Paris, Sorbonne Université
Vézelay, Vézelay, Cité de la Voix
The conference « Sounding Jerusalem » will explore vocal music as a category for interpreting and understanding the numerous ways in which the city of Jerusalem — real or imagined— is represented in various cultures and religions throughout history. A city praised, imagined, paraphrased, and nurtured by Scripture for more than 2000 years, Jerusalem gave rise to many types of discourses and artistic representations. In eras of poor literacy, vocal music played a crucial role in shaping ideas about Jerusalem to audiences far and wide. It was above all, however, through liturgy that various images of celestial Jerusalem were conflated and propagated. What is the role of music, liturgy, and rituals in shaping the city and constructing what may be termed “musical communities of Jerusalem”?
Our aim is to study Jerusalem through the numerous repertoires of the three Abrahamic faiths: Jewish, where music is “intrinsically diasporic” (Tourny), Muslim (Quran recitation, variety of Quranic schools, dhikr and mawlids, etc.), and Christian (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, reformation, evangelical, etc.). We expect numerous kinds of “Jerusalems” to transpire, including the Celestial City in eschatological theology, a destination worthy of pilgrimage/crusade, a romantic and orientalist Jerusalem, and the historical, physical city.
How does vocal music construct Jewish, Christian or Muslim visions of the city? How do different types of secular music (art and popular songs, opera, for instance) mediate between the different Jerusalems? The organizers see the conference as a platform for considering commonalities and differences among varieties of musical visions for Jerusalem. We expect scholars to present from their own research material in a way that is open to interdisciplinary conversation about the role of vocal music in sounding Jerusalem. We are open to questions about the meaning of participation for practitioners and performers, clergy, lay, or monastic, and about the role of performance in the formation of musical visions of Jerusalem.
Papers should be 30 minutes, and are expected to be sent for publication in written form one month after the end of the conference.
Organization Committee
Talia Bachir Loopuyt
Nicolas Dufetel
Yossi Maurey
Olivier Tourny
14h-17h
Paris, Amphithéâtre Guizot, Sorbonne Université
Moment musical par Atrig Siranossian, violoncelle et chant (airs arméniens)
Vézelay, La Cité de la Voix
— Discutant : Nicolas Dufetel
— Discutant : Yossi Maurey
18h : déambulation puis Concert, Ensemble « La Tempête »
Dir. Simon-Pierre Bestion de Camboulas (Vézelay et basilique)
Vézelay, La Cité de la Voix
— Discutante : Théodora Pyschoyou
11h-11h00 : Pause
11h15 : Guy Gosselin (Paris), Images sonores de Jérusalem dans la littérature musicale du XXe siècle
Session 4 : Identités – Identities
— Discutante : Talia Bachir Loopuyt
Institut de recherche en Musicologie (UMR 8223)
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Quai François Mauriac
75706 PARIS CEDEX 13
Secrétariat : +33(0) 1 53 79 37 10
par courriel
Sorbonne Université
Centre Univ. Clignancourt
salle 524 (informatique), bureau 531 (direction)
2, rue Francis de Croisset 75018 PARIS
Tél : +33 1 53 09 56 00
Centre Sorbonne
Salle Pirro
1, rue Victor Cousin 75005 PARIS
Tél : +33 1 40 46 22 11
Maison de la recherche
Salle 312 et 313
28, rue Serpente 75006 PARIS
Tél : +33 1 53 10 57 00