MCICM Seminar “Clocks: Music and sound in public space”

Maastricht Center for the Innovation of Classical Music

Pandhof Sint-Servaas Basilica Maastricht

September 3, 2021, 14:00-17:00

The Dutch historian Johan Huizinga gives a wonderful description of the soundscape of medieval towns and villages in Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen (Autum of the Middle Ages). The sound of bells and carillons was omnipresent therein as a means of warning, celebration, and mourning. Although their function has changed, even today we are surrounded by the music of carillons and the sound of bells. Yet the presence of this resounding heritage in public space is no longer self-evident. Government funding for the maintenance of bells and carillons is under pressure and the chiming of bells is increasingly the subject of legal disputes.

The significance of clocks as music and sound in public space will be the central theme during a study day on 3 September, organized by the Maastricht Center for the Innovation of Classical Music of Maastricht University (www.mcicm.nl). The occasion for the study day is a concert by the South Netherlands Philharmonic on the same day which includes the world premiere of the composition Rublev & Rembrandt written by the Russian composer Olga Victorova. In it, the carillon expresses the connection between the (sound) worlds of the Netherlands and Russia (www.philharmoniezuidnederland.nl).

The study day will take place in the Pandhof of the Basilica of St. Servatius in Maastricht. The program consists of short lectures by Karin Bijsterveld (Maastricht University), Peter Peters (Maastricht University), Luc Rombouts (city carillonneur Tienen and university carillonneur Leuven) and Dyon Scheijen (Adelante Hoensbroek). Carillonneur Frank Steijns and violinist Lin Jong will also give a short concert from the tower of St. Servaas Basilica.

Program:

Musical introduction: City carillonneur Frank Steijns and violinist Lin Jong play music by tango composer Astor Piazzolla

Karin Bijsterveld—’The clock and the clapper: How do you investigate a soundscape?’

Luc Rombouts—’The new usefulness of old clocks’

Peter Peters—’Sounding like a bell: bells in classical music’

Dyon Scheijen—’Hearing is more than our ears: what our brain does with sound’

The study day takes place subject to corona measures. Admission for the study afternoon is free. There is a limited number of places available, reservations are made in order of registration. In case of bad weather, the lectures will take place indoors.

Reservations can be made until 30 August 2021, via mcicm-fasos@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Foto: Andreas Dill