Please include an abstract no longer than 500 words and a brief bio-bibliography of the author. Submissions are welcome in any of the three languages of the symposium: Spanish, French and English.

Deadline for the submission of proposals: 28 February 2023. Acceptance or rejection of proposals will be notified by the programme committee within one month of the deadline.

DIRECTORS OF THE CONGRESS

Yvan Nommick (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3)

Elena Torres Clemente (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

Carol A. Hess (University of California, Davis)

Ruth Piquer Sanclemente (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

Chris Collins (University of Aberdeen)

Nelson Orringer (University of Connecticut)

Begoña Lolo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Didier Plassard (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3)

Stéphan Etcharry (Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne)

SECRETARY

Rosa María García Mira (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

ORGANIZATION

Proyecto de I+D «Correspondencias entre la música y la literatura en la Edad de Plata» (PID2019-104641GB-I00). Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

RIRRA 21 (EA 4209, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3)

Universidad Complutense de Madrid